Holder Announces the Investigation
And notes some will be unhappy that he has initiated the review. But doesn't consider those of us who smell a whitewash.
Durham to be Torture Special Prosecutor
Eric Holder will appoint John Durham as Special Prosecutor.
Panetta's Threats
Yet more rumors that Panetta is on his way out.
Reposted: The CIA IG Report's "Other" Contents
In preparation of today's IG Report release, I'm re-posting two of my earlier posts describing what we already know is in the report.
Reposted: The CIA IG Report on the Inefficacy of Torture
A re-post of my June post describing what we already know the CIA IG Report says about the inefficacy of torture.
Better than Clearing Brush ... Getting HELP from Kennedy?
Politico says it's not going to happen. But if Obama were to meet with Kennedy, it would provide a great opportunity for Kennedy to kick Obama's ass. And for Obama to pivot strategies and embrace the public option he has been promising all along.
Is DOJ Withholding the OPR Report Tomorrow to Frame a White-Wash Investigation?
Why isn't the OPR report on the list of documents to be released tomorrow?
Jello Jay Gets Into the Act
Following up on Henry Waxman's attempt to gather information, Jello Jay has started seeking info on the insurance industry as well.
Will the Release of SpecialOps Detainee Names to ICRC End our Policy of Disappearances?
DOD has changed their policies on detainees, which at least on paper means detainees can be kept in Special Operations camps for just two weeks before they will be identified to the Red Cross.
Republicans Are Really Good at Clearing Brush
If you follow me on twitter, you know that I've been anticipating the Republican attack on the Obama vacation by pointing out what Bush was doing 8 years ago (ignoring the PDB) or Cheney was doing 7 (claiming Iraq was close to having nukes). So I want to give Andrea Mitchell kudos for--as I hoped reporters would do yesterday--calling out this bogus attack.
Waxman's Methods
While Rahm has been loudly flailing in his attempts to push through health care, Henry Waxman has been preparing for battle.
Marc Ambinder's Cave
I was going to leave well enough alone--to take Marc Ambinder's limited apology for labeling DFHs who believed the threat level system to be politicized as "gut haters," accept that he is at least thinking about these things, and move on. But given Ambinder's follow-up, I'd like to use it to make a point of Village journalism methods.
But there are a couple of passages from his post that really embody the things that--as I said before-make his take on the threat levels an excellent example of what I
Hiding al-Nashiri's Torture
I've been saying for over 18 months that the IG Report was the precipitating factor in the CIA's decision to destroy the torture tapes. It looks increasingly like I was right.
The Republican Stimulus Package
Why does the Republican party keep paying its leaders to have affairs?
Intimidating the Defense Attorneys
It was bad enough that the Bush Administration did away with attorney-client privilege via their warrantless wiretap program. Now the Obama Administration appears to be trying to intimidate lawyers defending Gitmo detainees by threatening them with prosecution for trying to ascertain the identities of those involved in abusing their clients.
Why Send Andy Card and Frances Fragos Townsend to Rebut Ridge?
To rebut Tom Ridge's confirmation that the terror alert system was politicized, the Dead-Enders have rolled out the woman who was not told about the warrantless wiretap program and the guy who rolled out the Iraq War like a new season of clothing.
Rick Scott Aspires to Do as al Qaeda Did
In 2001, terrorists capitalized on George Bush's inattention and extended vacation to strike at America. Now, Rich Scott's Conservatives for Patients' Rights believes it can adopt al Qaeda's tactics by attacking the President and our country while he's on vacation. "Even on vacation, the President will get no quarter on the public option from Conservatives for Patients' Rights." And they're running an ad that somewhat bizarrely tries to mock Obama's vacation.
There
Christie's AUSAs Still Won't Respond to Corzine's FOIA Requests
Jon Corzine's campaign wants some more information about just what Chris Christie was doing at the US Attorney's office while he was handing out multi-million dollar deals to his friends.
So the Corzine campaign has submitted 18 FOIA requests for information on Christie's tenure as US Attorney. They have submitted them, each time, to the Executive Office of US Attorneys, which keeps kicking the FOIAs down to the NJ US
700,000 Cars in One Month
Cash for Clunkers will, on Monday at 8 PM, have silica liquid injected in its engine and stopped.
The U.S. government will shut down its cash-for-clunkers program at 8 p.m. Monday, in a bid to avoid car dealers and shoppers from claiming more than the $3 billion set aside for the program.The decision means that the program originally expected to generate 250,000 vehicle sales over three months will have likely triggered more
Why Does SEIU's Andy Stern Sound Like Rahm Emanuel?
Why does Andy Stern sound like he has been in the veal pen too long?