Hassan Ghul and Goldsmith's Exception to the Geneva Convention's Protected Person Rule

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emptywheel
The CIA was writing Jack Goldsmith with details about Hassan Ghul right before Goldsmith finalized one and drafted another memo on transferring people from Iraq.
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Court Allows Padilla Suit Against Yoo To Proceed

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emptywheel
There was a significant new opinion released in the NDCA late Friday (h/t Lindy and Fatster) in the case of Jose Padilla v. John Yoo. The decision is simply devastating.
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Eric Holder's Secrets

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emptywheel
Eric Holder is revealing the results of his review of state secrets in piecemeal fashion, case filing by case filing.
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The April 22, 2005 Fax on Torture

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emptywheel
There's an April 22, 2005 fax that Steven Bradbury relied on for his May 10, 2005 "Combined" memo that totally dismantles the premise of the May 10, 2005 "Techniques" memo.

Obama DOJ Asks Full Panel to Review Jeppesen

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emptywheel
Obama's DOJ is still flogging its efforts to use state secrets to shield the Bush Administration's crimes.
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A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To al-Haramain Justice

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emptywheel
As you will recall, there was an important hearing in the Northern District of California District Court, Judge Vaughn Walker presiding, on June 3rd. There were significant briefs from both the plaintiffs al-Haramain and the defendant government filed a few days before the hearing. Here now is the tick tock from the transcript of the hearing.

ACLU's Latest Lawsuit: Suing to Get the 2002 Convention Against Torture Opinion

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emptywheel
The ACLU is suing the CIA to get an OLC opinion that claims the US may blow off the Convention Against Torture's Article 16.

American Heroes, American Union Members

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emptywheel
The heroes that saved the visitors and employees at the National Holocaust Museum are yet another example of union members performing heroically.
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Why the CIA Would Want to Hide May 2002 from Judge Hellerstein (and the ACLU)

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emptywheel
I've had a couple of really weedy posts examining the CIA's response to the torture FOIA (Cherry-Pick One, Cherry-Pick Two, FOIA Exemptions). And I wanted to pull back a bit, and explain what I think they might mean. We're getting all these documents because the CIA is trying to avoid being held in contempt for not revealing the now-destroyed torture tapes in a response to this FOIA in 2004.

Why Doesn't the CIA's Vaughn Index Match the CIA's Vaughn Index?

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emptywheel
Back in May, the CIA admitted it was deliberating about Abu Zubaydah's torture on a frequent basis. Two days ago, it changed its mind.
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Did Somebody Improperly Make Torture a Special Access Program?

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emptywheel
The EO on classification says the Director of CIA has to make intelligence programs special access programs. But it appears that someone at NSC made torture a SAP.

Chamber of Commerce Bids "Campaign for Free Enterprise" to Attack the Bailouts It Doesn't Like

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emptywheel
The Chamber of Commerce wants you to forget it has been sucking at the federal teat for the last nine months.
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Sheldon Whitehouse: "No Further Actionable Intelligence Was Obtained" from Abu Zubaydah by Waterboarding

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emptywheel
Sheldon Whitehouse says we got no actionable intelligence from Abu Zubaydah through waterboarding.

SSCI Investigating Its Torture Briefings

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emptywheel
David Corn reports that the SSCI has included its torture briefings in its investigation on torture--and wonders whether that might get Cheney in trouble. I'm guessing that Cheney's briefing of SSCI may be the least of the investigation.

AP's Definition of "Unbiased Source of News:" Don't Criticize the Clients

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emptywheel
AP thinks it's a sign of bias if you suggest that corporate managers ought to be punished for bad business decisions.