Gravely Damaging Intelligence Gaps
Leon Panetta says we can't have the CIA documents because it'll show the intelligence gaps the CIA had.
You mean, like the fact they had no idea who Abu Zubaydah really was?!?!?
The CIA's Cherry Pick, Two
Earlier, I suggested the CIA didn't want to give Judge Hellerstein the earliest deliberative documents on Abu Zubaydah. It appears they don't want to reveal details of their own investigation into waterboarding, either.
The CIA's Cherry-Pick
Did the CIA cherry-pick which documents it gave Judge Hellerstein to avoid turning over incriminating cables?
1000 Words
The CIA won't reveal its photo of Abu Zubaydah because it'll reveal sources and methods.
Leon Panetta Kisses His Credibility Goodbye
Leon Panetta claims he's not trying to hide evidence of criminal wrongdoing by hiding the torture cables. And he's lying.
Dan Maffei Joins Bob Corker in Trying to Rewrite BK Law Just for Car Dealers
Yet another Congressman pushing for car dealers to be exempted from the ill effects of the Chrysler and GM bankruptcies.
On Jane Harman and NAO
Folks are worried about Jane Harman opposing satellite surveillance of Americans. They shouldn't be.
Vaughn Walker's Chess Game: Sue the Telecoms Part One
Here are the potential areas under which EFF might be able to sue the telecoms going forward.
Cheney's and Gonzales' CYA Libraries
Cheney's CYA document from 2005? It comes from the day after Alberto Gonzales purportedly tried to convince the Principals Committee not to support torture.
"Legal"
The NYT claims that Jim Comey agreed that waterboarding was legal. But that's not what they show. Rather, they show that Jim Comey probably agreed that waterboarding did not violate 18 USC 2340-2340A, which is just one of the laws that govern torture in this country.
All the News NYT Does Not See Fit to Print
The NYT got a handful of emails that made it clear that Jim Comey had attempted to dissuade the Bush Administration from torture. But instead, it reported that he had approved of torture. Here's the other stuff the NYT doesn't seem fit to tell you about Comey's emails.
The May 10, 2005 Opinions Were Retrospective
I asked in my earlier post on the NYT leak of Jim Comey emails what the big rush was in May 2005 that Comey couldn't use a week to fix the "combined techniques" opinion.
The emails themselves explain the rush--and that rush should have been the NYT story. On April 28, 2005, Comey wrote:
[Alberto Gonzales] mentioned at one point that OLC didn't feel like it could accede to my request to make
Pre-Emptive Strike on OPR Report: NYT Misrepresents Comey Emails, Claims He Approved Torture
Someone wants the NYT to prempt the OPR report. And the NYT has obliged.
Vaughn Walker's Chess Game: The New Rules
My understanding of where the Jewel suit against the people who authorized illegal wiretapping will go.
Bob Corker, After Begging for Auto BK, Wants Dealers Exempted
Last November, Bob Corker seemed pretty fond of bankruptcies for America's automakers. But now that those bankruptcies will affect small business owners, he's having second thoughts.
The Hill's Campfire Games on Intelligence Briefings
Crazy Pete Hoekstra finds a journalists to help him manufacture political controversy again.
Vaughn Walker's Chess Game: The Cases
The cases that will affect Vaughn Walker's chess game going forward.
House Judiciary State Secrets Hearing Open Thread
I'm a little late to the the House Judiciary State Secrets Hearing (committee stream here). Jerrold Nadler has had his opening statement--the big news in that was that Holder refused to make a witness available for this hearing. Jim Sensenbrenner is up noting that Obama has adopted Bush's approach on State Secrets.
Obama's Cairo Speech
For all the blistering that I, and many others here, give to Obama for his continuation of the Bush/Cheney duplicity on wiretapping, privacy, torture and Executive primacy issues, there are similarly a great many areas in which he is so many light years ahead of where we have been moribund for the last eight years that it is hard to remember we are still in the same galaxy. The Cairo speech was a remarkable reminder of the value of Obama.
12 to 16 Bottles, Not 5
Lawrence Wilkerson says the number 183, describing waterboarding, may describe the number of bottles used. That makes more sense if we remember that the interrogators were using far more water than Jay Bybee said they could use.