Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings, Day 2, Part III
Picking up from Christy's earlier posts (Part I and Part II).
The US Government Owns Abu-Zubaida's Thoughts
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bmazI just found an interesting article by Walter Pincus tucked away in the lower half of the website. It contains no new or breaking news, but is an interesting description of just how far the government has run amok in their over-classification and demand to control information flow to the American people and the world.
Ceci Connolly's Pay2Play Puff Piece
It probably wasn't a good idea for Ceci Connolly to write a puff piece relying heavily on her Pay2Play invites.
Yoo Lawyers Up for a Shot at the 9th
John Yoo appeals Padilla's lawsuit against him.
Joe Lockhart Wanted to Say Blow Job
I was on a panel in 2007 with Joe Lockhart and Todd Purdam to talk about political news. We talked a lot about how the press' insistence on covering the Lewinsky scandal--when the bulk of the country was pretty happy with the President regardless of who had given him a blow job--led to the crisis of legitimacy that let blogs arise.
Hellerstein: Accelerate the Production of the IG Report
The ACLU just submitted a letter in the CIA IG case--pointing out that Judge Hellerstein had given the government until August 31 to produce the rest of the documents in the FOIA request with the implicit assumption that it produce the IG Report by June 19 June 26 July 1.
The key part of the letter, however, is the note Judge Hellerstein wrote by hand on the ACLU letter, saying:
The Court will
Marcy On MSNBC To Explain Secret Program Background
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bmazATTENTION all Wheelhouse and FDL members, Ms. Marcy Wheeler will be on MSNBC TeeVee with David Shuster during the 3:00-4:00 pm Eastern time hour. She is at the studio now and will be helping to explain details behind the much discussed "secret program". For more background, see these recent posts here and, to a lesser extent, here.Watch along with us and comment away!
Liz "BabyDick" Cheney Returns
Liz BabyDick Cheney's efforts to protect her Daddy are getting more and more desperate.
Obama on the Afghan Massacre
The Obama Administration stance on an investigation of the Rashid Dostum massacre and cover-up seems to have as much to do with who is speaking as whether such an investigation will happen in the first place.
The Assassination Squads: Two Points
Siobhan Gorman reports that the big secret Panetta revealed to Congress is an assassination squad. But there's got to be more to it than that.
On The Eve Of Sotomayor: Ricci Is Irrelevant
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bmazTomorrow, Monday morning July 13, 2009, Judge Sonia Sotomayor begins the hearing portion of her confirmation process. So far, there has been the expected (sadly) partisan yammering on her nomination. Then, on Friday, there suddenly emerged something that might seem to take hold as the focus of the obligatory partisan sniping.
The Scope of the (Hypothetical) Torture Investigation
There's some debate about whether a potential torture investigation would get beyond the low level torturers. First of all, those aren't really low-level CIA people--they're James Mitchell and friends. More importantly, if you go after Mitchell, you almost certainly will get to the lawyers who approved what he did.
When and To What Degree Was John Ashcroft Read Into the Illegal Surveillance Program?
We have long known that John Ashcroft was not properly read into the illegal domestic surveillance program Senator Whitehouse suggested as much when Attorney General Gonzales testified in July 2007. And both Gonzales and Robert Mueller revealed that John Ashcroft--from his ICU bed--complained that his advisors had not been able to get read into the program and as a result he was ill-informed about the program.
But the IG Report raises new
Ambinder on Holder
Ambinder describes the division of labor between Greg Craig and Eric Holder.
Holder v. Rahm: The Torture Fight
Against the backdrop of a Holder/Rahm drama, Newsweek reveals key details about the internal conflict over torture.
John Brennan, The Terrorist Threat Integration Center, and Main Core
It's troublesome that John Brennan appears to have been at the center of the warrantless wiretap program, not just because it means a top Obama aide was complicit with the program. But it's also troublesome because it makes the "Main Core" allegation more likely.
Did Obama Flip-Flop on FISA to Protect John Brennan?
John Brennan oversaw the threat assessments that were key to the illegal wiretap program. Is that why Obama and his Attorney General have flip-flopped on their belief that it was illegal?
Ceci Connolly Was the "Play" in the WaPo's Pay2Play Dinner
Not only was Ceci Connolly slotted to "host" the Pay2Play dinner, but she was also asked for contact info for invitees.
FISA's 15-Day Exemption
The IG Report says that Yoo's OLC opinion authorizing the warrantless wiretap program doesn't account for the 15-day exemption period in FISA that reflects Congressional intent to have FISA apply even in times of war. What the IG Report doesn't say--but is clear from the timeline--is that the Bush Administration used that 15-day period!
CIA Sticks with Its Waterboarding Shiny Object Strategy
The CIA argues that they're not claiming the torture documents are classified because they're trying to hide a crime, but argue at the same time that the descriptions of the techniques as practiced have to remain classified because they're not the same as the abstract descriptions.