Liz Cheney's Non-Denial #2: Daddy Suggested--But CIA Refused to Execute--Waterboarding
A few weeks ago, Liz "BabyDick" Cheney refused to deny that her Daddy was the "prime mover" on torture. Yesterday, she refused to deny that he had requested waterboarding be used with an Iraqi to drum up al Qaeda-Iraq ties.
WaPo's Partisan Press Release Service
The WaPo is apparently in the business of reprinting ignorant challenges without any fact-check or context.
The Data Mining Secrets and al-Haramain
There's a footnote in the latest al-Haramain ruling that suggests they're trying to cordon off the data mining aspects of the program so as to limit litigation moving forward (and disclosure to al-Haramain) to the actual wiretapping part of the program.
The Latest al-Haramain Filing
Guess what? Al-Haramain and the government are continuing to argue over what information al-Haramain gets to sue the government for illegally wiretapping it.
A Dick Cheney Torture Trifecta!
Anyone else feel like we're watching the Scooter Libby trial again, what with all of Dick Cheney's hacks out protecting him?
You Can't Spell "Walter Pincus" without C, I, and A
Walter Pincus gave two spooks anonymity to claim that CIA didn't waterboard KSM and Abu Zubaydah to trump up ties between al Qaeda and Iraq. But those two anonymous sources fall fall short of credibility, and even faller short of denying that torture was used to elicit such ties.
The Two Torture Tape Suspects, the Pelosi Briefing, and the Panetta Statement
A lot of people are nervous about Panetta's statement in response to Pelosi's accusation that CIA lied. It makes a lot more sense when you consider it against the background of the torture tape destruction.
The Terrorism Intelligence and the Briefing Schedule
I suggested yesterday that one of the explanations for the CIA's unreliable record of briefings on torture and terrorism in 2002 and 2003 might reflect an attempt to hide certain information.
Did CIA not reveal they were torturing detainees to dodge any question about the accuracy of claims about Iraq intelligence?
While we don't know the full schedule of briefings on Iraq intelligence, the schedule of intelligence documents pertaining to Iraqi ties
Dick Cheney, Torture, Iraq, and Valerie Plame
I've been reluctant to embrace suggestions that torture, iraq, and Valerie Plame were all going to coalesce into one linked story. But it is increasingly looking like that may be the case.
Fox Reports Absence of Presidential Finding, Clear Violation of Law, Yawns
Fox gets into the irresponsible reporting act now, presenting clear evidence of legal wrong-doing as yet another gotcha of Nancy Pelosi.
Crazy Pete Hoekstra Flip-Flops on Congressional Notification
Crazy Pete Hoekstra wrote a very good description, in 2006, about how serious is the obligation to inform Congress of CIA's activities. He seems to have forgotten that description now.
Graham: They Claimed to Have Briefed Before Torture, Did Not
I've got to correct something I said yesterday about Bob Graham. I reported that Graham said that CIA had given him two erroneous dates for briefings. They gave erroneous dates for three briefings.
Dick Cheney Out on a Limb Fourth Branch
To get his propaganda documents, Dick Cheney may have to ask the Center for Constitutional Rights nicely.
Mark Mazzetti, the Gray Lady's Grammar-Impaired Spook Stenographer
Mark Mazzetti continues to work hard to propagate Porter Goss' spin.
Turdblossom Has Another Meeting Scheduled with a Special Prosecutor
This time, with Nora Dennehy, who is investigating the US Attorney firing (particularly that of David Iglesias):
Former top White House official Karl Rove will be interviewed tomorrow as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the firing of U.S. attorneys during the Bush administration, according to two sources familiar with the appointment.
Leahy to Bybee: Why Won't a Federal Judge Testify before Senate Judiciary Committee?
Pat Leahy made it clear yesterday that Jay Bybee had blown off Leahy's invitation to testify before SJC. I expect we'll be hearing more about this in the future.
Wilkerson: al-Libi's Waterboarding
Lawrence Wilkerson says Dick Cheney ordered Ibn Sheikh al-Libi to be waterboarded in February 2002.
Pelosi: CIA Told Us Waterboarding "Was Not Being Employed"
Pelosi has confirmed something I've been pointing out for weeks. When the CIA briefed Pelosi and Goss on September 4, 2002, it told them that waterboarding was not being employed.
The CIA comes to Congress and withholds information about the timing and the use of this subject. We later find out that it had been taking place before they even briefed us about the legal opinions and told us that they
Senator Bob Graham: The CIA Made Up Two Briefing Sessions
Bob Graham says that when he asked when CIA briefed him on torture, they gave him two briefing dates when no briefing had even occurred.
The 9/11 Commission and Torture
A number of people are out today reporting that the 9/11 Report relies on the information from detainees who had been tortured. That is true. Though most of the information came after the worst torture stopped.