Breaking: Torture Architect John Rizzo Still Working at CIA
The ACLU is reporting something that I've suspected.
According to the CIA public affairs office, Rizzo is still Acting General Counsel.
John Rizzo, the man who worked with both Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury to pre-authorize torture, is still being paid by you and me to make sure that the CIA follows the law.
Did Cheney Order Up Abu Zubaydah's 83rd Waterboarding?
When the CIA ordered up an extra session of waterboarding for Abu Zubaydah, did it do so on Cheney's orders?
The SASC Smoking Gun on Waterboarding
The SASC Report on Torture strongly suggests that CIA was following one set of guidelines, but had gotten approval from DOJ for another set of guidelines.
SASC Torture Report, Working Thread
The Senate Armed Services Committee just released its report on torture.
Spencer has a post on it here.
Remember, as you're reading it, that not only did they repurpose SERE. But we know they went far beyond SERE in its application.
I'll be reading it as I fall asleep and should have more detailed comments tomorrow morning.
Cheney Plans to Continue to Manufacture Intelligence
It sounds like Cheney's only asking for CIA to disclose information on what torture produced so he can use it for his memoirs.
OLC + CIA = CYA
Spencer's story on a previously unknown 2007 OLC memo suggests the CIA continued to distrust Bush's willingness to give them policy cover for torture.
Those CIA Employees Don't LOOK Pissed that Obama Released the Torture Memos
The Village has been out in force declaring that Obama's decision to release the torture memos will hurt the morale of CIA's employees. But there are those in the CIA who it will reassure.
Dan Quayle's and John Snow's Flunkies Putting Greed Ahead of America
(Image by twolf)
Now for an update from the most loathsome intersection of the financial and the auto crisis...
You'll recall that last we heard, Chrysler was hoping to stay alive long enough to have Fiat's Sergio Marchionne swoop in and save it. Even if that happens, though, Chrysler will need to get some customers to buy its cars until such a time as Marchionne can do his magic.
And to get customers, they're
Revisiting Jane Harman's Over-Reaction to Partisan Pressure on FISA
When I suggested Jane Harman shouldn't undercut Democratics in the House on FISA in 2007, she badly over-reacted. I wonder whether her reaction has anything to do with today's story in CQ?
McCain on the Torture Memos
John McCain thinks waterboarding KSM 183 times in a month is a bad idea (to his credit he says any use of waterboarding is a bad idea). Even still, he thinks releasing the torture memos was wrong. I wonder if that's because the memos reveal the disdain with which the Bush Administration treated Congressional efforts to end the torture program?
Ponzi Nation, Monday Edition
Another day another Ponzi scheme broken up by the SEC.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a Philadelphia-area investment adviser and its principal with misappropriating millions of dollars in client assets, and obtained an emergency court order freezing their assets.
The SEC alleges that through a commingled brokerage account, Donald Anthony Walker Young of Coatesville, Pa., and Acorn Capital Management, LLC misappropriated more than $23 million from investors buying limited partnership interests
Jane Harman: Stupid and Reckless, Not the Victim of Illegal Wiretaps
Jane Harman was not illegally wiretapped. On the contrary, she very stupidly said things to someone who was widely reported to be under investigation.
Alberto Gonzales' Blackmail Notes and Jane Harman's Support
Remember how Alberto Gonzales made notes of the March 10, 2004 Gang of Eight meeting so he could blackmail members of Congress on the warrantless wiretap program? Well, it seems to have worked.
What Does a House Intelligence Chairmanship Cost?
According to NSA intercepts, Jane Harman agreed to help AIPAC avoid criminal charges in exchange for AIPAC's help getting the HPSCI Chairmanship.
The al-Haramain Case Stays On Track
It was late and welcome news Friday afternoon when Judge Vaughn Walker's decision in the al-Haramain case came in. The seminal importance of Walker's decision to allow the matter to proceed against the fierce efforts to dismiss it by the government simply cannot be overstated.
Is There a 2003 Waterboarding Memo We're Missing?
We know the August 1, 2002 memo directly pertained to Abu Zubaydah. We know the 2005 memos were, in part, addressed to Hassan Ghul. Is there a 2003 memo addressing whether KSM could be waterboarded?
The CIA IG Report: Is Waterboarding KSM 183 Times Really Effective?
Not only did the CIA IG Report reveal that KSM had been waterboarded 183 times. But it did so as part of a larger discussion challenging the efficacy of such methods.
Debunking the Torture Apologists' "Half the Intelligence" Claim
The torture apologists are out there claiming that we got "half" of what we "know" on al Qaeda from torture. But as the May 30, 2005 Bradbury memo makes clear, they're talking about sheer number of reports, not quality of information.
The Torture Memos and the FBI-CIA Dispute
David Johnston wrote an article shortly after Bush brought the High Value Detainees to Gitmo. It helps elucidate a lot of the details we're seeing in the torture memos. And the torture memos serve to explain why the FBI-CIA dispute he portrayed took the form it did.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Was Waterboarded 183 Times in One Month
According to one of the OLC memos, KSM was waterboarded 183 times in one month.