Rove's "Renewed" Privilege Assertion: Is It Absolute Immunity or Executive Privilege?
Bush gave Rove a letter telling him he could blow off Congress--presumably after Conyers put continuation of last Congress' suit against the Bush Administration in House rules. Depending on what's in that letter, it may either lead to months of new litigation or--depending on the Obama Administration--a precedent that absolute immunity doesn't exist.
FISA: Grill the Executives
Threat Level posts an interview they did with Russell Tice three years ago. In it, he suggests we subpoena the corporate executives involved in the illegal wiretap program to find out how our government spied on us.
Kansas' Lobbying Helps France Fly Citi to Its Tax Shelters
I'm guessing Citigroup is going to use the new plane they just bought--at taxpayer expense--in France to fly to the places they've been sheltering their profits so as to avoid paying US taxes.
Conyers to Turdblossom: "Time's Up!!"
John Conyers just made a date with Karl Rove, for February 2.
Alberto Gonzales Tells the Tale We've Been Waiting For
Neither and or I, and obviously, I can't really speak for Andy, but I'm confortable saying that neither Andy or I would have gone there to take advantage of someone who was sick. Um, Andy and I both, in fact, talked about the importance of satisfying ourselves as we talked with General Ashcroft that he was in fact competent.
What Jane Mayer Tells Us about Warrantless Wiretapping
Jane Mayer's latest piece describes how much work went into last week's Executive Orders ending the use of torture. Which offers key lessons about the work we need to do to make sure he also ends warrantless wiretapping.
Crappy Record-Keeping: A Feature, Not a Bug
Add Gitmo files to the long list of scandals that the Bush Administration kept no meaningful records of.
Jay Rockefeller Told Us What Russell Tice Just Confirmed, Years Ago
Russell Tice basically confirmed, once again, our suspicions: that the warrantless wiretap program was basically the government operating TIA under a new name. Strangely enough, Jello Jay Rockefeller (of all people) already told us that--and he told Dick Cheney too. Maybe that's why Jello Jay was acting so squirrely about the program the other night.
Feingold Sez: No More Clusterfuck Senate Appointment Processes
Russ Feingold will introduce a Constitutional Amendment designed to prevent the clusterfucks of the Caroline Kennedy and Rod Blagojevich sort: mandating popular elections to fill mid-term Senate seats.
Change Pixie Dust We Can Believe In
Man oh man, Greg Craig is not doing Obama any favors as White House Counsel. In this installment, he apparently told (probably) Senator Whitehouse or Feingold that he believes in Pixie Dust.
al-Haramain: the Dead-Enders Misrepresent Their Appeal to Dismiss the Need to Wait for Obama
To dismiss the concern that Obama has not yet weighed in on the al-Haramain case, the dead-enders asking for an appeal claim that that appeal has nothing to do with issues that Dawn Johnsen and Eric Holder have raised about the warrantless wiretap program. But to do so, they misrepresent both their appeal and Judge Walker's order.
Three Data Points on Blagojevich
Three items of note in the Blago trial: Edward Genson, Blago's attorney, has quit after Blago repeatedly ignored his advice. Blago's wife Patti was fired from her day job. And Fitz has gotten four tapes from his investigation released to the IL state senate for use in the impeachment trial.
Obama's Executive Privilege Order and the House Judiciary Committee Lawsuit
Obama's EO may give us access to evidence Bush has been withholding. But it won't give us everything we need to ensure proper oversight of any and all presidential administrations.
Working Thread on WH EMails "Compliance"
Much of this is Greek to me--and it'll take a while to upload it all--but I'm sure MadDog and WO can make some sense out of what the Bush Administration says is proof they're complying with requirements to save their emails.
Copy Set Inventory
Copy Tapes
Damaged Tapes
The "Obama" Support for Stay Pending Appeal in al-Haramain
The Obama administration has, in theory at least, supported Bush's motion to appeal Judge Vaughn Walker's al-Haramain decision. But that's with an administration that doesn't have a DOJ yet.
How to Prove Intentionality of Domestic Surveillance?
The FISCR has stressed that its ruling did not rule on whether or not
Dick Still Complaining that His Beloved Firewall Didn't Get Pardoned
Boy, let's hope this continues: Dick bitching about Bush's refusal to pardon Libby. Maybe--just maybe--these two will finally start taking each other out.
Whitehouse: We Have to Look Back
Sheldon Whitehouse argues that we must look foward, but we also have a duty to look backwards to understand what happened, as well.
Emptywheel to Senator Whitehouse: We Only Have 7 Weeks to Indict Bush
I reminded Sheldon Whitehouse yesterday that the clock is ticking on Bush's illegal wiretapping of American citizens. Hopefully, the reminder will spark Senate Dems to counter Bush's efforts to run out the clock on their actions.
Russell Tice Confirms Everything We've Surmised About Bush's Illegal Wiretap Program
Some thoughts on Russell Tice's explosive revelations.
