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Kyl Agrees to IG Reform--but Sustains DOJ Lawyer's Protection

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emptywheel
The Administration--with the help of John Kyl--continues to fight efforts to give DOJ's IG the authority to investigate DOJ's lawyers.

The Sugar Momma Express

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emptywheel
In addition to riding around on a bus full of lobbyists, John McCain has also been flying around on his Sugar Momma, Cindy McCain's jet, without paying what he ought to for it.
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EW's Famous Football Trash Talk* - What The Puck Edition

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emptywheel
Are you ready for some football? Hot damn, I am. And guess what, there really is football to talk about. And lots of other things too, but let's start off with the gridiron. Trash talks are fairly infrequent these days, so go to town on any and all sports, and any other trashin you got on your mind.

The Rent-A-Generals Attempt to Head Skelton Off at the Pass

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emptywheel
Did the Pentagon halt its Rent-A-General program and claim it would conduct a review in hopes of preventing Ike Skelton from looking further into the Rent-A-General program?

If You Keep Getting Stopped at Airports, That's Not a Secret

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emptywheel
A judge has rejected the government's claim that it cannot tell people whether they are on the terrorist watch list because, if they do, then they will alter their behavior accordingly.

Which Master Do These Rent-A-Generals Serve?

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emptywheel
Ike Skelton asks which master the Pentagon's Rent-A-Generals serve. Let's do what we can to encourage Skelton--and his counterpart Carl Levin--to pursue the question further.
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Article I v. State Secrets

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emptywheel
It looks like the al-Haramain suit in CA will really pit Congress' power against the President's ability to invoke State Secrets.
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CIA And Bushco Have A Rather Large Criminal Obstruction Problem: The Torture Tapes Come Home To Roost

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emptywheel
By now, the story of the CIA's destruction of the "torture tapes" is well known. However, yesterday, an insufficiently noticed page A-16 story by Dan Eggen in the Washington Post, appears to put the lie to the defenses the Administration has posited to date and raise serious issues in relation to intentional, malicious destruction of evidence and obstruction of justice.
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Fitz v. Rove, Part VI

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emptywheel
The news that Bob Kjellander was trying to get Rove to fire Patrick Fitzgerald is not new. But introducing it in the Rezko trial certainly fits with Fitz' MO of introducing helping evidence via indirect channels.

How Did They Find Mr. Kadish?

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emptywheel
How did the Federal government suddenly put together enough evidence to arrest Ben-Ami Kadish for spying, when he allegedly committed these crimes 20 years ago?

Apples and Oranges

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emptywheel
John Ashcroft unsuccessfully tries to claim we don't torture.

Apparently McCain Will Not Be on the Ballot in November

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emptywheel
That's all I can surmise from Terry McAuliffe's boast that Hillary "won" Michigan. Goddamned I wonder if these people give a damn how aggravating such statements are to people in MI whose Hillary-supporting Governor and other top leaders played chicken with the DNC and lost ... our vote.
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Hillary's Iran Comments

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emptywheel
Hillary's Iron comments sound like they're complete bloodthirsty war-mongering. But there's an important kernel of sense to them that is getting missed.

Condi's Pissing Contest with Moqtada al-Sadr

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emptywheel
Back when Dick Cheney snuck into Iraq to meet with Nuri al-Maliki, it was unclear whether Cheney's visit related to Maliki's subsequent, ill-fated offensive into Basra. I submit that we need have no doubts about what comes next. Condi has made it very clear she owns--we own--whatever atrocities are about to happen in Sadr City.