Michael Mukasey, the Shortest Honeymoon Ever
Mukasey's having a heck of a honeymoon, isn't he? In addition to running the joint CIA-DOJ investigation of the destroyed terror tapes, now Feingold (on both SJC and SSCI) wants him to answer the questions he refused to answer in his nomination hearings.
The Revolt of the Spooks
There has been a lot of hand-wringing suggesting that the story revealing some Democratic members of the Gang of Four was a hit piece by Republicans (or, specifically, Porter Goss). That strikes me as an overly Manichean view of things, in which an article that makes Democrats look bad could only be a Republican hit piece. There's another party in this equation--the Intelligence Community. The events of the last ten days make more sense, it seems to me, if you consider all of those events as a revolt on the part of the Intelligence Community.
Football Trash Talk Thread
Will the Pats get beaten by the Steelers today? can the Lions surprise the 'Boys? And will Baltimore play as hard against the Colts as they did against the Pats?
Nancy Pelosi: Congressional Leaders Do Expect the Spanish Inquisition
The WaPo breaks the news that Nancy Pelosi and others were briefed on the Administration's use of torture. Pelosi admitted that she raised no objection to those practices.
Banana Split
The investigation into Chiquita for supporting Colombian terrorists always stank. Chiquita's executives got some high level meetings at DOJ and--purportedly, Michael Chertoff and DOJ told them they should not to worry about paying protection money to terrorists, so long as they cooperated with DOJ's investigations into the Colombia death squads. Then, no charges were filed against any of the well-connected Republican executives. But now we find out that a warrant supposedly served on Chiquita back in 2004 may never have been served.
Breaking: Persians Still Better at Chess than Americans
Now that Bush has alienated Old Europe with his botched release of the NIE, Iran has taken the opportunity to ditch the dollar. Gotta say something for those old Persians--they still know how to play chess better than we do.
Congress and the Torture Tapes
The reaction of members of Congress to news that the torture tapes were destroyed mystifies me. Crazy Pete Hoekstra's on the same side as the Democrats. Porter Goss has a phalange of spokespeople but is apparently in hiding. Jello Jay Rockefeller seems to have taken cues from the CIA. For once, Jane Harman looks like she did the right thing! And I'm thinking of putting out an APB for Pat Roberts, who seems to have left the country.
Bush's Direct and Constant Knowledge of the NIE Intelligence
The WaPo provides answers most of our questions on the genesis of the NIE. It shows that Bush has known a lot more about the genesis of the NIE than he has let on. Too bad this article appears on a Saturday and under the cloud of the torture tapes news.
Was Ramzi Bin al-Shibh the Second Al Qaeda Detainee?
Have you noticed that no one is telling us who the second Al Qaeda detainee is--the one whose torture tape was destroyed along with that of Abu Zubaydah? What if it was Ramzi Bin al-Shibh?
Coming after John Yoo
Remember that OPR investigation into the legal rationale for warrantless wiretapping? Well, it's going to find more than an opinion that speciously justified spying on Americans. It's going to find that John Yoo told BushCo that he gets to write his own law.
What Do They Say About Cookies Crumbling?
Cookie Krongard steps down as State's IG.
General Hayden Gets Mail
Conyers and friends write to Hayden for better answers than he gave to the CIA yesterday.
Whitehouse Reveals Smoking Gun of White House Claiming Not to Be Bound by Any Law
Sheldon Whitehouse got the key provisions that justify the Unitary Executive declassified--and boy will they make you mad.
Hayden's Letter
A reading of Michael Hayden's letter to the CIA about destroying torture tapes.
Everything Leaks
I wonder whether when Dick said, "everything leaks" in a recent interview with Politico he knew the CIA was desperately trying to manage the leak of the news that they had destroyed videos of Al Qaeda torture sessions?
Torture and Taping Timeline
Timeline collecting the torture memos, known changes in image guidelines, and key comings and goings in the torture saga.
Absence of Torture Tape Librarian a Feature, Not a Bug
I joked a few weeks ago that the CIA needed a dedicated torture tape librarian, because they keep losing such tapes. Today's NYT story suggests such losses are, at least in two cases, deliberate.
John Bolton Time Warp
Guess what?!?!? John Bolton is an intellectually sloppy and inconsistent man.
Dick Vetted the Intelligence Two Weeks Ago
The intelligence analysts had to present the intelligence underlying the NIE at a meeting in the Situation Room two weeks ago. Unsurprisingly, Dick Cheney was there, twisting arms again.
John Bolton and the IC's New Sourcing Rules
John Bolton says the NIE is wrong because it was written by those at State who tried to correct his delusions about Iraq. But it seems they've brought some sound sourcing requirements that were precisely the kind of thing Bolton tried to avoid when he drummed up the war in Iraq.