Secret
- Torture
- Terrorism
- Government
- Detainee
- Intelligence
- Law
- Virginia
- Christmas
- "Senate
meets briefly to block Bush." ... "The House was
quiet as a mouse the day after Christmas. But across the Capitol, the [Democratic
controlled] Senate was operating in an unusually efficient manner in its
ongoing power struggle with [Republican] President Bush." ... "A nine-second
session gaveled in and out by [Virginia Democratic Senator] Sen. Jim Webb,
D-Va.[Democratic-Virginia], prevented Bush from appointing as an assistant
attorney general a nominee roundly rejected by majority Democrats. Without
the pro forma session, the Senate would be technically adjourned, allowing
the president to install officials without Senate confirmation." ... "Democrats
wanted to block one such recess appointment in particular: Steven Bradbury,
acting chief of the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Counsel.
Bush nominated Bradbury for the job and asked the Senate to remove the
"acting" in his title." ... "Democrats would have none of it, complaining
Bradbury had signed two secret memos in 2005 saying it was OK for the CIA
[Central Intelligence Agency] to use harsh interrogation techniques — some
call it torture — on terrorism detainees." -By Laurie
Kellman -AP
via -Yahoo
Secret
- Intelligence
- War
- Criminal
- Videotapes
- Censorship
- Politics
- Military
- Terrorism
- Texas
- "Subpoena
of CIA officials threatened: Justice Dept. [department]
action in tape destruction probe angers House panel chairman, who expects
testimony from two top intelligence agency officials." ... "The chairman
of the House Intelligence Committee, chafing at the Justice Department's
handling of a probe into missing CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] interrogation
tapes, threatened Wednesday to subpoena two top CIA officials to jump-start
the panel's own investigation." ... "The department, which is conducting
a criminal inquiry with the CIA inspector general into revelations that
a CIA official destroyed videotapes of two terrorism suspects being interrogated
in 2005, asked the panel last week to defer its inquiry." ... "Committee
Chairman [Texas Democratic Representative] Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas)
has called a hearing for Jan. 16. He said he expected testimony from both
acting CIA general counsel John Rizzo and Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., the former
head of the agency's operations branch, who authorized destroying the tapes."
-By Richard B. Schmitt
-LAtimes
Secret
- Alberto
R Gonzales - David
S Addington - Dick
Cheney
- Harriet
E Miers
- Torture
- War
- Crimes
- Tapes
- Censorship
- Law
- Politics
- Military
- Government
- Intelligence
- Terrorism
- History
- US
- Iraq
- "Bush
Lawyers Discussed Fate of C.I.A.Tapes." ... "At least
four top [Republican President Bush] White House lawyers took part in discussions
with the Central Intelligence Agency between 2003 and 2005 about whether
to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations of two operatives
from Al Qaeda, according to current and former administration and intelligence
officials." ... "The accounts indicate that the involvement of White House
officials in the discussions before the destruction of the tapes in November
2005 was more extensive than [Republican President] Bush administration
officials have acknowledged." ... "Those who took part, the officials said,
included Alberto R. Gonzales, who served as White House counsel until early
2005; David S. Addington, who was the counsel to [Republican] Vice President
Dick Cheney and is now his chief of staff; John B. Bellinger III, who until
January 2005 was the senior lawyer at the National Security Council; and
Harriet E. Miers, who succeeded Mr. Gonzales as White House counsel." ...
"It was previously reported that some administration officials had advised
against destroying the tapes, but the emerging picture of White House involvement
is more complex. In interviews, several administration and intelligence
officials provided conflicting accounts as to whether anyone at the White
House expressed support for the idea that the tapes should be destroyed."
... "One former senior intelligence official with direct knowledge of the
matter said there had been “vigorous sentiment” among some top White House
officials to destroy the tapes. The former official did not specify which
White House officials took this position, but he said that some believed
in 2005 that any disclosure of the tapes could have been particularly damaging
after revelations a year earlier of abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq."
... "The current and former officials also provided new details about the
role played in November 2005 by Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., then the chief of
the agency’s clandestine branch, who ultimately ordered the destruction
of the tapes." ... "The officials said that before he issued a secret cable
directing that the tapes be destroyed, Mr. Rodriguez received legal guidance
from two C.I.A. [Central Intelligence Agency] lawyers, Steven Hermes and
Robert Eatinger. The officials said that those lawyers gave written guidance
to Mr. Rodriguez that he had the authority to destroy the tapes and that
the destruction would violate no laws." ... "Current and former officials
said the two lawyers informed the C.I.A.’s top lawyer, John A. Rizzo, about
the legal advice they had provided." (1, 2)
-By Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane with contributions
by David Johnston -NYTimes
Chris
Dodd
- Corporate
- Government
- Spy
- Law
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Telephone
- Internet
- E-Mails
- Electronic
- Civil
Liberties - 2008
Election - Foreign
- American
- Nevada
- Conn
- Wisc
- VT
- Mass
- "Spy
law showdown postponed until next year." ... "Congress
won't decide until next year whether to pass a complex law that would let
telephone and Internet companies off the hook from lawsuits alleging illicit
cooperation with federal government spies." ... "In something of an unexpected
move, U.S. Senate Majority Leader [Nevada Democratic Senator] Harry Reid
took to the Senate floor on Monday evening and announced he would postpone
debate on the so-called FISA Amendments Act [FISA: Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act]. That bill, which has already been approved in a closed-door
meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would grant such corporate
immunity and make it easier for the feds to snoop on phone calls and e-mails
involving foreigners and Americans without a warrant, drawing rampant criticism
from civil liberties groups." ... "Earlier
in the day, however, it appeared more certain that the Senate would
move ahead with a vote to approve the
controversial Senate measure, which would provide legal immunity to
electronic communications providers that have allegedly opened up their
networks to the National Security Agency and other federal spies since
the September 11, 2001 attacks. Above vocal objections from some Democrats,
the senators nevertheless voted 76-10 to limit debate and other stalling
tactics related to the bill." ... "But in the end, last-minute rallying
from Democrats opposed to the telecommunications immunity provisions applied
the necessary pressure." ... "Perhaps most notably, [2008 Election Democratic
Presidential Candidate and Connecticut Senator] Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.),
a presidential hopeful, devoted
nearly the entire day to delivering one impassioned speech after another
about his opposition to granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies
accused of providing illegal assistance to government spying programs.
Other influential Democratic senators, including [Wisconsin Democratic
Senator] Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), [Vermont Democratic Senator] Patrick
Leahy (D-Vt.), and [Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.)
echoed his concerns at various points during the day." -By
Anne Broache -CNET
Secret
- Surveillance
- Terrorism
- Crime
- Telecommunications
- Companies
- Government
- Legislation
- Politics- Intelligence
- Drug
- Consumer
- Wireless
- Technology
- United
States - Global
- Space
- Colorado
- New
Jersey - "Wider
Spying Fuels Aid Plan for Telecom Industry." ...
"For months, the [Republican President] Bush administration has waged a
high-profile campaign, including personal lobbying by President Bush and
closed-door briefings by top officials, to persuade Congress to pass legislation
protecting companies from lawsuits for aiding the National Security Agency’s
warrantless eavesdropping program." ... "But the battle is really about
something much bigger. At stake is the federal government’s extensive but
uneasy partnership with industry to conduct a wide range of secret surveillance
operations in fighting terrorism and crime." ... "The N.S.A.’s reliance
on telecommunications companies is broader and deeper than ever before,
according to government and industry officials, yet that alliance is strained
by legal worries and the fear of public exposure." ... "To detect narcotics
trafficking, for example, the government has been collecting the phone
records of thousands of Americans and others inside the United States who
call people in Latin America, according to several government officials
who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the program remains classified.
But in 2004, one major phone carrier balked at turning over its customers’
records. Worried about possible privacy violations or public relations
problems, company executives declined to help the operation, which has
not been previously disclosed." ... "In a separate N.S.A. [National Security
Agency] project, executives at a Denver [Colorado] phone carrier, Qwest,
refused in early 2001 to give the agency access to their most localized
communications switches, which primarily carry domestic calls, according
to people aware of the request, which has not been previously reported.
They say the arrangement could have permitted neighborhood-by-neighborhood
surveillance of phone traffic without a court order, which alarmed them."
... "The federal government’s reliance on private industry has been driven
by changes in technology. Two decades ago, telephone calls and other communications
traveled mostly through the air, relayed along microwave towers or bounced
off satellites. The N.S.A. could vacuum up phone, fax and data traffic
merely by erecting its own satellite dishes. But the fiber optics revolution
has sent more and more international communications by land and undersea
cable, forcing the agency to seek company cooperation to get access." ...
"[An ATT engineer is claiming in a lawsuit that as early as February 2001,]
“What he saw,” said Bruce Afran, a New Jersey lawyer representing the plaintiffs
along with Carl Mayer, “was decisive evidence that within two weeks of
taking office, the [Republican] Bush administration was planning a comprehensive
effort of spying on Americans’ phone usage.”" (1,
2)
-By Eric Lichtblau, James Risen, and Scott Shane
-NYTimes
I
Lewis "Scooter" Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Criminal
- Government
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Libby
drops appeal in CIA leak case." ... "Former [Republican
President Bush] White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is no longer
appealing his conviction in the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] leak
case, a tacit recognition that continuing his legal fight might only make
things worse." ... "Libby, the former chief of staff to [Republican] Vice
President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction but [Republican]
President Bush commuted his 30-month prison sentence in July. As a convicted
felon, Libby will lose his law license and, in some states, cannot vote."
... "He might have had a chance to avoid those consequences had he won
on appeal, but at a new trial his commutation would be meaningless and
Libby would again face potential prison time." ... "Libby, 57, was convicted
of lying and obstructing an investigation into the 2003 leak of [American
Undercover] CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. He was the only person
to face criminal charges in the case." ... "The decision to withdraw his
appeal means Libby will remain a convicted felon. President Bush could
wipe away the conviction with a full pardon, something he has refused to
rule out." -By Matt Apuzzo with contributions by Deb
Riechmann -AP
via -Yahoo
Joe
Biden
- Investigate
- Military
- Government
- Intelligence
- Terrorism
- Videotapes
- Censorship
- Politics
- Delaware
- 2008
Election - "Biden
calls for Special Counsel to investigate CIA." ...
"[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Delaware Senator]
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, says the Justice Department needs to go further
than it has, by calling for the appointment of Special Counsel to investigate
the CIA's destruction of videotapes that included the interrogation of
terrorism suspects." ... "“Under federal law, the Attorney General may
appoint a Special Counsel to prosecute matters when he or she determines
that an investigation by the Department itself would present a conflict
of interest, or there are other extraordinary circumstances and it would
be in the public interest to do so. I believe these conditions are met,"
the Democratic presidential hopeful said in a news release Sunday." ...
"“This is a White House that has sanctioned and pushed for the kind of
interrogation techniques captured on those video tapes," Biden said. "This
is a White House that was informed of the CIA’s desire to destroy those
tapes. Thus, it is possible this investigation could lead to the [Republican
President Bush] White House."" -By Jamie Crawford
-CNN
Secret
- Porter
J Goss
- Michael
V Hayden - Military
- Government
- Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Videotapes
- Censorship
- Officers
- Safety
- Prisoner
- Torture
- War
Crimes - Law
- Politics
- "C.I.A.
Destroyed Tapes of Interrogations." ... "The Central
Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting
the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a
step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the
C.I.A’s [Central Intelligence Agency] secret detention program, according
to current and former government officials." ... "The videotapes showed
agency operatives in 2002 subjecting terror suspects — including Abu Zubaydah,
the first detainee in C.I.A. custody — to severe interrogation techniques.
They were destroyed in part because officers were concerned that tapes
documenting controversial interrogation methods could expose agency officials
to greater risk of legal jeopardy, several officials said." ... "The C.I.A.
said today that the decision to destroy the tapes had been made “within
the C.I.A. itself,” and they were destroyed to protect the safety of undercover
officers and because they no longer had intelligence value. The agency
was headed at the time by Porter J. Goss. Through a spokeswoman, Mr. Goss
declined this afternoon to comment on the destruction of the tapes." ...
"The existence and subsequent destruction of the tapes are likely to reignite
the debate over the use of severe interrogation techniques on terror suspects,
and their destruction raises questions about whether C.I.A. officials withheld
information about aspects of the program from the courts and from the Sept.
11 commission appointed by [Republican] President Bush and Congress. It
was not clear who within the C.I.A. authorized the destruction of the tapes,
but current and former government officials said it had been approved at
the highest levels of the agency." ... "General [CIA Director, General
Michael V Hayden] Hayden said in a statement that leaders of Congressional
oversight committees were fully briefed on the matter, but some Congressional
officials said notification to Congress had not been adequate." (1, 2)
-By Mark Mazzetti with contributions by Eric Lichtblau
and Scott Shane -NYTimes
US
- Iran
- Nuclear
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Bush
told in August that Iran nuke program 'may be suspended'."
... "[Republican] President Bush was told in August that Iran's nuclear
weapons program "may be suspended," the White House said Wednesday, which
seemingly contradicts the account of the meeting given by Bush Tuesday."
... "[Admiral] Adm. Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence,
told Bush the new information might cause intelligence officials to change
their assessment of the Iranian program, but said analysts needed to review
the new data before making a final judgment, White House press secretary
Dana Perino said late Wednesday." ... ""Director McConnell said that the
new information might cause the intelligence community to change its assessment
of Iran's covert nuclear program, but the intelligence community was not
prepared to draw any conclusions at that point in time, and it wouldn't
be right to speculate until they had time to examine and analyze the new
data," Perino said in a statement issued by the White House." ... "The
new account from Perino seems to contradict the president's version of
his August conversation with McConnell and raised new questions about why
Bush continued to warn the American public about a threat from Iran two
months after being told a new assessment was in the works." -By
Ed Henry -CNN
Joe
Biden
- US
- Iran
- Military
- Nuclear
- Intelligence
- History
- Delaware
- 2008
Election - "Democrats
incredulous over Bush's account of Iran report."
... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidate [Delaware Senator]
Sen. Joe Biden on Tuesday said he can't believe [Republican] President
Bush hasn't known for months about a recent intelligence estimate that
downplays the nuclear threat from Iran." ... "On Tuesday the president
acknowledged he had given a speech warning that Iran's nuclear development
risked "World War III" about two months after his intelligence chief told
him a reassessment of Tehran's nuclear ambitions was under way." ... "Bush
told reporters during a White House news conference that he was not told
the details of the new assessment until last week and he said the new report,
which found that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons work in 2003, will
not change U.S. policy toward Iran." ... "The Democratic presidential candidates
were incredulous that Bush did not know about the assessment's new finding."
... "Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called
that explanation "unbelievable."" ... ""Are you telling me a president
that's briefed every single morning, who's fixated on Iran, is not told
back in August that the tentative conclusion of 16 intelligence agencies
in the U.S. government said they had abandoned their effort for a nuclear
weapon in '03?" Biden asked in a conference call with reporters." ... ""I
refuse to believe that," he added. "If that's true, he has the most incompetent
staff in modern American history, and he's one of the most incompetent
presidents in modern American history."" -CNN
US
- Iran
- Nuclear
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Secret
- History
- "U.S.
Finds Iran Halted Its Nuclear Arms Effort in 2003."
... "A new assessment by American intelligence agencies released Monday
concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that
the program remains frozen, contradicting a judgment two years ago that
Tehran [Iran's capital] was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear
bomb." ... "The conclusions of the new assessment are likely to reshape
the final year of the [Republican President] Bush administration, which
has made halting Iran’s nuclear program a cornerstone of its foreign policy."
... "The assessment, a National Intelligence Estimate that represents the
consensus view of all 16 American spy agencies, states that Tehran is likely
to keep its options open with respect to building a weapon, but that intelligence
agencies “do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons.”"
... "Iran is continuing to produce enriched uranium, a program that the
Tehran government has said is intended for civilian purposes. The new estimate
says that the enrichment program could still provide Iran with enough raw
material to produce a nuclear weapon sometime by the middle of next decade,
a timetable essentially unchanged from previous estimates." ... "But the
new report essentially disavows a judgment that the intelligence agencies
issued in 2005, which concluded that Iran had an active secret arms program
intended to transform the raw material into a nuclear weapon. The new estimate
declares instead with “high confidence” that the military-run program was
shut in 2003, and it concludes with “moderate confidence” that the program
remains frozen. The report judges that the halt was imposed by Iran “primarily
in response to increasing international scrutiny and pressure.”" (1, 2)
-By Mark Mazzetti -NYTimes
Americans'
- Communications
- Freedom
- Government
- Intelligence
- Surveillance
- Law
- Politics
- "Protecting
privacy." ... "Contrary to [TIME Magazine Columnist
Joel] Klein's claims, Democrats want to require individualized warrants
only when the government targets Americans, not foreigners overseas. Klein
is also flat out wrong to suggest there is "broad, bipartisan agreement"
on new surveillance powers. In fact, the [Republican President Bush] administration
and its allies adamantly oppose even modest proposals to protect law-abiding
Americans who are swept up in this new, essentially warrantless surveillance.
Only after the president's illegal wiretapping program was publicly revealed
was the administration forced to comply with the law. Now the administration
is demanding broad new powers that could allow it to collect countless
communications. Congress must make sure that the new law requires independent
court oversight and protects innocent Americans' privacy. That's not "stupid";
that's our sworn and solemn duty." -By United States
Senator Russ Feingold -ChicagoTribune
Rudy
Giuliani
- Terrorism
- Money
- Politics
- US
- Qatar
- Military
- Intelligence
- Osama
bin Laden
- Law
- Enforcement
- 2008
Election - "Giuliani's
Ties to Qatar Raise Questions for Mr. 9/ll." ...
"Contracts awarded to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate]
Rudy Giuliani's private security firm in the Gulf state of Qatar were overseen
by a government minister suspected of harboring the al Qaeda terrorist
who planned the 9/ll attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, according to security
consultants in the region." ... "Since 2005, Giuliani Partners and its
Giuliani Security & Safety (GS&S) unit has provided security consulting
and advice in Qatar through contracts overseen by the country's Interior
Ministry, which is currently run by a member of the royal family who has
long been accused of supporting al Qaeda, according to security consultants
familiar with the area." ... "The current interior minister, Sheik Abdullah
Bin Khalid al-Thani, was suspected of sheltering Mohammed at his farm and
tipping him off to the arrival of CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] and
FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] teams coming to arrest the al Qaeda
strategist back in 1996, according to the National Security Council's former
chief counterterrorism adviser and ABC News consultant Richard A. Clarke,
former CIA agent Robert Baer and a 2004 Congressional Research Service
report." ... "Khalid al-Thani is also believed to have welcomed Osama bin
Laden on two visits to the farm, according to an Oct. 10, 2007 CRS study."
... "The firm's work in Qatar was too close for comfort to former law enforcement
agents familiar with the country." ... ""We have a guy who could be president
who's taking money from the same accounts that harbored terrorists," said
Baer, the former CIA agent." -By Marcus Baram
-ABCNEWS.com
Telecommunications
- Money
- Politics
- Government
- Surveillance
- Intelligence
- Electronic
- Network
- "Judge:
Feds must release telecom records." ... "An electronic
privacy group challenging [Republican] President Bush's domestic spying
program scored a minor victory after a judge ordered the federal government
to release information about lobbying efforts by telecommunications companies
to protect them from prosecution." ... "The Electronic Frontier Foundation
in January 2006 filed a class-action suit against AT&T Inc., accusing
the company of illegally making communications on its networks available
to the National Security Agency without warrants." ... "Congress is now
considering changing the law to grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications
companies that would protect them from such court challenges." ... ""Any
attempt for immunity is aimed at getting these very important cases swept
back under the rug," EFF spokeswoman Rebecca Jeschke said Wednesday." -By
Kim Curtis -AP
via -Yahoo
Noteworthy- Scott
Bloch
- Karl
Rove
- Military
- Government
- Computer
- Intelligence
- Company
- Hacking
- 2006
Election - Politics
- Employee
- Justice
- Investigation
- Kan
- "Head
of Rove Inquiry in Hot Seat Himself: Bloch Used Private
Company, Geeks on Call, to Delete Files On His Office Computer." ... "The
head of the federal agency investigating [Republican President Bush's former
aide] Karl Rove's White House political operation is facing allegations
that he improperly deleted computer files during another probe, using a
private computer-help company, Geeks on Call." ... "TScott Bloch runs the
Office of Special Counsel, an agency charged with protecting government
whistleblowers and enforcing a ban on federal employees engaging in partisan
political activity. Mr. Bloch's agency is looking into whether Mr. Rove
and other White House officials used government agencies to help re-elect
Republicans in 2006." ... "TAt the same time, Mr. Bloch has himself been
under investigation since 2005. At the direction of the White House, the
federal Office of Personnel Management's inspector general is looking into
claims that Mr. Bloch improperly retaliated against employees and dismissed
whistleblower cases without adequate examination." ... "TRecently, investigators
learned that Mr. Bloch erased all the files on his office personal computer
late last year. They are now trying to determine whether the deletions
were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said." ...
"In an interview, the 49-year-old former labor-law litigator from Lawrence,
Kan., confirmed that he contacted Geeks on Call but said he was trying
to eradicate a virus that had seized control of his computer." ... "Mr.
Bloch believes the White House may have a conflict of interest in pressing
the inquiry into his conduct while his office investigates the White House
political operation." ... "Depending on circumstances, erasing files or
destroying evidence in a federal investigation can be considered obstruction
of justice." ... "Mr. Bloch had his computer's hard disk completely cleansed
using a "seven-level" wipe: a thorough scrubbing that conforms to Defense
Department data-security standards. The process makes it nearly impossible
for forensics experts to restore the data later. He also directed Geeks
on Call to erase laptop computers that had been used by his two top political
deputies, who had recently left the agency." -By John
R. Wilke -WSJ.com
Iraq
- United
States - Saudi
Arabia - Libya
- Syria
- Military
- Terrorism
- Computer
- Intelligence
- Religious
- Politics
- "Foreign
Fighters in Iraq Are Tied to Allies of U.S.." ...
"Saudi Arabia and Libya, both considered allies by the United States in
its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60 percent of the
foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to serve as suicide
bombers or to facilitate other attacks, according to senior American military
officials." ... "The data come largely from a trove of documents and computers
discovered in September, when American forces raided a tent camp in the
desert near Sinjar, close to the Syrian border. The raid’s target was an
insurgent cell believed to be responsible for smuggling the vast majority
of foreign fighters into Iraq." ... "The most significant discovery was
a collection of biographical sketches that listed hometowns and other details
for more than 700 fighters brought into Iraq since August 2006." ... "The
records also underscore how the insurgency in Iraq remains both overwhelmingly
Iraqi and Sunni. American officials now estimate that the flow of foreign
fighters was 80 to 110 per month during the first half of this year and
about 60 per month during the summer. The numbers fell sharply in October
to no more than 40, partly as a result of the Sinjar raid, the American
officials say." ... "In contrast to the comparatively small number of foreigners,
more than 25,000 inmates are in American detention centers in Iraq. Of
those, only about 290, or some 1.2 percent, are foreigners, military officials
say." ... "About four out of every five detainees in American detention
centers are Sunni Arab, even though Sunni Arabs make up just one-fifth
of Iraq’s population." (1, 2)
-By Richard A. Oppel Jr.
-NYTimes
Dick
Cheney- Karl
Rove
- I
Lewis "Scooter" Libby - Intelligence
- Law
- Politics
- Book
- "McClellan
blames Bush for CIA leak deceit: Former spokesman
says both president and vice president involved." ... "Former White House
press secretary Scott McClellan blames [Republican] President Bush and
[Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public
about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA [Central
Intelligence Agency] operative." ... "In an excerpt from his forthcoming
book ["What Happened"], McClellan recount the 2003 news conference in which
he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were
"not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame." ... ""There
was one problem. It was not true," McClellan writes, according to a brief
excerpt released Monday. "I had unknowingly passed along false information.
And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved
in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief
of staff and the president himself."" ... "Bush's chief of staff at the
time was Andrew Card." -AP
via -MSNBC
Government
- Surveillance
- Telephone
- Companies
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Civil
Liberties - "Panel
Drops Immunity From Eavesdropping Bill." ... "Reflecting
the deep divisions within Congress over granting legal immunity to telephone
companies for cooperating with the [Republican President] Bush administration’s
program of wiretapping without warrants, the Senate Judiciary Committee
approved a new domestic surveillance law on Thursday that sidestepped the
issue." ... "By a 10 to 9 vote, the committee approved an overhaul of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that dropped a key provision for
immunity for telecommunications companies that another committee had already
approved. The Senate leadership will have to decide how to deal with the
immunity question on the Senate floor." ... "On Thursday night, the House
voted 227 to 189, generally along party lines, to approve its own version
of the FISA bill, which also does not include immunity." ... "But the administration
has made clear that President Bush will veto any bill that does not include
what it considers necessary tools for government eavesdropping, including
the retroactive immunity for phone carriers that took part in the National
Security Agency’s wiretapping program after the Sept. 11 attacks." ...
"Since the N.S.A. program was disclosed nearly two years ago, the major
telephone companies have been sued by civil liberties groups and others,
who argue that the companies violated the privacy rights of millions of
Americans." -By James Risen
-NYTimes
Michael
Mukasey
- Alberto
Gonzales - Government
- Spying
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Domestic
Spying Inquiry Restarted at DoJ." ... "The Justice
Department has reopened a long-dormant inquiry into the government's warrantless
wiretapping program, a major policy shift only days into the tenure of
Attorney General Michael Mukasey." ... "The investigation by the department's
Office of Professional Responsibility was shut down last year, after the
investigators were denied security clearances. Gonzales told Congress that
[Republican] President Bush, not he, denied the clearances." ... "The OPR
investigation was begun in February 2006 but was shut down a few months
later when the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department
lawyers the security clearances to ask questions about the program. Justice
Department officials said Gonzales recommended Bush approve the clearances,
but the president said no." ... "Bush's decision to authorize the spy agency
to monitor people inside the United States, without warrants, generated
a host of questions about the program's legal justification." -By
Devlin Barrett with contributions by Lara Jakes Jordan
-AP via -SFGate.com
Los
Angeles - California
- Police
- Government
- Mapping
- Religious
- Peoples
- Race
- Civil
Libertarians - Scientific
- Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Law
- "LAPD
defends Muslim mapping effort: Police call program
an effort to improve relations with Islamic community. Civil libertarians
criticize profiling while other skeptics note that population is dispersed
and defies easy classification." ... "The [Los Angeles, California] LAPD's
plan to map Muslim communities in an effort to identify potential hotbeds
of extremism departs from the way law enforcement has dealt with local
anti-terrorism since 9/11 and prompted widespread skepticism Friday." ...
"In a document reviewed Friday by The Times, the LAPD's Los Angeles Police
Department's counter-terrorism bureau proposed using U.S. census data and
other demographic information to pinpoint various Muslim communities and
then reach out to them through social service agencies." ... "LAPD officials
said that it is crucial for them to gain a better understanding of isolated
parts of the Muslim community. Those groups can potentially breed violent
extremism, the LAPD said in its plan." ... ""This is not . . . targeting
or profiling," Police Chief William J. Bratton said Friday in defending
the program. "It is an effort to understand communities," he said." ...
"But the effort sparked an outcry from civil libertarians and some Muslim
activists, who compared the program to religious profiling." ... "Others
noted that the effort faces enormous practical difficulties. The U.S. Census
Bureau is barred by law from asking people for their religious affiliation.
As a result, there is no scientific data on the size of the nation's Muslim
population, let alone its location, with estimates of the population nationwide
ranging from about 1.4 million adults in a Pew Research Center study this
year to the 7 million or more claimed by some community organizations."
... "Census data on ancestry also would not yield accurate Muslim estimates,
because significant numbers of ethnic Iranians are Jewish and many ethnic
Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians are Christians." (1, 2)
-By Richard Winton, Teresa Watanabe, and Greg Krikorian
with contributions by Jean-Paul Renaud -LAtimes
Photo
- Media
- Intelligence
- Politics
- California
- Wildfire
- Emergency
- "Just
Who Was At That Fake FEMA Briefing? CBS News Obtains
A Photo Of The "Press" Gallery Full Of FEMA [Federal Emergency Management
Agency] Staffers." ... "CBS News has obtained this photo of the
now infamous fake FEMA press conference held during the California wildfires.
The photo, taken by a FEMA employee, is one of the only known photos of
the press gallery of that event." ... "The gallery is not filled with members
of the press but with high-level agency employees." ... "At the podium
on the left is Vice Admiral Harvey Johnson, the second in command at FEMA."
... "It was announced Thursday that an internal investigation had found
that FEMA's press secretary encouraged, and in some cases instructed, employees
to pose as reporters and ask questions at the fake news conference." ...
"Since the briefing [former director of public affairs at FEMA, John "Pat"]
Philbin - who, at the time of the news conference, already had accepted
a job at the office of the director of national intelligence - lost his
new post before he even started because of the incident."
-CBSNews
Dick
Cheney
- Dennis
Kucinich - US
- Iraq
- Military
- Intelligence
- Law
- Ohio
- 2008
Election - "Debate
on Cheney impeachment averted." ... "House Democrats
on Tuesday narrowly managed to avert a bruising debate on a proposal to
impeach [Republican Vice President] Dick Cheney after Republicans, in a
surprise maneuver, voted in favor of taking up the measure." ... "Republicans,
changing course midway through a vote, tried to force Democrats into a
debate on the resolution sponsored by longshot [2008 Election Democratic]
presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich." ... "The anti-war Ohio Democrat,
in his resolution, accused Cheney of purposely leading the country into
war against Iraq and manipulating intelligence about Iraq's ties with al-Qaida."
... "The resolution said that Cheney, "in violation of his constitutional
oath to faithfully execute the office of vice president," had "purposely
manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress
of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction
to justify the use of the U.S. Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq
in a manner damaging to our national security interests."" -By
Jim Abrams -AP
via -Yahoo