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The Daily Muck
No Dissent on Spying Program, Says Justice Department
"The Justice Department said yesterday that it will not retract a sworn statement in 2006 by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales that the Terrorist Surveillance Program had aroused no controversy inside the Bush administration, despite congressional testimony Tuesday that senior departmental officials nearly resigned in 2004 to protest such a program. The department's affirmation of Gonzales's remarks raised fresh questions about the nature of the classified dispute, which former U.S. officials say led then-Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey and as many as eight colleagues to discuss resigning." (Washington Post)
Senators Renew Call for Gonzales’ Ouster
"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is under new political heat after two more Republicans came out against him and Democrats broadened their probe of prosecutor firings to questions of whether he politicized the Justice Department at the White House's behest. Gonzales, who some believed had survived the furor over the firings, came under new pressure Wednesday when Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), became the fourth Republican senator to urge him to resign. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), also said the attorney general should consider stepping down." (Associated Press)
AP Is On the Story About DOE Using Private Emails
"The Associated Press picked up CREW's request for an investigation of whether Department of Education staffers were violating the law by using private e-mail accounts for official business. CREW's counsel, Dan Roth, had two separate conversations recently with Education Department officials in which he was told that some information he was seeking regarding a reading program might be unavailable because it was not stored in e-mail accounts accessible to the government. Department officials told Roth that agency employees often use private e-mail accounts rather than their government-issued accounts to do official business." (CREW)
Former EPA Chief Refuses to Testify on Post-9/11 Air Quality
"Christine Todd Whitman, the former administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency, has refused to testify before a congressional subcommittee, regarding the government's handling of the air quality at the World Trade Center site following the 9/11 attacks. In refusing to testify, Whitman's attorney cited that the former New Jersey governor is named as a defendant in two lawsuits involving her statements on air quality following the attacks." (ABC's The Blotter)
Commerce Inspector General Broke Whistle-Blower Law
"The Commerce Department's inspector general, who is supposed to look into complaints of wrongdoing by government officials, committed "egregious violations" of the federal law that protects whistle-blowers by retaliating against two subordinates, a government investigation has concluded. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel found that Inspector General Johnnie E. Frazier wrongly demoted the two employees during an investigation of his spending, according to a copy of the report obtained by The Washington Post. It concluded that Frazier's actions violated the Whistleblower Protection Act." (Washington Post)
US Reading Program Benefits Bush Friend
"A Texas businessman listed as a major fundraiser for President George Bush has made millions of dollars in profits from a federal reading program that critics say favored administration cronies at the expense of schoolchildren. A company founded and owned by Randy Best, who is listed by the nonprofit group Public Citizen as a Bush 'Pioneer' during the 2000 presidential campaign, received the lucrative contracts under a Bush administration initiative called Reading First." (ABC's The Blotter)
CIA Leak Case Set to Resume
"The legal fallout from the 2003 CIA leak scandal continues as lawyers seek dismissal of a lawsuit against members of the Bush administration. Former CIA operative Valerie Plame contends the administration violated her constitutional rights by leaking her identity to reporters in 2003. She is demanding compensation from Vice President Dick Cheney; one of his former aides, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby; White House political adviser Karl Rove; and former State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage." (Associated Press)
Wolfowitz-World Bank Negotiations Stalled
"World Bank officials say the negotiations between the bank's board and a lawyer for World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz stalled today when the two sides could not agree on an 'exit strategy' to allow Wolfowitz to 'save face' over the issue of his efforts to seek a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend at the bank. The officials said the bank's board had hoped to accept Wolfowitz's resignation but also acknowledge that the World Bank's Ethics Committee bears 'some responsibility' for giving him bad advice on the issue of his girlfriend." (ABC's The Blotter)
Lobby Bill in Trouble
"Rising opposition from the House Democratic Caucus is imperiling a push by party leaders to deliver the lobbying overhaul they promised on the campaign trail. With details of the reform plan sinking in a day after leaders unveiled it, Members from several corners of the Democratic Caucus said they were considering blocking the plan. 'I think it’s half of our entire Caucus,' said Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA). 'A lot of us believe the measures are unworkable. ... We’re OK with tough reform, but it’s got to be written well, and this isn’t.'" (Roll Call)
Doolittle States His Case in Memo
"In case you might have missed what Rep. John Doolittle has had to say about his run-ins with the Justice Department recently, his office has reduced it to a "talking points" memo. The four-page memo summarizes as "background" the Roseville Republican's views on the FBI's search of his Oakton, Va., home on April 13. It stresses his belief that the search will bring quicker "resolve" of the investigation into his and his wife's connections to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff that began almost three years ago." (Sacramento Bee)
Calvert Mounts Defense on Earmarks Allegations
"In an effort to respond to criticism surrounding his recent appointment to the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) intends to have the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct vet his future earmark requests. 'I’m going to do that, to ask the ethics committee, ‘Is that an appropriate thing for me to do?’ because obviously I can be objective about it as much as I like ... but I’d rather have a letter stating that,' Calvert said in a Tuesday interview arranged at his office’s request." (Roll Call)
Josh
Zachary
Welcome to the new world of Big Brother, American citizens. You're either with Big Brother, or you're a Terrorist.
May 17, 2007 9:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
The WashPost isn't parsing Gonzales' testimony correctly. It's forgotten that he is a weasel.
What Gonzales told Congress in 2006 was that "None of the reservations dealt with the program that we are talking about today." He clearly meant that to be taken as an assurance that the NSA program was uncontroversial within the Justice Department, but that's not actually what he said. I'm sure that, if tried for perjury, Gonzales would argue that the program under discussion in 2006 was not, in point of fact, the program to which objections were raised in 2004 - it had been revised to address those objections. Thus, the "program that we are talking about today" had never been subject to reservations.
May 17, 2007 9:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Rising opposition from the House Democratic Caucus is imperiling a push by party leaders to deliver the lobbying overhaul they promised on the campaign trail. "
Wow. That's not going to make them look bad or anything. Why don't they just forget about reform all together, let businesses run our government, and start calling themselves "the Republicans". That's sure to help keep the base (us) active.
May 17, 2007 9:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmh...now who should we believe James Comey or Abu Gonzales? That's a toughie. IMPEACH GONZALES NOW! THEN GO AFTER CHENEY AND BU$H! Enough already..we have a HUGE clean-up project ahead of us.
May 17, 2007 10:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, it looks like Chalmers Johnson might understand the deep shit we are in.....
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17708.htm
An excerpt....
"What the country desperately needs is a popular movement to rebuild the Constitutional system and subject the government once again to the discipline of checks and balances. Neither the replacement of one political party by the other, nor protectionist economic policies aimed at rescuing what's left of our manufacturing economy will correct what has gone wrong. Both of these solutions fail to address the root cause of our national decline."
May 17, 2007 10:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
It’s looks like DOJ should prosecute Comey for perjury. It’s the only way to protect the integrity of the Attorney General.
May 17, 2007 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
asdf, that was brilliant.
May 17, 2007 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
"It’s the only way to protect the integrity of the Attorney General."
What integrity?
May 17, 2007 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now it always amazes me that the news reports the facts in piecemeal. There are a couple of competing issues here: First a request to update FISA to be technology nuetral by Congress Woman Wilson of NM. That is being blocked by the current issues surrounding the Gonzales and FISA issue where a FISA Judge resigned! (U.S. District Judge James Robertson). But lets not forget that The Honorable Glenn A. Fine Inspector General , U.S. Department of Justice had his staff's security clearances yanked in the investigation of the DOJ UNAUTHORIZED spying and that then a second group was created and awarded security clearances to seek to identify those whom leaked the illegal spying! (sounds like a good old case of NM attorney general retalliation.) Well folks it gets better than that, We have the National Security letters, where a 'non-politicized' DOJ inadvertantly had 22% for national security letters issued than where in their data base! Exigent Letters and National security letters show problems though only ten percent of the letters were reviewed, the exact congressional report is here.
http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress07/caproni032007.htm
While on the one hand we understand the need to efficiently and appropriately proceed with seeking to gather actionable intelliigence, nonetheless the COINTELPRO lessons lead as an equal reasonable assumption (both rationales for gathering intel) and an equal rational (that that intel gathering not be abused) leads me to believe that abuses were performed where unsigned EXIGENT letters created at the request of political appointees were then handed off to 'routine rank and file' intelligence gathering and consuming interests for the purposes of political punsihment.
Sadly I see a breach of trust by the highest officers in the executive branch where a divide and conquer approach was used, feed EXIGENT lead to NSA, feed DOS data about yellowcake to CIA, feed DOE data about alluminum tubes to DOS, feed that crap to the NYPOST, and ineffect to study the system well enough to attack it's most vulnerable weakness: ETHICS, TRUST, and INTEGRITY!
I can only imagine the fun and profit accruing when a foreign asset (a loyal bushie) calls from an internet cafe in Karrachi to a target in the USA and then 'primes the pump' of misinformation.
Far from wanting to cripple valid INTEL collecting, far from wanting to see FISA remain technology unnuetral, I want to see reform created so that the people whom did this are held responsible and that this is not allowed to happen again, and again, and again.
You know a set of propositions has to be consistent and rational for an actionable item list to be created.
The greatest betrayal was of the system! And pretending to protect institutional credibility and addressing the manner in which these 'intelligence failures' occured leaves any revision or broadening of survelience impotent to the abuse that this administration practiced.
Gonzales should go, and all the National Security letters should be examined so that those that were issued illegally can be addressed in a manner where people whom were impugned by simply pointing out these above facts can clear their names.
The idea that a (loyal bushie) could theoretically enlist a foreign asset (as an example a friendly isreali) to have one of their assets inside groups of unfriendlies to the US finger an American and waste resources for purely poilitical motives is the GREATEST threat to national security, NOT FISA nuetrality!
And that post folks will probably generate a EXIGENT letter as it is the truth.
May 17, 2007 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now it always amazes me that the news reports the facts in piecemeal. There are a couple of competing issues here: First a request to update FISA to be technology nuetral by Congress Woman Wilson of NM. That is being blocked by the current issues surrounding the Gonzales and FISA issue where a FISA Judge resigned! (U.S. District Judge James Robertson). But lets not forget that The Honorable Glenn A. Fine Inspector General , U.S. Department of Justice had his staff's security clearances yanked in the investigation of the DOJ UNAUTHORIZED spying and that then a second group was created and awarded security clearances to seek to identify those whom leaked the illegal spying! (sounds like a good old case of NM attorney general retalliation.) Well folks it gets better than that, We have the National Security letters, where a 'non-politicized' DOJ inadvertantly had 22% for national security letters issued than where in their data base! Exigent Letters and National security letters show problems though only ten percent of the letters were reviewed, the exact congressional report is here.
http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress07/caproni032007.htm
While on the one hand we understand the need to efficiently and appropriately proceed with seeking to gather actionable intelliigence, nonetheless the COINTELPRO lessons lead as an equal reasonable assumption (both rationales for gathering intel) and an equal rational (that that intel gathering not be abused) leads me to believe that abuses were performed where unsigned EXIGENT letters created at the request of political appointees were then handed off to 'routine rank and file' intelligence gathering and consuming interests for the purposes of political punsihment.
Sadly I see a breach of trust by the highest officers in the executive branch where a divide and conquer approach was used, feed EXIGENT lead to NSA, feed DOS data about yellowcake to CIA, feed DOE data about alluminum tubes to DOS, feed that crap to the NYPOST, and ineffect to study the system well enough to attack it's most vulnerable weakness: ETHICS, TRUST, and INTEGRITY!
I can only imagine the fun and profit accruing when a foreign asset (a loyal bushie) calls from an internet cafe in Karrachi to a target in the USA and then 'primes the pump' of misinformation.
Far from wanting to cripple valid INTEL collecting, far from wanting to see FISA remain technology unnuetral, I want to see reform created so that the people whom did this are held responsible and that this is not allowed to happen again, and again, and again.
You know a set of propositions has to be consistent and rational for an actionable item list to be created.
The greatest betrayal was of the system! And pretending to protect institutional credibility and addressing the manner in which these 'intelligence failures' occured leaves any revision or broadening of survelience impotent to the abuse that this administration practiced.
Gonzales should go, and all the National Security letters should be examined so that those that were issued illegally can be addressed in a manner where people whom were impugned by simply pointing out these above facts can clear their names.
The idea that a (loyal bushie) could theoretically enlist a foreign asset (as an example a friendly isreali) to have one of their assets inside groups of unfriendlies to the US finger an American and waste resources for purely poilitical motives is the GREATEST threat to national security, NOT FISA nuetrality!
And that post folks will probably generate a EXIGENT letter as it is the truth.
May 17, 2007 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now it always amazes me that the news reports the facts in piecemeal. There are a couple of competing issues here: First a request to update FISA to be technology nuetral by Congress Woman Wilson of NM. That is being blocked by the current issues surrounding the Gonzales and FISA issue where a FISA Judge resigned! (U.S. District Judge James Robertson). But lets not forget that The Honorable Glenn A. Fine Inspector General , U.S. Department of Justice had his staff's security clearances yanked in the investigation of the DOJ UNAUTHORIZED spying and that then a second group was created and awarded security clearances to seek to identify those whom leaked the illegal spying! (sounds like a good old case of NM attorney general retalliation.) Well folks it gets better than that, We have the National Security letters, where a 'non-politicized' DOJ inadvertantly had 22% for national security letters issued than where in their data base! Exigent Letters and National security letters show problems though only ten percent of the letters were reviewed, the exact congressional report is here.
http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress07/caproni032007.htm
While on the one hand we understand the need to efficiently and appropriately proceed with seeking to gather actionable intelliigence, nonetheless the COINTELPRO lessons lead as an equal reasonable assumption (both rationales for gathering intel) and an equal rational (that that intel gathering not be abused) leads me to believe that abuses were performed where unsigned EXIGENT letters created at the request of political appointees were then handed off to 'routine rank and file' intelligence gathering and consuming interests for the purposes of political punsihment.
Sadly I see a breach of trust by the highest officers in the executive branch where a divide and conquer approach was used, feed EXIGENT lead to NSA, feed DOS data about yellowcake to CIA, feed DOE data about alluminum tubes to DOS, feed that crap to the NYPOST, and ineffect to study the system well enough to attack it's most vulnerable weakness: ETHICS, TRUST, and INTEGRITY!
I can only imagine the fun and profit accruing when a foreign asset (a loyal bushie) calls from an internet cafe in Karrachi to a target in the USA and then 'primes the pump' of misinformation.
Far from wanting to cripple valid INTEL collecting, far from wanting to see FISA remain technology unnuetral, I want to see reform created so that the people whom did this are held responsible and that this is not allowed to happen again, and again, and again.
You know a set of propositions has to be consistent and rational for an actionable item list to be created.
The greatest betrayal was of the system! And pretending to protect institutional credibility and addressing the manner in which these 'intelligence failures' occured leaves any revision or broadening of survelience impotent to the abuse that this administration practiced.
Gonzales should go, and all the National Security letters should be examined so that those that were issued illegally can be addressed in a manner where people whom were impugned by simply pointing out these above facts can clear their names.
The idea that a (loyal bushie) could theoretically enlist a foreign asset (as an example a friendly isreali) to have one of their assets inside groups of unfriendlies to the US finger an American and waste resources for purely poilitical motives is the GREATEST threat to national security, NOT FISA nuetrality!
And that post folks will probably generate a EXIGENT letter as it is the truth.
May 17, 2007 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now it always amazes me that the news reports the facts in piecemeal. There are a couple of competing issues here: First a request to update FISA to be technology nuetral by Congress Woman Wilson of NM. That is being blocked by the current issues surrounding the Gonzales and FISA issue where a FISA Judge resigned! (U.S. District Judge James Robertson). But lets not forget that The Honorable Glenn A. Fine Inspector General , U.S. Department of Justice had his staff's security clearances yanked in the investigation of the DOJ UNAUTHORIZED spying and that then a second group was created and awarded security clearances to seek to identify those whom leaked the illegal spying! (sounds like a good old case of NM attorney general retalliation.) Well folks it gets better than that, We have the National Security letters, where a 'non-politicized' DOJ inadvertantly had 22% for national security letters issued than where in their data base! Exigent Letters and National security letters show problems though only ten percent of the letters were reviewed, the exact congressional report is here.
http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress07/caproni032007.htm
While on the one hand we understand the need to efficiently and appropriately proceed with seeking to gather actionable intelliigence, nonetheless the COINTELPRO lessons lead as an equal reasonable assumption (both rationales for gathering intel) and an equal rational (that that intel gathering not be abused) leads me to believe that abuses were performed where unsigned EXIGENT letters created at the request of political appointees were then handed off to 'routine rank and file' intelligence gathering and consuming interests for the purposes of political punsihment.
Sadly I see a breach of trust by the highest officers in the executive branch where a divide and conquer approach was used, feed EXIGENT lead to NSA, feed DOS data about yellowcake to CIA, feed DOE data about alluminum tubes to DOS, feed that crap to the NYPOST, and ineffect to study the system well enough to attack it's most vulnerable weakness: ETHICS, TRUST, and INTEGRITY!
I can only imagine the fun and profit accruing when a foreign asset (a loyal bushie) calls from an internet cafe in Karrachi to a target in the USA and then 'primes the pump' of misinformation.
Far from wanting to cripple valid INTEL collecting, far from wanting to see FISA remain technology unnuetral, I want to see reform created so that the people whom did this are held responsible and that this is not allowed to happen again, and again, and again.
You know a set of propositions has to be consistent and rational for an actionable item list to be created.
The greatest betrayal was of the system! And pretending to protect institutional credibility and addressing the manner in which these 'intelligence failures' occured leaves any revision or broadening of survelience impotent to the abuse that this administration practiced.
Gonzales should go, and all the National Security letters should be examined so that those that were issued illegally can be addressed in a manner where people whom were impugned by simply pointing out these above facts can clear their names.
The idea that a (loyal bushie) could theoretically enlist a foreign asset (as an example a friendly isreali) to have one of their assets inside groups of unfriendlies to the US finger an American and waste resources for purely poilitical motives is the GREATEST threat to national security, NOT FISA nuetrality!
And that post folks will probably generate a EXIGENT letter as it is the truth.
May 17, 2007 11:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
I have questions I'm reposting* here regarding the latest paltry DoJ production:
To anyone who slogged through the earlier DoJ productions:
Are these (duplicate) emails found anywhere in the earlier DoJ productions?
If so, were there redactions in those earlier-produced emails? If so, what were they?
*(from the relevant TPM story "DoJ Responds to Senate Subpoena", May 16, 2007 05:23 PM)
May 17, 2007 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Pissed Off American notes "Well, it looks like Chalmers Johnson might understand the deep shit we are in....."
If you haven't read Johnson's three books on American imperialism, you really should, even though they will depress you to near suicidal levels.
"Blowback" and "The Sorrows of Empire" were bad enough, but his latest, "Nemesis," is particularly depressing because it is new enough to cover the Bush coup. All are very thoroughly researched, exhaustively documented, well written and--did I mention it?--depressing.
May 17, 2007 12:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
My daughter has to use the Reading First program - she's been complaining about how awful it is for 3 years. The School District started it in schools in low income neighborhoods, nobody liked it not teachers, parents or kids. This year it was moved into the schools in the elite neighborhoods. Guess what? The parents in the elite neighborhoods know it's a terrible program and have started agitating to get it out of the school system - of course they are listened to. But the poor kids have 3 years of bad program.
May 17, 2007 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Note -- given recent events, probably worth returning to these questions; from a hearing on February 2, 2006:
Senator Feinstein. Thank you. The Attorney General has
asserted that the President has virtually unchecked authority
to protect Americans, regardless of a clear statutory record in
opposition. That legal position would allow the President to
issue other orders in the name of counterterrorism. Has any
intelligence agency been authorized to, or has any agency
carried out, the search of the home of any American suspected
to be linked to al-Qa'ida without a court warrant?
Director Negroponte. I think I'd have to defer to our law
enforcement authorities on this, Senator.
Senator Feinstein. Thank you.
Mr. Mueller.
Director Mueller. Senator, I'm not aware of that happening.
Senator Feinstein. OK. Has any intelligence agency
arrested, detained, rendered or otherwise held any American
suspected to be linked to al-Qa'ida without a court warrant or
sufficient cause for criminal prosecution?
Director Mueller. I'm sorry, Senator. Can you repeat that
question for me?
Senator Feinstein. Sure. Has any intelligence agency been
authorized to or has any agency carried out an arrest,
detention, rendering, or otherwise held any American suspected
to be linked to al-Qa'ida without a court warrant or sufficient
cause for criminal prosecution?
Director Mueller. Well, I mean, I'll try a first response
to that. That's a very broad question. And looking at all the
components, there are occasions where, whether it be in the
criminal arena, the counterterrorism arena, we make arrests on
probable cause without it going through a magistrate first,
then you follow up on a complaint. And I believe in the
instances that, certainly, that I'm aware of, we followed the
procedures that are appropriate.
Senator Feinstein. May I ask for the DNI's response, since
the question had to do with intelligence agencies?
Director Negroponte. Yes, except my principal concern is
with the collection and analysis of national intelligence which
is used for the protection of the homeland. And I'm not aware
of any such instances. I really am not.
Senator Feinstein. All right. I'd like to just continue on.
Director Negroponte. Right.
Senator Feinstein. Has any intelligence agency been
authorized to or carried out the killing of anyone on U.S. soil
based on a link to al-Qa'ida?
Director Negroponte. I'm not aware of such a situation,
Senator.
Senator Feinstein. Mr. Mueller.
Director Mueller. Senator, I'm certainly not aware of such
a situation, speaking for the FBI.
Senator Feinstein. My time is up.
Chairman Roberts. In a word, yes.
May 17, 2007 9:04 PM | Reply | Permalink