The Daily MuckFormer U.S. Attorney Thomas Heffelfinger excoriated the Justice Department following Monica Goodling’s testimony Wednesday that mentioned his excessive concern with Indian affairs. Heffelfinger, who was a U.S. Attorney under both Bushes, claimed “something is fundamentally broken within the Department of Justice.” (Star Tribune)
The House passed a bill yesterday requiring lawmakers to publicly disclose not only their individual fundraisers, but also the lobbyists that bundle the individual gifts. (NY Times)
Yesterday, an anonymous Senator put a hold on the bipartisan Freedom of Information Act of 2007. Yes, a secret hold is blocking a bill that would promote openness and accountability in government. (Public Citizen’s Congress Watch)
Last week, a former DoJ employee spoke out about the recent lack of diversity and hostile work environment that caused her to leave her position after 33 years. (NPR)
Douglas Feith’s paper “Assessing the Relationship Between Iraq and al-Qaida” was considered by the Vice President as “the best source of information on the topic.” However, the research in the recently declassified report has been heavily criticized; recently, the government of the Netherlands pointed out that a Dutch company described in the report as a front operation has never existed. (Think Progress)
The Center for Public Integrity narrates an exhaustive timeline of the frightening extraordinary rendition of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, a Muslim cleric living in Italy.
Michael Wholley, general counsel to NASA, admitted yesterday that he destroyed recordings from a meeting involving the space program’s Chairman and Inspector General because he didn’t want the information to become public. The meeting in question came after an outside report suggested the Inspector General step down because of his lack of independence and bad management.
Salon takes a hard look at Mississippi governor Haley Barbour. A former RNC chairman, Barbour has been suspiciously successful at lobbying funds to aide his state after the damage of Katrina. Beyond the questionable role of politics in the recovery, however, is the fact that the money coming to Mississippi doesn’t seem to be helping.