The Daily MuckThe U.S. government now acknowledges that an American helicopter attack killed at least nine Iraqi civilians south of Baghdad on Saturday. Poor communication between the U.S. military and militia allies may be responsible for the “worst incident of mistaken fire in at least two months.” (McClatchy)
The Bush administration has failed to nominate any members to the now defunct Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The committee, which began meeting in March 2006, was proposed by the 9/11 Commission in 2004 “to ensure that concerns with respect to privacy and civil liberties are appropriately considered” by the President. The only Democrat on the board resigned in May 2007 and now the terms of the five remaining board members have expired. (Think Progress)
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has called on Attorney General Michael Mukasey to appoint a special counsel to investigate the disappearance of millions of White House e-mails. CREW argues that a special counsel is needed because “the Department of Justice does not have the requisite independence to conduct such a probe.” (CREW)
John Thomas Michael pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit money laundering and lying to a federal grand jury. Bribery and obstruction of justice charges were dropped because Michael came clean about his laundering of $525,000 that was used to bribe former California representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA). (San Diego Union Tribune)
Three veteran combat officers, after hearing from 50 witnesses in 17 days, soon must issue a report to a Marine General about what happened in eastern Afghanistan last March when Marines killed at least 12 civilians and wounded 35. The problem, however, as one Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent remarked, is that because of conflicting testimony and missing evidence remarked, “we’re not sure of anything.” (LA Times)
New York University Law School’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice has joined a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. alleging that the company helped the CIA carry out its rendition program. The suit calls for the trial of five suspected terrorists who were captured and taken to secret detention centers abroad. (NYU News)
President Bush’s budget proposal predicts federal deficits in excess of $400 billion a year for the next two years, a figure that experts say is too low. Bush took office in 2001 with a budget surplus but it is doubtful that a balanced budget can be achieved again even by 2012. (McClatchy)
Retired Senator Trent Lott’s (R-MS) influence will be felt in the halls of Congress as he begins to slowly disperse his million-dollar campaign (sub. req.) war chest. Lott’s campaign committee has more than $1.2 million and his New Republican Majority Fund political action committee has $458,357. (Roll Call)
All-expense trips taken by federal judges - such as Antonin Scalia’s trip to the Ritz-Carlton resort in Bachelor Gulch, Colorado - are receiving new scrutiny. Legislation now in the Senate calls for new rules that prevent judges from receiving more than $2,000 reimbursement for a single trip and no more than $20,000 in travel expense reimbursements or gifts for a single year. The Supreme Court currently lacks a code of ethics for its judges. (ABC’s “The Blotter”)
In 2003 then-Attorney General John Ashcroft informed the group DOJ Pride (a gay advocacy group) that its 110 members could not hold an annual Gay and Lesbian Pride Month event and could not post notices of general meetings. Alberto Gonzales continued the policy but now Michael Mukasey has reversed course and will extend DOJ pride the same rights as all other DOJ employee groups. (Washington Post)