The Daily MuckOn Sept. 16th of last year Blackwater guards leading a diplomatic convoy fired shots into Nisour Square in Baghdad, killing 17 civilians, including a 9-year-old boy. Blackwater offered each victim $20,000 in compensation, but, like other victims and their relatives, the boy’s father has declined the buyout, and is now attempting to file a lawsuit against the company. (ABC News)
Speaking of Blackwater, House Democrats are requesting documents regarding a loophole in overseas contracting. House Oversight Chairman Henry Waxman, (D-California) sent letters to five executive agencies, marking the beginning of a congressional investigation into how and why a policy enabling possible fraudulent contracting was established. (Associated Press and Oversight.house.gov)
The US Justice Department is defending the practices they employed in pursuing the case against for New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Officials claim the involvement of a public official, as well as large sums of money, warranted the unusually intensive investigation into a prostitution ring, a crime that rarely garners federal scrutiny. (New York Times)
Military officials have offered Defense Secretary Robert Gates their strategic plans for troop levels in Iraq. This presentation begins a dialog on the overall scope of progress in Iraq that will span over the next two weeks, including congressional testimony. (Associated Press)
Newly anointed governor of New York, David Paterson, insisted Thursday that he did not use campaign finances to pay for hotels during meetings with a mistress. He was responding to a report in the New York Daily News that said Paterson had told reporters that he may have, in fact, used campaign money for one of the meetings with the mistress. (Newsday)
Lawyers for an alleged terrorist say he is detained in Guantanamo unlawfully. Their claim: He’s insane. They are asking for a panel of judges to review the case against him. (McClatchy)
In May 2006, an appeals court found that the tactics used by the Justice Department to investigate possible improprieties by Rep. William Jefferson, (D-Louisiana) were unconstitutional. Now the Justice Dept. has asked for the decision to be overturned. The Supreme Court will consider whether to do so today. (Politico.com)