The Daily MuckAn unnamed FBI agent has come forth to report the exhaustive interrogation tactics used against Australian detainee Mamdouh Habib at Guantanamo Bay. The agent told investigators Habib was probed in two 15-hour sessions with little reprieve in between. Besides vomiting repeatedly from the stress of the tactics, Habib has claimed a female interrogator splashed him with what he believed was menstrual blood. (The Age)
After the Washington Post’s four-part series on illegal immigrant detainees and the medical care they receive in Gitmo-like U.S. prisons, members of Congress are demanding answers from Dept. of Homeland Security officials, including Secretary Michael Chertoff, regarding the sub-standard care being provided. Top Senate leaders will question Chertoff and others today on the reports of negligence and detainee deaths while in the prisons. (Washington Post)
An investigation team led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is seeking answers to how a federal database that records Medicaid spending by the government was changed through improper channels. The main concern is whether the matter, which could include tens of billions of dollars, was a significant processing error or evidence of a larger payout impropriety to states and drug companies. (Politico)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it plans to cease publishing national pesticide-tracking surveys, leaving farmers and consumer advocates concerned about insufficient pesticide oversight. (Associated Press)
The Government Accountability Office claims four Interior Department officials, three of which were appointed by the Bush administration, pressured low-ranking department officials who were deciding endangered species cases. The possible political interference investigation was triggered after Julie MacDonald of the Interior Dept. resigned last year following tampering allegations. (Associated Press)
As demand for more use of ethanol in vehicle fuel increases in the wake of rising oil prices, a U.S. Postal Service-study concludes that the 30,000 ethanol-powered vehicles the department purchased from Ford between 1999 and 2005 get as much as 29 percent fewer miles to the gallon. (Bloomberg)