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Former and embattled congressman Curt Weldon, Republican from Pennsylvania, is helping to arrange deals between Russian and Ukrainian weapons suppliers and the governments of Iraq and Libya. This move, despite being profitable, is legally ambiguous. Weldon, now part of the defense consulting firm Defense Solutions, is being investigated by the FBI over corruption allegations. (Wired)

A group of lawyers representing victims of Hurricane Katrina think they may have found a loophole in the wide-ranging immunity for the Army Corps of Engineers. The lawyers plan to sue for billions of dollars in damages in a federal trial set for January. They hope that the case will force compensation of the hurricane's victims. (Chicago Tribune)

A representative from Houston is calling for an investigation into Harris County's legal system. The county, which sends more people to death row than any other county in the country, has been the victim of corruption in the Houston Police Department DNA. Its district attorney resigned earlier this year facing scandal over explicit emails. (AP)

A conservative campaign group is planning on a multi-million dollar TV advertising campaign to promote its pro-war views. The group is a 501(c)(4) as opposed to a traditional 527 group. (New York Times)

New Defense Department weapons systems
that are being developed will cost $1.6 trillion to complete and $335 billion over the next five years.The Government Accountability Office has found that this money may not be available due to the continuing cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Washington Post)

An audit of the U.S. Department of Education found that employees improperly spent $49,500 using government credit cards. The money went to meals, clothing, rental cars, and other personal items.(Washington Post)


3 Comments

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Maybe I'm just too jaded, but my biggest surprise there is that the DOE found only $49,500 worth of improper spending.

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Ben,

this is the Department of EDUCATION we're talking about.

should give you some perspective.

lol.

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The loophole in the government's immunity defense for the Army Corps of Engineers is a waterway about which the Katrina victims' lawsuit asserts, "Since 1958, the Army Corps was on written notice that the MRGO [Mississippi River Gulf Outlet] posed a serious threat to human life and property in Greater New Orleans." They carved it out anyway in the 1960s.

Well, the horses got out of the barn and drowned in the flood, so it's time to take action.

Last month, in an action officials said was unrelated to the lawsuit, the Corps of Engineers agreed to close the MRGO and block it off with nearly 400,000 tons of stone.

Business as usual in the no-accountability Bush Administration. But shame on the once-heroic Army Corps of Engineers.

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