The Obama camp has issued a statement calling the hiring of voter suppression guru Hans von Spakovsky at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which we first reported yesterday, "unbelievable."

From Obama spokesman Michael Ortiz:

"Given Hans Von Spakovsky's controversial record on voting rights, it's unbelievable that he would now be offered a staff position with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a federal entity charged with ensuring that voting rights are not violated. This is yet the latest indication that the Bush Administration is not serious about protecting the most fundamental right that protects all others - the right to vote."

This might be something that deserves looking into, oh, before November.

Earlier this month, Ron Suskind reported in an excerpt from his book, The Way of the World, that in September 2003, the White House ordered CIA Director George Tenet to fabricate a letter suggesting a level of collaboration between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda that did not exist.

Now the CIA has responded. A statement obtained by Editor and Publisher, to be posted on the CIA's website this afternoon, reads:

In his book, "The Way of the World," author Ron Suskind makes some serious charges about the CIA and Iraq. As Agency officers current and former have made clear, those charges are false. More than that, they are not in keeping with the way CIA works. In fact, they are profoundly offensive to the men and women who serve here, as they should be to all Americans.

As E&P notes, Suskind recently responded to denials by posting a portion of one interview on his website. And a Congressional committee has begun an investigation, so we may yet learn more.

Full statement after the jump...

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Ah yes, that's the principled, straight-talking maverick we all know and love...

Back in 2000, when John McCain was running for the GOP nomination as an insurgent against the Republican establishment, he trumpeted his desire to change the party platform's call for a human life amendment banning all abortions. McCain wanted to add an exception in cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the life of the mother. And in a primary debate, he went after George W. Bush for wanting to leave the platform unchanged.

As late as April 2007, he was singing the same tune, telling reporters in Iowa that he stood by his 2000 position .

But The Wall Street Journal reports today that the McCain camp now says he has no plans to try to change the platform. A campaign spokeswoman told the paper: "The delegates are going through the process and we are going to let them work their will on the platform." In other words, McCain is taking a hands-off approach.

As ABCNews.com notes, McCain's shift comes after a graphic warning from Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, who said in June that if McCain tried to alter the abortion plank, he "would be aborting his own campaign" by angering socially conservative voters.

Looks like McCain got the message.

Attorney Gen. Michael Mukasey has agreed to postpone new FBI guidelines that would relax conduct of national security investigations. Mukasey was asked to do this earlier this week by the chairman and ranking minority leader on the Senate Judicial Committee out of civil liberties concerns. Mukasey will not sign off on the new regulations until he at least hears the testimony of FBI Dir. Robert Mueller in September. (Senate Judiciary Committee)

Two marines have been ordered to testify against their former squad leader, on trial for killing four Iraqi detainees. The marines, Sgt. Ryan Weemer and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, have already been jailed twice for refusing to testify against Jose Luis Nazario. Prosecutors allege that Nazario killed "unarmed, submissive, docile" Iraqi civilians in Fallujah. (AP)

An office of the Bureau of Land Managment made improper deals with private helium reginers at the expense of taxpayers. According to a Department of Interior report, a field office in Texas allowed refiners to profit by overcharging for equipment. The deal may result in the government's equipment costs almost doubling by the time the contracts expire in 2015. (Washington Post)

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Maybe John McCain can't remember how many houses he owns, but it sounds like indicted GOP Sen. Ted Stevens (AK) has a pretty short memory too.

Just yesterday, we highlighted five Alaskans who called into a talk radio program on Tuesday to question Stevens on his upcoming trial and the charges against him.

But at a Republican Senate primary debate last night, Vic Vickers, a primary opponent to Stevens, posed a similar question to Ted about why he accepted $250,000 in gifts from VECO executive Bill Allen. And Ted's response, was. . . well. . . confusing:

"As I've traveled around Alaska, you know, I haven't had that question asked to me by anyone but a newsperson. And now you join that rank. Uh, the Alaskans I've talked to said "Ted, we believe in ya'," "Ted, I'm gonna give ya' a prayer," "Ted, we'll see you through this," uh, "We know, we know (emphasis) that you're innocent 'cause you said you're innocent."

Apparently, for Stevens, constituents who question him are entirely forgettable.

So yesterday the McCain campaign showcased its newly announced keynote convention speaker, Rudy Giuliani -- fully rested after his own disastrous presidential run -- on a conference call, with reporters. Also on the call was the campaign's top foreign-policy hand, Randy Scheunemann.

But this isn't the first time that Rudy and Randy's names have popped up in the same context. Both have ties to Stephen Payne, the former White House official who reportedly promised access to Bush administration higher-ups in exchange for contributions to Bush's Presidential Libary. Since 2001, Scheunemann has been paid about $130,00 as an adviser to Payne's various energy development and consulting firms. And a document put out by one of Payne's firms listed Guliani's law firm, Bracewell-Giuliani, as "outside strategic and legal counsel."

With all the signs suggesting that Giuliani will play a major role in vouching for McCain's terrorist-fighting bona-fides this fall, the link to Scheunemann and Payne serves as a reminder -- as if any were needed -- that America's Mayor hasn't always been too careful about the company he keeps.

It looks like Hans von Spakovsky, an old TPM favorite, is back in business. The former Justice Department official, whose nomination to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was thwarted when Democrats objected to his long record of support for restrictions on voting rights, has been hired as a "consultant and temporary full-time employee" at the ostensibly bi-partisan U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) the agency confirmed to TPMmuckraker.

If Spakovsky's history of backing efforts to make voting more difficult strikes you as a poor fit with the Commission's mission of defending voter rights, consider that of the eight current commissioners at the agency, only two are registered Democrats, a politicization that the New York Times' Charlie Savage brought to light last year.

Among Spakovsky's duties will be overseeing the USCCR's report on the Justice Department's monitoring of the 2008 presidential elections, a source inside the USCCR told TPMmuckraker.

Spakovsky's hiring is at the request of Commissioner Todd Gaziano, who works for the conservative Heritage Foundation on FEC issues and has defended Spakovsky in the press before. According to a federal government source, Gaziano has recommended Spakovsky at the government's highest payscale -- which would work out to about $124,010 annually if Spakovsky was to stay for an entire year.

And it seems that Gaziano may not have been exactly excited to make his selection of Spakovsky public knowledge. At a July 28th meeting (pdf) where the commissioners approved the hiring of the "special assistants," the new hires identities were kept confidential. According to the transcript of the meeting, when one of the commissioners asked for more information on the identity of who was being hired, the question was never answered.

So where is the money coming from? Well it turns out that USCCR is about $400,000 (pdf) under budget, and something had to be done with all that money before December. Although according to a federal source, the agency has other pressing needs -- understaffing and out-of-date technology -- the commissioners decided instead to spend at least part of that money on four temporary staff assistants.

Attempts to contact Graziano were referred to the Commission public affairs office. Calls to Spakovsky were not immediately returned.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R) has asked the Senate Ethics Committee for permission to create a legal expense fund to help pay for costs related to his legal defense. Stevens was recently indicted on seven felony counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts and home repairs. If granted, individuals and political action committees will be allowed to contribute up to $10,000 to the expense fund. (McClatchy)

The trial of a former U.S. marine charged with war crimes in Iraq begins today. Jose Luis Nazario Jr. is charged with the voluntary manslaughter of four unarmed Iraqi detainees during the fighting in Fallujah in 2004. He is the first person to be charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, a law written to allow the prosecution of civilian contractors and former members of the military who commit war crimes overseas. (AP)

House Oversight Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) issued a subpoena yesterday for documents related to the EPA's enforcement of the Clean Water Act. Earlier this month, Waxman had sent a letter to the EPA setting a deadline that passed last week for the documents. (House Oversight Committee)

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Embattled Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) took to Alaskan radio Tuesday, and to no one's surprise but his own, he was confronted by callers with questions about his recent indictment for lying on financial disclosure forms about favors he received from a campaign contributor.

Stevens' responses to his constituents inquiries ranged from general shock, to confusion, to denial, and even to John Wayne-like challenges.

As more and more people called in to the show asking questions about his upcoming trial and indictment, Stevens' patience seemed to wane. At about forty minutes into the show, host Steve Heimel stepped in to break up a shouting match between Stevens and a caller.

"Excuse me, Steve," the caller said, "but the senator is a big boy and can take care of himself. He's been in the game a long time."

"You're damned right I can take care of myself," Stevens responded. "Any time you want to come, friend."

When asked by Heimel what would happen to his campaign if he was convicted at his trial in September, Stevens had a simple, head-in-the-sand, response:

I don't think about that. I have faith that that is not going to happen. As a matter of fact, approaching this whole issue is a matter of faith Steve. And I am convinced I am innocent, so I, I must maintain my position that I have faith I will not be reaching that position that you just indicated. If that happens, we'll have to make some decisions, but I don't expect it.

We've compiled a highlight reel for your enjoyment.

Partial transcript after the jump.

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Maybe there's some truth to the reports that Barack Obama is finally planning to get tough on John McCain. According to the Altanta Journal-Constitution, the Obama campaign will tomorrow release in Atlanta this ad, which links McCain to disgraced former Jack Abramoff crony Ralph Reed:

The hard-hitting ad notes that when McCain led a Senate probe of Abramoff, he never called Reed to testify, then points out that Reed is currently helping to raise money for McCain's campaign.

Reed, who during his unsuccessfully 2006 bid for Georgia Lieutenant Governor was dogged by questions about his Abramoff ties, did indeed send out an email to friends recently announcing his participation in an Atlanta fundraiser for McCain last week. After Reed's involvement raised eyebrows, he was a no-show at the event itself.

Looks like the price that Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), who last year was identified as a client of the "DC Madam," the late Deborah Palfrey, will be paying for his transgression just got even steeper. The Hill reports that, according to a draft opinion released by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Vitter won't be able to use campaign funds to pay over $160,000 in legal fees associated with the scandal.

Vitter has so far accumulated over $200,000 in legal bills. The FEC opinion allows him to use campaign funds to pay for only $31,000 of that figure -- the amount related to a Senate ethics committee probe. It does not allow him to tap his campaign coffers to pay for hiring a lawyer to help quash a subpoena issued by Palfrey's defense, or to pay for monitoring Palfrey's criminal proceedings.

Vitter, who is up for re-election in 2010, admitted last year that he had been a client of Palfrey's firm, and apologized for "a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible." He has already spent $70,000 of his own money on his Palfrey-related legal expenses.

A quick followup to yesterday's post on the PR firm Ketchum's work shilling for Vladimir Putin. We reported that, according to disclosure forms, Integrated Solutions Group is paid for its lobbying on behalf of Russia "through an arrangement with the Washington Group," Ketchum's lobbying arm. But the ties between ISG and Ketchum run even deeper.

ISG appears to share a K Street address with the Washington Group. And three of the seven "government relations consultants" listed on its website are also listed as part of the Washington Group team. One of those is John O'Hanlon, who, as we wrote yesterday, is the ISG lobbyist listed on disclosure forms as working for Russia, and is The Washington Group's managing director. So it looks like Ketchum is responsible not just for doing PR, but also for organizing a congressional lobbying effort, on behalf of Russia.

And an additional note on Ketchum's operation. Yesterday we wrote that Ketchum was leading an international consortium of agencies, including Brussels-based GPlus, to do PR on Russia's behalf. But Ketchum and GPlus are both subsidiaries of the same company, Omnicom -- they're "sister companies," as a GPlus spokesman put it.

It's worth noting again that this is all completely above board. But it's an interesting look at the various forms of "assistance" a company like Ketchum can offer its clients. We've put in a call to the Washington Group, and will let you know what we hear.

Nighttime campaigning is looking more difficult for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) whose motion to move his upcoming trial to Alaska was denied by a federal judge this morning.

Stevens had previously requested a change of venue to Alaska so he could campaign at home during the run up to the November election. In a partial accommodation of his request, there will be no sessions on Friday to allow the six-term incumbent senator to travel to Alaska for weekend campaigning, McClatchy reports.

Earlier this week, attorneys on both sides of the case submitted questions for jury selection. According to court documents, inquiries include potential jurors' opinions on the oil industry, congressional corruption, earmarks in the state of Alaska, and whether or not they regularly read the D.C. newspaper, The Hill.

Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), who is under investigation for possibly breaking ethics or personnel rules, has put an aide on paid leave until the investigation is finished. The investigation revolves around Palin's firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan who claims he was pressured to fire Palin's sister's ex-husband who is a state trooper. (Anchorage Daily News)

Lawyers for indicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) submitted their list of questions for potential jurors to the D.C. district court yesterday. Stevens' lawyers will ask jurors about their opinions on the oil industry, congressional corruption, and earmarks in the state of Alaska. (Anchorage Daily News)

Puerto Rican Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila (D) received a follow up indictment yesterday of five counts related to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment was also issued to Vila's senior aide and former campaign director and can carry as much as a 20 year sentence. The previous indictment was returned on March 24. (Department of Justice)

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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-PA) crossed the aisle once again to issue a renewed demand for documents on detainee interrogation policies from the White House today.

The letter (pdf) to White House Counsel Fred Fielding gives an August 29 deadline to turn over requested documentation, though it does not go so far as to say what the action the Committee will take if its requests are not met.

"I have been stonewalled even in my repeated request for something as simple as an index of OLC opinions," writes Chairman Leahy in the letter co-signed by Specter. "Examining the role of this Justice Department office in authorizing controversial activities is squarely within the oversight responsibilities of this Committee; in carrying out that responsibility we are entitled, at the very least, to know the subjects on which OLC has provided final legal advice. That after more than five years this Committee has been refused even this simple request is unacceptable."

We already knew that the Republic of Georgia has some high-placed American contacts. Orion Strategies, the DC lobbying firm run by Randy Scheunemann, John McCain's top foreign policy adviser, has been representing the country since 2001, focusing primarily on boosting Georgia's effort to gain admittance to NATO (Scheunemann is currently on leave from Orion while working for McCain). Indeed, Orion signed its latest contract with Georgia on April 17, the same day that McCain announced support for Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili, saying they'd just talked by the phone.

So it stands to reason that Georgia's prime antagonist of late, Russia, would be playing the Beltway influence game just as hard. And The Washington Post reports today that since 2006, Russia has employed Ketchum, one of the world's largest public-relations firms "to facilitate communication between Russian government officials and international journalists on key issues affecting Russia." And according to PR Week, since the start of the recent crisis with Georgia, Ketchum has been leading an "international consortium" of agencies, including the Brussels-based PR giant GPlus, to promote Russian interests.

And it looks like it isn't just the media that Ketchum has been working on Vladimir Putin's behalf. According to lobbying disclosure forms, Russia has, since February of this year, employed the firm Integrated Solutions Group* (ISG) to "support Washington-based government relations initiatives with Members of Congress and staff"--in other words, lobbying. ISG, notes the form, "is compensated ... through an arrangement with The Washington Group." The Washington Group is a DC lobbying firm owned by Ketchum. Indeed, the ISG lobbyist listed on the form, John O'Hanlon, is The Washington Group's managing director, and therefore a Ketchum employee.

It's worth mentioning there's no evidence of anything improper here. Indeed, representing Putin's government would seem to be business as usual for Ketchum, which employs 1100 people across 21 worldwide offices, and has worked with BP, Bristol-Meyers-Squibb, Dow Chemical, the Clorox Company, and the Bush administration, among other upstanding corporate and government citizens.

Ketchum is known for playing hardball. In 2005, it was revealed that, as part of a $1.3 million contract between Ketchum and the US Department of Education, the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams was being paid to promote the No Child Left Behind Act in op-ed columns and on his nationally syndicated TV show--without revealing the payments.

And two years earlier, Ketchum did similar work on behalf of the Bush administration's Department of Health and Human Services including hiring a fake reporter, Karen Ryan, to produce news "stories" touting the Medicare drug benefit that were sent to local news stations and wound up on air. The Bush administration was later found to have broken two federal laws in its work with Ketchum.

We're looking into ISG and Ketchum's (aka The Washington Group's) lobbying work on behalf of Russia. Which members of Congress did they speak to, and what were the results? Have these efforts influenced the US response to the Russia-Georgia crisis? We'll let you know what we find out.

*Corrected from an earlier version.

F. Chase Hutto III, a senior aide to Vice President Dick Cheney with a long history of promoting anti-environmental regulation policy, is a top choice for a post at the Energy Department, the Washington Post reports today.

Hutto, who is being considered for the position of assistant secretary for policy and international affairs, has been a contact within the administration for the oil and gas industry on energy and environmental issues.

The administration's controversial decision to delay action on regulating greenhouse gas emissions was shaped in part by Hutto.

From a July 11 article in the Washington Post:

Hutto, a former Cato Institute intern and Bush campaign volunteer during the Florida vote recount in 2000, whose grandfather patented at least seven piston inventions for the Ford Motor Company, has "an anti-regulatory philosophy and concern about what regulation means for the American way of life. He would talk, for example, about not wanting greenhouse gas controls to do away with the large American automobile," said the meeting participant.

A Wayne County circuit judge in Michigan ruled that embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick cannot be removed from office by the city council. Rather, Kilpatrick can only be removed from office by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D). A removal hearing has been scheduled by Granholm for September 3. (Detroit Free Press)

The FBI laid out more scientific evidence to members of the press yesterday linking scientist Bruce Ivins to the 2001 anthrax attacks. The briefing, which focused on microbial forensics, was in part a response to widespread skepticism over the largely circumstantial evidence of the case. (New York Times)

The ranking senators of the Senate Judiciary Committee urged Attorney General Michael Mukasey yesterday to delay the expansion of FBI investigative powers. Both Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) said the move would "employ more expansive investigative practices with limited oversight." (Senate Judiciary Committee)

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Harriet Miers, former White House counsel, one-time Supreme Court nominee and current partner at Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, can now add lobbyist for the Pakistan People's Party and the Embassy of Pakistan to her resume, according to documents filed with the DOJ earlier this month.

In May of this year, Locke Lord Strategies signed a one-year $900,000 agreement to lobby for the Embassy of Pakistan. On her foreign agent registration short form, Miers listed the "Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Asif Ali Zardari, Co-Chairperson of PPP and his children" as clients. The group's ongoing work lobbying for the PPP continues on a pro bono basis.

In case you're wondering if this has anything to do with the current events in Pakistan, The Blog of Legal Times has your answer:

What does President Pervez Musharraf's resignation mean for Locke Lord? Probably not much. The firm has represented Asif Ali Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party and an opponent of Musharraf, since March, when the firm was retained to promote democracy and pressure Pakistan's government to investigate former PPP head Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

Former VECO CEO Bill Allen, the oil executive who orchestrated Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) home renovations and whose testimony led to the indictment and conviction of a number of state legislators, has had a relatively soft fall from grace. Since testifying, little has been seen of Allen, whose sentencing on his May 2007 guilty plea has been continuously delayed as he remains free on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

As those connected to him fall to federal indictments, Allen is enjoying the windfall from the sale of steeped-in-corruption-VECO, for $146 million. Thanks to a carefully negotiated plea deal, two-thirds of that profit went to Allen and his three children. Oh, and did we mention he has no passport or travel restrictions?

According to the Anchorage Daily News, just seven months after his plea deal, Allen and two of his children bought a small jet, with an estimated value of $2 million. The plane has been flying all over the west, notably landing at airports near New Mexico racetracks, where all of the Allen children own licensed racehorses. And though he still owns his half-million dollar Anchorage home, Allen is reportedly spending the majority of his time in New Mexico:

Dick Cappellucci, a New Mexico licensed horse trainer from El Paso, Tex., who used to work for Allen's son, Mark Allen, and once owned a race horse with Mark, said Bill Allen is living on his son's Double Eagle Ranch. The county lists the ranch as a 46-acre property.

Mark Allen himself "is building a fancy, fancy place over there," Cappellucci said.

. . . Recently, the Allens have been showing up big at horse sales, Cappellucci said. "They've spent a lot of money in the horse business."

"A lot of money in the horse business," might be an understatement. According to the ADN, Mark Allen spent $726,000 for eight horses shortly before the sale of VECO.

But all is not as rosy as it might seem for Allen and Co. and their soft money bed at the race track. According to Bob Bundy, Allen's defense lawyer, Allen is "just kind of marking time. . . waiting for the axe to fall. . . it's not a very happy situation."

This weekend, Sen. John McCain brushed aside all criticism of his chief foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, and the lobbying work Scheunemann has done for the government of Georgia.

In an interview with USA Today, McCain expressed no concern about the fact Scheunemann last year was simultaneously working for McCain's campaign and lobbying the senator on behalf of a foreign government.

"I'm proud to have supported them," McCain said of Georgia in an interview on the campaign plane. "And I'm so proud that so many of my friends have done so, who also believe in freedom and democracy."

McCain dismissed criticisms from the Barack Obama campaign as beside the point.

Yet "rather than worry about the people of Georgia," McCain said, his Democratic rival "worried about whether someone on my staff had supported Georgia or not."

Last year, Scheunemann's firm, Orion Strategies, signed a $200,000 lobbying contract with Georgia on the same day McCain spoke on the phone with the country's president and issued a public statement in support of the government.

A military barracks for wounded soldiers in Oklahoma that was set up last year in response to the poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center is infested with mold. Soldiers at the barracks, Fort Still, were ordered not to speak about the conditions there after the situation was ignored for months. (USA Today)

The FBI investigation of American business man Morris Talansky, who is connected to the corruption probe of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, did not come as a suprise to Israeli police officials. Olmert is accused of accepting illicit funds from Talansk for years. Israeli officials said Sunday that the FBI typically becomes involved with Israeli cases that are conducted within the U.S. (Haaretz)

A former Marine sergeant who has been charged with war crimes in the killing innocent people in Fallujah claimed Saturday that his prosecution sends a bad message to marines in Iraq. The former sergeant, Jose Luis Nazario Jr., said that his trial will cause troops to fear that they too may be prosecuted if they follow what he maintains was basic training. (AP)

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Remember when the FBI told us that military microbiologist Bruce Ivins gave investigators a bogus sample of the anthrax from his lab in 2002 -- suggesting an effort to mislead and cover up his own connection to the 2001 anthrax attacks?

Well, that might not be true, according to the New York Times. Ivins did give investigators a sample of his own anthrax -- which allegedly matched the strain used in the attacks -- but the FBI botched the testing process.

But F.B.I. officials acknowledged at the closed-door briefing, according to people who were there, that the sample Dr. Ivins gave them in 2002 did in fact come from the same strain used in the attacks, but, because of limitations in the bureau's testing methods and Dr. Ivins's failure to provide the sample in the format requested, the F.B.I. did not realize that it was a correct match until three years later.

That closed-door briefing came as the FBI has agreed to begin providing more details about the science underpinning its case against Ivins.

The bureau is coming forward with more information at least partly in response to the experts who have publicly expressed skepticism about the FBI's case, which concluded that Ivins was the one and only person involved in the attacks.

Last week the Department of Justice gave a private briefing to Congress and this week the DOJ plans to make the new details public, the Times reports.

According to those who attended last week's briefing, the FBI appears to be backpeddling on some initial components of its case against Ivins.

In addition to the new version regarding the anthrax sample Ivins provided in 2002, investigators now say the envelopes used in the mail attacks were more widely available than initially suggested.

Investigators said two weeks ago that the envelopes were unique and easily traced back to the Maryland post office near Ivins' home. But reports from the close-door session say that is not the case.

Many scientists are looking forward to hearing details of the investigation, but do not expect the science to persuade all the skeptics.

"I expect people to be dazzled by the science. I am worried that people will confuse solid science (and I expect the science to be very good) with a solid case," Gigi Gonvall, a senior associate at the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told TPMmuckraker this morning.

"The science will only take you so far."

The Justice Department appears one step closer to prosecution of Blackwater security guards involved in the Nisoor square shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, after reportedly sending six employees target letters earlier this summer. The high likelihood of indictment of a few "bad apple" Blackwater security guards, rather than the company itself, has been expected since early May.

From the Washington Post:

Anne E. Tyrell, a spokeswoman for North Carolina-based Blackwater, said that the company believes the guards fired their weapons "in response to a hostile threat" and is monitoring the investigation closely.

"If it is determined that an individual acted improperly, Blackwater would support holding that person accountable," Tyrell said in a statement. "But at this stage, without being able to review evidence collected in an ongoing investigation, we will not prejudge the actions of any individual. The company is cooperating fully with ongoing investigations and believes that accountability is important."

Blackwater has maintained that its men acted in self-defense, though an Iraqi investigation found that the guards had been unprovoked.