The Daily MuckThe Mayor of Detroit will not return to jail after a judge Tuesday ruled that he did not violate the terms of his bond. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was jailed last week when he traveled to Canada without notifying the court. This time the judge declined to jail him for allegations that he met with a witness from his pending case, where he is charged with assaulting a sheriff’s deputy. (Detroit Free Press)
About two thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), who was among the Democratic lawmakers who requested the study, said it proves that many corporations are using “tax trickery” to send profits overseas and avoid paying U.S. taxes. (New York Times)
The West Virginia governor reportedly consulted with the DuPont company before filing a friend-of-the-court brief urging a judge to overturn a $382 million judgment against the powerful chemical company. Although Gov. Joe Manchin III presented the court document as being in the public interest, records show he had actually asked DuPont officials to provide a draft of the brief. (New York Times)
More questions are arising over John McCain’s advisor John Green. Green, whose lobbying for Hess has already come under criticism, also lobbied for a French liquor company that partnered with the Cuban government. While working for them, Green attempted to relax the economic embargo against Cuba, a position starkly opposed to that of McCain. (McClatchy)
The military court at Guantanamo Bay will go back in session today with pre-trial hearings in the case of Canadian detainee Omar Khadr. Khadr, who is now 21, is accused of killing a U.S. Special Forces soldier in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was 15. Khadr’s trial has been set for October 8th by a military judge. (McClatchy)
A letter from UBS’ general counsel to a former banker, Bradley Birkenfeld, reveals that the Swiss bank was aware of possibly breaching U.S. security laws a year before authorities began their investigation. Birkenfeld pleaded guilty in June to helping a billionaire customer evade U.S. taxes. The internal letter provided to authorities shows that senior executives at the firm were aware that they risked breaking U.S. law with their banking practices. (Bloomberg)