The Daily MuckFormer Osama bin Laden aide Ali Hamza al-Bahlul and his U.S. military lawyer threw a wrench in the works of the Guantanamo Bay military trial, staying silent yesterday as the Pentagon’s war crimes case opened. Al-Bahlul, who has described the trial as a “legal farce,” had asked to represent himself. (AP)
Judges ruled against Georgia’s Secretary of State in a voting rights dispute yesterday, determining that she should have received Justice Department approval before implementing a new voter verification system. The decision put a temporary hold on the purging of Georgia voter databases, ruling that election officials must accept ballots from people whose citizenship has been questioned. The eligibility of individual votes will be determined after the election. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
Kwame Kilpatrick, the ex-mayor of Detroit, heads to prison today to begin serving his 120-day sentence for lying during a trial that investigated his firing and hiring practices. For $115 per day, Kilpatrick gets a 15-by-10-foot cell with an hour out for recreation. (Detroit Free Press)
A former Chicago police officer accused of lying to federal agents during an earlier trial about the use of torture on suspects pleaded not guilty yesterday. (AP)
Don Young’s (R-AK) infamous Coconut Road earmark may get put to use in Florida. The $9.2 million earmark, which raised questions as the state Young represents is nowhere near Florida, may fund multiple infrastructure projects in the state after it went up for a vote Monday. The circumstances around the earmark are still under investigation. (Naples News)
Texas officials yesterday criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s handling of Hurricane Ike, saying the agency has failed to come through on promises of trailers and suggesting that it receive presidential oversight. (ABC News)
Lawyers from both the Democratic and Republican parties asked the Federal Elections Commission to look into “e-donors” — people who make credit card donations over the Internet — pointing to lax rules that could allow for false identities or stolen credit cards to make donations. (The Washington Post)
Prosecutors have called a grand jury to look into a man’s charge that he was sodomized by a radio antenna by New York City Police officers while he was in custody earlier this month. (AP)
Rep. Charles Rangel’s attorney said yesterday that though the Democratic Congressman said six weeks ago he would hire an auditor to examine his financial records, he has yet to do so. Rangel’s finances were called into question when it was revealed that he failed to disclose income on a rental villa he owns in the Dominican Republic. (Roll Call)