Surveillance

Police Tapped Sprint Customer GPS Data 8 Million Times In A Year

Justin Elliott | December 4, 2009, 6:03PM

Under a new system set up by Sprint, law enforcement agencies have gotten GPS data from the company about its wireless customers 8 million times in about a year, raising a host of questions about consumer privacy, transparency, and oversight of how police obtain location data.

What this means -- and what many wireless customers no doubt do not realize -- is that with a few keystrokes, police can determine in real time the location of a cell phone user through automated systems set up by the phone companies.

And while a Sprint spokesman told us customers can shield themselves from surveillance by simply switching off the GPS function of their phones, one expert told TPM that the company and other carriers almost certainly have the power to remotely switch the function back on.

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Rod Blagojevich

Evidence Stolen From Office Of Blago's Lawyer

Zachary Roth | December 4, 2009, 4:40PM

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL)

At least one computer containing undercover recordings from the investigation of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has been stolen from the offices of Blago's lawyer, reports a Chicago news outlet.

The theft reportedly took place last night at the law offices of Sam Adam and his son, Sam Adam Jr. There are said to be no suspects.

It's possible the theft could delay Blago's trial, which is scheduled for June. He has been charged with seeking to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat, among other transgressions.

Michael Brown

Michael Brown To Teach Class On Patriot Act

Zachary Roth | December 4, 2009, 3:10PM

Michael Brown

Heckuva seminar, Brownie!

Michael Brown, the much-ridiculed former FEMA director who became a symbol of the Bush administration's disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina, has landed a new gig: teaching a law-school class on the Patriot Act next spring.

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John Ensign

Report: Senate's Ensign Probe Heating Up

Zachary Roth | December 4, 2009, 12:35PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Jon Ralston, the Nevada political columnist who has been all over the John Ensign story, reports in his email newsletter that the Senate Ethics probe of the matter is heating up.

Writes Ralston:

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Scott Rothstein

Single Group Of Hedge Funds Claim $775M Hit In Alleged FL Scam

Justin Elliott | December 4, 2009, 12:11PM

Scott Rothstein

We had wondered how the alleged Ponzi scheme of Scott Rothstein, an attorney, not a financier like Bernie Madoff, could reach the sum of $1.2 billion.

The latest eye-popping number in the case seems to provide an answer: one man's hedge funds had $775 million tied up in Rothstein's allegedly phony investments. And now that man, George Levin, is being accused of trying to help Rothstein prolong the scheme.

Five of Fort Lauderdale investor Levin's Banyon funds are in the list of the top 20 Rothstein creditors, compiled by the trustee in the case. That accounts for about 65 percent of the money in the alleged scheme.

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Salahis

White House Stance On Rogers Testimony Mimics Bush

Zachary Roth | December 4, 2009, 11:10AM

Desirée Rogers, Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary

The underlying issue is far less consequential -- but it's ironic to see the White House falling back on a argument against transparency that Democrats have spent the last few years challenging.

Asked Wednesday whether Social Secretary Desiree Rogers would testify before Congress about her role in the Salahi affair, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters:

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Bobby Jindal

Alleged Fraudster Threw Versace Mansion Fundraiser For Jindal (See The Invitation)

Justin Elliott | December 4, 2009, 11:04AM

The Versace Mansion

Here's a fun coda on Bobby Jindal's links to Scott Rothstein, the Fort Lauderdale lawyer who is accused of a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme: at the time of the Republican governors' conference in Miami last year, Rothstein and his wife hosted a $10,000-per-couple cocktail reception for Jindal at Casa Casuarina, the mansion where designer Gianni Versace was murdered in 1997.

We already knew about a pre-game fundraiser for the Louisiana governor, co-chaired by Rothstein, that was held the day of the LSU-UF matchup in October 2008. After TPMmuckraker reported that event, Jindal said he would give back $30,000 to a victim's compensation fund, once one was created.

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War In Afghanistan

Stock Analyst: Obama's Surge Good News For Security Contractor

Justin Elliott | December 3, 2009, 6:33PM

DynCorp instructor with police recruits in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, June 2008.

The White House isn't sure if Obama will be hiring more private contractors for the Afghan war -- there are currently 104,100 in the country -- but one financial analyst thinks it's a go. Reports the AP:

Engineering and construction firm Fluor Corp. and contractor DynCorp International Inc. stand to benefit from the deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, an analyst said Thursday.

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Orly Taitz

New Orly Taitz Filing (In Dismissed Case): I Get Death Threats Daily

Justin Elliott | December 3, 2009, 4:33PM

Orly Taitz

Birther leader Orly Taitz, who may be the hardest working lawyer in the country, isn't letting a little issue like the dismissal of her case get in the way of submitting new filings in court.

The Orange County Register has the rundown of her latest effort, which comes in a Birther case in which she allegedly suborned perjury. A judge in California threw out the case in late October.

With the new filing, she submitted a putative immigration form showing Barack Obama's ethnic code listed as "Equatorial Guinea." And she lashes out against a "well orchestrated effort ... to assassinate my character," saying she receives death threats on a daily basis.

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War In Afghanistan

Will Obama Expand Afghan War Contractor Force? Gibbs Says He'll Look Into It

Justin Elliott | December 3, 2009, 1:17PM

Robert Gibbs

Now that we know there are 104,100 private contractors who make the war in Afghanistan possible, TPMDC put the question to Robert Gibbs this morning: will the Obama Administration expand that contractor force, as it sends 30,000 more troops?

Gibbs told our Christina Bellantoni this morning that he isn't sure, but will try to find out.

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Global Warming

The Hacked Climate Change Emails: What They Do And Don't Show

Zachary Roth | December 3, 2009, 1:07PM

So, what to make of those emails, stolen from a top climate research center in Britain, that conservatives are excitedly touting to argue that the science of climate change is fatally flawed?

The Wall Street Journal's Daniel Henninger calls the episode "an epochal event" that shows "science is dying." But underneath the bombast, the key question is whether the emails -- hacked from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit (CRU), and indexed here -- actually undermine the case, now settled, that man-made warming is happening. And despite the claims of the New York Post, among others, they don't come close to doing so.

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Scott Rothstein

An Unbelievable Spree: How Scott Rothstein Spent His Money

Justin Elliott | December 3, 2009, 11:20AM

Scott Rothstein

In the years spent living off the profits of his alleged $1 billion Ponzi scheme, Florida attorney Scott Rothstein went on a Mike Tysonesque buying spree that's likely to make even the denizens of money-drenched Fort Lauderdale blush.

We already knew about the $52,000 birthday cake for Gov. Charlie Crist, and the special performance of Life in the Fast Lane for Rothstein's wife at an Eagles concert, but court papers filed earlier this week show the disgraced attorney also indulged his taste for gaudy jewelry, luxury automobiles, and real estate, even buying a 10% stake in the Versace Mansion in Miami Beach.

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David Ogden

Justice Department Number 2 Stepping Down

Zachary Roth | December 3, 2009, 11:14AM

David Ogden

The Justice Department's number 2 is stepping aside.

Deputy Attorney General David Ogden will leave DOJ in February 2010 to return to private practice at Wilmer Hale, the department has announced.

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John Ensign

Is The Reid-Ensign Non-Aggression Pact Over?

Zachary Roth | December 3, 2009, 10:09AM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

That non-aggression pact that Nevada senators Harry Reid and John Ensign have long maintained could be breaking down -- under the strain of the Republican's personal woes.

Ensign is pulling out all the stops to hold onto his job in the wake of admitting to an affair with the wife of a top aide. And that evidently means coming close to ditching the agreement that he and Reid, a Democrat, have long held to, wherein they avoid criticizing each other.

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Blackwater

Blackwater's Prince Blames Dems For CIA Leak, Says He'll Become School Teacher

Justin Elliott | December 2, 2009, 5:52PM

Worth a read this evening is Vanity Fair's new 6,000-word profile of Blackwater Xe chief Erik Prince, which comes complete with man-of-action photo spread and a shot of a Blackwater facility near the Pakistani border.

Perhaps the biggest revelation in the story, written with Prince's full cooperation, are the unprecedented levels of collaboration between Prince and the CIA -- to the point, according to Vanity Fair, that he was "a full-blown asset."

It's worth noting that the author of the piece, Adam Ciralsky, was himself a lawyer for the CIA before leaving in the 1990s amid a controversy about allegations he was wrongly suspended on suspicions of unauthorized contact with Israel.

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Secret Holds

Watchdog Calls For End To Secret Holds

Nick Pinto | December 2, 2009, 5:08PM

Few of the arcane traditions and privileges enjoyed by U.S. senators fly in the face of the principles of accountability and transparency as blatantly as the secret hold -- the legislative technique whereby a single lawmaker can scuttle a nomination or pending legislation anonymously.

As TPM readers know, we've tracked a number of secret holds in recent years, with the goal of bringing the lawmaker's identity to light. In 2006, for instance, we enlisted readers' help in identifying the senator who had placed a secret hold on legislation to make a searchable database of government grants and contracts.

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PhRMA

Drug-Makers Paying Off Competitors To Keep Cheap Generics Off Market

Zachary Roth | December 2, 2009, 3:07PM

Republicans and their allies in the business community talk a good game about the virtues of free-market competition. But, as we've seen in the debate over the public option, that stance often goes out the window when corporate profits are at stake.

And now we've got another example -- one of the sleaziest and most blatantly self-serving yet.

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War In Afghanistan

How Many Private Contractors Are There In Afghanistan? Military Gives Us A Number

Justin Elliott | December 2, 2009, 2:37PM

Private contractors employed by the Defense Department in Afghanistan will continue to outnumber the size of the American troop presence, even after President Obama sends 30,000 more soldiers to fight in the war, according to the military's most recent contractor count.

The latest figure on DOD contractors in the country is a whopping 104,100, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command tells TPM. That number, which is expected to grow, is already greater than the 98,000 U.S. troops that will be in the country after the new deployments.

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Health Care

GOP Goes After Quasi-Lobbyist Daschle For Role In Health Care Talks

Justin Elliott | December 2, 2009, 11:39AM

Tom Daschle

Tom Daschle is taking heat from a good government group for his dual role as a participant in high-level health care reform talks and a quasi-lobbiyst for a law firm -- and the Republicans aren't missing the chance to take a shot at Daschle as well.

A "senior policy adviser" at DLA Piper, Daschle was the only outsider at a Monday meeting that included Harry Reid, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Obama health czar Nancy-Ann DeParle, and White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, Politico reports.

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Voting

GOP Firm's Latest Bid To Suppress Minority Votes Fails

Zachary Roth | December 2, 2009, 10:19AM

Tom Josefiak

The Republicans' latest failed effort to make it harder for minorities to vote is being led by a lawyer for the same GOP firm that's behind a recent bid to undermine restrictions on robo-calls.

The day before the 2008 election, the Republican National Committee filed suit to end restrictions on GOP programs to combat voter fraud. Those "programs" have sometimes involved "voter caging" -- challenging voters' registration if mail sent to their residences was returned as undeliverable -- and other tactics designed to suppress minority votes. But a federal judge yesterday rejected the GOP bid, Politico reports, ruling that "voter intimidation presents an ongoing threat to the participation of minority individuals in the political process."

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CIA Tapes

New Docs Shed Light On White House Role In CIA Tape Destruction

Zachary Roth | December 2, 2009, 9:20AM

Bush White House officials met with top CIA honchos to discuss the agency's torture tapes that later were destroyed, according to new documents obtained recently by the ACLU.

An email from February 22, 2003 reveals that the meeting was called to discuss how the CIA should respond to a letter from Rep. Jane Harman advising the agency not to destroy the tapes. The White House's participation in discussions of the issue of the tapes was previously known. But the February 2003 email is the earliest known record of the White House's participation.

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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC

Union Pushes Back On Blue Cross Mailer

Nick Pinto | December 1, 2009, 6:10PM

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)

Last week, we reported that Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state's largest health insurer, was under investigation for a campaign of robocalls and mass-mailings urging residents to lobby U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan against the public option.

Now a local SEIU chapter has launched a site that keys off the news to push back on the insurer. The site blames BCBS's "monopoly" for "skyrocketing" health-care costs, and urges visitors to send a petition to Hagan telling her to "stand strong" and support the public option.

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Scott Rothstein

Rothstein Charges Released: 'It Was All Smoke And Mirrors'

Justin Elliott | December 1, 2009, 4:01PM

Scott Rothstein

Charges released this afternoon against Scott Rothstein, who was arrested earlier today, provide new details on how his alleged Ponzi scheme worked. He plead not guilty this morning.

The five-count criminal information seeks forfeiture of $1.2 billion, including bank accounts and no less than 24 luxury cars. The full 34-page document, released by the U.S. Attorney for southern Florida, can be read below (see page 23 for the car list).

"Scott Rothstein appeared to be a charismatic, reputable attorney one could trust to invest one's money and make a sizeable profit," said Miami FBI agent John Gillies, in a statement today. "We now know it was all smoke and mirrors."

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Media

Fineman: "I See Nothing Wrong" With Newsweek/Oil Lobby Panel

Zachary Roth | December 1, 2009, 3:59PM

Jack Gerard, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute

Last month, we told you about Newsweek's plan to team up with an oil-industry lobby group to host a panel discussion on global warming.

Several observers -- including Greenpeace, and a prominent professor of journalism ethics, expressed concern about the plan, in which Newsweek appeared to be giving a platform, for a price, to a key opponent of action on global warming. The panel will feature Jack Gerard, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, one of Newsweek's major advertisers. A spokesman for the magazine defended the arrangement as appropriate.

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War In Afghanistan

As Obama Sends More Troops, Giant Shadow Army Of Contractors Set To Grow In Afghanistan

Justin Elliott | December 1, 2009, 3:09PM

Contractors watch for threats on plane departing from Forward Operating Base Sharana in Eastern Afghanistan in May of 2009.

With President Obama addressing the nation tonight about a new escalation in Afghanistan, a perennially underexamined topic is once again receiving short shrift: the huge force of contractors, which as of June outnumbered the size of the U.S. troop presence itself, is likely to swell.

The Administration seemingly hasn't addressed the issue, and the word "contractor" doesn't appear much in media coverage -- for example, in the Times and Post stories on the escalation today.

But David Berteau, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells TPM that as Obama increases troop levels to at least 100,000, "there will definitely be an increase in the number of contractors."

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CNBC

CNBC Blinded By Lavish Lifestyle Of Another Alleged Ponzi Schemer

Zachary Roth | December 1, 2009, 2:47PM

Tim Durham

Jon Stewart has already cornered the market on lampooning CNBC for the chronic lack of skepticism that characterized its coverage of the financial world during the boom years.

But the network's failure wasn't just a case of cheer-leading for Wall Street banks that made bad bets on the housing market. Both before and after last fall's financial crisis, CNBC has lavished fawning coverage on several high-flying financiers who later, say prosecutors, turned out to be little more than frauds. And this past week offered the latest example.

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Torture

Despite Holder's Pledge, Justice Department Torture Report Not Yet Out

Zachary Roth | December 1, 2009, 11:21AM

Attorney General Eric Holder

That long-awaited Justice Department report on torture may keep us waiting a little longer.

Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress in mid-November that the report would be out by the end of the month. So today, we asked the Justice Department where it was.

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Scott Rothstein

Rothstein Arrested By FBI On Racketeering Charge

Justin Elliott | December 1, 2009, 9:39AM

Scott Rothstein

A month after he returned to Florida from a brief trip to Morocco, prominent attorney Scott Rothstein was arrested by federal authorities this morning, accused of running a $1 billion investment fraud, the Miami Herald reports.

Rothstein, who has reportedly cooperated with authorities in recent weeks, is expected to plead guilty to a RICO conspiracy charge, according to the Herald.

Investors have accused Rothstein of promising them big returns on phony legal settlements he sold out of a side business at his Fort Lauderdale firm, Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, and Adler. Over the past seven years, he has had a meteoric rise through the South Florida business and political elite, doling out millions in campaign and philanthropic donations along the way.

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Washington Police Killings

How Clemmons Went From Prisoner To Alleged Cop Killer -- And Why It Matters For Mike Huckabee

Justin Elliott | November 30, 2009, 5:17PM

Seattle Police search for Maurice Clemmons 11/29/09; Clemmons and Mike Huckabee (inset).

How did Maurice Clemmons, once sentenced to 100 years in prison in Arkansas, end up a free man and the prime suspect in the grisly killing of four Seattle area police officers Sunday?

Clemmons' story begins with a teenage crime spree, winds through his years as a young man spent behind bars and the commutation of his life sentence by Mike Huckabee, continues with more years in and out of prison and the degeneration of his mental state, and finally leaves off today with a massive search for a man police describe as armed and dangerous.

The story carries potentially big political ramifications for possible presidential contender Huckabee, who is now trying to deflect criticism of the commutation to the state parole board. That's in part because Huckabee's effort to downplay his role in the Clemmons commutation echoes his response in the case of another Arkansas parolee who went on to commit a gruesome crime.

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Nancy Pelosi

In Monster Doc, House Spending Published Online

Zachary Roth | November 30, 2009, 4:10PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Back in early June, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with a bit of fanfare, requested that the House "Statement of Disbursements" -- a quarterly report of all receipts and expenditures for House members and committees -- be posted online.

Nearly six months later, the SOD for the third quarter has been posted.

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John Ensign

Which Candidates Want Ensign To Campaign For Them? His Office Won't Say

Zachary Roth | November 30, 2009, 2:58PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

As we told you earlier, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) said during a radio interview this morning that despite his well-chronicled personal travails, 2010 candidates have told him they wanted him to campaign for them.

"A lot of people running for office next year, I've met with them, they actually want me involved in their campaigns," the philandering lawmaker told Alan Stock of Las Vegas's KXNT News Radio. "I'm gonna try to be helpful without being hurtful."

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Tim Durham

Latest High-Flying Accused Ponzi Schemer Has Ties To Indiana Guv

Zachary Roth | November 30, 2009, 2:06PM

Tim Durham

Meet the latest high-living accused Ponzi schemer with close ties to Republican politicians. That would be Tim Durham, the flamboyant Indianapolis-based owner of Fair Finance Co., and ally of Governor Mitch Daniels...

In court papers filed last week by the Feds and examined by TPMmuckraker, Durham was accused of using money from new purchasers of his company's investment certificates to pay off earlier investors, thereby thereby "lulling the earlier victims into believing that their money was being [handled] responsibily." The filing followed an FBI raid last Wednesday on Durham's Indianapolis office.

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Detainees

Supreme Court Throws Out Abused Detainee Photo Ruling

Rachel Slajda | November 30, 2009, 11:43AM

Detainees at Guantanamo Bay

The Supreme Court has thrown out a ruling ordering the release of photographs of detainees being abused by American captors, citing a change in federal law that allows the defense secretary to withhold such pictures.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which made the ruling, will have to take another look at a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Obama have said releasing the photographs could endanger U.S. troops by fomenting anti-American sentiment overseas.

John Ensign

Ensign: Candidates Want Me To Campaign For Them

Zachary Roth | November 30, 2009, 11:32AM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) just told a radio interviewer that, despite his personal travails, 2010 candidates are eager for him to campaign with them.

"A lot of people running for office next year, I've met with them, they actually want me involved in their campaigns," Ensign told Alan Stock of Las Vegas's KXNT News Radio. "I'm gonna try to be helpful without being hurtful."

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John Ensign

Ensign Set To Break Silence On Affair

Zachary Roth | November 30, 2009, 10:51AM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) is set to break his silence this morning on his affair with the wife of a former top staffer, and the help he provided for the couple once the affair was discovered, which may have involved violating lobbying and campaign-finance rules.

Since admitting to the affair this summer, Ensign has said almost nothing about it. But he'll discuss it at 8am PST, in an interview with Las-Vegas-based News Radio 840 KXNT. We'll be listening, so stay tuned....

Washington Police Killings

Huckabee Cites System's 'Failures' In Response To Washington Police Killings

Justin Elliott | November 30, 2009, 9:53AM

Mike Huckabee and Maurice Clemmons (inset).

Mike Huckabee has responded to the killing of four police officers in Washington State by saying that if the suspect in the case -- a man whose sentence Huckabee commuted in 2000 -- is found responsible, "it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State."

Huckabee's statement, posted late last night on the Web site of his PAC, downplays any agency on the governor's part in commuting the 95-year prison sentence of Maurice Clemmons, who had been convicted of aggravated robbery.

As Josh noted on the editors blog, Huckabee previously faced another controversy about a prisoner who won parole, Wayne Dumond.

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