Ravalli County, MT

MT Group Demands Local Leaders Boot Feds, Form Militia, Protect Guns

Justin Elliott | January 22, 2010, 2:45PM

A group of nearly 200 "extremely concerned citizens" in a small Montana county are demanding that local leaders fill out a "questionnaire" pledging to form a local militia, prohibit mandatory vaccinations, boot the EPA out of town, allow citizens to bear any type of gun, and require federal government employees to get written approval before approaching "any Citizen."

Organized in part by a group called Celebrating Conservatism, which is lead by a woman who quit the state GOP after complaining of "fake" Republicans, the questionnaire was presented this week to the county commissioners and sheriff of Ravalli County, according to the local Republic newspaper.

Read more »

Charles Dyer

Former Marine With Ties To Right-Wing Movements Charged With Child Rape, Possessing Grenade Launcher

Zachary Roth | January 22, 2010, 11:16AM

Charles Alan Dyer

An ex-military man with ties to the Tea Party and militia movements has been charged in separate complaints with raping a minor and with possessing an unregistered grenade launcher.

Charles Dyer, a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq, was arrested January 12 in Oklahoma on the rape charge. A child had told sexual-abuse experts about a January 2nd incident at Dyer's home.

Read more »

Haiti

U.S. And Cuba Showing Signs Of Cooperation In Haiti Relief Effort

Justin Elliott | January 22, 2010, 9:43AM

Marines with the 22nd Marines Expeditionary Unit in Leogand, 25 miles outside of Port-au-Prince

The United States is prepared to give medical supplies to a team of Cuban doctors in Port-au-Prince who reportedly ran out of anaesthetic this week, a State Department spokesman tells TPMmuckraker.

"The United States has communicated its readiness to make medical relief supplies available to Cuban doctors working on the ground in Haiti as part of the international relief effort," said spokesman Darby Holladay.

Read more »

Tea Parties

Tea Party Dilemma: To GOP Or Not To GOP?

Zachary Roth | January 22, 2010, 9:03AM

Like thousands of other Americans, Jim Knapp got involved with the Tea Party movement in the spring of 2009. Knapp, who lives in Sacramento, California, helped form a local group that organized a well-attended event on Tax Day last April.

But around May, something unexpected happened: Locally-based Republican party strategists started coming to the group's meetings. That alarmed Knapp and many of his fellow activists, who were motivated in large part by a deep suspicion of both major parties. "I said, 'what the fuck are you doing here?'" the blunt-spoken Knapp told TPMmuckraker.

Read more »

Phill Kline

Tiller Stalker: Ex-AG's Crusade Against Kansas Abortion Doctor Revealed In New Complaint

Justin Elliott | January 21, 2010, 4:41PM

Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline

In a new ethics complaint that alleges large-scale abuse of office, the former attorney general of Kansas is accused of dispatching staff to record license plates of women entering George Tiller's abortion clinic, getting records from a motel where patients stayed, and obtaining state medical files under false pretenses, then retaining them after his term as AG was over and repeatedly lying about it in court.

All of this occurred during Attorney General Phill Kline's unsuccessful pursuit of Tiller, the doctor who ran Women's Health Care Services of Wichita and was shot to death, allegedly by an anti-abortion extremist, in 2009.

Kline is also accused of violating professional standards by appearing on the O'Reilly Factor five days before the 2006 election to talk about his pursuit of Tiller, flouting a warning from the state Supreme Court not to publicize legal positions. He was up for reelection as AG at the time.

Read more »

Chamber of Commerce

Big Winner From Supreme Court Ruling: Chamber Of Commerce

Zachary Roth | January 21, 2010, 2:06PM

Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue

One of the biggest winners from this morning's Supreme Court decision on campaign finance: the Chamber of Commerce. And that's not just because the court's ruling gives the corporations that make up the business lobby's membership an even greater voice in the political process than they've enjoyed until now.

As we explained last week, over the last decade, under CEO Tom Donohue, the Chamber has perfected a strategy of using the Chamber as a "pass-through" for corporations looking to run issue campaigns, but wary about having their names tied to the effort. In 2001, the Wall Street Journal described this as Donohue's "striking innovation." And a recent report made clear that the Chamber had played just this role on behalf of health insurers in a bid to stop health-care reform.

Read more »

Trijicon

Trijicon: We'll Stop Putting Bible Inscriptions On Military Rifle Scopes

Justin Elliott | January 21, 2010, 1:10PM

Iraqi police officer in Hayy, Iraq, looks through Trijicon scope with Bible verse in March, 2009 (magnified below).

Trijicon, the company that produces the military rifle scopes with Biblical inscriptions, will end the decades-old practice and provide the military with modification kits to remove the markings, ABC is reporting.

General David Petraeus also addressed the scopes this morning, calling the matter "disturbing and a serious concern for me." That's a markedly different response from the Central Command spokesman who minimized the significance of the New Testament inscriptions this week, comparing them to "In God We Trust" on currency.

Read more »

Campaign Finance

Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Campaign-Finance Provision

Zachary Roth | January 21, 2010, 10:10AM

In a ruling that has major implications for how elections are funded, the Supreme Court has struck down a key campaign-finance restriction that bars corporations and unions from pouring money into political ads.

The long-awaited 5-4 ruling, in the Citizens United v. FEC case, presents advocates of regulation with a major challenge in limiting the flow of corporate money into campaigns, and potentially opens the door for unrestricted amounts of corporate money to flow into American politics.

Read more »

War In Afghanistan

Number Of Private Security Contractors In Afghanistan Doubles In Just Four Months

Justin Elliott | January 21, 2010, 10:00AM

Private security operators from the British company ArmorGroup escort a supply convoy near Tal Afar, Iraq on October 19, 2006.

The military is increasingly relying on private security contractors as President Obama ramps up the war in Afghanistan, with contractors now making up as much as 30% of the armed force in the country, a just-released congressional report shows.

In the period roughly tracking with President Obama's first nine months in office, the number of Defense Department armed security contractors soared 236% -- from 3,184 to 10,712 between December 2008 to September 2009. The number roughly doubled between June and September 2009 alone.

Read more »

Fox and Friends

Doocy On Bible Rifle Scopes: If Anybody's Making This A Religious Thing, The Terrorists 'Started It' (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | January 21, 2010, 8:44AM

Fox's Steve Doocy came out this morning with a new defense of the controversial U.S. military rifle scopes featuring inscriptions that cite the New Testament: if anyone made America's wars about religion, our Muslim extremist foes started it!

"My wife made a good observation yesterday when we were taking about this story, and that is, 'Hey, wait a minute, the Taliban and the extremists -- what is it they say just before they blow themselves up which kills somebody, they say, 'Allahu Akbar.'' So if anybody's making this a religious thing, they started it," Doocy said.

Read more »

Google vs. China

The Google-China Showdown: Where Do Things Stand?

Justin Elliott | January 20, 2010, 3:56PM

Google.cn homepage

Yesterday we took a look at the power dynamics in the showdown between Google and China, concluding that Google doesn't have a particularly strong bargaining position here.

Today, more than a week after Google's announcement that it would shut down Google.cn unless China allows it to stop censoring results, we thought it was a good time to take a look at where things stand.

Read more »

Northwest Flight 253

McCain Gets Schooled On Bogus Abdulmutallab 'One-Way Ticket' Meme (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | January 20, 2010, 12:09PM

The one-way ticket meme lives!

Quizzing an administration official at the Homeland Security Committee Flight 253 hearing today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pointed to a missed red flag: the fact that accused Christmas bomber Umar Abdulmutallab bought a one-way ticket with cash to travel from Lagos, Nigeria, to Detroit.

The only problem with that, of course, is that it's simply not true. As TPMmuckraker has documented, Abdulmutallab flew to Detroit on a round-trip ticket purchased in Ghana, according to the Nigerian government.

Read more »

Joe Arpaio

Arpaio: I'll Cooperate With Federal Probe

Zachary Roth | January 20, 2010, 11:20AM

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Joe Arpaio has said he'll cooperate with the federal investigation into whether he used his law enforcement powers to pursue political vendettas.

"I look forward to giving (investigators) everything that we have," the controversial Maricopa County sheriff said over the weekend, according to a Phoenix TV station. "Everything on all of the investigations, then I'm going to shut this off."

Read more »

Northwest Flight 253

Three Senate Panels Kick Off Flight 253 Hearings Today

Justin Elliott | January 20, 2010, 9:13AM

As three separate Senate committees today hold hearings on the failed Christmas attack over Detroit, watch for Republicans to take the opportunity to ramp up their criticism of the Obama Administration.

Read more »

Trijicon

Military On Rifle Scope Bible Citations: It's Just Like 'In God We Trust' On Money

Justin Elliott | January 19, 2010, 6:01PM

Iraqi police officer in Hayy, Iraq, looks through Trijicon scope with Bible verse in March, 2009 (magnified below).

Responding to the controversy over Biblical inscriptions on military rifle scopes in Iraq and Afghanistan, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command told the AP, "This situation is not unlike the situation with U.S. currency. Are we going to stop using money because the bills have 'In God We Trust' on them?"

In an interview with ABC, the spokesman, Air Force Maj. John Redfield, argued that the inscriptions on Trijicon rifle scopes do not violate the military's ban on proselytizing "because this equipment is not issued beyond the U.S. Defense Department personnel. It's not something we're giving away to the local folks."

Read more »

Google

Google vs. China: Is Google Screwed?

Justin Elliott | January 19, 2010, 2:49PM

Google's headquarters in Beijing

Google's public ultimatum that it will halt operations in China unless it is allowed to stop censoring Google.cn got us wondering: what does a large multinational like Google have in the way of bargaining chips in its showdown with the Asian superpower?

According to a pair of experts we spoke to, the answer is: very few, if any. Let us explain:

Read more »

Tea Parties

Tea Party Lawsuit Defendant: Plaintiffs' Backers Are 'Bent On The Destruction Of The Tea Party Movement'

Zachary Roth | January 19, 2010, 12:09PM

Tea Party protesters (inset: Doug Guetzloe)

GOP consultant Doug Guetzloe is slamming the lawsuit filed against him this morning by a group of Florida Tea Party activists, charging that the plaintiffs are "being supported by well-funded GOP operatives and others bent on the destruction of the tea party movement."

In an email to TPMmuckraker, Guetzloe called on one of the plaintiffs, Everett Wilkinson, to release information about his finances "so tea party activists can see who is behind the curtain."

Read more »

John Ensign

Report: FBI Has Contacted Witnesses On Ensign Matter

Zachary Roth | January 19, 2010, 11:49AM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

The FBI has interviewed witnesses in connection with the John Ensign sex-and-lobbying scandal, Politico reports.

"Yes, the FBI has contacted witnesses, in this case, former aides [to Ensign]" one source tells the Beltway site. "We'll see where it leads."

Read more »

FBI

FBI Still Using Bearded, Turbaned Version Of Dubious Bin Laden Photoshop

Justin Elliott | January 19, 2010, 11:15AM

Osama bin Laden, FBI "aged" photo.

The bearded version of an "age-progressed" image of Osama bin Laden that was the source of international embarrassment for the FBI because it was photoshopped from facial features of a top Spanish politician is still posted on a most wanted Web site, days after the FBI said it would be removed.

The bureau apparently did scrap one permutation of its "aged" bin Laden, a beardless version that bore a striking resemblance to left-wing Spanish politician Gaspar Llamazares.

Read more »

Tea Parties

What's In A Name? Tea Partiers Sue Rivals Over Movement Moniker

Zachary Roth | January 19, 2010, 10:51AM

Tea Party protesters (inset: Doug Guetzloe)

Tea Party turmoil continues in the Sunshine State...

A group of Florida Tea Partiers has filed suit against the team of conservative activists that registered the Tea Party of Florida (TPOF) as an official state party, alleging that their rivals "fully intend to 'hijack' the phrase 'Tea Party' for their political will and objectives."

Read more »

Dale Robertson

Top Tea Partier Who Held Racist Sign Wonders Why He Can't Get Calls Returned

Zachary Roth | January 19, 2010, 10:29AM

Dale Robertson

Well, that might explain it...

Leading Tea Party activists are complaining that the Republican Party is ignoring them, despite the growing clout of their movement, the Washington Times reports.

Read more »

FBI

WaPo: FBI Repeatedly Broke Law In Phone Record Searches

Justin Elliott | January 19, 2010, 9:27AM

Robert S. Mueller III

In a preview of what will apparently be a scorching Inspector General report, the Washington Post today details how the FBI illegally collected more than 2,000 U.S. phone records over several years during the Bush Administration.

The crux of the lawbreaking was the FBI's use of so-called "exigent circumstances letters" to get phone records. That's was a post-9/11 tool created to allow quick searches of phone records in case of emergency.

Read more »

Robo-calls

Conservative Robocalls In MA Senate Race May Be Designed To Bamboozle Voters

Zachary Roth | January 18, 2010, 6:36PM

MA Senate candidate Joe Kennedy (I)

Are conservatives trying to hoodwink low-information voters with a last-minute, under-the-radar robocall campaign in the Massachusetts Senate race?

Boston reader A.F., a registered Democrat, received a recorded call recently from Right March PAC, a right-wing PAC led by Dr. William Greene, a conservative activist.

Read more »

Trijicon

Despite Extensive Online Discussions, Military Denies Knowledge Of Rifle Scope Bible Verses

Justin Elliott | January 18, 2010, 6:20PM

Trijicon scope's Bible verse pointed out on YouTube last year.

Responding to the revelation that rifle sights used by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan are inscribed with Bible citations, a Marine Corps spokesman told TPMmuckraker today that the branch simply didn't know about the inscriptions until inquiries were made last week.

But posts on gun enthusiast forums from as early as 2006 and Youtube videos watched thousands of times extensively discuss the Bible verses on the Trijicon rifle sights, casting doubt on the military's claim that it was unaware of what was apparently a poorly kept secret.

Read more »

Tea Parties

Tea Partier: 'Boycott The National Tea Party Convention'

Zachary Roth | January 18, 2010, 2:57PM

National Tea Party Convention organizer Judson Phillips

Yet another Tea Partier is sounding the alarm about the upcoming National Tea Party Convention and questioning the motives of its organizer.

Shane Brooks worked closely with convention organizer Judson Phillips and his Tea Party Nation (TPN) group, until a falling out last month in part over what Brooks saw as TPN's overly close relationship with the GOP, which Brooks distrusts. Now, Brooks, based in Texas, has posted a YouTube video urging fellow activists to "boycott the National Tea Party Convention," and declaring, "we will not allow Tea Party Nation or any group to achieve national leadership of this historic grassroots revolution by the people!"

Read more »

Trijicon

U.S. Rifle Scopes In Iraq And Afghanistan Feature Bible Verse Citations

Justin Elliott | January 18, 2010, 1:21PM

Iraqi police officer in Hayy, Iraq, looks through Trijicon scope with Bible verse in March, 2009 (magnified below).

Here's one that will play well in the Muslim world.

ABC is reporting that soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been using rifle scopes that bear abbreviated references to Bible verses, including lines like "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

That verse is rendered on tiny letters on the the scopes, made by Wixom, Michigan-based Trijicon, as "2COR4:6" referring to chapter 4, verse 6 of the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians.

Read more »

Tea Parties

Hands Off! The Political Insiders Accused Of Hijacking The Tea Party Movement

Zachary Roth | January 18, 2010, 12:55PM

Tea party in Hartford, Connecticut in 2009

As the Tea Party movement approaches its one-year anniversary, grassroots activists increasingly are finding themselves fighting off what they see as cynical bids by unscrupulous sophisticates to co-opt the movement for their own ends.

These new players on the Tea Party scene are lawyers, political consultants, business-people, and even Republican politicians. They're not working together for the most part, and the details of their efforts differ. But all have taken steps lately that have been denounced -- often by Tea Party activists -- as efforts to benefit personally from a movement that prides itself on its independence and incorruptability.

Read more »

Texas Textbook Hearings

Conservative Vision Ascendant In Latest TX History Textbooks Draft; Gingrich, Schlafly Back In

Justin Elliott | January 18, 2010, 11:17AM

Newt Gingrich and Phyllis Schlafly

The conservative bloc on the Texas State Board of Education won a string of victories Friday, obtaining approval for an amendment requiring high school U.S. history students to know about Phyllis Schlafly and the Contract with America as well as inserting a clause that aims to justify McCarthyism.

Outspoken conservative board member Don McLeroy, who reportedly spent over three hours personally proposing changes to the textbook standards, even wanted to cut "hip-hop" in favor of "country" in a section about the impact of cultural movements. That amendment failed.

Read more »

PMA Group

Ethics Panel Probing Visclosky, Tiahrt, For PMA Ties

Zachary Roth | January 18, 2010, 9:27AM

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN)

The House ethics committee is probing two lawmakers' ties to PMA Group, the now-defunct lobbying firm that has been at the center of a federal investigation since last year.

The identity of one of those lawmakers, Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN) comes as little surprise. That of the other, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), is more unexpected.

Read more »

D'oh

FBI Photoshopped Spanish Pol For 'Aged' Osama bin Laden Picture

Justin Elliott | January 18, 2010, 9:06AM

Osama bin Laden (center), FBI "aged" photos (left and right)

When the FBI released its "aged progressed" pictures of Osama bin Laden last week, the top official in the bureau's Science and Technology Branch hailed the images as "powerful examples of how advances in technology and science can be used to help find and bring to justice wanted persons."

The official, Louis Grever, also referred in a joint FBI-State Department press release to "cutting-edge forensic, biometric, and technical capabilities."

Read more »