DOJ Investigators Were Told Yoo's Emails Had Been Deleted

Zachary Roth | February 19, 2010, 6:08PM

John Yoo

Justice Department investigators looking into the Torture Memos were told that emails sent by John Yoo had been deleted and couldn't be recovered.

In a footnote to the just-released report on the memos by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, the authors write:

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John Conyers

Conyers Slams Authors Of Torture Memos, Announces Hearings

Justin Elliott | February 19, 2010, 5:44PM

Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

In a statement this afternoon, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) says that the Justice Department torture memo report released today makes "plain that those memos were legally flawed and fundamentally unsound, and may have been improperly influenced by a desire to tell the Bush White House and the CIA what it wanted to hear."

Conyers, who posted the DOJ documents on his Web site, continued:

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Justice Department

Top DOJer Overruled Finding Of Misconduct For Torture Memo Authors

Justin Elliott | February 19, 2010, 5:28PM

John Yoo

The Justice Department has released the long-awaited report on the torture memos and the conduct of Bush Administration lawyers including John Yoo.

While the final report by the department's internal watchdog, the Office of Professional Responsibility, found that attorneys John Yoo and Jay Bybee engaged in professional misconduct, top DOJ official David Margolis overruled that finding in a memo to Attorney General Eric Holder.

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Secession

Tea Partier Suggests Secession As Antidote to 'Tyranny Of National Government'

Zachary Roth | February 19, 2010, 3:00PM

Tea party in Hartford, Connecticut in 2009

A North Carolina Tea Party group is promoting the idea of secession as a solution to the "tyranny of national government."

The email newsletter of North Carolina Freedom Project contains an item entitled by "Solutions to the tyranny of national government." The item proposes two such solutions. The first, described as "incremental," involves embracing "tentherism" -- the bogus belief, espoused lately by some on the far right, that many of the powers of the federal government are unconstitutional.

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Toyota

Toyota's Deep American Roots Could Help It Weather Crisis

Zachary Roth | February 19, 2010, 2:14PM

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda

Next week, Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda, will fly across the world to appear before Congress in a bid to explain quality problems that since last fall have led to nearly 8 million recalls -- and perhaps several deadly crashes. Meanwhile, the company's main competitor in the domestic market, General Motors, is now largely owned by the U.S. government.

That's prompted some observers on both sides of the Pacific to paint the controversy as a 1980s-style showdown between the Stars and Stripes and the Land of the Rising Sun.

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Joe Stack

Who Was Joe Stack?

Justin Elliott | February 19, 2010, 1:06PM

Early reports paint a picture of Joe Stack as a normal guy, described as personable and calm by those who knew him, whose burning anger at the government was present just below the surface.

Stack allegedly killed himself and at least one other Thursday when he piloted his Piper Cherokee plane into a building in Austin that housed IRS offices.

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Joe Stack

Suspected Austin Pilot's Past Racked By Tax Problems

Justin Elliott | February 19, 2010, 10:00AM

The IRS Echelon 1 Building in Austin.

The California Franchise Tax Board suspended the licenses of two businesses owned by Joe Stack because of unpaid taxes or failure to submit returns, KCRA in Sacramento reports.

Stack, who allegedly flew a small plane into a building with IRS offices in Austin yesterday -- reportedly killing at least one person inside -- railed against the tax system in the note he is thought to have written before allegedly carrying out the attack.

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Joe Stack

Stack's Company Web Site Traces Path From CA To Austin

Justin Elliott | February 18, 2010, 4:58PM

The IRS Echelon 1 Building in Austin.

The cached version of Joe Stack's software engineering firm, Embedded Art, says Stack's mission was to "advance the art of programming, one project at a time; by achieving an optimum balance between cost, schedule, functionality, reliability, and maintainability."

Stack, who allegedly flew a small plane into an Austin building containing IRS offices today, "founded the business in 1983 in Southern California, under the name Prowess Engineering."

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Joe Stack

Crash Pilot Appears To Have Written Anti-IRS, Anti-Corporate Screed

Zachary Roth | February 18, 2010, 2:45PM

Joe Stack, the Texas man who this morning, say law enforcement officials, flew a plane into an Austin building that houses a local IRS office, appears to be the author of a lengthy online screed, lashing out at the IRS, the federal government, and big corporations, and referring to his coming death.

The rant reflects many of the same populist, anti-government, anti-tax, and anti-corporate themes that have surfaced around the country over the last year. It is entitled, and concludes: "Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well."

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Kevin Trudeau

Infomercial King Sentenced To Jail For E-mail Bombing Judge

Justin Elliott | February 18, 2010, 12:57PM

Kevin Trudeau

You may remember Kevin Trudeau from such late-night infomercials as Free Money, Mega Memory System, and Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About.

Now, the man dubbed the "infomercial king" by Chicago media, who has been in a cat-and-mouse game with the FTC for years -- for allegedly making bogus claims about everything from weight loss to cures for debt, cancer, and heroin addiction -- may be headed to jail after asking supporters to bombard a federal judge with e-mails.

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Bernard Kerik

Kerik Sentenced To Four Years For Tax Fraud, Lying To White House

Justin Elliott | February 18, 2010, 12:17PM

Fmr. NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik

Former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik was sentenced today to four years in prison for lying during his vetting to be secretary of homeland security and tax fraud charges arising in part from renovations on his apartment paid for by a company looking for a city license.

The sentence exceeded the 27 to 33 months sought by prosecutors.

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Rick Perry

If At First You Don't Secede ... Sue The EPA: Texas Guv Uses Climate-Gate Emails To Take On Feds

Zachary Roth | February 18, 2010, 11:41AM

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is suing the Environmental Protection Agency in a bid to stop it from regulating global warming pollution. The centerpiece of his argument? Those leaked "Climate-Gate" emails.

Last year, the governor -- who faces a contested GOP primary race, which includes a Tea-Party-backed candidate who has lately caught fire -- raised the threat of seceding from the union. And on Tuesday, he opened a new front in his quest to tout his conservative bona fides.

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NRCC

'Nancy Pelosi' Sends Out Fundraising Email For GOP

Zachary Roth | February 18, 2010, 9:16AM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

A fundraising email sent yesterday by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) appeared under the name "Nancy Pelosi," and was addressed to "Dear Naive Republican."

No, the Speaker hasn't switched parties. Rather, the email, obtained by TPMmuckraker, seems to have been a crude stab at satire by the NRCC, designed to highlight what the committee sees as the failure of the stimulus plan.

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Bernard Kerik

As Kerik Faces Sentencing, Giuliani Is Conspicuously Silent

Justin Elliott | February 18, 2010, 9:00AM

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik

Former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik is set to be sentenced today for lying during his vetting to be secretary of homeland security, and for tax fraud related to renovations on his apartment paid for by a company seeking a city license.

It's one of those moments where you find out who your true friends are. But while supporters have written letters to the judge to advocate for a light sentence, one prominent figure is staying silent: Rudy Giuliani, once Kerik's most powerful patron.

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Larry Seabrook

NY Councilman Allegedly Doctored Receipt To Get $177 Reimbursement For Bagel Sandwich

Justin Elliott | February 17, 2010, 6:22PM

New York City Councilman Larry Seabrook

We're a bit late to this one, but local muck this rich only comes along so often: A city councilman from the Bronx who was slapped with a 13-count corruption indictment this month is alleged to have sought $177 reimbursement for a soda and bagel sandwich he bought for $7 outside city hall in New York.

The bagel sandwich enters the picture in the allegations against Councilman Larry Seabrook as part of his alleged scheme to launder bribe money associated with a 2006 boiler contract at the new Yankee Stadium.

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Tea Parties

Tea Partiers Now Forming Circular Firing Squad

Zachary Roth | February 17, 2010, 2:54PM

Tea party in Hartford, Connecticut in 2009

The level of internal tension within the always fractious Tea Party is reaching a boiling point, in the wake of yesterday's meeting with RNC chair Michael Steele and amid early efforts to build a third party out of the grassroots movement.

A major Tea Party group has announced its opposition to the idea of creating a third party -- drawing scorn from at least one activist. And a new anti-Steele website warns of the "'hijacking' of the Tea Party Movement by the GOP." Taken as a whole, the infighting suggests intense and fundamental philosophical differences among Tea Party factions, just as the movement is being hailed as a political force.

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Lobbyists

Lobby Firm Tells Clients How To Sway Elections While Avoiding 'Public Scrutiny'

Zachary Roth | February 17, 2010, 12:54PM

In the wake of last month's Citizens United ruling, a powerhouse Washington lobbying firm is informing its corporate clients on how they can use middlemen like the Chamber of Commerce to pour unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns, while maintaining "sufficient cover" to avoid "public scrutiny" and negative media coverage.

A "Public Policy and Law Alert" on the impact of the Supreme Court's ruling, prepared by two lawyers for K&LGates and posted on the firm's site last Friday, notes that, thanks to disclosure rules, corporations could alienate their customers by spending on political campaigns -- especially because they could become the target of negative media coverage.

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Amy Bishop

Delahunt's Office: Bishop Incident Was Presented To DA As 'Closed Case'

Justin Elliott | February 17, 2010, 12:47PM

Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA)

A spokesman for Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA), who was Norfolk County district attorney when Amy Bishop killed her brother in 1986, tells TPMmuckraker that investigators presented the case to the DA as an open-and-shut accidental shooting.

Spokesman Mark Forest also says that those who were involved in making the decision not to charge Bishop are now asking why information about her behavior after she fled the scene of the shooting -- including demanding a car from a worker at gunpoint -- was left out of a state police report on the incident.

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Michael Steele

Did Steele Give Tea Partiers False Assurances On Coats Race?

Zachary Roth | February 17, 2010, 10:25AM

RNC Chair Michael Steele

Did Michael Steele pull the wool over the eyes of the Tea Partiers he met with last night? Or is the RNC chair just not so up on what his party's doing? Or was there just a big misunderstanding?

An Indiana Tea Partier, Greg Fettig, said he asked Steele whether national Republicans had recruited Dan Coats into the GOP Senate race, CNN reports. There were already several Republican candidates before Coats entered the race, and Fettig said Tea Party activists in the state are "adamantly against" Coats, a former senator who now works as a Washington lobbyist.

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Amy Bishop

Witness: Cops Didn't Follow Up After Bishop Threatened Me With Gun In '86

Justin Elliott | February 17, 2010, 10:05AM

A man who was working at the newspaper distribution center where police apprehended a fleeing Amy Bishop after she killed her brother in 1986 tells TPMmuckraker that investigators never followed up with him, even though Bishop had threatened him with a shotgun, demanding to know if he had a car.

The revelation is at least the second -- and possibly the third -- known instance of Bishop pointing her gun at people she encountered after fleeing her home. And it provides more evidence of possible police missteps in the investigation of the shooting of Seth Bishop -- which was ruled an accident, mainly on the word of Seth and Amy's mother.

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Amy Bishop

Read the Report: Missing Police Records In '86 Bishop Case Found

Justin Elliott | February 16, 2010, 6:52PM

Amy Bishop

The Norfolk County District Attorney has found and released the missing Braintree police report describing the 1986 incident in which Amy Bishop killed her teenage brother.

The DA concludes that, "The analysis of the newly received documents, as well as the previously released March 30, 1987 State Police report indicate that probable cause existed at that time to place Amy Bishop under arrest charged with:
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, Chap. 265 Sec. 15B
Carrying a Dangerous Weapon, Chap. 269 Sec. 10, 12D
Unlawful possession of ammunition, Chap. 269 Ch. 10 (h)"

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Lanny Davis

Lanny Davis's New Blog Advises Corporate Clients On 'Legal Crisis Management'

Zachary Roth | February 16, 2010, 6:03PM

Lanny Davis

Lanny Davis is drawing on his experience handling crises for the Clinton White House to launch a blog that will advise corporate clients on how to navigate "high profile legal, personal and political controversies."

The Fox-friendly Democratic operative will team up with two other staffers at McDermott, Will, and Emery, the DC law and lobbying firm where he works, to write "Legal Crisis Strategies." According to an announcement by the firm, the blog will offer clients "total solutions" for handling crises, including "litigation skills and fact finding," "strategic messages and extensive experience in dealing with the media," and "legislative and lobbying strategies."

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Joseph Farah

WND Editor: I'm No Birther -- I Just Think Obama Needs To Release Birth Certificate

Zachary Roth | February 16, 2010, 2:45PM

Joseph Farah

Prominent right-wing columnist Joseph Farah is threatening to sue Newsweek, after the magazine reported that he believes President Obama was not born in the U.S.

Farah, the founder and editor of WorldNetDaily (WND), claims he's never said that -- he just wants Obama to release his birth certificate, in order to put "concerns" about the issue to rest.

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Michael Steele

Tea Party Leader On Steele Meeting: 'We Will Not Allow Our Movement To Be Hijacked'

Zachary Roth | February 16, 2010, 1:14PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

RNC chair Michael Steele may be touting his big sitdown today with Tea Party leaders, but a significant swathe of the grassroots movement is not on board with the meeting.

Jenny Beth Martin, a leader of the Tea Party Patriots, which helped organize well-attended rallies in Washington last September, told TPMmuckraker in an email that her group is not involved with the Steele pow-wow, and disavowed other efforts to work closely with the GOP. "One hundred percent of our local coordinators are committed to our core values of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets over any particular political party," said Martin.

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Amy Bishop

Ex-Police Chief Flips: Maybe Something Was Awry In '86 Bishop Shooting Case

Justin Elliott | February 16, 2010, 12:13PM

Former Braintree Police Chief John Polio

The former Braintree, Mass., chief of police who is said to have ordered Amy Bishop released the day she killed her brother -- and then threatened at least two people with a shotgun while frantically searching for a getaway vehicle -- now says he may have made the wrong decision.

John Polio's new comments in an interview with the Boston Globe are a marked shift from his earlier insistence that the process was handled properly. Polio previously rejected that there was any cover-up and that any records were missing in the 1986 case.

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Tea Parties

GOP To Tea Partiers: So, Come Here Often?

Zachary Roth | February 16, 2010, 10:40AM

RNC chairman Michael Steele

The Republican Party appears to be stepping up its efforts to capitalize on the grassroots energy of the Tea Party movement, with two of the GOP's most prominent Washington leaders announcing plans to work with the Tea Partiers. But some Tea Party activists are less than happy about the news.

Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, will meet today with a group of Tea Party leaders from around the country. And John Boehner, the House Minority Leader, will speak at a Tax Day event in April organized by the Orlando Tea Party, that group announced yesterday.

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Amy Bishop

Prof's Husband: We Went To Shooting Range In Weeks Before Killings

Justin Elliott | February 16, 2010, 9:25AM

Amy Bishop with a police officer

The husband of the biology professor charged with killing three colleagues in Alabama tells the Chronicle of Higher Education that he and his wife had gone to a shooting range in the weeks before the Friday incident.

James Anderson, husband of Amy Bishop, told the Chronicle yesterday that Bishop borrowed the gun from someone she knew:

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Amy Bishop

Auto Body Worker: Prof In Alabama Case Held Me Up After Shooting In '86

Justin Elliott | February 15, 2010, 5:38PM

Amy Bishop

A former car repairman has come forward to tell the Boston Herald that Amy Bishop, charged in the killing of three professors at the University of Alabama Friday, held him up at gunpoint while searching for a getaway vehicle after killing her brother in 1986.

The claim casts more doubt on the official version of the story -- that the shotgun Bishop was holding accidentally discharged in her Braintree, Mass., home, killing her 18-year-old brother. Bishop was 19 at the time, and she was released by the police the day of the incident without being charged.

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Amy Bishop

The Professor Accused In University Of Alabama Shooting: What Do We Know?

Justin Elliott | February 15, 2010, 3:38PM

Amy Bishop

The revelations about the past of the biology professor accused of shooting three colleagues to death at the University of Alabama Friday are stacking up by the day.

First came the news that the professor, Amy Bishop, shot and killed her teenage brother in suburban Boston under hazy circumstances in 1986. Then that she was investigated in 1993 in an attempted mail bombing of a Harvard professor who was evaluating her work as a postdoc.

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Birthers

Taitz Uses Appeal Of $20K Fine To Further Birther Crusade

Justin Elliott | February 15, 2010, 11:45AM

Orly Taitz

Attorney Orly Taitz has found a way to turn the $20,000 fine levied against her for frivolous legal filings into an opportunity to prove that President Obama was not born in the U.S.

Taitz tells birther-friendly WorldNetDaily she has filed a request with a federal judge in Washington to force Obama to give up his birth documents because she needs them in the appeal of her fine, which was imposed in October as part of a case in Georgia.

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Meet The Press

Maddow Calls Out GOP Rep For Flubbing Facts Of Abdulmutallab Case (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | February 15, 2010, 8:59AM

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL).

On Meet The Press yesterday, Rachel Maddow challenged Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) on the issue of the Miranda warning read to the attempted Christmas bombing suspect, correcting Schock's assertion that Abdulmutallab stopped talking after he was read his rights.

"What's the basis of the assertion that reading someone their Miranda rights in unsafe? We did that with every single person who's been arrested on terrorism charges since 9/11," Maddow said.

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