Here's another hurdle for the government to clear in the litigation of wartime detainees: finding prosecutors. Roughly one quarter of the Justice Department's civil appellate staff have refused to participate in the cases, citing disagreement with the government legal approach to the cases. Thankfully, the government isn't letting a little internal dissent (or three Supreme Court rulings) slow down their prosecutions. (U.S. News)

Loose lips sink ships. The Director of National Intelligence's recent comments--in which he acknowledged for the first time the role of private companies in the controversial surveillance program -- has been cited by at least one telecommunications firm as a reason why the government can't have their case thrown out of court. You might recall the interview; McConnell was lambasting loose-talking politicians and journalists. (Associated Press)

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has released emails from White House staffers showing they explicitly intended to use the former Surgeon General for political gain, and according to the President's agenda. (Reuters)

Once more for the cheap seats: Waxman wants those emails. Yesterday he sent a new letter to Fred Fielding requesting information about White House emails that went uncollected due to an oversight in the Presidential Records Act enforcement. Now Waxman is citing officials from the Office of Administration that told him the email archive system wasn't all it cracked up to be; sometimes it captured only a few emails, sometimes it captured none at all. (Associated Press)

The controversial "Election Crimes" assessment that was published by the Election Assistance Commission was rigged. That's not us speaking, that's the original author, who was banned from helping on the report after her July 2006 draft. Which might explain why she says the report that was eventually presented "completely stood our own work on its head." Odd how the report corresponded with a fevered interest in prosecuting voter fraud, a crime that "administrators, academics and election experts from all points on the political spectrum" agreed were "greatly exaggerated." (Washington Post)

The Bush administration is once again using the "state secrets" privilege as a legal tool to avoid disclosing information in a case. The privilege has rarely been used in the past, but this administration has pulled it out over thirty times. (NY Times)

NASA employees are suing over a new background security check that includes questions about the individual's sexual orientation and loyalty. A 17-year NASA veteran couldn't have put it better: “I was at J.P.L. during the cold war when we were fighting the Soviet Union, which had the power not only to end all life in the U.S. but the entire planet. We were able to defeat them without resorting to such intrusive tactics." (NY Times)

There is a risk with relying on “bundlers” to raise your millions for campaign money. Bundlers, wealthy individuals who can collect money from friends and associates, have previously been an asset in light of the $2,300 cap on individual contributions. President Bush used the bundler technique effectively, but also had a certain Jack Abramoff as one of the bundlers. Norman Hsu, now wanted in a fraud case in California, was a bundler for Hillary Clinton. (NY Times)

Bush has decided that he needs another $50 billion for the surge. But he's the Decider, not the Informer. That's why he didn't bother to tell Defense Secretary Robert Gates about the financial need (we assume he told his war czar, or at least the under-czar). (Think Progress)