TPMMuckraker Justin Elliott
Ethics
The Rangel Caribbean Junket Docs: Dig In!
Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)
The House ethics panel has now released the documents in the investigation that found Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) violated House rules by taking corporate-funded junkets to the Caribbean.
We ran down the results of the investigation here. But we need your help going through the raw materials for any good nuggets. Links after the jump.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Topics: Charles Rangel, Ethics, Ethics Panel
Jerry Nadler
Dem Rep Sends Yoo And Bybee Materials To Bar Associations For Potential Discipline
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) has forwarded materials on the writing of the torture memos to state bars where John Yoo and Jay Bybee are licensed, calling on the bar association to consider possible disciplinary action, Nadler's office announced today.
The torture memo report produced by the Justice Department's ethics office concluded that Yoo, now a professor at Berkeley, and Bybee, now federal judge on the ninth circuit, committed professional misconduct in their drafting of the memos that authorized torture.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (10)Topics: Jay Bybee, Jerry Nadler, John Yoo, Torture
Iraq War
Army's Iraq Handbook: Avoid War Crimes And Beware Arab Paranoia
US soldiers talk to Iraqis in Abu Garab Hail
A 2003 handbook for the U.S. 1st Infantry Division in Iraq exhorts soldiers to "Do your best to prevent war crimes" and warns that "when an Arab is confronted by criticism, you can expect him to react by interpreting the facts to suit himself or flatly denying the facts."
The document, obtained and posted by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, runs nearly 100 pages outlining on the history of Iraq, the customs of Arabs, and the rules of war.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: 1st Infantry Division, Iraq, Iraq War, John Batiste
John Yoo
Leahy Grills DOJ Official On Missing John Yoo Emails (VIDEO)
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Yoo
At the hearing on the Justice Department torture memos report today, Sen. Patrick Leahy demanded to know whether the DOJ would investigate the missing John Yoo emails -- and determine whether criminal charges are warranted.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler told Leahy that he would get back to the committee after looking into the technical aspects of what happened to the emails.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Gary Grindler, Hearing On The Torture Memo Report, John Yoo, John Yoo Emails, Miguel Estrada, Pat Leahy
Jeff Sessions
Republicans Attack Justice Department Ethics Office
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
The two top Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee went after the DOJ's ethics office today, blasting the torture memo report produced by the Office of Professional Responsibility.
"The first report was filled with gaping holes, shoddy legal analysis .. and a clear desire to punish Mr. Yoo and Mr. Bybee even if the facts didn't support it," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in his opening statement.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Gary Grindler, Hearing On The Torture Memo Report, Jeff Sessions, John Cornyn, Office of Professional Responsibility, Senate Judiciary Committee
John Yoo
Leahy At OPR Hearing: 'Where Are Mr. Yoo's Emails?'
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy just kicked off a hearing on the Justice Department torture memo report, and he immediately raised the question of John Yoo's missing emails.
"My first question will be, where are Mr. Yoo's emails?" Leahy said, promising to pose the question to Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Hearing On The Torture Memo Report, John Yoo, John Yoo Emails, Justice Department, Pat Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee
Charles Rangel
Rangel: I Was Misled On Caribbean Junkets; Ethics Panel: Us Too!
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
The ethics committee's official report admonishing Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), released late last night, concludes that Rangel's staff knew that two Caribbean junkets were paid for by corporations, in violation of House rules.
In another development, the committee is referring to the Justice Department the matter of three employees of Carib News -- which sponsored the trips -- who allegedly submitted false information to the committee during pre-travel review for the trips in question.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Charles Rangel, Ethics, Ethics Panel, Faye Rodney, House Ethics Committee, Karl Rodney, Patricia Louis
Charles Rangel
Ethics Panel Finds Rangel Broke House Rules
Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)
The AP is reporting that the House ethics panel has found Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) accepted trips to the Caribbean "in violation of House rules that forbid hidden financing by corporations."
The ethics panel announced it was looking at the trips, sponsored by an organization called the Carib News Foundation, in June. Four other House Dems, all members of the Congressional Black Caucus, took similar trips; but the AP says the other members have been cleared.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Topics: Charles Rangel, Ethics, Ethics Panel, House Ethics Committee
Daniel Stout
After Rep. Resigns In Sex Scandal, Georgia County Elects GOPer Who Had Affair With Mother-In-Law
Georgia Rep. Daniel Stout (R)
Last December, Paulding County lost its representative in the Georgia House when he resigned in a high profile sex and conflict-of-interest scandal.
Glenn Richardson, the family-values Republican who represented the county and was speaker of the house, stepped down after his ex-wife publicly accused him of having "a full-out affair" with a lobbyist while he was married.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: Daniel Stout, Georgia, Glenn Richardson
David Paterson
Paterson Aide: State Police Lied To Me On Involvement In Domestic Violence Case
NY State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt and Gov. David Paterson
Things are getting bad for New York Gov. David Paterson -- and his state police superintendent -- as more revelations surface in the wake of the big Times story today.
The latest: Paterson's deputy secretary for public safety, Denise O'Donnell, has resigned and is accusing the state police superintendent of lying lied to her about police involvement in the domestic violence case of Paterson aide David Johnson.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: David Johnson, David Paterson, Denise O'Donnell, Harry Corbitt
Michael Lohman
Ex-New Orleans Cop Pleads Guilty To Massive Cover Up In Post-Katrina Shootings
The Danziger Bridge (Fmr. New Orleans Police Lt. Michael Lohman inset)
A veteran New Orleans police officer pleaded guilty yesterday to orchestrating an elaborate cover-up of a shooting in the days after Katrina in which police gunned down six unarmed city residents, killing two and seriously wounding four.
The development -- which the Times-Picayune calls a "potentially devastating blow" to other officers linked to the case -- is the first plea in a wide-ranging federal probe of several post-Katrina police shootings. The Feds are reportedly looking at possible crimes in both the shootings themselves as well as the subsequent investigations.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)Topics: Danziger Bridge, James Brissette, Jim Letten, Katrina, Lance Madison, Leonard Bartholomew, Michael Lohman, New Orleans Police Department, Ronald Madison, Susan Bartholomew
David Paterson
NYT: State Police -- And Possibly Paterson -- Intervened In Aide's Domestic Violence Case
New York Gov. David Paterson and aide David Johnson
The New York state police intervened with a woman who had accused a top aide to Gov. David Paterson of assaulting her, in what she says was an attempt to harass her to drop the charges, the New York Times reports.
And Paterson himself had a brief phone conversation with the woman earlier this month, though the details of the call are in dispute. Paterson told the Times the woman "initiated" the call, whereas her lawyer says Paterson called her. The lawyer, Lawrence Saftler, says the governor told her, "If you need me, I'm here for you."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: David Johnson, David Paterson, Harry Corbitt, Lawrence Saftler
Eric Holder
Despite Harsh Criticism Of Torture Memos Report, Holder Has 'Utmost Confidence' In DOJ Ethics Office
Attorney General Eric Holder and Associate Deputy AG David Margolis
Attorney General Eric Holder has "the utmost confidence" in the Justice Department's ethics office, despite the fact that it was recently overruled by a top Holder aide in its most high-profile case in years, a DOJ spokeswoman tells TPMmuckraker.
The 290-page torture memo report produced by the Office of Professional Responsibility, which is tasked with investigating misconduct by DOJ attorneys, found that Bush-era attorneys John Yoo and Jay Bybee had committed professional misconduct in writing the legal opinions that authorized torture.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: David Margolis, Eric Holder, Jay Bybee, John Yoo, Justice Department, Michael Mukasey, Office of Professional Responsibility, Torture
Alan Grayson
Grayson: Even If Blackwater Saved Me From Coup, I Stand By Criticism Of Contractors
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Blackwater training session
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), who found himself caught in a coup in Niger last week, was flown out of the country on an aircraft that may have been operated by a Blackwater subsidiary, Mother Jones reported today.
But in a statement to TPMmuckraker, Grayson's spokesman says the congressman -- who has been a fiery critic of the privatization of American foreign policy -- still believes the use of profit-driven contractors can be deeply problematic.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: Alan Grayson, Blackwater, Burkina Faso, Niger, Todd Jurkowski, Xe
Najibullah Zazi
GOPers Who Hit Obama On Xmas Bomber Now Mum On Zazi Guilty Plea
Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)
The Republicans who most vociferously blasted the Obama Administration for putting the attempted Christmas bombing suspect through the criminal justice system have apparently been silent on another high-profile terrorism case making its way through the civilian system.
Najibullah Zazi on Monday pleaded guilty in federal court to a plot to detonate explosives in the New York subway system. The government says that Zazi, a legal resident from Afghanistan, got training in 2008 from al Qaeda in Pakistan, and was motivated by anger over civilian deaths in his home country.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: Eric Holder, Kit Bond, Najibullah Zazi, Obama Administration, Pete Hoekstra
Jim Gibbons
Gov. Gibbons Caught Repeatedly Lying About Trip To D.C. With Woman (VIDEO)
Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV)
Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons was caught by a local news team repeatedly fibbing about whether he traveled to Washington with a Reno woman who the reporters then saw getting off the same plane, and later getting into the governor's state SUV.
Kathy Karrasch, the woman with whom Gibbons traveled to Washington for the National Governors Association conference, has been publicly linked to the governor since he had to reimburse the state for over 800 text messages he sent to her over a five-week period in 2007.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: Dawn Gibbons, Jim Gibbons, Jonathan Humbert, Kathy Karrasch
Tedd Petruna
New Docs On Disputed AirTran Flight Shows No Muslim Hijack Attempt
A scene from the 1997 film Air Force One
In the end there was no amateur porn viewing. There was no shout of "infidel dog!" There were no Muslim hijackers.
FAA documents obtained by TPMmuckraker through the Freedom of Information Act thoroughly debunk NASA diver Tedd Petruna's tale of a thwarted hijacking aboard AirTran Flight 297 in Atlanta last November.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: AirTran, AirTran Flight 297, Federal Aviation Administration, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Tedd Petruna
Ryan Sorba
Gay-Bashing CPACer Has Checkered Legal History
Ryan Sorba at CPAC 2010
The man who cited natural law in an off-script anti-gay rant at CPAC has had two run-ins with the real law in the past decade, including a restraining order for domestic violence, according to court records in California.
Ryan Sorba of California Young Americans for Freedom, who is a longtime anti-gay activist, in 2001 had a restraining order brought against him by a woman in a San Bernardino County domestic violence case, according to case records.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)Topics: CPAC, California Young Americans for Freedom, FreedomWorks, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, James O'Keefe, Leadership Institute, Mary Paulson, Michael Sorba, Ryan Sorba, The Born Gay Hoax
Joe Stack
Austin Attack Suspect's Daughter Retracts 'Hero' Comments
The IRS Echelon 1 Building in Austin.
Joe Stack's daughter called ABC today to retract her earlier statement that her father was a hero for standing up to the government.
Stack is accused of flying his plane into an IRS building in Austin, killing one person and injuring about a dozen others.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Topics: Joe Stack, Samantha Bell, Vernon Hunter
John Yoo
Yoo: 'Sure,' The President Could Order A Village Of Civilians Massacred
In John Yoo's vision of executive power, the president can legally order a village of civilians "massacred," according to the internal Justice Department report released Friday.
But in a letter (.pdf) sent to the DOJ last October, Yoo's lawyer, Miguel Estrada, accused the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility of ripping "out of context" Yoo's statement on the massacre question.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)Topics: Jay Bybee, John Yoo, Justice Department, Office of Legal Counsel, Office of Professional Responsibility
Joe Stack
Stack's Daughter: My Dad Was A Hero For Standing Up To The Man (VIDEO)
The daughter of the man who allegedly flew a plane into an IRS building in Austin, killing one person and injuring a dozen others, says her father is a hero because he stood up to the system.
"I think too many people lay around and wait for things to happen. But if nobody comes out and speaks up on behalf of injustice, then nothing will ever be accomplished," Samantha Bell told Good Morning America.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: Austin, Texas, IRS, Joe Stack, Samantha Bell
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