A couple has been charged with selling fake diplomas from fictitious universities over the Internet. The couple operated over 120 nonexistent schools and made well over $7 million through diploma sales. They are awaiting sentencing on Wednesday. (New York Times)

New U.S.-style proposals are being discussed by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office that would allow companies involved in bribery abroad to avoid punishment by admitting guilt and paying financial penalties. These proposals could help delays into U.K. corruption investigations, such as that of BAE Systems. (Financial Times)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents assisted last week in investigating the kidnapping of a relative of Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX). The kidnapped woman is a Mexican citizen and a distant relative of Rep. Reyes' wife. The woman, Erika Posselt, was released Sunday after a ransom was paid. (Washington Post)

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Circumstances should be looking up for Gitmo detainee Huzaifa Parhat: A recent Supreme Court ruling allows detainees at Guantanamo Bay the right to challenge their imprisonment, and an appeals court ruled Parhat was never an "enemy combatant" in the first place and was illegally detained. But despite the apparent good news, Parhat's lawyer says "I'm not allowed to tell him" of his impending freedom. (Think Progress)

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq are responsible for more U.S.-troop deaths than any other weapon. Since 2003, the Pentagon has spent $10 billion devising ways to disarm them. Though IED attacks are down by 88 percent since May, bureaucratic logjams have caused obstacles to a surefire solution. (Politico)

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) is taking fire from John McCain for a provision in the 2008 emergency supplemental that appears to be the result of Air Force lobbying. The provision would give a military service secretary or the head of another federal agency the right to veto or postpone a money-saving initiative that would require branches of the military to consolidate. An internal investigation of the Air Force has been requested. (The Hill)

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A report by the Government Accountability Office says that more than $2 billion given to Pakistan by the U.S. government to fund counterterrorism efforts may not have been used for its intended purpose. U.S.-funded army roads and bunkers may never have even been built, with the millions of U.S. dollars going to unknown uses. (Washington Post)

A U.S. Army officer, Maj. John Cockerham, and his wife, Melissa Cockerham, pleaded guilty to a money laundering scheme involving contracts in Iraq. Maj. Cockerham, who was responsible for awarding contracts worth millions of dollars, admitted to taking or being promised over 9 million dollars in bribes for contracts while in Kuwait. (Associated Press)

The Attorney General's office in Illinois is planning to file a civil suit Wednesday against mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp and its chief executive Angelo Mozilo after an investigation which began last fall. The Attorney General's office claims that Countrywide engaged in "unfair and deceptive practices" in the sale of their mortgage loans to homeowners. (Wall Street Journal)

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The first of a possible 160 court reviews of detainees at Guantanamo Bay resulted in the termination of the case against Chinese Muslim Huzaifa Parhat. The Justice Department conceded the case, saying there was no evidence that he ever fought against the U.S., or had plans to do so. (Associated Press)

Though women make up only 14 percent of U.S. Army personnel, 46 percent of Army discharges due to the military's policy of prohibiting openly gay citizens from serving were female. (New York Times)

The first convicted contract worker employed in Iraq was sentenced to five months of confinement for stabbing a fellow translator. Alaa "Alex" Mohammed Ali, an Iraqi Canadian citizen, pleaded guilty to stealing a soldier's knife, assaulting his colleague and wrongfully disposing of evidence. (LA Times)

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Amid pressure from Congress and an oversight panel, the U.S. Army is in the process of restructuring its methods of contracting work in Iraq. The Army asked for further support from the White House, requesting clearance to bring on five active-duty generals to oversee contracts. But the White House has initially nixed the idea. (Associated Press)

Chinese hackers infiltrated the computers of three more members of Congress, as well as computers belonging to the Foreign Affairs Committee. Data on each computer was erased, as the members said they believe their stance on human rights in China was the reason for the attacks. (The Hill)

The battle between the White House and the House Judiciary Committee over whether current chief of staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers must provide evidence in a House investigation, will continue in court. Documents and testimony are being demanded in regards to their involvement in the firing of U.S. attorneys. (Associated Press)

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The girlfriend of fugitive Samuel Israel III was arrested Thursday, for aiding and abetting his flight. Israel, recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for swindling his hedge fund clients out of almost $400 million, faked his suicide days before he was supposed to enter prison. His girlfriend told authorities that she had helped Israel pack a recreational vehicle, attach a motor scooter and then drove with him to a rest area, where the R.V. was left for later use. (New York Times)

Two former Bear Stearns senior executives were arrested on Thursday for securities fraud relating to the subprime mortgage fallout. The former hedge fund managers were among 60 people arrested this week in a sweep the Justice Department is calling "Operation Malicious Mortgage." Over 400 people have been arrested since March on charges of mortgage fraud. (New York Times)

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Former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld appears in court today and is expected to enter a guilty plea in a tax evasion scam. Birkenfeld and his fugitive co-worker Mario Staggls stand accused of helping their ultra-high-net worth clients evade hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the U.S. government. (WRS Worldradio.ch)

The dominoes continue to fall for Wall Street banks in the wake of the mortgage fallout. Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were arrested this morning on charges of securities fraud. Matthew Tannin and Ralph Cioffi are the first executives to face criminal charges as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis.
(Associated Press)

A massive report issued by Physicians for Human Rights detailing torture suffered by 11 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib was released Wednesday, the most extensive such study done on the torture tactics used on detainees. One of the interviewed detainees, Ali al-Qaisi, detailed horrors of defecation, sodomy, excruciating pain and humiliation. (Associated Press and Physicians for Human Rights)

Members of Congress have called for increased attention into an ABC News report that revealed government-run pharmaceutical drug testing was done on mentally distressed veterans. The members, in a letter to the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs, called for an end to the testing of the drug Chantix that has been linked to nearly 40 veteran suicides and over 400 incidents of suicidal behavior. (ABC News)

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Recent weeks have seen a rash of activity from some of the old players involved in the investigation of shamed Washington insider Jack Abramoff, including the uber-lobbyist himself. Here are complete listings from the Associated Press and TPM's own ongoing tally of the Abramoff ripple effect. (Associated Press)

Committee hearings in the House and Senate are revealing evidence of abuse, possible torture, handicapped legal proceedings and innocent detainees in prisons like Guantanamo Bay. The Senate Armed Services Committee released documents detailing the U.S. military's policy of hiding detainees from outside humanitarian groups such as the Red Cross. (McClatchy)

Sen. Barack Obama-antagonizer and polygraph-test failure Larry Sinclair is responsible for charging the presidential candidate with past sex trysts, drug use and accusations of murder, mainly through an oft-visited YouTube video. Public records show Sinclair has a hefty, 27-year-old rap sheet and is wanted in Colorado. Nevertheless, the National Press Club is giving Sinclair time to speak today in Washington D.C. (Politico)

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A Senate investigation reveals that the Department of Defense used military psychologists to devise aggressive interrogation techniques to be used on detainees suspected of terrorism. Legal experts within the military warned department officials of the illegality of such tactics before they were approved. The defense lawyers spoke to investigators anonymously, as the information has yet to see an official release. (Associated Press)

As wars in Iraq and Afghanistan plod along, the role of inspector generals has increased. The FY08 defense bill created new oversight positions, in addition to the existing standards, as more and more responsibility (and disagreements over jurisdiction) is handed to the government monitoring agencies. (CongressDaily)

The Department of Defense inspector general's investigation of the 2005 killing of Reuters employee Waleed Khaled by U.S. soldiers who fired on his car in response to what they thought was a threat concluded that the soldiers acted properly. The decision comes after crucial video evidence in the case went missing. (Reuters)

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Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib have been synonymous with detainee abuse in recent years. Now McClatchy interviews of guards and prisoners from the U.S. internment camp in Bagram, Afghanistan say the spot was the site of widespread abuse and sadistic violence that rival its counterparts in Iraq and Cuba (where innocent prisoners are still unable to go home). (McClatchy and Miami Herald)

The Election Assistance Commission, created in response to the Florida recount in 2000 to prevent such election boondoggles, is still underfunded, understaffed and overworked. The embattled commission faces many important issues this election year, yet frustration stemming from partisan and bureaucratic entanglements persist. (Associated Press)

Non-profit and government programs attempting to grant U.S. visas to Iraqis who have worked for the U.S. occupation in some manner have failed to meet the initial goals and promises. State Dept. figures show only 763 of over 7,000 Iraqis involved in the visa program have successfully received entry. (Washington Post)

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Weeks after FEMA attempted to confiscate the rest of their trailers used by victims of Hurricane Katrina, a CNN investigation found around $85 million in goods meant for those misplaced victims sat in warehouses for two years before being sent to other federal and state agencies. (CNN)

Lawyers for Texas death row inmate Charles Hood are claiming the judge and the prosecutor in Hood's 1990 double-murder trial were having an affair. The possible relationship was a violation of fair trial rights, and Hood should not be put to death, the legal team states. (New York Times)

Mark Brener, an operator of Emperors Club VIP escort service, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit prostitution crimes and money laundering, but did not agree to fully cooperate with investigators in related cases. It is unclear how Brener's lack of cooperation will affect the case of one of the club's customers, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. (Reuters)

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In another case of the CIA plucking a citizen from a foreign country based on suspicion, officials from Italy, Germany, Spain and Switzerland all cooperated in the effort to kidnap Egyptian cleric and terrorism suspect Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr from a Milan street in 2003. Nasr was released from an Egyptian prison in 2007, claiming he was tortured while there. (Associated Press)

Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have introduced legislation that would tighten laws on lobbyists that work for foreign-owned companies, requiring lobbying operations to disclose more aspects of those relationships than current law demands. The proposed review of foreign influence on American lobbying comes during an election season in which Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has come under scrutiny for employing several individuals on his campaign staff that have track records of foreign lobbying. (New York Times)

A senior British intelligence agent left top secret documents containing information on al Qaeda on a train, officials said Wednesday. The file was retrieved and given to the BBC. This comes after the loss of a laptop containing data on 600,000 recruits by Britain's Ministry of Defence, prompting critics to hurl charges of lax security at Prime Minister Gordon Brown. (Reuters)

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Retired Army Lt. Levonda J. Selph pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday for directing a $12 million building contract to a confidant in exchange for $4,000 cash and a trip to Thailand. Selph has promised to cooperate in the pending investigation. The contractor was not named in the court documents. (Associated Press)

As the Iraqi and American governments wrangle over the depth of mission and length of time American forces will stay present in Iraq, one crucial point of negotiation involves the presence of defense companies in the country. While contractors have come under intense scrutiny in Baghdad, especially after the massacre of 17 Iraqis at the hands of Blackwater guards last year, the U.S. government is requesting immunity from Iraqi law for the private companies. (AFP)

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) sent a letter to Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday asking her about the department's position on the future of defense contracts with the likes of Blackwater, and how much the U.S. military plans to lean on the private, largely unregulated companies in Iraq and elsewhere. (Washington Independent)

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ignored warnings of a looming subprime loan collapse in the U.S. housing market, sticking with outdated policies that allowed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to net billions by providing low-cost loans. (Washington Post)

Human Rights Watch is reporting over two-thirds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay have shown signs of mental health problems because of their living conditions. Many of the prisoners, the report claims, have already been cleared for release or not charged at all yet continue to be held in cramped cells for nearly 22 hours a day. (Reuters)

As the Bush administration attempts to negotiate with Congress for retroactive immunity for telecom companies that complied with government-ordered warrantless wiretapping, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) is demanding further review of a potential waiver for the companies. "It seems to me that it'd be very difficult to grant retroactive immunity when you don't even know for sure what you're giving retroactive immunity for," Specter said Monday, sharing a view unpopular among Republicans. (Washington Independent)

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A lawyer for Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr says he was shown an operations manual that ordered interrogators to destroy notes, or any other evidence that would have signified harsh treatment which could be used by suspects in their trial defense. Khadr's lawyer said he will use the manual to seek a dismissal of charges against his client. (Associated Press)

A German citizen is suing the German government to force the extradition of 13 CIA agents who allegedly kidnapped and tortured him. Mistaken for a terrorism suspect, Khaled al-Masri was abducted in Macedonia on Dec. 31, 2003 and taken to Afghanistan where he was tortured and probed for four months before his release in Albania. (Associated Press)

Despite public outcry,and a new majority Party, a study led by the Associated Press and assisted by two watchdog groups, the Sunlight Foundation and Taxpayers for Common Sense, found the earmark process in Washington D.C. is as strong as ever. A total of 11,234 earmarks at $14.8 billion ran through congressional bills this year, according the study. (Associated Press)

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Saudi financier Gaith Pharaon was indicted by the Justice Department for his alleged role in the BCCI scandal and is still wanted by the FBI. But no matter. The U.S. military has handed him an $80 million contract to supply jet fuel to American military bases in Afghanistan. (ABC)

An adviser to Sen. John McCain confirms that the GOP nominee now supports President Bush's warrantless wiretapping policy, and that telecom companies involved in complying should not face ramifications. McCain's view of the eavesdropping program seems to have shifted in recent weeks. (New York Times and Washington Post)

After weeks of wrangling with San Diego officials and community members, Blackwater Worldwide opened its 61,000-square-foot training facility in the Otay Mesa-area of San Diego. Members of the defense contractor wasted no time beginning their combat training. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

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At a congressional hearing on the many illegal immigration detention centers around the U.S., Julie Myers, assistant secretary of the Dept. of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, said the agency will do a better job of reporting detainee deaths. The hearing was in response to Washington Post's series on the detention centers. (Washington Post)

Alleged planner of the 9/11 attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, as well as four other co-conspirators, will face arraignment today at Guantanamo Bay. Mohammed is the most high-profile figure to appear before the controversial war-crimes tribunal at Gitmo. As has been the norm with similar cases at Gitmo, Mohammed's lawyers are claiming the trial was rushed in front of a judge for political reasons. (Associated Press)

A federal jury found Illinois political fundraiser, real estate kingpin and Barack Obama-supporter Antonin "Tony" Rezko guilty on 16 of 24 counts of corruption, mostly related to his dealings while an adviser to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). (Associated Press)

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The Pentagon announced charges against Binyam Mohammed for allegedly conspiring to use dirty bombs to target buildings in the U.S. Defense lawyers for Mohammed are claiming political motives are behind the Pentagon's efforts to expedite the trial. Mohammed was also denied repatriation rights to be tried in his native Britain. (LA Times)

On March 11, the Office of Congressional Ethics was created, but had to wait 120 days (July 9) to officially begin operations. Yet the office still lacks in staff, board members and office space, rendering a start on July 9 unlikely. Neither Democratic nor Republican leaders offered explanations. (Roll Call sub. req.)

Audits of state and local police officers find that the failure to notify federal authorities about contact with possible terrorist suspects is rampant. Police are asked to report matches to suspects on watch lists, but an estimated 8 to 10 matches go unreported everyday. (USA Today)

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The United States has used as many as 17 ships, or "floating prisons," to interrogate prisoners, a British rights group alleges. The Pentagon denies the claims, yet an official said it was possible U.S. Navy ships had temporarily held combatants during moves to more permanent locations. (AFP)

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) continues its report of two mothers' frustrating search for answers regarding the deaths of their sons, both former guards for private defense company Blackwater, while working in Iraq. Read part one of the account here. (The Plain Dealer)

Lawyers for Gitmo-detainee Omar Khadr are claiming the judge presiding over Khadr's case, Judge Army Col. Peter Brownback, will be replaced due to favorable rulings the judge made for the defense. But Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, chief judge in the U.S. war crimes court at Guantanamo, the removal happened for reasons unrelated to the Khadr case. Khadr is suspected of killing an American soldier during a firefight in Afghanistan. (Reuters)

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The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) documents the struggle of two mothers forced to digest the deaths of their sons in Iraq. But the sons were not in the U.S. military; they were members of private security outfit Blackwater. (The Plain Dealer)

As the Bush administration heads out of office, they have notified federal agencies that today is the deadline to propose new regulations, nearly eight months before a successor takes the office. On its face it's a rare good government measure from this White House, but critics claim the policy ensures the next occupant will have a difficult time changing the regulations made by the Bush Administration. (The Boston Globe)

The Chicago Tribune takes a further look into the conditions illegal immigrants face in detention centers around the United States. This follows the Washington Post's four-part series on the subject weeks ago. (Chicago Tribune and Washington Post)

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