The practice of outsourcing defense operations in Iraq and Afghanistan includes another wrinkle, the House Oversight Committee reported Thursday. While the pertinent government agencies have set rates with a single carrier, the Pentagon has allowed the contractors to negotiate their own insurance deals, causing massive markups that taxpayers inherit. (Associated Press)

Following the recent resignation of two staffers of Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) campaign team due to their ties to lobbying for a dictatorship, Republican consultant Craig Shirley has been asked to leave the campaign now after Politico found Shirley working for a '527' group in opposition to Democratic presidential candidates. McCain hired Shirley's firm, Shirley & Bannister Associates, for $22,000 earlier this year to drum up Republican support. Shirley has received over $155,000 since 2007 from Stop Her Now, the '527', for public relations work. (Politico)

The Bush administration cut ties with Iraq war-pusher Ahmed Chalabi this week ... again. He was removed from his post in the Iraqi government for his connections to Iranian officials. But is he really gone for good? (Newsweek)

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During a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Allen Raymond, former Republican consultant connected to the 2002 Election Day phone-jamming controversy in New Hampshire, said the White House had no knowledge of the plot. The scandal has led to at least three criminal prosecutions and a $135,000-lawsuit settled between Republicans and Democrats.(Associated Press)

The top defender in Supreme Court cases of the Bush administration's policies toward legal rights of Gitmo prisoners is resigning after nearly three years at the post. Solicitor General Paul Clement argued before the Supreme Court that the detainees are not allowed rights to prove their innocence, backing the administration's view to abolish habeas corpus rights for all terrorism suspects. (Reuters)

Head of analysis for all U.S. spy agencies Thomas Fingar spent years compiling an intelligence report on Iran and the country's nuclear goals. Just before his report was to be released last summer, new intelligence offered a view different from Fingar's, that Iran was no longer seeking a nuclear program, undermining the Bush administration's hard line on Tehran and underscoring the murky lines that separate politics and intelligence. (LA Times)

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The Washington Post's extensive four-part series on the shoddy health care provided to imprisoned illegal immigrants ends today with a look into the drugging of detainees, oftentimes for no medical reason. (Washington Post)

The Detroit City Council narrowly voted to begin the removal of embattled Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Tuesday. The measure, passing by one vote, asks the governor to force Kilpatrick out as the council simultaneously moves to do the same. (Detroit Free Press)

Another legacy of the Bush administration: Using federal agency bureaucrats to propose or adopt rules limiting lawsuits, circumventing an unfriendly Congress and the public's watchful eye. (Associated Press)

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The Washington Post's four-part series on sub-standard health care provided for illegal immigrants with fewer rights than convicted felons, detained in Gitmo-like prisons, continues today with a look into the perils of mental health treatment at detention centers. (Washington Post)

Alaa "Alex" Mohammad Ali, dual Iraqi and Candadian citizen and Army translator working in Iraq, has been court-martialed by the U.S. military for stabbing another contract worker on Feb. 23. This is the first such prosecution of a civilian military contractor working for the U.S. since the Vietnam War. (US News)

Esquire takes a careful look at John Yoo, former Justice Dept. lawyer and author of what are now called the torture memos, and the steps he took when contemplating the rationales for torture during a war with a unique foes. (Esquire)

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The Washington Post takes a four-part look into sub-standard health care offered to detainees held in prisons across the United States made for certain indigent laborers awaiting trial for minor offenses, or those waiting for political asylum from their home countries. They have less access to legal protection than convicted felons, and some prisons they must endure resemble Gitmo. (Washington Post)

It may not be a comeback when nothing changes, but it seems defense contractor Blackwater has done just that as the State Dept. recently renewed their contract. No charges have been brought against Blackwater despite the unprovoked, mass-killing of 17 Iraqi citizens at the hands of Blackwater guards and repeated calls from Iraqi officials for the U.S. to outlaw the group's security influence in the country. (New York Times)

According to a memo from seven employees of the Office of Special Counsel, department head Scott Bloch, whose office was raided last week during an investigation into whether his office was used for political motivations, ordered the closing of an investigation into allegations that former White House adviser Karl Rove attempted to make the frontrunner candidate for governor in Alabama Don Siegelman (D) a target for prosecution. (Washington Post)

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Television news networks have been remarkably quiet about the New York Times recent cover story detailing the practice of retired military analysts, many with ties to defense contractors, regurgitating Pentagon talking points on television news programs. Now Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and John Dingell (D-MI) have sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission "urging an investigation of the Pentagon's propaganda program." DeLauro also sent letters to five networks questioning their motives. Only ABC and CNN have anwsered thus far. (New York Times and Politico)

David Mason's name has been withdrawn by President Bush as a Federal Election Commission nominee. Some charge the move was made to fix John McCain's problems with the FEC. But McCain's camp respond that such controversy is "manufactured". Mason has voiced a negative opinion of allowing McCain to back out of a primary election public funding program. (Politico)

Longtime military vet Maj. Gen. Jay W. Hood was penciled in as the next senior American officer in Pakistan. But the military discreetly canceled his nomination once Pakistani news media picked up on Hood's former post: commander of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. (New York Times)

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Republicans in Washington D.C. have asked Office of Special Counsel chief Scott Bloch to resign. This follows an FBI-led raid of his offices uncovered documents related to an investigation into allegations of Bloch's political bias and obstruction of justice in an office designed to protect whistleblowers and enforce rules on political activity in federal workplaces. (Washington Post)

Pentagon officials are pointing to the suicide bombing in Iraq by Guantanamo detainee Abdullah Salih Al Ajmi as a justification of holding prisoners there until the government is sure they are innocent. The Pentagon went on to release a list of a dozen former Guantanamo prisoners they claim have been released and then returned to fighting against the U.S. and its allies. (Boston Globe)

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is once again crying foul over ads from the organization Freedom's Watch. The DCCC claims the conservative group did not follow election guidelines by not reporting more than $600,000 of television ads in Louisiana and Mississippi elections. Freedom's Watch says the ads followed the rules, yet the complaint filed by the DCCC accuses the group of airing "electioneering communications" on April 22 and 29 regarding the race for a Louisiana Congressional seat without proper notice to the FEC. (Roll Call)

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The Environmental Protection Agency says there is a "distinct possibility" that the agency will not cleanse contaminated drinking water of the toxin perchlorate, a rocket fuel ingredient that has been found in water of 35 states. Perchlorate affects the thyroid and can cause health risks in fetuses. The EPA claims that fixing the problem may not do any good and, instead, may issue a health warning. (Associated Press)

Attorneys of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay believe their phones have been bugged by the U.S. government, they claim in court filings that seek an answer on possible surveillance. The Justice Department did not comment on the allegations, but have said as recently as March that they could neither confirm nor deny spying on detainees' lawyers because saying so would compromise U.S. intelligence sources and methods. (New York Times)

White House e-mails from a critical three-month period that includes the March 23, 2003, invasion of Iraq are missing, White House officials say. The Bush administration says the files may be found on computer backup tapes due to the way they were dated and are hoping an archiving system could possibly recover the lost e-mails. (Washington Post)

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Based on a figure from the RAND Corporation calculating around 20 percent of U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, as well as established suicide rates for patients with similar conditions, the National Institute of Mental Health is worried the number of suicides among returning veterans might eclipse the amount killed in Iraq. The Pentagon did not dispute these claims. (Associated Press and Bloomberg)

An internal audit of the State Dept. found that as many as 400 employee laptops from the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program are missing. The unit is designed to help train and provide equipment for foreign police, intelligence and security forces. The department is now scrambling around its Washington offices to take inventory of all registered laptops. (Congressional Quarterly)

The FBI, the IRS and federal prosecutors around the country are teaming up to investigate whether some mortgage lenders willingly accepted falsified income profiles from borrowers. The task force, first formed in January to examine 14 mortgage companies involved in localized activity. The inquiry has since expanded its reach to well-known operations like Countrywide Financial Corporation. (New York Times)

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A former aide to Reps. Jane Harman (D-CA) and Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) was sentenced to six months in jail for embezzling money from her employers' accounts to help fund political campaigns. Investigators are looking into other congressional staff members and their involvement into similar campaign-support activity at the request of their bosses. (Wash Post)

The role of defense contractors in Iraq will increase soon, as the military officials are openly calling for such privatized troops to live with (for the first time) Iraqi military groups while they help train the fledgling army. Defense contracting has come under scrutiny from Congress of late, yet one Pentagon official says the step of using non-U.S. military is a "natural step" in the training of the Iraqis as American forces draw down. (The Hill and Washington Post)

A major defense contractor used by the U.S. in Iraq, MPRI out of Virginia, was found to have used a shell company in Bermuda to subcontract the defense work. The offshore companies set up to avoid taxation were started just months after signing a $400 million contract to provide military support in Iraq. (Boston Globe)

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Following reports of over 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan vets in need of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, and allegations from former troops that the Department of Veterans Affairs is unequipped to handle such demands, Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged Thursday that the military has been substandard in the treatment of returning soldiers. He is calling for procedural change in access to PTSD treatment, as well as the improvement of housing throughout the ranks. (Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle and Reuters)

Detained in December 2001 by Pakistani security on his way to a reporting assignment, then held the next six years at Guantanamo Bay by the U.S. government, Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al Hajj was released recently, his attorneys say. The Pentagon declard Hajj an "enemy combatant," not believing he was a journalist as he claimed. (McClatchy)

A Senate panel has voted to ban defense contractors from engaging in CIA interrogations of detainees. The bill approved in the Senate Intelligence Committee would also give the Red Cross access to prisoners now deemed "ghost detainees," as well as limiting the CIA to interrogation tactics only approved by the U.S. military's Army Field Manual. (Associated Press)

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A recent report by the RAND Corporation found the numbers of Iraq and Afghanistan vets with post traumatic stress disorder to number over 300,000. Now the Disabled American Veterans is calling for budget reform within the underfunded Dept. of Veterans' Affairs to combat "devastating mental health consequences" that have resulted from the war. (Associated Press and The Hill)

Salim Ahmed Hamdan, alleged former driver of Osama bin Laden, has repeatedly denounced and refused to participate in the military tribunals. Imprisoned for the past seven years, he rejected the notion that he should be judged by officers of the military that detained him. (Washington Post)

The Pentagon has caught fire for using its lineup of retired military officials to give talking points to national media outlets. Nearly two weeks after the story broke, a reporter got around to asking White House Press Secretary Dana Perino about it. Despite what the story reported, Perino claims "it's absolutely appropriate to provide information to people who are seeking it and are going to be providing their opinions on it." (Think Progress)

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Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty have been accused of perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice after lying about their relationship to officials. Text messages the two sent each other on city-owned pagers prove their relationship, as well as Kilpatrick's role in the firing of a Detroit police officer. Now even more messages have been released. (New York Times)

As federal earmarks continue to be a hot topic in this election season, congressional records show Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the pack in requested handouts for 2009 at nearly $2.3 billion, almost three times more than any other senator. (The Hill)

Former defense contractor Mitchell Wade will finally receive sentencing from a federal judge in December for bribing former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Cunningham is currently serving jail time, as is fellow Cunningham-briber Brent Wilkes who worked with Wade. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

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Soldiers coming back from World War II were greeted with the GI Bill, giving opportunity and promise to begin anew. Now over 800,000 young men and women are returning from war fronts looking to make their own fresh start, but they are finding the modern version of the GI Bill is insufficient, barely covering half of today's skyrocketing college tuition. (Washington Post)

By allowing outside influence to affect policy and protocol,the Bush administration has severely watered down the clout of the Environmental Protection Agency, reports a Government Accountability Office finding. The EPA's duty of assessing cancerous hazards in chemicals, specifically, has been curbed by non-scientific reviews and involvement from White House budget officials, the Energy Dept, and the Pentagon to name a few. (Associated Press)

Ashley Dupre, known as "Kristen" to former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, is now suing the founder of the video franchise "Girls Gone Wild" for $10 million. Dupre was featured in one of the company's videos during a drunken spring break foray in 2003. She says she was only 17 at the time, too young to sign a binding agreement to use the footage of her. Dupre "did not understand the magnitude of her actions ..." at the time, her lawsuit claims. (LA Times)

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Family members of Iraqis murdered by workers of defense contractor Blackwater have sued the company for wrongful death. Now lawyers for the Iraqis are claiming that Blackwater has shredded documents vital to federal investigations of the company. There is no word yet on an investigation by the Justice Department into the matter. (USA Today)

Defense lawyers of clients living overseas, but barred from the U.S. due to accusations of supporting terrorism, assume that the U.S. government is monitoring their e-mail or phone correspondence with the clients. These assumptions are causing lawyers rigorous travel and expense to meet with exiled clients. (New York Times)

After backing legislation last year calling for campaigns to pay charter rates on flights in an effort to level influence of lobbyists, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been found to have used his wife's corporate-owned jet last summer at about one-third the cost when his own campaign was strapped for cash. The Federal Election Commission tried to close the loophole McCain used to justify his actions, but the agency has been in turmoil since losing the required number of commissioners to enact such rules. (New York Times)

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The U.S. government claims they are doing all they can to prop up Iraqi security forces for an eventual hand off ... one of these days. Yet the transitional path may be rockier than expected, according to an audit by the Pentagon that reveals many dead or inactive troops are on the Iraqi government payroll in an effort to support their families. (Associated Press)

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is hearing calls for his swift impeachment, by fellow Democrats no less, for allegedly promising a job to a state finance official in exchange for campaign contributions. The official, Ali Ata, pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges, implicated the governor in the wrongdoing and is now expected to testify against Blagojevich ally Tony Rezko for accepting kickbacks from state businesses. (Chicago Sun-Times)

A faculty-led panel at the University of West Virginia is investigating the retroactive master's degree given to the daughter of the state's Gov. Joe Manchin in 2007. The panel issued a report saying there was no proof the recipient, Heather Bresch, earned the 1998 master's degree of business administration. Bresch has said she completed the degree program fairly, yet her faculty advisor at the time says otherwise. (Associated Press)

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Many families of soldiers killed in Iraq, like Lt. Col. Billy Hall, have given permission for the media to cover the burial of the deceased to show the realities of war. But the Pentagon has done its best to block such coverage, quelling sound and video allowed for recordings and obstructing reporters and photographers. (Washington Post)

The senator who added "wide stance" to the American lexicon now faces further hardship. Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), arrested last June by an undercover cop in an airport restroom, has used funds from this campaign committee to pay his lawyers. But the Senate ethics panel ordered him to pay out of his own bank account. (Washington Post)

Chalk up another victim to the scam artist Christopher Ward, former treasurer to several GOP campaigns and subject of an FBI investigation into alleged embezzlement charges. Rep. James Walsh (R-NY) is the latest (of the now six-member club) to reveal that he was a victim. (Washington Post)

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The former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman, is off the hook for assuring New Yorkers in 2001 that air surrounding the World Trade Center after 9/11 was safe to breathe despite having no basis for such claims. Though numerous reports of sickened residents and workers near the site pour in, a federal appeals court ruled she did not intend to cause harm. Whitman contends now that she was talking about Lower Manhattan in general, not just Ground Zero. (Washington Post)

The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday challenging the equitable value of the "millionaire's amendment," which puts restrictions on wealthy congressional candidates while allowing their opponents to raise more money. Justices were split in their views of the law: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the law was created to fight the perception of congressional seats for sale. Justice Antonin Scalia argued that logic had nothing to do with fighting corruption. (New York Times)

Officials of the private military firm Blackwater Worldwide were not deterred by those protesting their projected training facility east of San Diego ... they just moved their focus-area elsewhere in San Diego County. Blackwater Vice President Brian Bonfiglio says the over 61,000-square foot building in Otay Mesa will cost "hundreds of thousands of dollars," and should be ready for Navy training this summer. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

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In January of 2007, Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered the minimizing of troop-tour extensions. A few months later, the number of troops affected by "stop loss" was at a three-year low. But since then, the number forced back into service has spiked by 43 percent ... and it will be a year before the "stop loss" policy will cease. (USA Today and Associated Press)

Bob Lady was the former CIA base chief in Milan, Italy. He was tabbed by the CIA to go after al Qaeda suspects, including top operative Abu Omar, in Milan beginning in early 2003. The mission ended up in kidnappings that Italian authorities are now putting CIA employees on trial for, and Lady, deserted by the CIA, is on the run. (Congressional Quarterly)

In search of visits by leaders of the religious right with the Bush administration, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington challenged the White House policy of concealing all visitor logs from the public. The Bush administration claims the records are not, nor have ever been, open to the public. A federal court is now seeking a compromise between the president's right to privacy and the public's right to access. (Associated Press)

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John McCain has based part of his candidacy for president on his record of independence from big name lobbying efforts. But The New York Times reports that of the campaign's 106 top fund-raisers who have raised over $100,000 for McCain, a sixth of them are lobbyists. The list of bundlers was voluntarily released by the campaign. (New York Times)

The New York Times reported Sunday on the practice of top "military analysts" appearing on television and radio to comment on American military affairs being handpicked and debriefed by the Pentagon. The effort began before the Iraq war, and several former military officials, some with ties to overseas military contractors, have gone to bat for the Pentagon to share favorable news. (New York Times)

A Supreme Court ruling from 1950 has prevented active-duty military personnel from suing for medical malpractice. The initial, and persistent, reasoning was that an excess of litigation would hamstring true military objectives. Now, after a series of recent questionable medical procedures, some in the military are demanding the ruling be amended. (LA Times)

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A study released by the RAND Corporation reports that 300,000 U.S. troops deal with depression or post traumatic stress disorder and 320,000 suffered brain injuries stemming from their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The study surveyed 1,965 members from all branches of the armed forces, active and non-active. The economic cost of the cases is estimated between $4 billion and $6 billion over two years. (Washington Post)

Los Angeles prosecutors under his jurisdiction claim U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien has forced them to take on unwarranted criminal cases in order to boost prosecution statistics that help garner federal funding. If they fail to reach their quotas, the prosecutors claim they run the risk of discipline or professional ramifications. O'Brien say the "performance goals" are to increase results in an office once known for lagging productivity. (Los Angeles Times)

The British High Court is considering reopening the case against Prince Bandar, the head of Saudi Arabia's National Security Council, former Saudi ambassador in Washington and close ally of President Bush, for allegedly accepting bribes from British Aerospace Systems (BAE). The investigation was halted by the British government in 2006 when, allegedly, Bandar threatened to end Saudi cooperation with British terrorism intelligence if the investigation persisted. (Newsweek)

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Among the many problems in Iraq, officials there have decided seat belt laws are lax and will now crackdown on offenders. Add that to the other distractions while on the morning commute. (New York Times)

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was found to have misreported over $440,000-worth of campaign donations and spending. Blackburn blamed the discrepancies on a credit card company that she claims botched online donations and inexperienced workers who didn't know how to properly record contribution checks with the FEC. (The Tennessean)

Pentagon documents reveal the 2003 prisoner abuse of Afghan detainees at the Gardez Detention Facility. Among other abuses, prisoners were forced to kneel outside in wet clothing while they were hit repeatedly if they moved. (Associated Press)

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As opportunities to impact policy in an election year become scant, action on the credit crisis in Washington has had varying effects on legislation. On the surface, a bill approved in the U.S. Senate will aid homeowners at risk of foreclosure. Dig deeper and you'll find major tax breaks for a variety of big business and industry, say consumer and labor groups. (New York Times)

Further last ditch legislative efforts in Congress before the election include the attachment of money for transportation, unemployment insurance, public housing and other causes by Democrats onto President Bush's $108 billion war funding bill. The White House has now threatened a veto. (USA Today)

A group of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their crucial Sadr City-post Tuesday night, leaving the area unsupervised for hours. This left angered U.S. military officials to order American and Iraqi soldiers to make up the lost ground left by the deserters during a critical push to gain control of parts of Sadr City from militia forces. (New York Times)

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