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Zachary Roth

Ex-CIA Directors To Obama: Shut Down Torture Probe

Zachary Roth | September 18, 2009, 5:35PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Seven former CIA directors have sent a letter to President Obama, urging him to overturn Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to appoint a torture prosecutor.

Holder's decision, they wrote "creates an atmosphere of continuous jeopardy for those whose cases the Department of Justice had previously declined to prosecute." they added that the probe "will seriously damage the willingness of many other intelligence officers to take risks to protect the country."

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (34) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)
Topics: Barack Obama, CIA, Eric Holder, George Tenet, Justice Department, Porter Goss, Torture

Joe Wilson

Wilson Authored Bill To Let Illegal Immigrant Stay In U.S.

Zachary Roth | September 18, 2009, 4:47PM

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

Rep. Joe ("You Lie") Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech last week didn't exactly make him out to be sympathetic to illegal immigrants, to put it mildly. There's also little evidence he ever worked as an immigration lawyer, as he's claimed.

But the South Carolina Republican's hard line on the issue may not be as consistent as you might expect. In fact, on one recent case, it looks like he went downright soft -- and what's even more interesting is the possible reason why.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (20) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Barack Obama, Immigration, Joe Wilson

FBI

Report: Terror Suspect Admits To Qaeda Ties

Zachary Roth | September 18, 2009, 3:39PM

Najibullah Zazi

Several outlets, including ABC News and Fox News, are reporting that Mohammed Zazi, the man whose Colorado home was this week raided by the FBI in connection to a suspected terror plot has admitted ties to al Qaeda, and is negotiating to plead guilty to a terror charge.

That plea would be part of a deal to cooperate with the government. According to a law enforcement official, Zazi received explosives training. Other reports have suggested he was found with plans for building bombs on his recent trip to New York.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (6) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)
Topics: FBI

ACORN

Cutting Off Funds Would Hurt ACORN's Foreclosure Prevention Work

Zachary Roth | September 18, 2009, 12:09PM

Whatever you think about ACORN, poor people and minorities may end up being hurt the most by Congress's sudden vendetta against the group.

As we told you, the House yesterday overwhelmingly backed a Republican measure to cut off all federal funding from ACORN, in the wake of a scandal in which employees were caught on camera advising two people posing as a pimp and a prostitute on how to break the law.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (11) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: ACORN, Voting

Mark Sanford

Sanford's Sympathy For Wilson: "When Do The Rest Of Us Move On?"

Zachary Roth | September 18, 2009, 10:00AM

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)

Mark Sanford has spoken out on the plight of another embattled South Carolina Republican, Rep. Joe ("You Lie!") Wilson. But you could be forgiven for thinking the beleaguered governor was speaking more personally.

Referring to Wilson, Sanford told South Carolina's CN2 News:

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (9) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: Joe Wilson, Mark Sanford, Sex

Mark Sanford

After Tell-All Press Conference, Feds Yanked Sanford's Security Clearance

Zachary Roth | September 17, 2009, 6:04PM

Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)

Now that's harsh...

Mark Sanford appeared so unhinged during his now-legendary June press conference in which he admitted to an affair with an Argentine woman that the federal government temporarily yanked his security clearance.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (1) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Mark Sanford, Sex

Jack Abramoff

Ashcroft Aide Pleads The Fifth In Trial Of Abramoff Crony

Zachary Roth | September 17, 2009, 5:19PM

CEO of Ashcroft Group David Ayres

We told you it was likely to happen. And now it has.

John Ashcroft's top aide from the Justice Department has pleaded the fifth in the trial of a member of Team Abramoff.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (6) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: David Ayres, Dick Cheney, Jack Abramoff, John Ashcroft, Justice Department, Kevin Ring, Lobbyists

ACORN

House Votes To Strip ACORN Of All Federal Funds

Zachary Roth | September 17, 2009, 3:04PM

In the wake of a scandal in which employees were caught on tape advising people posing as a prostitute and pimp in how to break the law, the House of Representatives voted today to strip ACORN of all federal funding.

The vote was 345-75 on a measured pushed by GOP House leader John Boehner. The Senate voted earlier this week to withdraw housing and urban development funding. But the House bill would remove all federal funding.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (19) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: ACORN, Eric Cantor, John Boehner, Justice Department

FBI

The NYC Terror Plot: What Do We Know?

Zachary Roth | September 17, 2009, 2:19PM

Najibullah Zazi

Over on the main blog, Josh wrote the other day about the alleged terror plot which led police to raid an apartment building in Queens on Monday, and then a suburban Denver home yesterday. Josh noted that the Feds seem to being playing this one a lot closer to the vest than in other cases of recent years -- which could be a sign that it's more serious.

So let's take stock of what we know...

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Topics: Afghanistan, FBI, Newburgh 4, Seas of David

Dick Cheney

Feds Probing Gale Norton For Corruption: LAT

Zachary Roth | September 17, 2009, 12:23PM

Fmr. US Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton

Did Gale Norton, President Bush's far-right interior secretary, illegally use her position to benefit an oil company that later hired her? Justice Department investigators want to know, reports the Los Angeles Times.

In a nutshell, here's what DOJ is looking into:

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (9) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)
Topics: Dick Cheney, Gale Norton, Interior Department, Italia Federici, Jack Abramoff, Justice Department, Oil, Steven Griles

ACORN

Taking Stock Of The ACORN Sting

Zachary Roth | September 16, 2009, 5:28PM

As you probably know by now, last week two conservative activists set off a frenzy in the right-wing media by posting videos in which they posed as a pimp and a prostitute -- complete with outlandish costumes -- and asked employees of ACORN for advice on how to conceal the woman's source of income on their tax forms. ACORN employees in Baltimore, Washington D.C., and Brooklyn, fell for the sting, offering advice to the young couple on how to deceive the government.

ACORN fired the employees involved, but that hasn't stopped coverage of the scandal from mushrooming beyond Fox's Glenn Beck and quickly going mainstream.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (53) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: ACORN, Sex, Voting, voter fraud

Jesse Jackson Jr.

Ethics Committee Probing Jackson Jr., Waters, Graves

Zachary Roth | September 16, 2009, 12:53PM

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL)

The House Ethics committee has revealed that it's conducting separate inquiries into three lawmakers: Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Sam Graves (R-MO).

• In the case of Jackson, the committee said in a statement that it's looking into "whether Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., or an agent of Representative Jackson, may have offered to raise funds for then-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in return for the appointment of Representative Jackson to the Illinois Senate seat." In a phone conversation that was recorded by prosecutors, Blago said that a staff person for Jackson offered $1 million in campaign contributions in return for appointing Jackson to the seat.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: Bailout, Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson Jr., Justice Department, Maxine Waters, Rod Blagojevich, Sam Graves

Media

The Right-Wing Extremist Writer Behind Glenn Beck's Worldview

Zachary Roth | September 16, 2009, 12:09PM

Glenn Beck

We weren't aware that Glenn Beck's unique brand of conservative messianic zeal and conspiracy-minded racial paranoia required any particular intellectual underpinning.

But a fascinating article in Salon reveals that a book by a Mormon "historian" deemed too extreme even by the modern conservative movement -- which argues that the U.S. constitution is based primarily on natural law -- has played a major role in Beck's "thinking."

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (23) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (13)
Topics: Glenn Beck, Media, Right-wing extremism

Allen Stanford

Public Defender For Billionaire Stanford

Zachary Roth | September 15, 2009, 4:59PM

Billionaire banker Allen Stanford will have to settle for a public defender to represent him on charges that he orchestrated a massive financial fraud.

Stanford's assets have been frozen, leaving him with no money to pay Dick DeGuerin, the high-powered defense attorney he's been working with of late. With no guarantee of payment, DeGuerin formally withdrew, and U.S. District Judge David Hittner asked the head of the federal public defender office in Houston to take over, reports the Houston Chronicle.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (7) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Allen Stanford, Dick DeGuerin

Steve Nunn

Nunn Charged In Murder Of Ex-Fiancée

Zachary Roth | September 15, 2009, 9:22AM

Steve Nunn, booking photo

Steve Nunn, the Kentucky Republican former gubernatorial candidate and state lawmaker, has been charged in the murder of his former fiancée Amanda Ross.

As we told you Friday, Nunn was found with a gun and slit wrists in the cemetery where his parents are buried, hours after Ross -- with whom he had had a tumultuous and violent relationship -- was found shot to death in the parking lot of her Lexington apartment.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (4) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Steve Nunn

Barack Obama

Did Joe Wilson Lie About Having Been An Immigration Lawyer?

Zachary Roth | September 14, 2009, 6:21PM

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

Rep. Joe ("You Lie!") Wilson's now-legendary exclamation during President Obama's speech to Congress last week was itself essentially untrue, as we've documented.

But in trying to deflect charges of xenophobia in the wake of the outburst, it looks like the South Carolina congressman again played fast and loose with the facts.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (36) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (16)
Topics: Barack Obama, Immigration, Joe Wilson

Rod Blagojevich

Indicted Blago Fundraiser Dead In Apparent Suicide

Zachary Roth | September 14, 2009, 11:14AM

Christopher Kelly

The former top fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich died over the weekend in an apparent suicide.

Chris Kelly was found Friday night slumped over the wheel of his black Cadillac Escalade in a lumber yard in suburban Country Club Hills outside Chicago. Drugs were found in the vehicle. Kelly died Saturday morning in a Chicago hospital.

Kelly, a high-stakes gambler, faced eight years in prison for hiding income that he used to pay gambling debts, and for participating in an $8.5 million fraud involving roofing work on airline hangars at O'Hare International Airport. He was also facing trial for his role in the alleged pay-for-play corruption connected to Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor.