President George Bush is moving ahead with a new plan to strip away key protections for endangered species to finalize the changes before President-elect Barack Obama takes office. The plan is to remove scientists and experts from using their pesky findings and data to prevent development.
Category: Congress
Senator Ted Stevens (R. Alaska) appears to have avoided an expulsion vote in the Senate on Thursday by losing his seat in Alaska on Wednesday. The convicted felon had vowed to continue in office while challenging his federal conviction. The election, however, showed that roughly half of Alaskan remains pro-family and pro-felon.
Continue reading “Sen. Ted Stevens Loses in Alaska — Awaits Sentencing on Corruption Charges”
There was more speculation this weekend that Guantanamo Bay would be closed under President Barack Obama. However, there are also reports that some of this closest legal advisers are balking at the notion of serious investigations of abuses and torture under President Bush — a position previously voiced by close Obama adviser Professor Cass Sunstein during the campaign. I will be discussing the issue tonight on Countdown.
Jeffrey P. Rosato, a senior aide to Boxer and a senior policy adviser on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, was fired after his arrest for the distribution and receipt of child pornography. He is only the latest of government staffers to become entangled in such investigations.
Continue reading “Boxer Aide Arrested for Child Pornography”
There is growing speculation that President Bush will issue pardons for the unlawful domestic surveillance program and torture program in his waning days in office. Such a pardon would be welcomed not only by his allies but some Democrats who have previously blocked any serious investigation into alleged crimes by the Administration. The pressure for pardons may be increasing with some in the Democratic ranks are publicly talking about serious investigations. I discussed this with Rachel Maddow.
Continue reading “Will President Bush Issue a Blanket Pardon?”
Thank God the elections are finally heading to the courts — and legal commentators.
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) has sued Democratic opponent Al Franken for defamation over Franken’s television ads claiming that Coleman is the fourth most corrupt senator in Washington. This would actually make for an interesting case.
Continue reading “Sen. Norm Coleman Sues Al Franken for Defamation”
For those who opposed the massive bailout, a report in the New York Times may be little surprise. A reporter was able to get into a telephone conference call with JPMorgan Chase to hear executives discuss the $25 billion it received from Congress. Just four days after the bailout, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon held the conference call during which an executive admitted that Chase has no intention to use the money to make new loans but instead will use it to try to take over other companies.
In a major victory against congressional corruption, Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska has been found guilty on all seven counts in his federal trial. Despite numerous blunders by the prosecution, the evidence proved too strong for Senator No who has been an infamous figure for congressional ethics advocates for years.
Continue reading “Grand Slam: Sen. Ted Stevens Found Guilty on All Seven Counts”
This week has seen two members of Congress forced into public over affairs. U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, Mark Foley’s replacement in Florida, has admitted to “multiple affairs” but insisted that (while immoral) they were perfectly legal. At least one was with a former staff member. In the meantime, in Virginia, Rep. Vito Fossella was convicted on Friday of drunk driving in an incident that exposes his affair and out-of-wedlock child.
Continue reading “Pressing the Flesh: Two Congressmen Face Public Scandals Over Affairs”
Previously classified memos from the White House confirm that torture was directly approved at the highest level of the government. The Administration has previously suggested that it rescinded the infamous torture memo signed by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and treated that memorandum as an aberrant mistake. However, it is now confirmed that the White House approved a known form of torture to be used on detainees.
Continue reading “White House Directly Approved Torture in Newly Disclosed Memos”
The on-going (never-ending?) prosecution of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has taken a bizarre twist as a serious disagreement between justices has broken into the open. Justice Jan Patterson, a Democrat, is asking the Texas Supreme Court to intervene after she accused Chief Justice Ken Law, a Republican (first picture), of refusing to file her dissent in a case looking at the possible bias of fellow Justice Alan Waldrop, also a Republican (third picture).
When the military tribunals were being created at Guantanamo Bay, some of us publicly stated that we would not take cases because the rules written by the Administration were fundamentally unfair and did not recognize core principles of due process. Since then, there have been a steady stream of prosecutors and defense lawyers in the military who have resigned in protest. The latest is Lt. Col. Darrel J. Vandeveld, who decided that he could no longer live with himself as a person or an attorney to participate in such a sham legal system.
The White House has long been obvious in its effort to run out the clock on the constitutional challenge to the subpoenas for former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten. As a court found, the White House arguments are meritless, but the Administration has been relying on the calendar more than the Constitution. This week, that strategy succeeded with an appellate court issuing a stay that guarantees that the subpoenas will expire with this Congress.
After many months of refusing demands for a special prosecutor, Attorney General Michael Mukasey has finally yielded after the Justice Department’s own Inspector General called for such an appointment. He appointed Nora Dannehy, an experienced career federal prosecutor in Connecticut.
Continue reading “Special Prosecutor Appointed to Investigate the U.S. Attorneys Firings”
The Egyptian appeals court on Sunday upheld the conviction of Ibrahim Eissa, editor of the independent daily al-Dustor. His crime? He simply wrote about the health of 80-year-old President Hosni Mubarak and was accused of damaging national security by spreading rumors.
Continue reading “Egyptian Journalist Jailed for Writing About Mubarak’s Health”