Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee warned then-CIA general counsel Scott Muller in a 2003 letter that destroying videotapes of terrorist interrogations would put the CIA under a cloud of suspicion. However, what is as remarkable as the decision of the CIA to go ahead with the destruction is the failure of the Democrats to do nothing more than discourage what was a presumptively criminal destruction of evidence. Moreover, there is no mention of the crime of torture — only that it would “reflect badly on the agency.” Continue reading “Top Intel Democrat Warned CIA Not to Destroy Tapes — But Then Did Nothing Further”
Category: Congress
After completing an initial inquiry, tthe Justice Department has decided to open a full criminal investigation into the 2005 destruction of CIA tapes showing the interrogation of two Al Qaeda suspects. The finding of a basis for possible criminal charges is not itself surprising — there are at least six such offenses that were obvious from the outset. Attorney General Mukasey has appointed a U.S. Attorney General to handle the investigation — a disappointing decision not to appoint someone outside the Administration. Continue reading “Justice Department Opens Formal Criminal Investigation — Finds Credible Allegations of Criminal Conduct in CIA Tapes Scandal”
There is a curious trend developing in leading democratic systems: a return to dynastic preferences in government. With Hillary Clinton still leading in the U.S. polls, other nations have embraced dynastic lines of successions under a democratic process like Argentina and now the leading opposition party in Pakistan. Continue reading “Are the World’s Democracies Turning into Dynastic Systems?”
According to reports, the FBI is returning to the search for the famous D.B. Cooper, the mysterious skyjacker who robbed an airliner in 1971 and then parachuted to an unknown future. The FBI’s release of a new picture raises the disturbing question of whether D.B. Cooper is hiding in the open: as presidential candidate Ron Paul. Continue reading “Is Ron Paul the Real D.B. Cooper?”
There appears growing interest in a third-party candidacy by many voters disillusioned by the two parties monopoly. Ron Paul and Michael Bloomberg appear the leading contenders for such a run. Notably, under the 12th Amendment such a candidate could be the next president through a plausible series of events. Continue reading “Calls for a Third Party Challenge Increase as Paul and Bloomberg are Encouraged to Go Independent”
Americans have always been defined by their robust views of individual autonomy and privacy. However, in the last ten years, privacy has suffered massive reductions in the United States due to both governmental and private surveillance, data mining, and searches. Now an international privacy groups ranks for the United States and England as some of the worst “endemic surveillance societies.” Continue reading “Is Privacy Dying in the United States? Recent Report Says U.S. One of the Worst in the World”
For years, unnamed government officials have acknowledged that they use “extraordinary renditions” to send suspects to other countries to be tortured. Our ally Egypt is a favorite destination of such flights. Now, videos of Egyptian torture have forced Americans to see what such “special treatment” is like for suspects. In one video, a woman is forced to strip and is abused by a police officer and in another Egyptian mini-bus driver, Emad el-Kabir, 21,l is shown screaming on the floor as officers sodomize him with a wooden pole. The police then sent the video to el-Kabir’s friends to humiliate him. These videos remove the abstract quality of the debate over U.S. torture policies, both in terms of waterboarding and extraordinary renditions. Continue reading “Torture Videos Shed Light on Egyptian Torture — and U.S. Rendition Policies”
As Congress deals with rising complaints over junk mail clogging mailboxes, it might want to start by reducing its own contributions to the scourge. Last year, U.S. House members spent $20.3 million to spend unsolicited mail to constituents on subjects ranging from car care to advice on job interviews. It is one of the reasons why incumbents are so difficult to unseat — members have created a constructive public subsidy for campaigns, but only for incumbents. Continue reading “House Members Spent Over $20 Million Dollars on Junk Mail”
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., had the floor to himself this week as he brought the Senate into session for just nine seconds to prevent President Bush from giving a recess appointment to Steven Bradbury, a controversial official involved in the use of torture by the Bush Administration. It was a worthy effort by the Senate Democrats, but it also raises questions over whether they will also block Judge Mark Filip, who is nominated to be Deputy Attorney General. Filip has refused to recognize decades of precedent that says that waterboarding is torture. Continue reading “Senate Meets for 9 Seconds to Prevent Bush From Appointing Pro-Torture Nominees for Justice Position”
This week, the South Koreans decided to expand their Supreme Court to 14 members. The news should get Americans to consider whether it is time for our own undersized Court to expand from 9 to 19. Continue reading “Korean Supreme Court to Expand to 14 — Is it Time for the U.S. Supreme Court to Expand to 19?”
While the Bush Administration works to prevent anyone from investigating its own possible misconduct in the CIA tape scandal, the 9-11 Commission has already concluded that the Administration lied to its investigators and destroyed evidence specifically demanded by the Commission. Continue reading “9-11 Commission Specifically Requested Evidence Destroyed by the CIA — Staff Reviewing Possible Crimes in Denial”
In a lawsuit that seems like a scene out of Michael Moore’s SICKO recent film on the U.S. health system, CIGNA is facing a lawsuit after it denied coverage to Nataline Sarkisyan who needed a liver transplant. The California teenager, 17, died at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center despite the fact that a match was found weeks previously. CIGNA HealthCare decided that the procedure was “too experimental” to try — or least pay for. Now, there is a called for manslaughter charges against CIGNA — and a likely tort action. Continue reading “CIGNA Facing Lawsuit After It Denies Coverage for Liver Transport and Teen Dies”
U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy appears inclined to back off, at least for now, from inquiring into the destruction of tapes of CIA interrogations despite his order to preserve such evidence. This is not, however, the last word for Kennedy or other judges lining up on the issue. Continue reading “Federal Judge Appears to be Leaning Toward Bush Administration on Destroyed CIA Tapes”
The Fifth Circuit is on the brink of making history, just not the type of history that anyone would want. Two district court judges — Samuel Kent and Thomas Porteous — are facing calls for impeachment. Both cases now appear quite serious and worsening by the day. Continue reading “Two Federal Judges — Kent and Porteous — in Fifth Circuit Face Possible Impeachment”
The Bush Administration has blocked an effort by California and other states to require higher emissions limits for cars and trucks to improve the air for their citizens. After waiting and hoping that federal courts would side with industry in litigation over the question, the Administration was forced to come up and oppose the environmental effort when the industry lost in court. Continue reading “Bush Administration Blocks Efforts of the States to Improve Clean Quality”