The Justice Department wants to know who blew the whistle on the NSA's domestic spying program. The Department's launched a probe.
USA Today reports that 55 million Americans were exposed to computer security breaches in 2005 -- a record year.
Jack Abramoff (right) was a big man in DC. It's been a long trip to the bottom for him. The Washington Post sums up the lobbyist who may bring down some big politicians:"He sought to build the biggest lobbying portfolio in town. He opened two restaurants close to the Capitol. He bought a fleet of casino boats. He produced two Hollywood movies. He leased four arena and stadium skyboxes and dreamed of owning a pro sports team. He was a generous patron in his Orthodox Jewish community, starting a boys' religious school in Maryland."
The Marines are shelling out $100,000 for a $33,000 Jeep (left).
President Bush's order to use warrantless wiretaps could end up delaying or even dismississing court cases against suspected terrorists. Defense lawyers for people accused of terrorist activities are already filing papers to see if evidence against their clients was gathered illegally. (NYT)
It's been a bad year for the President. In 2006, expect him to be more open with the American people. The Washington Post counts up the problems kicking off his second term:
The Army can't seem to remember where it put $68 million in parts and tools.“Although the (Defense Department) policy requires the military services to confirm receipt of all assets shipped to contractors, the Army is not consistently recording shipment receipts in its inventory management systems.” -- Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report
Lots of businesses that got government backed loans because of the 9/11 attacks -- were never affected by the attacks. An inspector general's report for the Small Business Administration sampled 59 cases. Only 9 of those actually appeared qualified for disaster assistance.
"The Rocky Horror Picture" show is one of the 25 films added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.
The Oakland Tribune wants your old copy of George Orwell's 1984."Orwell wrote of war without end; we're told the war on terror will last decades at least. Orwell wrote of a dumbed-down 'Newspeak,' and who could argue that our national discourse hasn't slumped? Orwell's 'Ministry of Love' tortured dissidents real or imagined; our government decries Iraq's secret torture prisons while arguing over whether to ban torture. Meanwhile, we maintain our own secret CIA prisons. "
Leave it to Washington to take a bad idea and make it worse.
President Bush claims his authority for tapping phone calls and emails without a warrant stemmed from Congress' authorization to use force against terrorists after 9/11.
By now, every political junikie in the country has read the Drudge Report post that Presidents Carter and Clinton both conducted warrantless searches.
1-101. Pursuant to Section 102(a)(1) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)), the Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order, but only if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that Section. -- Executive Order 12139, May 23, 1979Clinton and Warrantless Searches
"[The President] has inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches for foreign intelligence purposes." -- Jamie Gorelick, July 14, 1994
What Drudge fails to mention is that the statement came in testimony to Congress. She was not talking about electronic eavesdropping, but about maintaining the warrantless "physical" search loophole.
Congress" to conduct the warrantless searches.
The Supreme Court has never addressed the kind of case involved in the domestic spying scandal -- whether electronic eavesdropping on people in the US as ordered by President Bush violates the Fourth Amendment.
EPIC -- the Electronic Privacy Information Center -- has a chart showing how many warrants were requested and how many were approved and denied under FISA.
Linda Tripp -- who blew the whistle on the Monica Lewinsky scandal -- is serving bratwursts with her husband at a Christmas market in Virginia.
In the wake of 9/11, Americans were ready to fight terrorism. Our military was on the trail of Osama bin Laden. And Washington gave us the Department of Homeland Defense.They developed a new DHS typeface (Joanna, with modifications) and color scheme (cool gray, red and hints of 'punched-up' blue). They debated new uniforms for its armies of agents and focus-group-tested a new seal designed to convey 'strength' and 'gravitas.' The department even got its own lapel pin, which was given to all 180,000 of its employees -- with (Secretary Tom) Ridge's signature -- to celebrate its 'brand launch' that June."
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The top judge at the secret FISA court -- which oversees government spying cases -- has called her fellow judges in for a meeting on President Bush's domestic spying program.
My generation grew up hearing we are a nation ruled by laws -- not men. It is comforting to know when there is a question about those laws protecting our individual rights being threatened there are men and women willing to cast off their party affiliation to err on the side of liberty.
The Raw Story reports that the White House CIA leak grand jury will stick around after they complete their investigation of White House aide Karl Rove (right).
TRS had some of the most accurate stories prior to the Scooter Libby (left) indictments. Now their sources tell them if an indictment is handed down against Mr Rove it will at least include a charge of making false statements to the Justice Department and FBI investigators who questioned him.
Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff may be ready to cut a deal.
The domestic spying program now appears to have included purely domestic calls. The New York Times -- which broke the original story last week -- now quotes sources who tell them some of the calls never involved any international parties.
A federal judge has resigned in protest over President Bush's authorization of a domestic spying program.
Could it be the "Daily Briefing" from the Gallup Organization. They're the folks behind the Gallup Poll.
Sen Jay Rockefeller IV (D-WV) was first briefed on the Bush administration's domestic spying on July 17, 2003. He was alarmed by it -- and immediately told President Bush and Vice President Bush so."Clearly the activities we discussed raise profound oversight issues... I feel unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse these activities."
Sen Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has asked four presidential scholars for their opinions on whether the warrantless spying President Bush ordered is an impeachable offense. She becomes the first Senator to formally raise the impeachment issue in the spying scandal. (Raw Story)
WB42 -- who may or may not be Doug Krile, longtime Arkansas and Iowa newsman -- digs up a quote to haunt President Bush:"[A]ny time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so [...]" -- President Bush, April 20, 2004
Even Jimmy Dean would have had trouble selling sausage to the people in his factories who see how it's made.When he delivered the applause line, '"We're in this fight to win. These colors don't run," the only sound was a lone whistle.The trip also raises questions about whether the US trusts Iraq to "stand up" so the US can "stand down."
U.S. forces guarded Cheney with weapons at the ready while Iraqi soldiers, who had no weapons, held their arms out as if they were carrying imaginary guns.Makes you wonder about that old Dick Cheney quote about how Americans would be "welcomed as liberators" in Iraq. (SeatlePI)
The New York Times -- citing FBI documents -- reports the Bureau began monitoring a "Vegan Community Project," a Catholic Workers group, and tried to track down the location of a PETA protest over llama fur.
Why did the administration resort to warrantless spying when the national security court issued all the warrants requested in 2002?"During calendar year 2002, 1228 applications were made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for electronic surveillance and physical search. The Court initially approved 1226 applications in 2002. Two applications were "approved as modified," and the United States appealed these applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, as applications having been denied in part. On November 18, 2002, the Court of Review issued a judgment that "ordered and adjudged that the motions for review be granted...."
Newsweek reports that President Bush pulled out all the stops tried to talk the New York Times into killing the story on domestic spying:"The president was so desperate to kill The New York Times’ eavesdropping story, he summoned the paper’s editor and publisher to the Oval Office. But it wasn’t just out of concern about national security."Jonathan Alter raises important concerns in his commentary on the meeting and the President's insistence that the story hurts national security.
The Bush administration argues that Congress implied the President had the power to order spying on Americans -- when they authorized the use of military force after 9/11. But Congress members in both parties disagree."Congress gave me authority." -- President Bush, News Confernce, 12/19/05"Nobody, nobody, thought when we passed a resolution to invade Afghanistan and to fight the war on terror, including myself who voted for it, thought that this was an authorization to allow a wiretapping against the law of the United States." -- Sen Russ Feingold, NBC's Today Show, 12/19/05
In the midst of the political outrage over President Bush's admission of domestic spying, Mr Bush used a nationally televised, prime time speech to the nation -- in the wake of NFL coverage -- to preach the administration's line on the Iraq War.
President Bush has admitted he ordered domestic spying -- tapping phones and e-mails without seeking warrants. The admission came in a radio address to the nation on Saturday."In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment," Mr. Bush said forcefully from behind a lectern in the Roosevelt Room, next to the Oval Office. The White House invited cameras in, guaranteeing television coverage.
