By Walter Brasch Barack Obama was determined that the only way anyone was going to take away his BlackBerry was if they pried it from his cold dead hands. Or, something to that effect. The President justifiably relies upon his BlackBerry, but many rely upon electronic communications as a status symbol or as a crutch [...]
By Jason Leopold President Barack Obama took bold steps this week to repair the damage his predecessor George W. Bush left at the Department of Veterans Affairs, proposing a sharp increase to the agency’s budget and introducing new initiatives to deal with a massive backlog in benefits claims. At the same time, Secretary of Veterans [...]
By Jason Leopold The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco Friday rejected an attempt by the Obama administration to use the state secrets privilege to block a lawsuit concerning the Bush administration’s domestic surveillance program. Obama’s Justice Department, in legal arguments identical to those made by Bush administration officials, had sought an emergency [...]
A federal grand jury in the Central District of Illinois has returned a two-count indictment charging Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, 43, with providing material support to al-Qaeda and conspiring with others to provide material support to al-Qaeda, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today. The indictment was returned yesterday and unsealed this morning. If convicted, al-Marri, [...]
By Jason Leopold Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy released the list of three witnesses who will testify at a hearing next week on forming a “truth commission” to investigate the Bush administration’s use of torture, domestic surveillance, and controversial policies enacted during George W. Bush’s presidency.
By Melvin A. Goodman Yesterday President Obama received his first Economic Intelligence Briefing report from the CIA. The report will become a regular item in the daily intelligence briefing at the White House; it comes in the wake of the new intelligence tsar’s testimony to the congressional intelligence committees that placed international economic uncertainty at the [...]
By William Fisher In a stunning reversal, Britain’s government admitted yesterday that it participated in the ‘extraordinary rendition’ to Afghanistan of two terror suspects captured in Iraq by the U.S. U.K. Defense Secretary John Hutton told Britain’s House of Commons that the two individuals were captured by U.K. forces in Iraq, transferred to U.S. detention [...]
By Jason Leopold In one week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy says he will begin establishing a “commission of inquiry” to investigate the Bush administration’s use of torture and other abuses of power, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is objecting to his plan of granting immunity to some witnesses. In an interview with Rachel [...]
By Jason Leopold House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who last year adamantly refused to support impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush, said Wednesday she “absolutely” supports a wide-ranging criminal investigation into the Bush administration’s controversial policies, several of which she supported. In an interview with Rachel Maddow broadcast on MSNBC Wednesday, Pelosi said she thought a [...]
By Melvin A. Goodman For the past several weeks, the Washington Post has featured numerous editorials and articles denigrating Russia as more expansionist and assertive toward the West and arguing against improving bilateral relations between Russia and the United States.
