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The White House is missing emails
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is missing as many as 225 days of e-mail dating back to 2003 and there is little if any likelihood a recovery effort will be completed by the time the Bush administration leaves office, according to an internal White House draft document obtained by The Associated Press.
The nine-page outline of the White House's e-mail problems invites companies to bid on a project to recover the missing electronic messages.
The work would be carried out through April 19, 2009, according to the Office of Administration request for contractors' proposals, which was dated June 20.
Last week, the White House declined to comment on the document.
On Wednesday, the White House refused to talk about internal White House contracting procedures, but said the information is "outdated and seriously inaccurate." It would not elaborate. The White House also declined to say whether it has hired a contractor for the work yet. WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is missing as many as 225 days of e-mail dating back to 2003 and there is little if any likelihood a... more -
Justice Department Subpoenas Its Former Lawyers In Civil Rights Probe
A federal grand jury has subpoenaed several former senior Justice Department attorneys for an investigation into the politicization of the Department's own Civil Rights Division, according to sources close to the investigation.
The extraordinary step by the Justice Department of subpoenaing attorneys once from within its own ranks was taken because several of them refused to voluntarily give interviews to the Department Inspector General, which has been conducting its own probe of the politicization of the Civil Rights Division, the same sources said.
The grand jury has been investigating allegations that a former senior Bush administration appointee in the Civil Rights Division, Bradley Schlozman, gave false or misleading testimony on a variety of topics to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sources close to the investigation say that the grand jury is also more broadly examining whether Schlozman and other Department officials violated civil service laws by screening Civil Rights attorneys for political affiliation while hiring them.
click link to read more A federal grand jury has subpoenaed several former senior Justice Department attorneys for an investigation into the politicization of... more -
11 Charged in Global ID Theft Ring
Eleven people, including a U.S. Secret Service informant, have been charged in connection with the hacking of nine major retailers and the theft and sale of more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. Eleven people, including a U.S. Secret Service informant, have been charged in connection with the hacking of nine major retailers and... more
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Sexuality bias seen at Justice Department
When Bush administration officials at the Justice Department dismissed nine U.S. attorneys in 2006, there were various theories as to why the prosecutors were being let go.
On Monday, the Justice Department's internal watchdog hinted at perhaps the most sensational justification yet -- perceived homosexuality.
In the second of a series of reports on the politically charged tenure of former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, the department's inspector general found that two former Justice aides used sexual orientation as a litmus test in deciding whom they would hire or fire.
The report describes an alleged "sexual relationship" between a career prosecutor and a U.S. attorney, who were not named. Margaret M. Chiara, the former U.S. attorney in Grand Rapids, Mich., said in an interview with The Times that she now believed she was fired because of the erroneous belief that she was having a relationship with career prosecutor Leslie Hagen.
"I could not begin to understand how I found myself sharing the misfortune of my former colleagues," Chiara said of the eight other U.S. attorneys who were fired. "Now I understand." When Bush administration officials at the Justice Department dismissed nine U.S. attorneys in 2006, there were various theories as to ... more -
Feds report illegal hiring of judges, PA's et al politically slanted to Repub...
For nearly two years, a young (34) political aide sought to cultivate a "farm system" for Republicans at the Justice Department, hiring scores of prosecutors and immigration judges who espoused conservative priorities and Christian lifestyle choices.
That aide, Monica M. Goodling, exercised what amounted to veto power over a wide range of critical jobs, asking candidates for their views on abortion and same-sex marriage and maneuvering around senior officials who outranked her, including the department's second-in-command.
An extensive report by the department's Office of the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility concluded yesterday that Goodling and others had broken civil service laws, run afoul of department policy and engaged in "misconduct," a finding that could expose them to further scrutiny and sanctions. The report depicted Goodling as a central figure in politicizing employment decisions at Justice during the Bush administration.
Goodling declined to cooperate with investigators, who instead interviewed 85 witnesses and scoured documents and computer hard drives to prepare their report. Last year, she trembled as she told the House Judiciary Committee that she "crossed the line" by asking improper questions of job seekers to gauge their political leanings.
One source said staff members called her "she who must be obeyed."
Oh my...another example of where our beloved government is going to...the dogs! Why can't American citizens get a grip on their government that is going out of control despite a democratic system. Clearly, government employees are certainly NOT working for the people as they are supposed to be. They are supposed to be servents for the people, thats why they are called public servants and they work for the public, not for their interests....the PEOPLES interest.
This lady needs to be locked up in a prison with all the other loonies running the American system today. A prison that is dark, cold and dinner is not looked forward to.
This lady is the poster child for a corrupt government. For nearly two years, a young (34) political aide sought to cultivate a "farm system" for Republicans at the Justice Departm... more -
Bush urged to issue ‘Pre-emptive pardons’ for illegal programs officials
The New York Times reported this weekend that “[f]elons are asking President Bush for pardons and commutations at historic levels as he nears his final months in office, a time when many other presidents have granted a flurry of clemency requests.” However the Times noted that despite commuting Scooter Libby’s prison sentence, applicants “should expect to be disappointed” because Bush “has made little use of his clemency power” compared to past presidents.
Except perhaps if you participated in any illegal activity involving the Bush administration’s controversial counterterrorism programs. According to the Times, “several members of the conservative legal community” in Washington D.C. are urging Bush to issue “pre-emptive pardons” to those involved so as to “not be exposed even to the risk of an investigation and expensive legal bills”:
Such a pardon would reduce the risk that a future administration might undertake a criminal investigation of operatives or policy makers involved in programs that administration lawyers have said were legal but that critics say violated laws regarding torture and surveillance.
Some legal analysts said Mr. Bush might be reluctant to issue such pardons because they could be construed as an implicit admission of guilt. […]
“The president should pre-empt any long-term investigations,” said Victoria Toensing, who was a Justice Department counterterrorism official in the Reagan administration. “If we don’t protect these people who are proceeding in good faith, no one will ever take chances.”
Stuart Taylor, Jr., a constitutional law fellow at Brookings, agrees, saying in a recent Newsweek column that investigations into the Bush administration’s “high level ‘war crimes’” are a “bad idea” and instead called for a “truth commission“:
A criminal investigation would only hinder efforts to determine the truth, and preclude any apologies. It would spur those who know the most to take the Fifth. Any prosecutions would also touch off years of partisan warfare. […]
Absent pardons, pressure to go after GOP “war criminals” would make it very hard to unite Americans of all stripes behind solutions to the many economic and social challenges facing the country.
In fact, the conservative D.C. lawyer circuit may just get its wish. The White House “would not say whether the administration was considering pre-emptive pardons, nor whether it would rule them out.” (HT: Dan Froomkin) The New York Times reported this weekend that “[f]elons are asking President Bush for pardons and commutations at historic levels as h... more -
Second Arrest Attempt On Karl Rove In Iowa Leads To 4 Arrests
Four Iowans were arrested today while attempting to make a Citizens’ Arrest of Karl Rove in Des Moines, Iowa. Citing Iowa Code provisions for making Citizen’s Arrests as well as citing Federal Statute violations they claimed Rove had violated, the four were stopped at the gate of the Wakonda Country Club in Des Moines where Rove was scheduled to speak at a Republican Fundraiser.
The four arrested were retired Methodist minister and Peace and Justice Advocate, Rev. Chet Guinn, 80, as well as three Des Moines Catholic Workers, Edward Bloomer, 61, Kirk Brown, 25, and Mona Shaw, 57. All four were cited for trespassing and released.
The four maintained that they were acting within the guidelines of Iowa Code that obligate private citizens to make such an arrest if they believe a felony has been committed and turn Rove over to police officials to bring Rove before a judge for formal indictment. By law, a federal judge should consider the charges and determine if an indictment should be made.
Brown and Shaw made a similar attempt last March when Rove spoke at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Brown and Shaw were arrested and released without charges following that attempt. Deaths in the Middle East since the March attempt number in the thousands including, 151 more US troops have been killed in Iraq, and 284 killed in Afghanistan as well as far more citizens of those two nations.
Rove remains unindicted and recently refused to cooperate with a Congressional subpoena in the Valerie Plame leak investigation. Despite mounting evidence of Rove’s wrongdoing concerning leading the U.S. to war as well as other actions, Congress and the U.S. judicial system remain reluctant to bring charges against either Rove or the Bush administration. Recent evidence includes Articles of Impeachment that will again be presented by Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich tomorrow. Vincent Bugliosi’s new book “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder” carefully lays out a case against Bush and his administration for war crimes and felony murder. Bugliosi was prosecutor for the Charles Manson Family murders and author of the book “Helter Skelter,” which dealt with that crime. Four Iowans were arrested today while attempting to make a Citizens’ Arrest of Karl Rove in Des Moines, Iowa. Citing Iowa Code provisi... more -
Justice Dept. aides broke the law
Senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales broke Civil Service laws by using politics to guide their hiring decisions, picking less-qualified applicants for important nonpolitical positions, slowing the hiring process at critical times and damaging the department’s credibility, an internal report concluded on Monday.
Back Story With Eric Lichtblau (mp3)A longtime prosecutor who drew rave reviews from his supervisors was passed over for an important counterterrorism slot because his wife was active in Democratic politics, and a much-less-experienced lawyer with Republican leanings got the job, the report said.
Another prosecutor was rejected for a job in part because she was thought to be a lesbian. And a Republican lawyer received high marks at his job interview because he was found to be sufficiently conservative on the core issues of “god, guns + gays.”
The report, prepared by the Justice Department’s inspector general and its internal ethics office, centered on the misconduct of a small circle of aides to Mr. Gonzales, including Monica Goodling, a former top adviser to the attorney general, and Kyle Sampson, his former chief of staff. It also found that White House officials were actively involved in some hiring decisions.
According to the report, officials at the White House first developed a method of searching the Internet to glean the political leanings of a candidate and introduced it at a White House seminar called The Thorough Process of Investigation. Justice Department officials then began using the technique to search for key phrases or words in an applicant’s background, like “abortion,” “homosexual,” “Florida recount,” or “guns.”
The report focused its sharpest criticism on Ms. Goodling, a young lawyer from the Republican National Committee who rose quickly in the department to become a top aide to Mr. Gonzales.
Last month, the inspector general, Glenn A. Fine, and the Office of Professional Responsibility released a separate report that found a similar pattern of politicized hiring at the Justice Department in reviewing applications from young lawyers for the honors and intern programs.
The report released on Monday goes much further in documenting pervasive evidence of political hiring for some of the department’s most senior career positions, including immigration judges, assistant United States attorneys and even senior counterterrorism positions.
The pattern appeared most damaging in the hiring of immigration judges, as vacancies were allowed to go unfilled — and a backlog of deportation cases grew — while Mr. Gonzales’s aides looked for conservative lawyers to fill what were supposed to be apolitical jobs.
The inspector general’s investigation found that Ms. Goodling and a handful of other senior aides to Mr. Gonzales used in-person interviews and Internet searches to screen out candidates who might be too liberal and identify candidates seen as pro-Republican and supportive of President Bush.
In her position as White House liaison for the Justice Department, Ms. Goodling was involved in hiring lawyers for both political appointments and nonpolitical career positions. Regardless of the type of position, the report said, Ms. Goodling would run applicants at interviews through the same batch of questions, asking them about their political philosophies, why they wanted to serve President Bush, and who, aside from Mr. Bush, they admired as public servants, the report found. Sometimes, Ms. Goodling would ask: “Why are you a Republican?”
In Ms. Goodling’s notes from the interviews, she would give a shorthand assessment of how well they fared on threshold political issues, as in the notation for one candidate who she wrote was aptly conservative on “god, guns + gays.” Senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales broke Civil Service laws by using politics to guide their hiring decisions... more -
Criminals in the Justice Department
Justice Officials Repeatedly Broke Law on Hiring.
Former Justice Department counselor Monica M. Goodling and former chief of staff D. Kyle Sampson routinely broke the law by conducting political litmus tests on candidates for jobs as immigration judges and line prosecutors, according to an inspector general's report released todayGoodling passed over hundreds of qualified applicants and squashed the promotions of others after deeming candidates insufficiently loyal to the Republican party, said investigators, who interviewed 85 people and received information from 300 other job seekers at Justice. Sampson developed a system to screen immigration judge candidates based on improper political considerations and routinely took recommendations from the White House Office of Political Affairs and Presidential Personnel, the report said.
Goodling regularly asked candidates for career jobs: "What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?" the report said. One former Justice Department official told investigators she had complained that Goodling was asking interviewees for their views on abortion, according to the report.
Taking political or personal factors into account in employment decisions for career positions violates civil service laws and can run afoul of ethics rules. Investigators said today that both Goodling and Sampson had engaged in "misconduct."
The improper personnel moves deprived worthy candidates of promotions and damaged the credibility of the Justice Department, investigators wrote. An experienced counterterrorism prosecutor, for example, was kept from advancing in favor of a more junior lawyer who lacked a background in terrorism. The procedures imposed on immigration judge candidates caused serious delays in appointing judges at a time when the courts suffered under a heavy workload, the report said.
Goodling, who resigned in 2007 amid a scandal over the department's politicized hiring, is a central figure in the long-running investigation into the way politics infused decision-making at the department. Sampson, who had served as a top aide to former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, also left the department last year and now works at a law firm in the Washington area. . Justice Officials Repeatedly Broke Law on Hiring. ... more -
Swim coach pleads guilty to child porn charges related to used computer he sold
The files were discovered when Brian D. Hindson, 40, of Carmel, Ind., sold an Apple iMac computer on eBay for $90 to Jackie McSwain, of the Smyre community in Gastonia in March 2006.
For a period of 10 years, Hindson hid video cameras in locker rooms at Kokomo High School, where he was the head coach of the swimming and diving teams, according to the Justice Department. He would secretly videotape teenage female swimmers while they undressed, according to the release.
The computer arrived St. Patrick's Day 2006 while McSwain was celebrating the holiday in Savannah, Ga. Her son, Micah, 23, took it out of the shipping box.
"I was just plugging it up to see if it worked," Micah said during a February interview with the Gazette. "He definitely didn't clear his hard drive good enough. Smart guy." The files were discovered when Brian D. Hindson, 40, of Carmel, Ind., sold an Apple iMac computer on eBay for $90 to Jackie McSwain, o... more -
Hearing on limits of executive power: Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi's opening statements during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the constitutional limits of executive power. Vincent Bugliosi's opening statements during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the constitutional limits of executive powe... more
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Can You Find Me Now?
Today the ACLU sued the Justice Department to force it to reveal its policies for tracking the location of cell phones. As anyone who watches Law & Order: SVU knows, all cell phones double as tracking devices.They send cell phone networks information that provides a pretty accurate idea of where they are physically located. This means that if you go for a walk around town with a cell phone in your pocket, it is possible for your cell phone provider to trace your route.
At least today, your cell phone provider does not have a business reason to keep such close track of you. But the government has plenty of reasons to want to do so. The question is under what circumstances the government is going to be able to access such information.
The ACLU’s position is that people have a reasonable expectation that their movements will not be tracked, especially when they are in private places such as homes, and that the government should have to get a warrant from a court to obtain cell phone location information. The government disagrees. News reports and court decisions (PDF) indicate that the Justice Department has been asking courts to authorize it to get this information without producing evidence sufficient to get a warrant, and sometimes without any court involvement at all.
Sometimes the government wins, sometimes it does not. But the few cases that garner press attention or result in court opinions are likely to be a small subset of the number of times the government engages in such tracking.
The purpose of the lawsuit the ACLU filed today is to get the Justice Department to reveal its policies for when it tracks the location of people’s cell phones. The public has the right to know how widespread such monitoring is, so that they can fairly evaluate the privacy risks of carrying a cell phone. Today the ACLU sued the Justice Department to force it to reveal its policies for tracking the location of cell phones. As anyone who ... more -
So sue me! Riches v Bush, Wu Tang, Google et al
Awesome use of our judicial resources. From the docket:
MINUTE entry before Judge Harry D. Leinenweber : It has come to the Court's attention that the docketing department of the Clerk's Office is still inputing the names of the hundreds of defendants named in this action. This action was dismissed on 8/17/07 for failure to state a claim, and the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal on 10/31/07 for failure to pay the required docketing fee. It is a waste of judicial resources for the Clerk's Office to continue adding these names to a closed case that the Court determined was delusional in its order of 8/17/07. The Clerk is therefore directed to cease adding the defendants' names to this docket. As this is an internal housekeeping matter, the Clerk is directed not to send notice of this order to Plaintiff. No notice to be mailed (gcy, ) Awesome use of our judicial resources. From the docket: ... more -
Sean M. Gerlich v. US Dept. of Justice
Amongst the administration's multitudinous scandals is the question of whether the DoJ was too zealous in choosing only employees who were politically Bushonion clones. One man is now filing a discrimination suit over his rejection for an intern position. Amongst the administration's multitudinous scandals is the question of whether the DoJ was too zealous in choosing only employees... more
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Feds Going After Google & Yahoo; Antitrust Probe Opened
Google and Yahoo officials have said since the deal's announcement that they would delay its implementation for a voluntary Justice Department review. But a formal investigation signals that the department may have found some cause for concern.
Lawyers familiar with similar investigations said that the kind of legal requests being issued by the Justice Department in this case - "civil investigative demands" - are not used for routine matters. Google and Yahoo officials have said since the deal's announcement that they would delay its implementation for a voluntary Justi... more -
Huge US payout over anthrax case
The US justice department has agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a man it said was a "person of interest" in the US anthrax attacks in 2001.
Dr Steven Hatfill, a former US army scientist, sued the department, saying it violated his privacy rights by speaking to reporters about the case.
Court papers now say a deal has been reached and the case will be dismissed.
Five people were killed by anthrax mailed to lawmakers and media outlets in New York, Washington and Florida.
According to the settlement documents filed on Friday, the justice department will pay Dr Hatfill $2.8m upfront. It will also buy Dr Hatfill a $3m annuity that will pay him $150,000 each year for 20 years. The US justice department has agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a man it said was a "person of interest" in the U... more -
U.S. to Settle Lawsuit of Man Investigated in Anthrax Case
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Friday that it would pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Steven J. Hatfill, a former Army biodefense researcher intensively investigated as a “person of interest” in the deadly anthrax letters of 2001.
The settlement, consisting of $2.825 million in cash and an annuity paying Dr. Hatfill $150,000 a year for 20 years, brings to an end a five-year legal battle that had recently threatened a reporter with large fines for declining to name sources she said she did not recall.
Dr. Hatfill, who worked at the Army’s laboratory at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., in the late 1990s, was the subject of a flood of media coverage beginning in mid-2002, after television cameras showed F.B.I. agents in biohazard suits searching his apartment near the Army base. He was later named a “person of interest” in the case by then Attorney General John Ashcroft, speaking on national television.
In a news conference in August 2002, Dr. Hatfill tearfully denied that he had anything to do with the anthrax letters and said irresponsible media coverage based on government leaks had destroyed his reputation.
Dr. Hatfill’s lawsuit, filed in 2003, alleged that F.B.I. agents and Justice Department officials involved in the criminal investigation of the anthrax mailings had leaked information about him to the news media in violation of the Privacy Act. In order to prove their case, his lawyers took depositions from key F.B.I. investigators, senior officials and a number of reporters who had covered the investigation.
Mark Grannis, a lawyer for Dr. Hatfill, said his client was pleased with the settlement.
“This case has been about how the press behaves and how the government behaves,” Mr. Grannis said. “The good news is that we still live in a country where a guy who’s been horribly abused can go to a judge and say ‘I need your help,’ and maybe it takes a while, but he gets justice.”
The settlement, Mr. Grannis said, “means that Steven Hatfill is finally an ex-person of interest.”
The settlement called new attention to the fact that nearly seven years after the toxic letters were mailed, killing five people and sickening at least 17 others, the case has not been solved. WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Friday that it would pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Steven J. Hatfill, a ... more -
“leftists” get "weed out" by the Justice Department screeners
Justice Department officials illegally used “political or ideological” factors in elite recruiting programs in recent years, tapping law school graduates with Federalist Society membership or other conservative credentials over more qualified candidates with liberal-sounding resumes, an internal report found Tuesday.
The report, prepared by the Justice Department’s own inspector general and its ethics office, portrays a clumsy effort by senior Justice Department screeners to weed out candidates for career positions whom they considered “leftists,” using Internet search engines to look for incriminating information or evidence of possible liberal bias.
One rejected candidate from Harvard Law School worked for Planned Parenthood. Another wrote opinion pieces critical of the USA Patriot Act and the nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court. A third applicant worked for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and posted an unflattering cartoon of President Bush on his MySpace page.
Another applicant, a student at the top of his class at Harvard who was fluent in Arabic, was relegated to the “questionable” pile because he was a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group that advocates civil liberties. And another rejected candidate said in his essay that he was “personally conflicted” about the National Security Agency’s program of wiretapping without warrants.
The report, prepared jointly by the office of the inspector general, Glenn A. Fine, and the Office of Professional Responsibility, is the first in a series of internal reviews growing out of last year’s controversy over the dismissals of nine United States attorneys. The report is the first from an official investigation to support accusations that the Bush Justice Department has been overly politicized.
In 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft gave his political aides final say over hundreds of applications in response to what some officials believed was a liberal tilt favoring Ivy League schools.
Source: NY Times Justice Department officials illegally used “political or ideological” factors in elite recruiting programs in recent years, tapping l... more -
FBI staff silenced over torture
As evidence of prisoner mistreatment at Guantanamo Bay began to mount in 2002, FBI agents at the base created a "war crimes file" to document accusations against American military personnel, but were eventually ordered to close the file down, a Justice Department report has disclosed.
The report, a 437-page review prepared by the Justice Department inspector-general, provides the fullest account to date of internal dissent and confusion within the Bush Administration over the use of harsh interrogation tactics by the military and the Central Intelligence Agency.
In one of several previously undisclosed episodes, the report found that US military interrogators appeared to have collaborated with visiting Chinese officials at Guantanamo Bay to disrupt the sleep of Chinese Muslims held there, waking them every 15 minutes the night before their interviews by the Chinese. In another incident, a female interrogator reportedly bent back an inmate's thumbs and squeezed his genitals as he grimaced in pain.
The report describes what one official called "trench warfare" between the FBI and the military over methods used on prisoners.
The report says that officials at senior levels at the FBI, the Justice Department, the Defence Department and the National Security Council were all made aware of the complaints of FBI agents, but little was done.
The report quotes passionate objections from FBI officials, who grew increasingly concerned about practices like intimidating inmates with snarling dogs, parading them in the nude before female soldiers, or "short-shackling" them to the floor for hours in extreme heat or cold.
Such tactics, said one FBI agent in an email to supervisors in November 2002, might violate US law banning torture. As evidence of prisoner mistreatment at Guantanamo Bay began to mount in 2002, FBI agents at the base created a "war crimes file&... more -
Congress wants Justice Department to investigate the BCS's corruption...
Well, since Congress and the Justice Department have some free time, they can tackle the issues that really matter...
Ending the corruption circles that run college football and the BCS...
Year in, and year out, the upstairs politics in college football do everything they can to make sure that the SEC, Big 12, and Big Ten reap in the benefits from the BCS year after year despite not necessarily outplaying the competition in the Pac 10, Big East, and mid majors year after year... Well, since Congress and the Justice Department have some free time, they can tackle the issues that really matter... ... more
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