The Daily MuckRetired Army Lt. Levonda J. Selph pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday for directing a $12 million building contract to a confidant in exchange for $4,000 cash and a trip to Thailand. Selph has promised to cooperate in the pending investigation. The contractor was not named in the court documents. (Associated Press)
As the Iraqi and American governments wrangle over the depth of mission and length of time American forces will stay present in Iraq, one crucial point of negotiation involves the presence of defense companies in the country. While contractors have come under intense scrutiny in Baghdad, especially after the massacre of 17 Iraqis at the hands of Blackwater guards last year, the U.S. government is requesting immunity from Iraqi law for the private companies. (AFP)
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) sent a letter to Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday asking her about the department’s position on the future of defense contracts with the likes of Blackwater, and how much the U.S. military plans to lean on the private, largely unregulated companies in Iraq and elsewhere. (Washington Independent)
A study by the Government Accountability Office reports that one in 10 soldiers sent to Iraq and Afghanistan from Army bases in Georgia and New York had significant medical problems that affected their ability to fight. Conditions such as herniated discs, back pain and chronic knee ailments were cited most often. (USA Today)
Though both Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) have pledged to run special interest-free campaigns in their bid for the presidency, the Associated Press reports that such claims are quite dubious in today’s political climate. (Associated Press)
Ohio state judge James M. Burge has ruled that Ohio must cease using its current execution method of injecting death row inmates with a combination of three chemicals, citing the intense pain they cause. He, instead, ordered the state to use a large single dose of a barbiturate commonly used in animal euthanasia, an unprecedented move claim legal experts. (New York Times)
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA) a “deadbeat congresswoman” on Tuesday in light of her financial discrepancies. One of her three California homes was lost to foreclosure last month; Richardson then failed to report the foreclosure on her congressional financial disclosure statement, a possible violation of House and federal rules. (The Hill)
