The Daily MuckThree anti-war U.S. lawmakers, Jim McDermott (D-WA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), and then-Representative David E. Bonior (D-MI), accepted travel to Iraq in October 2002 that had been secretly financed by Saddam Hussein’s intelligence agency. The travel was arranged through a Michigan charity official who has been charged with “with setting up the junket for Hussein’s government.” None of the lawmakers have been charged with any misconduct and a DoJ spokesman says there’s no evidence any of them knew that Hussein had backed the trip. (AP)
U.S. military leaders privately informed President Bush yesterday about their concerns that U.S. military forces have been strained by the long war in Iraq. The briefing was conducted in a secure room at the Pentagon referred to as “the tank.” Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell remarked, “armed with all that, the president must now decide the way ahead in Iraq.” (USA Today)
Puerto Rico Governor Anibal Acevedo-Vila has been implicated in a corruption probe involving federal campaign-finance crimes. Fund-raiser Robert M. Feldman and three other Philadelphians have also been charged. The governor was charged with conspiracy to violate federal campaign laws, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the the IRS and filing a false tax return. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
As the U.S. military lost its 4,000th soldier in Iraq last week, President Bush began talks with the Iraqi government about keeping U.S. forces there for years or even decades. The Iraqi government has sought a bilateral agreement because the U.N. mandate for the occupation is expiring. It is unclear what this means for Iraqi sovereignty. (Washington Independent)
The Canadian Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in the case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian who is being held at Guantanamo Bay and awaiting trial by a U.S. military commission on murder and explosives charges. Khadr’s lawyers have requested information from the Canadian government relating to interviews of Khadr that Canadian intelligence officials carried out in 2003 at Guantanamo, and without which, they say, “Khadr would not be able to properly defend himself in US legal proceedings.” (AFP)
John McCain’s most recent campaign finance report reveals that he has spent $4 million over the federal limit he imposed on himself when he opted into the public financing system. Firedoglake, with the backing of other bloggers, has filed a Federal Elections Commission complaint and has launched a petition. (Firedoglake)
Western nations have not fulfilled their promise to deliver $10 billion in non-military assistance to Afghanistan. The U.S., which is responsible for half those funds, has blamed security conditions in Afghanistan. (New York Times)
Experts are calling for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to tighten their operating procedures after a congressional investigation highlighted lax standards in their licensing distribution. The investigation was based on the creation of a fake company that said they were given a license from the commission to buy radioactive materials. Investigators say the amount of material they were able to attain was enough to make a “small dirty bomb.” (AP)
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service announced that it will place some green card applications on hold while it reviews its rules for determining whether to grant green cards to legal immigrants “tied to groups that sought to topple foreign dictatorships.” Under current rules, some legal immigrants linked to groups allied with the U.S. have been denied green cards after being allowed to immigrate to the country legally. (Washington Post)
Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) of the Senate Banking Committee and Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) of the Senate Finance Committee have both announced that they will lead investigations into the taxpayer-backed bailout of Bear Stearns. (New York Times)
Slate provides a look inside the “drama behind the Times’ warrantless wiretapping story” in an article adapted from Eric Lichtblau’s forthcoming book, Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice. The paper sat on their story of Bush’s eavesdropping for “13 long months,” in part because the administration’s “cliches” about the “enemy” being “inside the gates” “did their work.” (Slate)
The USDA is considering changes to a proposed rule requiring the government to release the names of retailers which sold recalled meat products. The proposed change would require the disclosure of retailer names only in the case of “Class I” recalls “which pose the greatest health hazard.” Currently the USDA “discloses only a recall itself,” although the state of California requires the additional disclosure of retailer names. (AP)
