The Daily Muck

The Justice Department admitted error yesterday for failing to inform the Supreme Court that Congress had recently made the rape of a child a capital offense in the military. On June 25, the Court ruled that the death penalty was not appropriate punishment for the rape of an child. Admissions of error are highly unusual for the Justice Department. (New York Times)

After revelations from the House Oversight Committee that the Bush Administration was aware of the deal between Hunt Oil and the Kurdistan Regional Government, the State Department released a statement insisting they had no prior knowledge of the arrangement. (Washington Post)

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday by an Islamic organization that accused the Bush administration of illegally wiretapping its telephones. The federal judge tossed out the suit because the call log was part of a top secret document. (AP)

The Pentagon’s Inspector General is leaving his post after a year of service. The office has seen many changes over the past few years, including a skyrocketing defense budget and a diminished abililty to investigate waste, fraud and abuse. (AP)

The IRS has summoned six accounting firms to assist in revealing foreign banks whose U.S. customers may be evading taxes. This is a new expansion of the investigation that resulted in the guilty plea of a former banker for UBS. (Bloomberg)

In a reversal of policy, the White House has given the Army permission to add five new generals that would oversee purchasing and military contractors. This move was initially rejected in May by the Office of Management and Budget. The addition of Army brass was recommended by a panel that faulted the Army for contracting failures. (AP)

Inquiries by Israeli law enforcement made in the U.S. over the last weeks have further enforced the suspicions that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert committed fraud. The U.S. inquiries have focused on a Long Island businessman who is suspected of giving Olmert illicit funds for many years. The businessman, Morris Talansky, is the main witness in the case. (Haaretz)