The Daily Muck

In the first 5 ½ years of the war on terror, the CIA filed not a single occurrence of legal violation to an independent oversight board, even while the FBI filed a few hundred potential violations. Still, filing with a group whose responsibility is to inform the President and Attorney General of potentially unlawful intelligence actions might not have mattered; the group’s board was vacant for the first two years of the administration. (Washington Post)

The new mandatory fashion in Baghdad’s Green Zone: flak vests and Kevlar helmets. Following a Saturday mortar attack on the Green Zone, McClatchy News obtained a copy of an internal memo issued by the American embassy in Baghdad that ordered Green Zone inhabitants to wear protective gear at all times. (McClatchy Newspapers)

An American employee of a Halliburton subsidiary pleaded guilty to receiving favors in exchange for awarding a Kuwaiti company millions in contracts. Roger Heaton worked for KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton, and reportedly received nearly $200,000 for awarding two major contracts. Heaton faces ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine. (New York Times)

The Department of Homeland Security has a turnover rate of senior officials twice that of the rest of the government. At it D.C. headquarters alone, over half of the presidential appointees and senior executives left between 2005 and 2006. (Washington Post)

The House Intelligence Committee refuses to release a report following an internal investigation into the panel’s involvement in the Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) scandal. The investigation was completed last year but Republicans refused to make it public. Though Democrats are now in charge of the panel, the committee will still not make the findings available. (Los Angeles Times)

They grow up so fast. The National Archives released 78,000 pages from Nixon’s administration, and guess what was tucked in the set? A nine page note from 22-year-old aide Karl Rove, suggesting to the co-chairman of the Republican National Committee how to strengthen the party by leveraging young voters. (NY Times)

Democrats and watchdog groups are voicing frustration over Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) reticence to dissuade freshman Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) from blocking the passage of a popular ethics reform bill. DeMint vows to block conference talks on the bill until earmark reforms are passed. (The Hill)

Regulations are for those other lobbying groups. Compete, a lobbying coalition pushing for electricity deregulation, has failed to complete mandatory forms that must be completed for all tax-exempt groups. The coalition, which includes prominent companies such as Goldman Sachs and Wal-Mart, admitted it did not have its forms filled out when a Public Citizen member requested the forms through email. Compete is credited with reviving the deregulation movement after the fall of a great proponent and financier of the deregulation lobby—Enron. (The Politico)

Journalists who write frequently about Latin American drug cartels have a new fear: assassination attempts. (Chicago Tribune)