C.I.A. Tells of Bush’s Directive on the Handling of Detainees
“The Central Intelligence Agency has acknowledged for the first time the existence of two classified documents, including a directive signed by President Bush, that have guided the agencyâs interrogation and detention of terror suspects.
“The C.I.A. referred to the documents in a letter sent Friday from the agencyâs associate general counsel, John L. McPherson, to lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union….
“The second document, according to the group, is a Justice Department legal analysis ‘specifying interrogation methods that the C.I.A. may use against top Al Qaeda members.’â (NY Times)
Justice Department’s Brief on Detention Policy Draws Ire
“Critics of U.S. detention policies warned yesterday that a brief legal document filed by the Justice Department this week raises the possibility that any of the millions of immigrants living in the United States could be subject to indefinite detention if they are accused of ties to terrorist groups.
“In a six-page motion filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Justice Department lawyers argue that an anti-terrorism law approved by Congress last month allows the government to detain any foreign national declared to be an enemy combatant, even if he is arrested and imprisoned inside the United States….
“In the past, foreign nationals arrested in the United States have generally had the right to challenge their imprisonment for immigration violations or other alleged crimes in U.S. civilian courts. In the Marri case, the Justice Department essentially argues for an exception for those arrested as enemy combatants, legal experts said.” (WaPo)
Lobbyist Abramoff to Report to Prison
“Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist known for lavishing politicians with football tickets or whisking them away on exotic golf junkets, will start life Wednesday with a new identity: federal inmate No. 27593-112.
“Abramoff is to report to federal prison to begin serving a nearly six-year prison sentence for a fraudulent deal to buy a fleet of casino ships in Florida. He also is awaiting sentencing for corrupting government officials and their staff members.
“If it were up to the Justice Department, Abramoff wouldn’t be heading to prison — at least not yet. He could hold the key to a sweeping corruption case involving Congress, members of the Bush administration and their aides, and prosecutors said putting their star witness behind bars would impede the investigation.
“But a Miami federal judge refused to delay the sentence, meaning Abramoff’s cooperation will have to continue from prison. Abramoff’s lawyers had no comment.” (AP, Roll Call)
DOJ Allowed to Examine Some Jefferson Papers
“With the corruption investigation of Rep. William Jefferson [D-LA] stalled for the last several months by a legal battle, a federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered Jeffersonâs lawyers to begin turning over some documents to the Department of Justice.
“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit also set a briefing schedule for its review of whether the May 20 FBI raid on Jeffersonâs Capitol Hill office was constitutional.
“The briefing schedule signals that Jeffersonâs legal challenge to the raid is likely to continue into next summer or even well into the fall, although legal experts believe that Tuesdayâs order by the court could provide the Justice Department with a âface-savingâ means of indicting Jefferson before the appeals court issues a ruling.” (Roll Call)
Texan to Serve Last of DeLay Term Before Stepping Aside for Democrat
“Rep. Shelley Sekula Gibbs [R-TX] skipped freshman orientation Tuesday, but the new lawmaker had a good excuse: She’s in a class by herself.
“The Texas Republican will be gone by the time the new 110th Congress is sworn in Jan. 3. She won a special election to fill out the remaining term of former House majority leader Tom DeLay, who resigned June 9 after being indicted in Texas on campaign-finance charges. She lost a write-in campaign to Democrat Nick Lampson in the simultaneous general election for a new two-year term.” (USA Today)
Uprising by Ex-DeLay Staff
“The woman who was sworn in this week as the interim Republican successor to ex-Rep. Tom DeLay [R-TX] was, shall we say, not a hit with holdover DeLay aides.
“In fact, they showed their feelings about their new boss Tuesday by walking out of the office en masse and resigning, effective immediately. The DeLay refugees, who included DeLayâs personal chief of staff, David James, walked out of the office, Von Trapp family-style (though without the singing) and huddled at Starbucks to get their wits about them.” (Roll Call)
First Fla. Recount Ends with Few Changes
“The first of two recounts in the contested race to replace U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris [R-FL] ended late Tuesday with few changes in the vote tally and no new answers to concerns about the accuracy of touch-screen voting machines….
“The recount gave Republican Vern Buchanan one additional vote and shaved one off Democratic challenger Christine Jennings’ total. The change was attributed to an error with optical scan ballots. A second manual recount begins Thursday in Sarasota….
“Attorneys for Jennings went to court Tuesday to press concerns that machines reported more than 18,000 Sarasota County voters did not vote in the congressional race, but made choices in other races. The rate of so-called undervotes is significantly higher than in other counties in the district.
“Jennings’ lawyers convinced a circuit court judge â and Buchanan’s lawyer â that a 48-hour delay of a state audit was warranted so both sides can get their own experts in on the investigation. They return to court Thursday.” (AP)
Senate OKs Bill to Extend Iraq Inspector
“The Senate approved an amendment Tuesday to extend an investigative office that unearthed millions of dollars in waste and fraud associated with the rebuilding of Iraq….
“Led by Stuart Bowen Jr., the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction tracks spending in the multibillion-dollar effort to rebuild Iraq.
“The agency’s work has resulted in four criminal convictions and, most recently, evidence that a Halliburton subsidiary exploited federal regulations to hide details on its contract performance.” (AP)
Leader Race Heats Up
“The race for House Majority Leader between Democratic Reps. Steny Hoyer [D-MD] and John Murtha [D-PA] got nasty on Tuesday, as Murtha accused Hoyerâs allies of spreading allegations that he was corrupt while Murtha tried to tie Hoyer to President Bushâs policy on Iraq….
“Murtha avowed Tuesday that he was a victim of ‘swift-boating’ by Hoyer and his allies via news stories linking him to the Abscam scandal of the early 1980s, as well as more recent reports that he did legislative favors for clients of his brotherâs lobbying firm and another firm where a former top aide worked.
“In the Abscam case, Murtha was caught on videotape being offered a $50,000 bribe by an undercover FBI agent, and although he was a member of the House ethics committee, he failed to report the bribe offer to authorities. Murtha was never charged in the case but was named an unindicted co-conspirator. Six Members and one Senator went to prison in the Abscam probe.” (Roll Call, The Hill)
Bush Reappoints Overseas Broadcast Chief
“President Bush on Tuesday renominated the chairman of the agency that directs U.S. overseas broadcasts even though the nomination has been stalled in the Senate amid allegations of misconduct.
“Kenneth Y. Tomlinson was nominated again as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors and for a term on the board expiring Aug. 13, 2007. The board oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Marti, broadcasting initiatives in the Middle East and other nonmilitary U.S. broadcasting overseas….
“A report by the State Department’s inspector general, released Aug. 29, said Tomlinson misused government funds for two years as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Tomlinson disputed the allegations in the report.” (AP)
ACLU Seeks Again to Block Wiretaps
“Warrantless wiretaps that the government says are necessary to fight terrorism pose a threat to American democracy, the American Civil Liberties Union said in court papers filed Tuesday.
“The ACLU is asking the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate a lower court decision that said the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program is unconstitutional.” (AP)
Slow Pace of Payouts Wears on Katrina Victims
“Shirley Labeau longs to move back into her four-bedroom, shotgun-style home from the trailer she and her two sons have occupied since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the house more than a year ago.
“But the $7.5-million Road Home program, which provides money to renovate and rebuild storm-damaged homes, hasn’t come through for Labeau yet, and is being widely criticized for the slow pace of its payouts.
“The program provides grants of up to $150,000 to cover uninsured losses for homeowners who choose to rebuild or buy a new house in Louisiana. The funds, although federal, are channeled through the Louisiana Recovery Authority.
“Almost 80,000 families have applied to Road Home, but as of Monday, money had officially been made available to only 26. Fewer than 2,000 people had received letters notifying them of the amount of their grant, and they must take certain steps â selecting a contractor, for example â to gain access to it. The money is released gradually from an account as the work is done.” (LA Times)
FEMA Homes Were Destroyed in Storage
“Hundreds of modular homes bought by FEMA for victims of last year’s hurricanes were damaged beyond repair as they sat unused and, in many cases, unprotected from the elements, the agency said Tuesday.
“The failure to protect the homes from the sun and rain while they were in storage was outlined in a report by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general.
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency bought the homes as emergency housing for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But many sat unused for months at an Army depot in Texarkana, Texas, because of restrictions on where such homes could be erected, FEMA said. A June inventory had 1,790 homes at the site.” (AP)
Cheney Seeks Dismissal of Suit against Him
“Vice President Dick Cheney asked a federal judge Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit brought against him by a former CIA operative who says the White House leaked her identity to the press.
“Cheney’s attorneys criticized the lawsuit in court papers, saying it invented constitutional rights, intruded on national security discussions and came two years after the statute of limitations had expired.
“Former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson claims that she was outed as retribution for her husband’s criticism of the administration’s prewar intelligence on Iraq.” (AP)
Libby: No White House Plot, No Crime in CIA Leak
“Attorneys for former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby dismissed the idea of a White House plot to leak a CIA operative’s identity to the press and said Libby plans to tell jurors at his perjury trial that he had no reason to lie.
“Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald spent years investigating who leaked Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity to syndicated columnist Robert Novak in 2003. While nobody was charged with the leak, Libby is accused of lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters.
“Fitzgerald wants to keep most of that backstory out of Libby’s trial in January. But in court documents filed Tuesday, defense attorneys said they have a right to argue that Libby doesn’t believe he did anything wrong.” (AP)
Soldier to Plead Guilty in Iraq Rape and Killings
“One of four Army infantrymen charged with raping a 14-year-old girl last March in Iraq and then killing her and her family will plead guilty today in a military court in Kentucky, his lawyers said.
“The plea to charges of rape and premeditated murder will make the soldier, Specialist James P. Barker, 23, the first to resolve the charges against him in one of the most gruesome cases of illegal killings of Iraqi civilians.
“Specialist Barker and three other members of Company B of the First Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, were each charged with raping the girl and killing her, her parents and her 7-year-old sister in the familyâs home in Mahmudiya, southwest of Baghdad, a volatile area known among American soldiers as the “triangle of death.'” (NY Times)
Ney: Take My Name off That Building
“The Robert Ney Center at Ohio University Eastern is one step closer to changing its name.
“Tuesday, Bob Ney himself sent the university an email saying he wants his name taken off of the building out of respect for the school.
The advisory board at the campus had already recommended to the board of trustees that Ney’s name be removed.” (WTOV-TV)
Sympathy for the Scandal Limo Company
“‘Suppose you picked up this morning’s newspaper and your life was a front-page headline. And everything they said was accurate, but none of it was true.’
“That’s a line from the ads for “Absence of Malice,” a 1981 Paul Newman movie about an innocent man who the press wrongly portray to the world as a criminal.
“That also could describe the recent life of Christopher D. Baker, owner of the Shirlington Limousine, a company headquartered in suburban Arlington, Va. We are all judged by the company we keep. Baker suddenly found he was being judged by a couple of customers he had.” (Chicago Tribune)
Shirlington Limo to Face New Probe
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be the focus of a series of Homeland Security Department inspector general investigations this fiscal year, according to a new report previewing the auditors’ upcoming projects.
“. . . [T]he DHS inspectors will delve into areas of fiscal management; regional grants distribution; border, transit and airport security; and internal information safeguards. The inspector general also will probe Shirlington Limousine and Transport Inc. to see if it was a “responsible bidder” for contracts it received in 2004 and 2005.” (GovExec)
