The Daily MuckLawyers for Omar Khadr, a Canadian who will be tried by a military commission in Guantanamo Bay on “charges that include murder, related to a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan that left a U.S. soldier dead,” are investigating whether a video of Khadr that appeared on CBS’ 60 Minutes last fall was leaked by Vice-President Dick Cheney’s office. According to Khadr’s lawyer, former Guantanamo chief prosecutor Col. Morris Davis “thinks it’s possible or likely this tape came from the vice-president’s office.” If the allegations are true, he says, it would be a “clear violation of the protective orders that are in place” in the case. (CTV)
The towns of Brattleboro and Marlboro, Vermont have passed articles of indictment against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for their violations of the U.S. Constitution. Though one supporter of the articles remarked that he hoped the two were impeached before they were arrested in Vermont, the latter is unlikely because Vermont is the only state in that President Bush has never visited. (USA Today)
When FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies at the Senate today he will face questions about alleged civil rights violations during terror and spy investigations, including the use of national security letters. Last year the Justice Department’s inspector general reported that the FBI, between 2003 to 2005, collected personal data on citizens without authorization and in non-emergency situations. (AP)
A $1.2 billion Homeland Security Project calls for the deployment of radiation detection machines along borders and in ports. But recent tests of the equipment are inconclusive as to whether the devices will provide adequate protection. (Washington Post)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and the Bush administration have renewed negotiations (sub. req.) over a possible compromise that would lead to the confirmation of “dozens” of executive branch nominees whose nominations have been stalled in the Senate. The two sides hope to come to an agreement before the Senate leaves for a two week recess in mid-March; failure to do so might mean failure to come to an agreement before the end of Bush’s term. (Roll Call)
Mother Jones reports that after 9/11 a schism emerged at the CIA that divided an “SS crowd” and an “Wehrmacht crowd” – the former was willing to accept special counter-terrorism assignments that called for enhanced interrogations while the latter declined because of a belief that one day there would be congressional investigations or press scrutiny about the use of torture. Agents in the “SS crowd” now feel that the Bush administration is letting “the spooks to twist in the wind.” One former agent states that “the Bush administration ordered it [enhanced interrogation] and approved it and then never came to the Agency’s defense when it hit the fan,” “the hypocrisy is breathtaking.”(Mother Jones)
President Bush recently surpassed Ronald Reagan in the number of days spent (“in whole or in part”) away from the White House at either Camp David or at a presidential retreat. Whereas Reagan piled up 866 days at Camp David or his California ranch, Bush, as of December 30, 2007, logged in 879 days at Camp David or Crawford. This time amounts to more than one third of the Bush presidency. (Washington Post’s “White House Watch”)
The chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, representative James Oberstar (D-MN), alleges that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. government have failed “on every level” to restrict the access of non-citizens to flight schools. ABC News recently reported that “thousands of non-U.S. citizens had attended flight schools and received FAA pilot licenses without going through new requirements specified in post-9/ll laws.” (ABC’s “The Blotter”)
