Attorney General Eric Holder has appointed U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to lead a probe into whether laws were broken after photos of undercover CIA agents were found in the cell of an alleged 9/11 conspirator at Guantanamo.
The ACLU, which is involved in the defense of this particular detainee and others, hired private investigators to track down the CIA officers as part of its case, but denies breaking the law or providing the identities of the officers to detainees.
It’s a real party going on in the East Room of the White House as President Obama prepares to sign the health care reform bill into law. You can watch the festivities here.
Michael Steele on passage of Health Care Reform: “There is no downside for Republicans. Only for Americans.”
Other quotes that capture the moment? Send them in.
Do all these attorneys general suing to block health care reform on constitutional grounds have a leg to stand on? Twenty years ago the answer would have been a flat, no. Today there’s a thread of jurisprudence that gives them a colorable argument, but most of the conservative legal scholars whom we have spoken with say it’s still very unlikely that the health insurance mandate in the new law will be deemed unconstitutional.
Right after Joe Biden introduced Barack Obama this morning for the bill signing, and just as Obama was stepping toward the microphone, the two men embraced, and it sounded like Biden said, “This is a big f—ing deal.” He’s right, it is. Watch.
this.Another candid moment from this morning’s White House bill signing ceremony, this time from Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY).
Some days the NYT seems run by an order of cloistered nuns:
“Mr. President, this is a big … deal,” he said, adding an adjective between big and deal, that begins with ‘f.’
Max Baucus says there may have to be some changes made in the Senate to the reconciliation bill for it to pass Byrd rule muster. Minor changes, he says, but enough to require the bill go back to the House for final approval.