The Daily Muck

In another case of the CIA plucking a citizen from a foreign country based on suspicion, officials from Italy, Germany, Spain and Switzerland all cooperated in the effort to kidnap Egyptian cleric and terrorism suspect Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr from a Milan street in 2003. Nasr was released from an Egyptian prison in 2007, claiming he was tortured while there. (Associated Press)

Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have introduced legislation that would tighten laws on lobbyists that work for foreign-owned companies, requiring lobbying operations to disclose more aspects of those relationships than current law demands. The proposed review of foreign influence on American lobbying comes during an election season in which Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has come under scrutiny for employing several individuals on his campaign staff that have track records of foreign lobbying. (New York Times)

A senior British intelligence agent left top secret documents containing information on al Qaeda on a train, officials said Wednesday. The file was retrieved and given to the BBC. This comes after the loss of a laptop containing data on 600,000 recruits by Britain’s Ministry of Defence, prompting critics to hurl charges of lax security at Prime Minister Gordon Brown. (Reuters)

It has been reported that former National Republican Congressional Committee treasurer Christopher J. Ward embezzled money from the group to fund the remodeling of his own home. Earlier estimates ranged from $550,000 to $600,000 stolen; GOP insiders now say Ward redirected as much as $750,000 through various channels in the organization. (Politico)

Today the House Oversight Committee will decide whether to further review facts and evidence gathered regarding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s ties to the Bush White House. (Congressional Quarterly)

Vets like former Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jack Alderson have begun to speak up about germ and chemical weapons testing done during the Cold War that have left many vets involved in the testing with cancers, chronic fatigue, allergies and some premature deaths. Alderson is set to testify on the matter in front of a House Veterans Affairs panel on Thursday in an attempt to force more disclosure from the Pentagon on the testing from 40+ years ago. (Associated Press)

Nextel currently charges its cellphone customers around $175 to cancel their service early. But the company has let the government get away with opting out of cellphone contracts at no charge. “The government will never, never accept such penalty amounts,” according to internal Nextel e-mails. (Associated Press)