The Daily MuckAs a result of the Secure America Act, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is constructing an 18-foot steel and concrete wall at the Texas-Mexico border that will pass through the backyards of family homes (whose owners face condemnation lawsuits if they protest) but will stop short of the River Bend Resort and golf course. The fence will resume at the other side of the resort. A similarly proposed border wall will bypass the property of Dallas billionaire and friend of President Bush, Ray Hunt. DHS has failed to provide answers about how it decided where to build the border fence but the Texas Observer has learned that SBInet – private consortium of contractors led by Boeing Co. – is making almost all of the decisions. (Texas Observer, Think Progress)
A closely watched Iraqi trial of high-ranking Shiite officials (accused of running militias that killed and kidnapped hundreds of Sunnis) is regarded as a test for Iraq’s judicial system, but it is already an embarrassment. Before the trial started, one judge was removed because he allegedly agreed to find the defendants not guilty, and on the fist day a key witness failed to appear – perhaps because of pervasive witness intimidation. (New York Times)
Pentagon Prosecutors have challenged a military court’s decision that grants Osama Bin Laden’s driver (Salim Ahmed Hamdan) the right to send written questions to alleged al Qaeda detainees held at Camp 7 in Guantanamo Bay. The defense asserts that answers to their questions will determine what defense witnesses they need to call, but a military commissions spokesperson says that prosecutors believe that access to detainees in camp 7 raise “a lot of complicated issues.” (Miami Herald)
The Department of Homeland Security has finally agreed to end its efforts to suppress union rights and has agreed to follow the standard civil service labor-management procedures.The Department’s anti-union campaign began in 2002 when President Bush attempted to create a separate personnel system for Homeland Security that would override union rules and contracts. (Washington Post’s “Federal Diary”)
Since June 2005 former president Bill Clinton has made use of the private plane of Canadian banker Frank Giustra “at least a dozen times to raise money for charity, his wife’s presidential campaign or himself.” Additionally, Clinton has introduced Giustra to the presidents of Colombia and Kazakhstan, two countries where Giustra was working on business ventures. Giustra is one of the largest donors to the Clinton Foundation and in March Clinton and Giustra “are co-hosting a charitable dinner in Toronto where mining executives are paying up to $350,000 a table to see such artists as Elton John, Shakira, John Travolta and Robin Williams.” (Bloomberg)
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was greeted by hundreds of protesters when he visited Washington University’s College Republicans last night. Many protested the human rights violations that Gonzales’s Department of Justice approved, while others were outraged that Gonzales would only accept pre-approved questions. (KWMU)
Frontline’s “Rules of Engagement” provides an extensive analysis of the massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. Time magazine broke the story on Haditha when it received a gruesome video revealing that the dead Iraqis had been killed by gunshot wounds and not an IED, as was originally reported. Frontline contributes extensive interviews, unmanned drone footage, and personal accounts from Marines. (Frontline)
According to the sellers of the property, when Barack and Michelle Obama purchased their Chicago home, they were not given a discount “on the basis of or in relation to” the purchase of the adjacent lot from the same sellers by the wife of former Obama donor and indicted Chicago developer Antoin Rezko. Although the Obamas bought the home for less than the asking price, the sellers say that the Obamas’ “was the best offer” they received. (Bloomberg)
Efraim Halevy, former chief of the Mossad, has recently called for both Israel and the Bush Administration to conduct talks with Hamas. In an interview with Laura Rozen, Halevy explains his position in more detail. (Mother Jones)
In order to “to highlight the professionalism of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) and to enhance the public perception of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)” the U.S. military is planning to distribute a “6th Brigade Comic Book series” in Iraq. (Wired)
Mark Deli Siljander, the former Republican Congressman who faces charges that he laundered money for an Islamic terrorist organization, may require a court appointed attorney. One former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia believes that Siiljander’s legal fees could reach “into eight figures” because of the government’s complex investigation. (The Hill)
When the Federal Emergency Management Agency sold thousands of its used travel trailers the agency was authorized to buy new ones, but instead violated federal law by spending $13 million of the sales revenue on fully loaded SUVs, travel expenses, and purchase card accounts. Details of FEMA’s misconduct are detailed in a report by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general that will be released Friday. (USA Today)
