The Daily MuckIt’s a bad time to be a government leaker (of a certain kind, at least). Last week, the FBI executed a classified search warrant against a Justice Department lawyer on the grounds that he might have leaked information about the government’s warrantless wiretapping program to The New York Times. (Newsweek)
A top-secret document listing a log of calls monitored by the NSA is the crux of a lawsuit that has been labeled by some experts as the strongest case against the administrations warrantless wiretapping program. So how does the charity that has been wiretapped know about this secret document? Well, some aides at the Treasury department accidentally handed it out amid a collection of press clippings. Whoops. (Associated Press)
Sen. Nelson (D-FL) has sent a letter to the Interior Secretary, and he wants to know why the Everglades are no longer listed as an area in “environmental danger.” More importantly, he wants Todd Willens to be fired. Willens, who pushed for the removal of the Everglades despite the recommendation of scientific evidence, is a former aide for Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA). And when under Pombo, Willens managed to take an overseas trip sponsored by Jack Abramoff. (St. Petersburg Times)
Congressional Quarterly has a profile of Scott J. Bloch, the head of the Office of Special Counsel who is endeavoring to make prosecutions of Hatch Act violations cool again. (Congressional Quarterly)
The Justice Department has requested that the House ethics committee stop its investigation of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) for fear of interfering with the government’s case against the indicted lawmaker. The House, which isn’t too fond of ethics reviews in any case, has assented. (Roll Call)
New legislation that requires lawmakers to disclose their support for earmarks has had the effect of increasing the stature of individuals who are able to attach their name to funds. Which encourages those lawmakers to support more earmarks in order to build a reputation among their peers. Which means more earmarks. Which is exactly what we were going for with those ethics reforms. (NY Times)
We wrote last week that Iraq was complaining that their U.S. counterparts were not selling them weaponry that they were eager to buy. Maybe its because about 30% of the guns given to Iraqis -about 190,000 AK-47s and pistols- are currently unaccounted for. (Washington Post)
