Are You Likely Being Investigated? Grab a Calculator and Find Out
FBI Director Robert Mueller said in a rather roundabout way that his bureau is conducting 8,000 terrorism-related investigations. Testifying on Jan. 11 before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Mueller noted that Britain’s MI-5 intelligence agency is tracking 1,600 individuals, and then explained that “in general, the number of subjects we are monitoring is proportional to the number of subjects BSS is monitoringâbased on gross national population.” Mueller also pointed out that, compared to the British investigations, the 8,000 include few “active plots involving physical attacks within the United States, less defined networks of extremists, and less developed attack planning.” (US News & World Report)
Who’s Getting Rich off the War?
The war in Iraq brought with it innumerable lucrative military contracts, and billions of dollars to those with the proper DC connections. A new Playboy article (TDM subscribes for the articles) attempts to unravel these connections, and also sheds further light on the administration’s selling of the war. Via Steve Clemons. (Playboy)
The Race to Undermine Joe Wilson
The trial of I. Lewis âScooterâ Libby, the former Dick Cheney chief of staff, is set to begin tomorrow, and the federal investigators piecing together the case have âtheorized from the very earliest stages of the case that Libby may have been trying to hide Cheney’s own role in encouraging Libby to discredit Wilson.â As The Muck noted last week, thereâs speculation that the trial could do significant damage to Cheney, who is set to testify. (National Journal)
Trouble for Cunningham-Linked Businessman
Brent Wilkes, aka Unindicted Coconspirator #1 in the Duke Cunningham case, has been fined the maximum of $4,000 by California’s Fair Political Practices Commission “for concealing campaign contributions to a San Diego mayoral campaign.” (AP)
Cheney says Credit Checks are Legal
Cheney said Sunday that both the Pentagon and CIA are within their rights — and the law — in “examining the banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage in the United States.” (The New York Times broke the story Sunday.) The legal justification stems from “national security letters,” which allow the executive branch to seek terrorism- and spy-related records without the traditional legal prerequisites. The letters are usually issued by the FBI, but military investigators have sent them up to 500 times. (AP)
Dems Seek to Undercut GOP’s Marianas Hypocrisy Charge
After Republicans accused Democrats of a double standard for not extending the federal minimum wage to the Dem-represented territory of American Samoa while raising it on the Republican-represented territory of the Northern Mariana Islands (and former Abramoff client), the Dems gave in. The Washington Post noticed the discrepancy early on; and The Hill has more here on the wage laws on the two islands. (AP)
Senate to Move Forward with Ticket Ban
This could be the last chance for some of our elected representatives to see Gilbert Arenas for free. The Senate will act this week to prohibit its members from accepting free tickets to sporting events. (USA Today)
New Contractor-Targeted Law To Be Challenged
A new federal provision will subject civilians serving with U.S. troops n Iraq and Afghanistan to military courts-martial, but “legal scholars say [it] is almost certain to spark constitutional challenges.” (The Washington Post)
Does Anybody Know How Ethical This Is?
Two Republican House members returned early from a trip to South Korea, worried the trip violated the House travel rules. Five Democratic lawmakers stayed, however, and argued the trip had been approved by the House ethics committee. (AP)
