‘Anything Goes’ at Interior Department
“Earl Devaney, the inspector general of the Department of the Interior, will give a blunt assessment of the level of ethics there in testimony to be presented to a congressional subcommittee Wednesday.
“‘Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior,’ Devaney will tell the subcommittee, according to an advance copy of his prepared remarks obtained by ABC News.
“Devaney was asked to investigate a controversy that’s been brewing on Capitol Hill for months over what critics call a giant giveaway to the major oil companies.
“The giveaway, according to the critics, stems from leases issued by the government to oil companies in the late 1990s that exempted them from paying royalties on deepwater drilling, regardless of how much profit they ultimately reaped from that exploration.” (ABC News, AP)
Texas Court May Revive Conspiracy Charge against DeLay
“Texas’ highest criminal appeals court said today it would consider reinstating a dropped conspiracy charge against former House majority leader Tom DeLay, further delaying his trial on felony money laundering and conspiracy counts.” (USA Today)
Novak: “Real” Story behind Armitage’s Role
“When Richard Armitage finally acknowledged last week he was my source three years ago in revealing Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA employee, the former deputy secretary of stateâs interviews obscured what he really did. I want to set the record straight based on firsthand knowledge.
“First, Armitage did not, as he now indicates, merely pass on something he had heard and that he ‘thought’ might be so. Rather, he identified to me the CIA division where Mrs. Wilson worked, and said flatly that she recommended the mission to Niger by her husband, former Amb. Joseph Wilson.
“Second, Armitage did not slip me this information as idle chitchat, as he now suggests. He made clear he considered it especially suited for my column.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
Princeton Professor Raises Alarm over Electronic Voting, Hacks Test Machine
“A Princeton University computer science professor added new fuel Wednesday to claims that electronic voting machines used across much of the country are vulnerable to hacking that could alter vote totals or disable machines.
“In a paper posted on the university’s website, Edward Felten and two graduate students described how they had tested a Diebold AccuVote-TS machine they obtained, found ways to quickly upload malicious programs and even developed a computer virus able to spread such programs between machines.
“The marketing director for the machine’s maker â Diebold Inc.’s Diebold Election Systems of Allen, Texas â blasted the report, saying Felten ignored newer software and security measures that prevent such hacking.” (AP, Salon)
House Approps Chair Jerry Lewis Balks at Earmark Legislation
“House Republican appropriators remained unwilling yesterday to publicly endorse their leadershipâs resolution requiring disclosure of earmark sponsors, setting up a possible rebellion by committee members that could bring down the resolution.” (The Hill, Roll Call)
Atta in Prague
“The claim that terrorist leader Mohamed Atta met in Prague with an Iraqi spy a few months before 9/11 was never substantiated, but that didnât stop the White House from trying to insert the allegation in presidential speeches, according to classified documents.
“Cryptic references to the White House efforts are contained in a new Senate Intelligence Committee report released last Friday that debunked purported links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. However, attempts by committee Democrats to make public a more explicit account of White House interest in the anecdote were thwarted when the ‘intelligence community’ refused to declassify a CIA cable that lays out the controversy, according to congressional sources.” (Newsweek)
Voting Rights Center Says Voters May Be Prevented from Casting Ballots
“Leaders of a voting-rights center that successfully sued Florida, Washington, Ohio and other states over their election laws said Wednesday that tens of thousands of eligible voters will be prevented from casting ballots in November.
“Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University Law School, said federal and state voting changes since the disputed 2000 presidential election have produced new threats to eligible voters.” (McClatchy, USA Today)
Despite Pledges, Congress Clings to Pet Projects
“Nine months after Congressional leaders vowed to respond to several bribery scandals with comprehensive reforms, their pledges have come to next to nothing.
“On Wednesday, leaders of the House prepared to take up a rule requiring individual lawmakers to sign their names to some of the pet projects they tuck into major tax and spending bills. As an internal House rule, the requirement would be in effect only until the end of the session, just a few weeks away.
“While reform advocates denounced the proposal as nearly toothless, its bite was still too sharp for many in Congress. By Wednesday night the resolution appeared to be bogged down in a three-way squabble among Republicans, Democrats and the powerful members of the House Appropriations Committee.” (NY Times)
Air Force Chief: Test Weapons on Testy U.S. Mobs
“Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before being used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.
“The object is basically public relations. Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions from others about possible safety considerations, said Secretary Michael Wynne.
“‘If we’re not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation,” said Wynne. “(Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press.'” (AP)
Judiciary Committee Passes Bush-Backed Surveillance Bill
“Senate Republicans blocked Democratic attempts to rein in President Bush’s domestic wiretapping program Wednesday, endorsing a White House-supported bill that would give the controversial surveillance legal status….
“The deal is part of the White House’s election-season campaign to preserve its ability to fight the war on terror despite congressional concerns about civil liberties.” (AP)
Officer Says Marine Should Stand Trial
“An investigating officer recommended a court martial for a Marine accused of participating in the kidnapping and murdering of an Iraqi civilian, an attorney said Wednesday….
“Seven Marines and one Navy corpsman are accused of kidnapping 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad, taking him to a roadside hole and shooting him to death April 26 in Hamdania, west of Baghdad.” (AP)
High-level Verizon Exec. is Ex-Official Who Long-Argued for More Surveillance
“One of the highest-level executives at Verizon Communicationsâone of three major telecommunications firms originally alleged to be providing the National Security Agency with customer phone records under contract and without a warrantâhas strong, decades-long ties to Central Intelligence, Congress and the Department of Justice, RAW STORY has learned.
“Additionally, the same official has acted in an advisory capacity to the government as a private citizen for over ten years since leaving office, arguing that restrictions to federal domestic surveillance capabilities be loosened, especially in cases involving terrorism.” (Raw Story)
Political Donations: Civic Action or No-No?
“The Miami-based engineering company being investigated for alleged campaign law violations has been a prolific giver to election campaigns, handing out more than $500,000 in political contributions since 2003, The Miami Herald has found.
“PBS & J and its leadership have backed scores of candidates across the country, Republicans and Democrats, for offices with influence over the kinds of lucrative government contracts the company often seeks.” (Miami Herald)
Democrats ask for investigation of former EPA director on 9/11 health issues
“Democrats from New York and New Jersey asked on Wednesday for an investigation that could lead to criminal charges against former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christie Whitman for breathing problems suffered by thousands after the Sept. 11 attacks.” (AP)
