Once again, States Secret claim kills ACLU suit.

Those assholes in the DOJ are still using Bush43's favorite claim to keep American's from knowing the truth, States Secret Privilege (historical explanation from the ACLU). From Jurist:

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Wednesday affirmed [opinion, PDF] a district court's dismissal of a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against a Boeing subsidiary in connection with its alleged role in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] extraordinary rendition program. The plaintiffs, Binyam Mohamed, Abou Elkassim Britel, Ahmed Agiza, Mohamed Farag Ahmaad Bashmilah and Bisher al-Rawi, alleged that San Diego-based Jeppesen Dataplan knowingly aided in the rendition and subsequent torture of terror suspects by the CIA. Before Jeppesen could file an answer to the original complaint, the Department of Justice (DOJ) intervened and asserted the state secrets privilege , arguing that fact-finding in the case could jeopardize national security. The district court dismissed the case and a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit overturned the ruling on appeal. The DOJ then asked the Ninth Circuit to reconsider the case with a full panel, and was granted an en banc rehearing. The original Ninth Circuit panel ruled that the state secrets privilege can only be invoked in relation to established evidence in the case, not just at the possibility that such evidence may be uncovered should the case proceed, but Wednesday's 6-5 opinion reverses that position, holding that in some "rare" circumstances, it may be impossible for a suit to proceed at all without inevitably compromising national security:

[T]here are times when exceptional circumstances create an irreconcilable conflict between [liberty, justice, transparency, accountability and national secuirty]. On those rare occasions, we are bound to follow the Supreme Court's admonition that 'even the most compelling necessity cannot overcome the claim of privilege if the court is ultimately satisfied that [state] secrets are at stake.' ... Here, further litigation presents an unacceptable risk of disclosure of state secrets no matter what legal or factual theories Jeppesen would choose to advance during a defense. Whether or not Jeppesen provided logistical support in connection with the extraordinary rendition and interrogation programs, there is precious little Jeppesen could say about its relevant conduct and knowledge without revealing information about how the United States does or does not conduct covert operations. ... We ... acknowledge that this case presents a painful conflict between human rights and national security.

The majority said that other avenues may be available for the plaintiffs to address their claims, including Congressional investigation of alleged wrongdoing, monetary reparations and the possibility that the executive may "determine whether the plaintiffs' claims have merit" and voluntarily choose to "honor the fundamental principles of justice." The five-judge minority chastised the proposal, saying that "[n]ot only are these remedies insufficient, but their suggestion understates the severity of the consequences to plaintiffs from the denial of judicial relief" and "elevate the impractical to the point of absurdity." ACLU staff attorney Ben Wizner also decried the ruling. "This is a sad day not only for the torture victims ... but for all Americans who care about the rule of law," he said. "To date, not a single victim of the Bush administration's torture program has had his day in court." 

That last line - To date, not a single victim of the Bush Administration's torture program has had his day in court really chaps my friggin ass. Seriously...wtf Holder? Where is the accountability dude? Where the fuck IS it? All this shit is...is an extension of the Bush43 policies...and you fuckers want MY vote in November? Kiss my brown ass boys...both cheeks...cuz it ain't gonna happen..nope...it just friggin ain't. There are more negatives to this administration then there are positives...and that makes me sick to my stomach as I voted for you fuckers last time around. Again from the Jurist article:

The state secrets privilege, which allows the exclusion of evidence based on a government affidavit that such evidence may endanger national security, has been highly criticized by rights groups and others. Julian Sanchez [Cato profile] of the Cato Institute [advocacy website] argued [JURIST comment] last October that Congress should implement state secrets reforms, rather than relying on the DOJ to increase oversight. Last year, Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] announced [JURIST report] a number of new state secrets policies seeking to increase government accountability and oversight. Also last year, OpenTheGovernment.org [advocacy website] released a report [text, PDF] examining the privilege and other transparency issues, concluding that the current administration has improved transparency [JURIST report], but more should be done.

As the song says: I won't be fooled again.

Ted Stevens trial might be tossed out. DOJ screwup

Is the fix in? I believe so...or the governments lawyers are retarded. From TPM:

A judge suspended the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens today, while he considers the request of the defense for a mistrial.

The defense's motion stems from the prosecutions' failure to turn over FBI reports of interviews with their star witness, former VECO CEO Bill Allen, until late Wednesday night. Stevens' attorneys claimed the prosecutors were withholding evidence that would help the defense.

From the AP:

Judge Emmet Sullivan lashed out at prosecutors, asking them, "Why shouldn't I dismiss the indictment?" He then ordered a recess.

Prosecutors said it was an honest mistake when they waited until late Wednesday night to turn over FBI reports about interviews with the government's star witness, oil pipeline contractor Bill Allen.

Honest mistake my ass....

This surely didn't sit well with Bush and the usual suspects.

Mukasey Recognizes Contribution of Gay Justice Department Employees at DOJ Pride Awards Ceremony. From the BLT:

About 150 people gathered at Main Justice’s Great Hall today for the annual awards ceremony of a Department of Justice group representing gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and trans-gendered employees. For the first time in six years, DOJ Pride was allowed to use the hall.

Under Attorneys General John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales, the group had not been permitted to meet in the Great Hall or to use government computers to communicate with its members.

Kudos to Mukasey on this issue. He said at the ceremony:

"Because all Justice Department employees have the right to be proud of who they are and the work that they do here."

Amen Mr. AG.

Feds drop appeal of Siegelman sentence length.

As EmptyWheel notes...Isn't that nice? I concur with the following addition:

WTF changed your minds gents? As this AP writeup states:

Federal prosecutors are no longer seeking stiffer prison sentences for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, but have not said why.

Prosecutors filed a motion this week with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking that their appeals of the sentences be dropped. Their appeals had called for a longer prison term than Siegelman's more than seven-year sentence and Scrushy's almost seven-year sentence .

Personally, I think the damn Judge needs to ask them why the change of heart on this case. It couldn't possibly be all the interest in it from the Congress critters all the way down to me and you..everyone is looking at this case and wondering who was involved in pushing this to a trial. As Siegelman's chief attorney, Vince Kilborn said when informed of the new development:

"To write an appeal to justify that sentence would take someone with the creative writing ability of John Grisham,"

Touche' Mr. Kilborn...lets hope this case goes away completely.

Head of DoJ Civil Rights Div cutting and running.

This makes an even dozen I believe..or damn close to it. From WaPo:

The head of the Justice Department's embattled Civil Rights Division is to resign at the end of August, officials said yesterday, making him the latest in a series of senior political appointees to leave the agency amid continued controversy over Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

Wan J. Kim, the assistant attorney general for civil rights since November 2005, has been closely questioned by congressional Democrats about the administration's policy decisions and allegations by former career officials of improper hiring within the division, mostly under his predecessor.

The hits just keep on coming at the DoJ...who's running the fucking place now? Is anyone home? Christ, it's a mess at our nations highest law office. The NYT gives us their spin here.

Tags: DoJ, Wan Kim, Civil Rights, cut and run

Gonzo..the lying liar busted again.

Is it any wonder that BushCo continues to support his AG? They are cut out of the same cloth these two.

WaPo enlightens us today with the news that once again, Gonzo has been busted lying to Congress and keeping a straight face.

Two years ago Gonzo, while attempting to get passage on the Patriot Act, "assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers. "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse," Gonzales told senators on April 27, 2005."

Only now, it has come to light that the FBI had already told Gonzo six days prior to his visit with the Senate committee, that they had sort of usurped their power, "that agents had obtained personal information that they were not entitled to have. It was one of at least half a dozen reports of legal or procedural violations that Gonzales received in the three months before he made his statement to the Senate intelligence committee, according to internal FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act."

Oh my...isn't this rich? Is this guy a friggin idiot or what? Or is it that he doesn't care who knows he lied because BushCo will cover his ass for him no matter what?

The recent scandal regarding the NSL letters which Congress ripped Gonzo a new one over in March were also discussed in these memo's to Alberto back in '05.

The WH and their cronies are insulated from being held accountable it seems..otherwise there would be mass movement and hysteria on the Hill to oust this sumbitch asap and try him for crimes and misdemeanors he has committed while running the DoJ.

Un-fucking-real.

Picture courtesy of Dude at The Blue Republic.

Tags: Politics, Bush, Alberto Gonzales, GonzoGate, Federal Fuckwits at the Helm, DOJ

First evidence of a DOJ deleted email by Sampson

TruthOut has this lovely gem up on their site:

If you can't read it, click the image and it will take you to a larger version of it on TruthOut's website. To excerpt their article:

An internal Department of Justice email dealing with a series of the most controversial aspects of the US attorney firing scandal was deleted by a DOJ official the day after Congress began to address the firings. Three months later, the official told Congressional investigators he had not destroyed any documents or deleted any records relating to the US attorney firings.

This is the first publicly released evidence that individuals directly involved in the plan to fire eight US attorneys have destroyed documents that are of interest to Congressional investigators. This revelation has raised some eyebrows with members of Congress, but officials were unwilling to speak publicly about it. The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee did not respond in time for publication.

Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and a central coordinator of the US attorney purge, deleted an official email on January 12, 2007. The email was a correspondence between Sampson and the DOJ White House Liaison Monica Goodling that dealt with the controversial appointment of GOP loyalist Tim Griffin to the post of US attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Three months after this email was deleted from Sampson's computer, he was interviewed behind closed doors by Congressional investigators. According to a Senior Congressional Aide with access to the non-public transcript of the interview, Sampson was asked directly if he destroyed documents or emails relating to the US attorney purge. He answered "No." The Congressional aide asked to remain anonymous because the interview transcript has not been made public.

The DOJ did not respond to repeated inquires into this matter. Kyle Sampson's lawyer did not return requests for comment.

Here are the forgotten emails and documents from Ms. Monica's personal computer. The first page is the introductory email from her attorney explaining why these weren't turned over earlier. It's 83 pages of documents. But I am going to slog through them at my leisure.

If the Democrats don't start doing something with this 'evidence' they are collecting, I am going to go postal. I swear on Axl Rose's little black heart.

EDIT: wow..my sitemeter tells me that Monica's Lawyers spent 7 minutes on my site today reading my writeup on her..attention whores anyone?

Tags: Politics, Monica Goodling, Kyle Sampson, DOJ, GonzoGate

Gonzales pushed death penalty over Prosecutors objections.

According to former USA Paul Charlton, in testimony before the Senate Judicial subcommittee, Abu Gonzales would insist on the death penalty in cases where he was unfamiliar with the evidence, or lack there of. He would also push it over the objections of the Prosecutor/USA handling the case.

How stupid is that? This man has no right running our countries highest legal office. From a Jurist writeup:

Charlton, one of the former US Attorneys involved in the current firings controversy, described a case where the Department of Justice simultaneously refused to exhume the body of an alleged victim from a landfill to provide forensic evidence while Gonzales pushed for the death penalty despite the objections of Carlton and his prosecutors due to the case's reliance on testimonial evidence obtained through guilty pleas. Charlton added that it was "wrong for the government to both seek the death penalty and at the same time refuse to provide funds to obtain evidence that could prove a vital link in supporting or negating its position."

Of course Abu Gonzales turned the tables on former USA Charlton, saying he disobeyed authority in one of his many trips to Congress to explain why he fired the 8 USA's.

In March, USA Today reported that Charlton was among the top 10 US Attorneys in terms of convictions secured.

Makes sense right? I say that with tongue firmly planted in my cheek, dear reader. Wotta asshole.

And people wonder why there are subpoenas out there for all this bullshit. Simply friggin amazing.

Tags: Politics, GonzoGate, Federal Fuckwits at the Helm

DoJs latest Document dump has some interesting finds

TPMmuckraker is a wonderful site. They actually comb through the hundreds of pages of emails, etc the Dept of Justice tosses at the various Senate and House committee's that are investigating all the bs and possible corruption going on. As they note in a post last night:

Leonard Leo the executive vice president of the Federalist Society offers then director of the Executive Office of the US Attorney his two cents in who would make a nice replacement for the US Attorney in San Diego. His suggestion was Mary Walker, who as McClatchy points out, has ties to the White House:

Walker led a Pentagon working group in 2003, which critics said helped provide the administration with a rationale to circumvent the international Geneva Conventions banning torture in the interrogations of terrorism suspects.

Leo’s recommendation is dated March 7, 2005, almost two years before Lam was fired, but just days before her name appeared on one of the firings lists.

There is also a good Goodling email apparently. Read their article for the 411.