The phone companies have responded to the request by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for information about their participation in the NSA warrantless wiretapping program.

Verizon admits it supplied hundreds of its customers' records to the agency without a court order.

Verizon also disclosed that the FBI, using administrative subpoenas, sought information identifying not just a person making a call, but all the people that customer called, as well as the people those people called. Verizon does not keep data on this "two-generation community of interest" for customers, but the request highlights the broad reach of the government's quest for data.

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Rudy Giuliani is taking his (or Judy's) expensive tastes to the campaign trail.

Whether it was $2,010 at the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia, $4,034 at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., or $5,370 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, the former mayor found himself top-notch lodging.

He also doesn't like to fly commercial. In addition to $800,000 for charter jets,

He also spent more than $565,000 reimbursing various corporate supporters for private jet travel.

Check out whose jets he's using:

The biggest chunk of those flights came via Elliott Asset Management, a New York hedge fund known by some as a "vulture fund," so-named because they buy debt cheaply from cash-starved countries, and then sue them for the full repayment. The head of the firm, Paul Singer, is in charge of Northeastern fundraising for Giuliani.

Bump and Update: The Rockies win. The crowd's screaming. The team is going crazy. The Diamondbacks are just staring. There's fireworks, I can see and hear them from my terrace a few miles away.

It's the Purple Reign. Congratulations, Rockies!

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The floodgates just opened in the 4th inning. It's 6 to 1 and if the Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight, they go to the World Series.

The crowd is wild. The Diamondbacks' manager looks totally defeated. The game is being broadcast on TBS. Even for a non-sports fan like me, it's very exciting. Tune in if you get a chance.

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Rudy Giuliani, who's running for President primarily on his record as Mayor of New York City during the 9/11 attacks, takes another hit today from The Real Rudy and Brave New Films.

Watch the new video. The firefighters on 9/11 were carrying the same piss-poor radios that malfunctioned during the 1993 WTC attacks. That's why the firefighters didn't get the call to get out of the buildings. More than 100 firefighters died. As Digby explains:

Giuliani came into office in 1994, shortly after the first WTC attack. He knew then that the radios didn't work properly and yet it took him seven years to deal with the problem. And when he finally got around to it, he gave Motorola a sweetheart, no-bid contract for radios that were never tested in advance. When the NYFD got them, they didn't work and they had to be reissued the same radios that had proved inadequate in 1993.

That's why, on September 11th, the firefighters didn't hear the warnings to get out of the buildings. The cops heard them. They mostly got out. Their radios could get the right frequency. The firefighters' old radios couldn't.

Rudy's history as a Mayor who failed to provide adequate emergency preparedness needs investigation. It also needs exposure. Who needs a leader of the United States who couldn't even provide for his city's first responders as Mayor?

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While the AP is reporting on questions Attorney General Nominee Michael Mukasey will be asked at his confirmation hearing Wednesday pertaining to detentions, material witness warrants and the like, don't be fooled.

He's headed to a quick confirmation.

Retired federal judge Michael Mukasey is a Republican with a conservative judicial record, yet he appears to have enough support in a Democrat-controlled Congress to assure relatively quick confirmation as attorney general.

Congress watchers, former attorneys general and politicians say Mukasey’s unusual bipartisan appeal stems from his combination of real-world experience, his distance from Washington politics and his independence, making the New York Republican more acceptable to Democrats than higher-profile, conventional conservatives who were considered for the job.

Mukasey will only serve for about 15 months. Whoever is elected in 2009 will appoint a new Attorney General.

Bump and Update: Craig has filed his appeal. It's four pages but doesn't go into the grounds. And don't expect a ruling anytime soon:

Craig's lawyers must first order and file a transcript of his Sept. 26 hearing. Once that has been filed, his lawyers have 60 days to file a brief outlining his appeal. Then, prosecutors have 45 days to file their response to his appeal. Once those are filed, the court sets a date for oral arguments -- which often occurs about six to eight months later. Ninety days after the oral arguments, the judge issue a decision.

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Original Post: Larry Craig Slams Romney, Will Appeal Conviction

Sen. Larry Craig is making the tv rounds. Sunday, he vowed to appeal the denial of the motion to withdraw his guilty plea.

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In the not-suprising news, two of O.J. Simpson's co-defendants have taken deals and will testify against him.

Of possible interest is that the co-defendants, Walter Alexander and Charles Cashmore, are pleading to felonies. While I'd expect them not to get jail time in exchange for their testimony, a felony conviction is no walk in the park. It also raises the bar for any plea deal for O.J. I think the prosecution would be hard-pressed to give O.J. a misdemeanor while forcing the others to cop to felonies.

Which means, we may see yet another O.J. trial. The preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 8 and 9th.

Scotus Blog reports:

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to spell out when an individual engaged in “laundering” of crime proceeds has illegally concealed their real source — in effect, what it means to “launder” money. The issue arises in Cuellar v. U.S. (06-1456). This was the only case granted Monday. Click the following links to read the petition for certiorari, brief in opposition, reply brief, and amicus brief on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

The question:

Christy at Firedoglake has all the update details, phone numbers and more on FISA and S-CHIP.

Roll Call (subscriber only) reports the GOP is spoiling for a FISA fight, hoping to distract attention from S-CHIP. The Carpetbagger Report has this quote from the Roll Call article:

Specifically, Republicans are planning to use the kidnapping and subsequent murder of three U.S. soldiers in Iraq earlier this year to put a “human face” on the issue, the House staffer explained. According to this aide, while Democrats’ arguments about privacy may resonate with some voters, Republicans believe using real-world examples of how a weak FISA has put U.S. troops in danger will help galvanize public support for their position.

The She-Pundit with long blonde hair digs herself into a deeper hole with her comments on the Donny Deutsch show last week about the need for Jews to be "perfected." Via Media Matters, she later appeared on a broadcast of Steve Malzberg's WOR (New York) radio show. You can listen here:

On Malzberg's show, Coulter defended her remarks by saying that she had "stated the ... doctrine of Christianity," and that the idea that Christians "want Jews to be perfected" "comes from that raging anti-Semite St. Paul." She added: "I don't think most Jews are as stupid as Donny Deutsch," and later asked, referring to Deutsch, "Is that guy even bar mitzvahed?"

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I saw the new George Clooney movie, Michael Clayton, yesterday. I'm not much of a movie reviewer, since I have a hard time writing without spoilers, but I will say: Yes, go see it. It's very suspenseful. Clooney is better than terrific as the law firm's "fixer" cleaning up the messes of its big clients. Sydney Pollack is great as the head of the law firm.

The movie opens with the present, then goes back to the past to explain which was both helpful and added to the suspense.

Some of the casting choices struck me as odd. Others were dislikeable (like the Westchester couple whose whiny scene went on too long. The point was made in the first two minutes.) I can think of many different actors I would have preferred to have seen in the supporting roles.

A few of the scenes were improbable to me. But, it's fiction. My favorite parts were the scenes with the real criminal fixers and the ones with the kid who plays Clooney's young son.

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On November 1, the Sentencing Guidelines for crack cocaine will drop two levels. Not enough to make up for the outrageous disparity between crack and powder guidelines, but a good start.

The remaining question is whether the guideline change will be retroactive and apply to the 19,500 previously sentenced defendants.

The Commission will hold a public hearing on November 13 (pdf.) Sentencing Law and Policy has the details.