by TChris

The verdict in David Safavian's prosecution is in: guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.

Safavian was convicted on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction.

TalkLeft background on Safavian and his connection to Jack Abramoff, Bob Ney, and the White House is collected here.

One more felon for Bush to pardon?

Bump and Update: Rove attorney Robert Luskin sent me this denial of Truthout's report:

"It is insane and nonsensical, equal parts bizarre innuendo and alleged facts that do not square with reality or the American legal system. Truthout's stubborn nuttiness to the contrary, some times things are simply as they appear: Mr. Fitzgerald completed his investigation, reviewed the evidence, and concluded that it simply does not support a charge. There never was -- not for a second -- any secret meetings at my office, plea negotiations, secret sealed (or not so sealed, as the case may be) indictments, or last minute concessions."

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Original Post
New from Truthout: Still Insists Rove Was Indicted

New today from Truthout: They are standing by the key details of Jason Leopold's May 13 article reporting Karl Rove was indicted. It's a long explanation, but here's the key detail from a legal point of view:

Yes, it does appear that Truthout was used, but not lied to or misled. The facts appear to have been accurate. We reported them, and in so doing, apparently became an instrument. From all indications, our reports, first on May 13 that Rove had been indicted, and then on June 12 when we published case number "06 cr 128," forced Rove and Luskin back to the table with Fitzgerald, not once but twice. They apparently sought to avoid public disclosure and were prepared to do what they had to do to avoid it.

Yesterday I wrote about the latest Newsweek article on the Duke lacrosse players alleged rape case. Today, DA Mike Nifong released the e-mail he sent to Newsweek. It's long, you can read it here.

Shorter version: The defense is spinning, the media s*cks and he's prepared to let 12 jurors decide.

Three U.S. soldiers, members of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division have been charged with murder in Iraq.

The three soldiers are accused of deliberately allowing three men detained during a raid on a former chemical factory to flee so they would have an excuse to shoot them, said a defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

....The military did not disclose the identities of the slain detainees and the charge sheet said they were "of apparent Middle Eastern descent whose names are unknown."

The deaths occurred on May 9. More from the New York Times here.

The ACLU today released 1,000 Pentagon documents on Guantanamo, including some pertaining to suicide attempts.

"These documents are the latest evidence of the desperate and immoral conditions that exist at Guantánamo Bay," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "The injustices at Guantánamo need to be remedied before other lives are lost. We must uphold our American values and end indefinite detentions and widespread abuse."

...."It is astounding that the government continues to paint the suicides as acts of warfare instead of taking responsibility for having driven individuals in its custody to such acts of desperation," said Amrit Singh of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "The government may wish to hide Guantánamo Bay behind a shroud of secrecy, but its own documents reveal the hopelessness and despair faced by the detainees who are being held without charge and with no end in sight."

The documents are available here.

Air Torture, flying to select torture chambers around the world.

No fares, no paperwork.

Check out the new Amnesty International campaign. Contact your congresspersons and tell them to ground Air Torture for good.

This is one of the coolest ad campaigns ever. You can add the button to your blog and even print your own boarding pass (pdf).

Read the case studies:

The Supreme Court today ruled a domestic violence victim's responses to questions posed by a 911 operator are admissible at trial if the victim doesn't testify because they were made during the crime and for the purpose of assessing whether there was an emergency. As such, the Court ruled they were not "testimonial." Because they are not "testimonial", the defendant's 6th amendment right to confront witnesses does not preclude their admission. At least that's what I gleaned from a quick read of the opinion.

From the Supreme Court opinion (pdf):

Statements are nontestimonial when made in the course of police interrogation under circumstances objectively indicating that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to enable police assistance to meet an ongoing emergency. They are testimonial when the circumstances objectively indicate that there is no such ongoing emergency, and that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution.

Update: Howard Bashman has a complete rundown with links to all of today's opinions and see Scotus Blog for their excellent commentary.

The Mujahedeen Shura Council, believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda in Iraq, has claimed on its website it is holding the two U.S. soldiers who have been missing since an attack Friday at a checkpoint in Yusufiya, about 30 miles south of Baghdad.

The statement said, "the strongest army in the world is turned around, ashamed of their failure [to find the soldiers] and we will give you more information on the incident in the following days."

The military has identified the missing soldiers as Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25, of Madras, Oregon, and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, Texas.

No video has been posted on the website and the group's claim has not been verified.

by TChris

The police say Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy "approached the scene and involved himself in the investigation" of a couple who were arguing outside a bar owned by Healy's sister.

Officers warned Mr. Healy that his involvement would get him arrested, but he repeatedly intervened, according to the statement. He was handcuffed, taken to police headquarters and charged with one count each of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, the statement said.

Why would Healy interfere with a police investigation? His account of the eventful evening differs sharply from the police report.

by TChris

An evangelical Christian, Randall Balmer, takes a thoughtful look at the relationship between evangelical Christianity and the Republican party. Among other questions raised in his essay, Jesus Is Not a Republican, Balmer asks why the religious right hasn't taken a stand against the Bush administration's reliance on torture.

Surely, I thought, this is one issue that would allow the religious right to demonstrate its independence from the administration, for surely no one who calls himself a child of God or who professes to hear "fetal screams" could possibly countenance the use of torture. Although I didn't really expect that the religious right would climb out of the Republican Party's cozy bed over the torture of human beings, I thought perhaps they might poke out a foot and maybe wiggle a toe or two.

I was wrong. Of the eight religious-right organizations I contacted, only two, the Family Research Council and the Institute on Religion and Democracy, answered my query. Both were eager to defend administration policies.

Balmer's conception of Christianity differs from that promoted by right-wing evangelists.

As President Bush flew off on his cheerleading trip to Iraq last week, the U.S. Embassy in Iraq sent a cable with some very distressing information about problems employees are facing. The Washington Post published a copy of June 16 cable.

John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban" sentenced to 20 years is doing his time at Victorville Prison under the most severe restrictions.

In the new issue of Esquire, Tom Junod pens a very long portrait of Lindh, from his conversion to Islam through his capture, court case and now, his jail sentence.