I wrote in January about Albany defense lawyer Terry Kindlon and his challenge to the NSA warrantless surveillance program. Details of the motion and Terry's case were outlined by the Albany Times.

On Friday, the Government submitted an ex parte (secret) response to the Judge. Later in the day, the Judge issued a one page order denying Terry's motion but refusing to share his reasons. He designated his order as classified.

Update: Don't miss Reddhedd's excellent take on the Judge's order, down to the footnotes.

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The trial judge in the Scooter Libby trial Friday partially granted Libby's request for Presidential Daily Briefings to assist him in preparing his defense that he was too preoccupied with important national security matters to remember the details of his conversations with FBI investigators, the grand jury and reporters about Valerie Plame Wilson.

The Court's memorandum of reasons is here. The Order is here.

Essentially, the Court said the Government could produce redacted PDB's that were viewed both by Cheney and Libby. The Goverment can, at its option, disclose topical overviews instead of the actual PDB's. The Government also has to provide a topic index of the inquiries for additional information Libby made during the briefings. The dates are: June 7 to July 14, 2003; October12 - 16, 2003 November 24 to 28, 2003; March 3 to 7, 2004 and March 22 to 26, 2004.

These documents most likely will never be seen by us or the jury. They are to assist Libby with refreshing his memory. The Court also set a deadline for the Government to challenge his order on the grounds of executive privilege.

by TChris

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Washington County District Attorney John Pettit is being investigated by the FBI.

The FBI's questioning appears to be centered on allegations that Mr. Pettit has, as one source put it, provided "special treatment for special people," and that he has given preferential legal treatment to a 30-year-old woman with a record of drugs and prostitution. The FBI is trying to determine if they had a personal relationship.

Unless that sort of evidence exists, it would usually be difficult to establish that a prosecutor didn't have a legitimate reason for giving a defendant a break. The article raises more serious questions about Pettit that are unrelated to the FBI's interest in him.

Bush's former domestic policy advisor, Claude Allen, whom Bush nominated for a seat on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in April, 2003, has been charged with felony shoplifting. Who is Claude Allen? Mr. Allen is no low-level staffer.

Allen was the No. 2 official in the Health and Human Services Department when Bush nominated him in April 2003 to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. Bush nominated Allen to the court again a year later, but he never received a Senate vote.

Bush then made him his domestic policy advisor. From the first link above:

Colorado high school teacher Jay Bennish has been through a week of hell, ever since a student's parent took the kid's tape-recording of one of Bennish' lectures to a conservative media outlet. In the lecture, which you can listen to here, and which Michelle Malkin transcribed here, Bennish made a comparison between Bush and Hitler and criticized U.S. drug policy and capitalism without presenting the other side.

Bennish was placed on Administrative leave, pending the conclusion of an investigation. It's now over. Bennis has been reinstated with full pay. The school's statement is here. I just received a voice-mail from civil liberties guru and lawyer David Lane, who represents Mr. Bennish (and CU Prof Ward Churchill) and he is very excited.

He reports: Mr. Bennish has been reinstated with full pay. Not one nickel will be withheld from his paycheck. He'll be back in the classroom Monday. They feel wonderful. It is an excellent outcome. Lane is gratified that the Cherry Creek School District understands the primacy of the First Amendment. He's only sorry that Mr. Bennis was pulled out of class for the investigation.

Congratulations to David and Mr. Bennish, and to those who cherish the First Amendment's right to freely express yourself.

I'll be debating uber-conservative David Horowitz on the case tonight on Hannity and Colmes (9pm ET, top of the show). The hosts are Alan Colmes and Rich Lowery, who is guesting for Sean Hannity.

Fortune favored John Gotti, Jr. for a second time today. The jury deadlocked in his racketeering trial and a mistrial was declared:

The mistrial came after jurors sent out a note that further deliberations would be fruitless. "We are completely DEADLOCKED," the note said. "More time will not change the views in this room." The jury apparently could not agree on Gotti's claims that he quit the Gambino organized crime family before July 22, 1999, meaning the five-year statute of limitations would have expired on racketeering charges.

Amnesty International is making a smart move. They are trying to place their anti-torture ad on 100 conservative blogs through Blogads. Here's the numbers so far:

To date, 62 blogs have accepted the ad, 21 have outright rejected it and 17 have yet to decide to run it or not. In the spirit of the free flow of information, we would like to thank those bloggers who have agreed to run our ad.

A few of them weigh in here. Personally, I think it's sleazy for a blog to accept an ad and then mock and trash the advertiser, as Junkyard Dog and Right Wing News have done. I wouldn't mind a reasoned debate on the issues raised in the ad, but to make statements like "So click on the ad. Laugh at the page it links to. Amnesty International is a joke" and "The ad is a lame little connect-the-dots video they really didn't put much effort into" makes it seem like they are only into blogging for the ad money and willing to compromise their principles for financial gain.

Update: Atrios and Crooks and Liars disagree and see nothing wrong with mocking the ads.

Update: Norton's office issued this press release. Her letter to the President is here (pdf).

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The AP reports that Interior Secretary Gale Norton will resign. The Denver Post has a lot more, particularly about the ethical controversies surrounding her tenure. Via Raw Story:

Abramoff's tribal clients donated $50,000 to a conservative environmental group founded by Norton, hoping to win face time with the Secretary. They eventually did.

Former DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy helped Abramoff arrange a meeting with Norton, and within months, the lobbyist's clients were making huge contributions to the environmental group Norton started, the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy.

From the newly released AP-Ipsos Poll:

• 80% of all Americans and 70% of Republicans think civil war will break out in Iraq
• 70% say the U.S. is on the wrong track
• Only 37% approve of Bush's overall performance

On issues, Bush's approval rating declined from 39 percent to 36 percent for his handling of domestic affairs and from 47 percent to 43 percent on foreign policy and terrorism. His approval ratings for dealing with the economy and Iraq held steady, but still hovered around 40 percent.

Personally, far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable than they did just after his re-election campaign.

Raw Story has the transcript and audio link to the NPR segment this morning in which former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor attacks Republicans for threatening our constitutional freedoms and the judiciary.

In an unusually forceful and forthright speech, O'Connor said that attacks on the judiciary by some Republican leaders pose a direct threat to our constitutional freedoms

O'Connor singled out Tom DeLay, although not by name, for his Justice Sunday diatribe against judges.

In trying to make sense of the Republican break from Bush over the Dubai Ports deal, I think the Washington Post gets it right: Bush has become such a liability that Republicans are seeking to distance themselves from him for the 2006 elections.

The bipartisan uprising in Congress in the face of a veto threat represented a singular defeat for Bush, who when it came to national security grew accustomed during his first five years in office to leading as he chose and having loyal lawmakers fall in line. Now, with his poll numbers in a political ditch, the port debacle has contributed to a perception of weakness that has liberated Republicans who once would never have dared cross Bush.

Is Rove losing his touch? Is denial the new modus operandi at the White House? The most ridiculous statement yesterday came from Scotty:

Jim Hoagland wrote yesterday in the Washington Post that a White House aide told him, in attempting to defend the NSA warrantless surveillance program, Guantanamo and secret renditions:

"The powers of the presidency have been eroded and usurped to the breaking point. We are engaged in a new kind of war that cannot be fought by old methods. It can only be directed by a strong executive who alone is not subject to the conflicting pressures that legislators or judges face. The public understands and supports that unpleasant reality, whatever the media and intellectuals say."

Federal judges are appointed for life. What kind of pressures do they face besides their view of the dictates of the Constitution? That's about the stupidest thing I've heard in years.

Dan Froomkin appears to be equally non-plussed by the aide's statement. So much so, that he offers to turn his Friday column over to "red-staters." Here are the questions he'd like answered: