by TChris

The arrest of Brandon Mayfield (TalkLeft background collected here) may be the clearest example of the administration's misuse of the material witness law. Lacking sufficient evidence to arrest Mayfield for a crime (the FBI had only a fingerprint and chose to believe it belonged to Mayfield, a conclusion that Spanish authorities and the FBI's fingerprint-matching program disputed), the government instead arrested him pursuant to a material witness warrant.

Mayfield is striking back. His legal team will appear today for pretrial proceedings in his civil suit.

Mayfield's legal team -- led by celebrity lawyer Gerry Spence, who successfully defended former Philippines first lady Imelda Marcos on racketeering charges in 1990 -- contends there is evidence to show the FBI was not on firm footing when they made their arrest.

Mayfield's lawsuit raises critical issues.

by TChris

Rep. "Duke" Cunningham's profitable relationship with a defense contractor (TalkLeft background here) spawned a criminal investigation that would have been an unpleasant campaign issue. Cunningham has decided not to seek reelection, creating an open congressional seat in his San Diego area district.

The Dangers of Thinking (appropriate for those who have been spinning their wheels all week trying to figure out the Rove-Plame Leak Scandal)

It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then--to loosen up. Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a
social thinker.

I began to think alone, "to relax," I told myself, but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time. That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's.

by TChris

Breaking News ... per CNN ... The Chief Justice announced today that he will stay on the job as long as his health permits ... with luck (although these are not the Chief's words) until President Bush surrenders his office.

Send your positive energy toward the Chief Justice, and drink to his health.

Update: "I'm not about to announce my retirement," he told The Associated Press.

by TChris

New York City, in response to litigation, will no longer require every woman detained in the Rikers Island jail to undergo a gynecological exam.

The city for years had told every woman admitted to the Rikers Island jail that she had to undergo a pelvic exam, a Pap smear and a breast exam or move into isolation, said Richard Cardinale, the lead attorney in the class-action lawsuit.

The settlement requires the city to inform women that they can refuse the exams without retaliation.

The city also agreed to pay millions of dollars to people who were strip-searched in city jails after arrests on suspicion of misdemeanor charges or violations such as traffic infractions.

I'm a little Rove'd and Lexis'd out right now, so on to something different: Gwinnett County, Georgia. I think it must be the water. First, there was the Runaway Bride. Then there was this story about the police who tasered a handcuffed and foot-bound arrestee five times in 60 seconds, after which he died. Before that there was this story about really dumb school officials.

Now, there's this incredible story of a 60 year old man who was up to his eyeballs in medical debt and saw some tv news about bomber Eric Rudolph. He decided he envied Rudolph because the Government was going to be giving him three squares and a roof for the rest of his life. So he decided to copy him and kill a federal employee. He hatched his plan, and one day when the mailman arrived to deliver his mail, he shot him 7 times. Unbelievably, the mailman lived.

Arianna reveals what she's doing in Europe- working on a CIA scandal. She puts particular emphasis on the Hotel Splendido in Portofino. I stayed there about 20 years ago, and still have this ultra-pretty plastic ashtray I found by the pool. It's a great resting place for all sorts of tiny things I don't want to lose, the mailbox key, hair clips, etc.:

Hey, Arianna, if you see another one like it, could you bring it back for me? It's light as a feather.

Many thanks.

From Pontificator, over at Daily Kos: A sample Indictment in the Valerie Plame leak probe.

Named defendants: Rove, Libby, Hannah, Miller, Novak and Bolton.

Is he missing anyone?

AP reporting on a ruling just out in the Natalee Holloway Case:

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (July 14) - A 17-year-old Dutch youth must remain behind bars as authorities try to find out what happened to Natalee Holloway, who was last seen six weeks ago leaving a nightclub, an appeals court said Thursday. The court also ruled that there was not enough evidence to detain two Surinamese brothers in connection with the disappearance of the 18-year-old Alabama woman.

During a closed hearing Tuesday, a judge heard appeals from a defense lawyer seeking the release of Joran van der Sloot - the son of a judge in training on the island - and from prosecutors asking for the re-arrest of Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and his brother, Satish, 18.

Background here and here.

Update: Crooks and Liars now has the video of Joe Wilson on the Today Show.

******
Bloomberg News reports that Joseph Wilson's accusations against White House officials hold up against Republican accusations against him.

The main points of Wilson's article have largely been substantiated by a Senate committee as well as U.S. and United Nations weapons inspectors. A day after Wilson's piece was published, the White House acknowledged that a claim Bush made in his January 2003 state of the union address that Iraq tried to buy ``significant quantities of uranium from Africa'' could not be verified and shouldn't have been included in the speech.

While the administration was justified at the time in being concerned that Hussein was trying to build nuclear weapons, ``on the specifics of this I think Joe Wilson was right,'' said Michael O'Hanlon, a scholar of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Wilson appeared on the Today Show today and called for Karl Rove to be fired for abuse of power. And Raw Story has an exclusive new interview with Wilson.

Senators Reid, Levin, Rockefeller, Biden and Durbin have proposed an Amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill which is on the Senate Floor this morning. (received by e-mail.)It reads:

No federal employee who discloses or has disclosed classified information, including the identity of a covert agent of the Central Intelligence Agency, to a person not authorized to receive such information shall be entitled to hold a security clearance for access to such information.

A vote is expected today.

Vermont jurors have returned the first death penalty verdict in 50 years in that state in a federal case.

In 2001 Fell had agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life without parole. But that deal was rejected by then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who insisted on the death penalty, in part because of the urgings of Fell's relatives.

The last execution in Vermont was in 1954. Another defendant was sentenced to death in 1957, but the sentence was later commuted. In their closing arguments Wednesday the prosecution said Fell's crimes were cold and calculated while the defense said his wrongdoing stemmed from a childhood of abuse.

After the verdict, the defense lawyer read a statement to the jury from the defendant:

"He respects your decision. He appreciates your hard work and wants to tell you and the family of his sincere remorse. He did not want to do it at any other time publicly as it would be construed to be less genuine," the lawyer said.