Posted on Mon Feb 09, 2004 at 08:46:05 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Bush's press secretary Scott McClelland announced today that he has testified before the grand jury investigating the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame:
I'm doing my part to cooperate, as the president directed all of us to do," McClellan said aboard Air Force One during Bush's trip to Springfield, Mo.
Now, that's what we call spin.
Update: The New York Times has these details of the grand jury investigation:
In addition to the grand jury appearances, which are believed to include other Bush administration officials, prosecutors have conducted meetings with presidential aides that lawyers in the case described as tense and sometimes combative.
Armed with handwritten White House notes, detailed cellphone logs and copies of e-mail messages between White House aides and reporters, prosecutors have demanded explanations of conversations between aides and reporters for some of the country's largest news organizations that under ordinary circumstances would never be publicly discussed. So far, no reporter has been questioned or subpoenaed.
One set of documents that prosecutors repeatedly referred to in their meetings with White House aides are extensive notes compiled by I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and national security adviser. Prosecutors have described the notes as "copious," the lawyers said. In addition, the prosecutors have asked about cellphone calls made last July to and from Catherine J. Martin, a press secretary for Mr. Cheney.
(451 words in story) There's More :: Permalink :: Comments
Check out this flattering profile of Teresa Heinz Kerry . She's definitely not from the cookie-cutter mold. She's unconventional and says what's on her mind.
On the trail, she alludes to her background, raised under a repressive dictatorship in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique and schooled in racially segregated South Africa.
Mrs. Kerry, 65, admits she is hardly the stereotypical political wife, but said if voters couldn't accept her, she would have heard about it by now. She can be outspoken, disclosing her Botox injections, her prenuptial agreement with Kerry and the fact that he was in the bathroom when he got word of his wins in Iowa and New Hampshire.
She was a registered Republican and voted for former President George Bush, but not his son, the current president.
One of her frequent comments:
'I want to know why it is when men express an opinion its fine. When women express an opinion they are considered to be opinionated."'
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.....Joe Trippi is now discussing what went wrong with the Dean campaign--he lays much of the blame on the Internet campaign.
Internet activism that thrust up the Howard Dean U.S. election campaign later hobbled the organization's ability to respond to criticism in the weeks before the primaries, Dean's former campaign manager said on Monday.
Joe Trippi, who resigned after defeats in Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, said the direct involvement of so many Internet supporters deprived the campaign of the traditional weapon of political surprise.
Some of what Trippi says makes sense. So, it just may be that the Internet is a great vehicle for raising campaign funds but not for spreading the word about the candidate's message or planning strategy. Can it be that simple?
Update: Dean now says he will stay in the race even if he loses Wisconsin.
Software engineer Maher (Mike) Hawash was sentenced to seven years today for his role in the Oregon 7 terror case.
There were no crowds or demonstrations at Monday's sentencing, but several of his staunchest supporters submitted letters to the court attesting to his good character. A letter from Maher's wife Lisa called the event "an aberration in his otherwise good and generous life. I can look into his eyes and see the sadness and remorse. It is truly genuine."
Hawash, a U.S. citizen for 15 years and apparently a model suburban dad, told the court that he is proud to be an American, recalling his pride when he voting in his first election. He attributed his crime to religious and emotional confusion in the highly charged times after the hijack attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, but added, "I do not blame anybody but myself."
Background on Mr. Hawash is here. All of our coverage of his case is accessible here.
Update: Jeff (formerly known as Emma) at Notes on the Atrocities has a local perspective and a last word on Mr. Hawash.
Eric Alterman does it again--check out the website for his new book, co-authored by Mark Green, The Book on Bush :
The Book on Bush is the first comprehensive critique of a president who is governing on a right wing and a prayer. In carefully documented and vivid detail, Eric Alterman and Mark Green, two of the leading progressive authors/advocates in the country, not only trace the guiding ideology that runs through a wide range of W's policies but also expose a presidential decision-making process that, rather than weighing facts to arrive at conclusions, begins with conclusions and then searches for supporting facts.
Posted on Mon Feb 09, 2004 at 03:36:40 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Lots of crimes in the news today--
Diana Ross gets sentenced to 2 days in an Arizona jail for a DUI
Scott Peterson's trial is about to begin--motions hearing starts Wednesday, followed by jury selection, then trial. The defense wants the jury sequestered. We doubt that will happen.
Martha Stewart's lawyer gets Faneuil to say he didn't think he was doing anything wrong and Martha never told him to lie. Martha's secretary testified today, breaking down in tears.
The mother of Michael Jackson's accuser spent time in a mental hospital in 1998 and coached her kids to lie in their lawsuit against J.C. Penney, according to a custody affidavit filed by the boy's father.
On Feb. 12, 2003, Julius Earl Ruffin walked out of jail a free man after 21 years in prison. DNA tests cleared him of the rape of a Virginia woman. The Virigina Pilot has an extensive two-part report on his case. Part one is here. Part Two, focusing on how persistence paid off for Mr. Ruffin, is here.
When Earl Ruffin entered the state prison system in 1983, he became prisoner 132087. Convicted of rape, burglary and three counts of sodomy, Ruffin was staring at five life terms. At 29, time simply stopped.
....He joined the prison all-star team, which traveled to other prisons to compete. He stayed out of trouble by keeping busy. When he wasn’t on the court, he built chairs, beds and desks in the carpentry center. He thought of the judges who would be sitting in his chairs and the college students sleeping in the beds he built.
He spent the rest of his free time in the prison law library, preparing his appeals. Without any formal legal assistance, Ruffin appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. His briefs were clear and well-written. But he lost at every turn.
And then, thankfully, it turned around. [hat tip to Howard Bashman of How Appealing.]
The 9th Circuit has issued a stay of Kevin Cooper's execution:
A condemned murderer whose bid for clemency was denied by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won a stay of execution on Monday, hours before he was to be executed. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request for an 11-judge panel to rehear the case of Kevin Cooper, convicted in 1983 of hacking four people to death.
.... Cooper was scheduled to be executed at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday at San Quentin Prison after 19 years on death row. Cooper won support from actors who oppose the death penalty including Denzel Washington, Sean Penn and Mike Farrell, and from the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. In addition, three of the jurors who convicted Cooper called for a stay of execution so hair and blood evidence can be tested.
We're heartened to see the hard work of activists bear fruit:
About 100 death penalty opponents gathered Sunday near Schwarzenegger's home in Southern California, and hundreds are planning a candlelight vigil outside the prison gates. "This could be one of our biggest protests ever," said Lance Lindsay, executive director of Death Penalty Focus, a group that lobbies against the death penalty. On Saturday, three of Cooper's jurors called for a stay of execution. They said blond hair found in the hands of one of the victims should be tested. The hair had not undergone DNA testing before the 1985 trial. Prosecutors believe the hair was that of the victim, sheared off as she was being hacked to death.
This is great news. For more on Kevin Cooper, check his website, Save Kevin Cooper. You can read Kevin Coopers' provocative essays on death row here.
In another first for a low blow to civil liberties and our right to peaceful assembly, the FBI has subpoenaed records of the National Lawyers Guild:
The National Lawyers Guild will move to quash an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force subpoena issued on Wednesday, February 4, 2004. The subpoena asks Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, to produce all records relating to a November 15, 2003 antiwar conference at Drake University called "Stop the Occupation! Bring the Iowa Guard Home!" The conference was sponsored by the Drake Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and was followed the next day by a demonstration at the Iowa National Guard Headquarters in Johnston, at which 12 protestors were arrested on misdemeanor charges.
The subpoena asks Drake University for all records relating to the November 15 conference, as well as information about leaders of the Drake University chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and the location of Guild offices and any annual reports since 2002. In addition, it asks for "all records of Drake University campus security reflecting any observations made of the November 15, 2003 meeting, including any records of persons in charge or control of the meeting, and any records of attendees of the meeting."
(278 words in story) There's More :: Permalink :: Comments
Writing for Alternet, Kari Lydersen gives us the bad news: Judging by the first two weeks of the year, the forecast is not good for the Bush Administration's treatment of civil liberties.
If the first few weeks of 2004 are any indication, the Bush administration is stepping up its assault on civil liberties. A few legislative victories for civil liberties have done little to stop the over all trend toward more and more repressive legislation. Looking at what’s happened in just the first two weeks of 2004, here’s an overview of eight things to expect the rest of the year.
Guantanamo detainees, the Patriot Act, emphasis on the death penalty, more mandatory minimum sentences, pushing the drug war, treating immigrants as "exploited workers" and "guests." Scary, read the whole thing.
In a related piece, Lyderson explores whether civil liberties will be a non-issue in the 2004 election.
Jason Zengerle, writing for the New Republic, explores the resurrection of liberal talk radio. Can it succeed now?
.... growing liberal anger at and alienation from mainstream media is just one reason why the latest liberal talk radio efforts are far more likely to succeed than past ones.
Posted on Mon Feb 09, 2004 at 08:51:49 AM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Martha Stewart's lawyer, Robert Morvillo, began his cross-examination of the Government's star witness Douglas Fanueil today. The cross is ongoing, so far, Morvillo has hit hard on Faneuil's memory. Fanueil also repeated his testimony about his fears of telling the truth.
Full CNN/Money coverage of Martha's trial is here.
| << Previous 12 | Next 12 >> |
