Yesterday, the House passed its version of the the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (available here.) The roll call vote is here. The bill, which is a renewal of the 2001 authority for war, expands the authority world-wide. The bill passed by a vote of 322-96 and contains a $553 billion Pentagon base budget and $119 billion for overseas contingency operations.

It also blocks federal criminal trials of suspected terrorists who are not U.S. citizens. An amendment to strike the worldwide war provision failed. Obama has promised to veto the bill due to the world-wide war authority provision.

The bill also delays implementation of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and provides that those considered for indefinite detention at Guantanamo may not be represented by legal counsel, only a military representative. It also prohibits the Guantanamo detainees from receiving family visits. [More...]

Busy right now. Hopefully posting later.

Remember, Barca-ManU tomorrow.

Open Thread.

Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf said on CNN tonight that our entry into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden was an act of war.

Also today, Pakistan told the U.S. to shut down its fusion cells and its troops in Pakistan.

The liaison centers, also known as intelligence fusion cells, in Quetta and Peshawar are the main conduits for the United States to share satellite imagery, target data and other intelligence with Pakistani ground forces conducting operations against militants, including Taliban fighters who slip into Afghanistan to attack U.S. and allied forces.

Pakistan's distrust of the U.S. is growing: [More...]

Update: President Obama signed the Patriot Act bill from France with his auto-pen.

Update: House passes Senate bill, 250 to 153.

The Senate today, by a vote of 72 - 23, approved the extension of the Patriot Act's provisions on roving wiretaps, access to business records and "lone wolf" surveillance. The House is debating now and will hold a vote imminently.You can watch the debate here. President Obama will be woken up at 5:45 a.m. tomorrow to sign it.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have written a letter to Manhattan DA Cy Vance complaining about leaks of information, which they attribute to New York police. The letter has been filed with the court.

The letter also states they have uncovered material to undermine the credibilty of the hotel maid accusing DSK of sexual assault.

“Indeed, were we intent on improperly feeding the media frenzy, we could now release substantial information that in our view would seriously undermine the quality of this prosecution and also gravely undermine the credibility of the complainant in this case.”

The letter was also a discovery request. Apparently, what's being leaked in the media hasn't yet been turned over to the defense. Defense lawyers shouldn't have to learn the evidence against their client from media reports consisting of selectively leaked information from anonymous cops.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office just lost a big rape case. After a six week trial and seven days of deliberations, the jury acquitted two police officers of rape, burglary, and falsifying business records, and convicted only on misdemeanor official conduct charges. The cops were immediately fired due to misdemeanor convictions, and they face up to two years in jail, but they avoid a potential 25 year sentence on the rape charge.

Congrats to my pal Joe Tacopina who defended officer Kenneth Moreno. There was no DNA evidence in the case.

The jury placed little faith in what prosecutors thought was their best evidence - a secret recording in which Moreno seemingly admits to the rape, he said. "He said on that tape 24 times that he did not have sex with that woman," Tacopina said.

[More...]

Open Thread.

There is mounting evidence that the economy is in difficulty. In addition to the now rote +400k new jobless claims weekly report, yesterday, Brad DeLong discussed the downward trending estimates of economic growth:

Time to push the panic button. Macroeconomic Advisers is revising their tracking forecast of real GDP growth in the second quarter. It now looks as though, come July 1, that there will have been no gap-closing in the six quarters since the start of 2010.

Krugman writes:

Bill Clinton talked some nonsense yesterday about Medicare and how Dems should address it politically and in terms of policy:

"So anyway, I told them before you got here, I said I’m glad we won this race in New York," Clinton told Ryan, when the two met backstage at a forum on the national debt held by the Pete Peterson Foundation. But he added, “I hope Democrats don't use this as an excuse to do nothing.”

This is ridiculous coming from Clinton, who rejuvenated his political fortunes by drawing a line in the sand on Medicare and Medicaid cuts in his budget and debt ceiling battles with Newt Gingrich in 1995 and 1996:

Former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has found a place to live pending trial, and moved in tonight. It's a luxury townhouse in Tribeca that was on the market for $14 million and costs $50k a month to rent.

The DA's office has beefed up the prosecution team, replacing the current prosecutor with two senior prosecutors. [More...]

The Chicago terror trial of Tahawwur Hussein Rana continued today with more testimony from former DEA informant and admitted Mumbai attack planner David Coleman Headley, aka Daood Gilani.

The Court ordered the Government's Santiago proffer unsealed today, on motion of the Chicago Tribune. Here it is skip to page 18 where the facts begin.

Via Colin Freeze, Globe and Mail reporter who's live-tweeting the trial, Headley testified he worked for the DEA for two years after becoming involved with LeT. The DEA first sent him to Pakistan in 1999. (They sent him again in December, 2001.) He said he stopped working for the DEA in 2002. He also attended his first LeT training camp in Feb. 2002. Here's a timeline, and here are the docket entries from his last heroin case. (It wasn't his first bust or the first time he worked his way down to a low sentence by cooperating with the DEA.) [More...]

John Edwards has added some heft to his legal team: former White House Counsel Gregory Craig. Craig released this statement today:

“John Edwards has done wrong in his life – and he knows it better than anyone but he did not break the law. The government’s theory is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law. It is novel and untested. There is no civil or criminal precedent for such a prosecution. The government originally investigated allegations that Senator Edwards’ campaign’s funds were misused but continued its pursuit even after finding that not one penny from the Edwards campaign was involved.

The Justice Department has wasted millions of dollars and thousands of hours on a matter more appropriately a topic for the Federal Election Commission to consider, not a criminal court.”

Craig says Edwards is prepared to fight. My translation: If the Government offers a misdemeanor, there's still room to talk, particularly before the Indictment is returned. [More...]