The Justice Department announced the indictment of more than 300 people today for investment fraud as part of Operation Broken Trust.

The operation was launched on August 16, 2009. Attorney General Holder said today that 343 people have been charged criminally, 189 face civil charges and 87 defendants have been sentenced to prison.

The DOJ press release is here.

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the Walmart employee discrimination case, described as the largest case of its type in U.S. history.

The question before the court is not whether there was discrimination but rather whether the claims by the individual employees may be combined as a class action. The court’s decision on that issue will almost certainly affect all sorts of class-action suits, including ones asserting antitrust, securities and product liability, as well as other claims.

The case is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, No. 10-277. Scotusblog has more.

The 9th Circuit's oral arguments on Prop 8 and gay marriage are being televised on C-Span. You can watch here.

The panel will first consider if the group that put the measure on the ballot is eligible to appeal since its members aren't responsible for enforcing marriage laws. Outgoing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown refused to challenge the ruling. The panel will then hear arguments on the proposition's constitutionality.

Howard Mintz of the San Jose Mercury News is live-blogging from the courtroom. So is Teddy at Firedoglake.

The UK has received an arrest warrant for Julian Assange of Wikileaks. Extradition is being sought by Sweden.

The warrant is being processed by the Serious Organised Crime Agency and will be sent to the Metropolitan Police as he is thought to be in the London area. Mr Assange is wanted in Sweden to face sex allegations which he denies.

The Swiss have closed his bank account, but no criminal charges will result and he will get the money.

If you didn't watch VH-1 Divas, catch it on the re-run. All of the performances, sets and costumes are awesome. This is a huge undertaking, there were 27,000 troops in attendance at Miramar in San Diego.

Kathy Griffin, who I don't usually like, is a terrific host. Her ammunition-topped bikini is a must-see.

The troops even laughed at her account of giving their commanding officer a topless lapdance backstage. [More...]

Newt Gingrich today said he's more inclined to run than not to run for President, and may decide around February or March. Among Republicans, Gingrich named Mitt Romney as the Republican front-runner and Mike Huckabee as the most popular.

It looks like there will be a deal to extend the tax cuts.

Tonight: VH1 Divas: Support the Troops. Hosted by Kathy Griffin and filmed earlier this week, the show has gotten rave reviews. Performances by:

Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Sugarland, Keri Hilson, Paramore, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, as well as appearances by literally everyone from our First Lady Michelle Obama to "Snooki" and "The Situation" from "Jersey Shore," including comedian Jeffrey Ross, MC Lyte and Brandy.

If anyone is still watching Boardwalk Empire, tonight is the season finale. This is an open thread, all topics welcome

Roman Polanksi's "The Ghostwriter" has won the award for Best Picture and Best Director at the European Film Awards, held in Estonia. It won in six of its seven nominated categories.

Nominated in seven categories, the movie won the best director prize, best actor for Ewan McGregor, and best screenwriter went jointly to Robert Harris and Polanski.

Polanski gave an acceptance speech -- "through a Skype connection from an unknown location." Why?

[H]e still faces an Interpol warrant in 188 countries. Most European nations, including Estonia, have an extradition treaty with the United States.

[More...]

Wikileaks says the more people try to shut them down, the stronger they become. After Paypal shut them down, they mobilized their supporters on Twitter to create mirror sites and archive their published documents. For updated sites, use #imwikileaks. Here's Wikileaks' twitter page.

Here's a list of mirror sites. This one and this one are working as of now, and have a contribution page handled by someone other than Paypal.

The LA Times reports the Government's clampdown may be a blow to intelligence-sharing among agencies. I think that's a good thing. "The Wall" provided important safeguards and restricted end-runs around the Fourth Amendment. 9/11, Ashcroft and the Patriot Act changed that, and it should be restored, at least between intelligence-gathering agencies and crime-fighting agencies.

Republicans torpedoed proposals to extend the Bush tax cuts to the middle class. Obama says he'll keep trying to work out a deal.

In the TV department, I just discovered the Canadian TV series Intelligence, set in Vancouver, with all my favorite themes: the War on Drugs, snitches, wiretaps and police corruption.

In Intelligence, [creator]Haddock posits that drugs are the crucial modern industry and that information, the buying and selling of “intel” on everything from heroin trafficking to international terrorism, is the most addictive and profitable drug of all...

...the writer’s overwhelming theme: in true crime as in true love, everyone is in bed together.

The drug kingpin at the center of the series, Jimmy Reardon, has good qualities as well as bad. In other words, he's portrayed as far more than the sum of his misdeeds. The crooked and overly personally ambitious cops and higher-ups have no redeeming qualities. I watched 6 episodes of the first season last night. It's available free on Netflix streaming.

We have beautiful, balmy weather today. Too nice to stay indoors. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Via the Washington Post: Not trusting the Mexican police, the DEA is partnering up with the Mexican Marines. Capture and kill missions are some of the tactics.

The U.S. government is turning to elite units of Mexican marines to go after drug cartel bosses in aggressive "capture or kill" missions, providing intelligence and training to bolster what officials say is Mexico's most trustworthy and nimble force.

The recently released Wikileaks cables contain some details:

U.S. officials confirm in interviews and recently leaked diplomatic cables that the U.S. military is conducting urban-combat and counterinsurgency instruction in Mexico and the United States. [More...]

President Obama has granted nine pardons, the first of his presidency. Four people who received light sentences for low level cocaine offenses, none of whom are now in prison, got pardons.

Four of the cases involve people convicted of possessing cocaine who were given sentences that the president deemed excessive.

Is the President clueless as to the draconian sentences being served today by drug offenders? Here are the sentences he deemed excessive and deserving of a pardon -- all completed a long time ago.

• Roxane Kay Hettinger, Powder Springs, Ga., sentenced in 1986 to 30 days in jail and three years of probation for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

• Timothy James Gallagher of Navasota, Texas, sentenced in 1982 to three years of probation for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

• Floretta Leavy of Rockford, Ill., who was sentenced to a year and a day in prison in Kansas in 1984 on a drug-possession conviction.

• Edgar Leopold Kranz Jr. of Minot, N.D., who received 24 months of confinement and a reduction in pay for wrongful use of cocaine, adultery and writing bounced checks.

Really, really disappointing.

Restaurateur Elaine Kaufman, owner of the famous Elaine's on the Upper East side, passed away today at age 81. Here are some
photos of her with a number of her famous clientele.

Until she was hospitalized last month, Kaufman worked every day of the week, greeting patrons at the door and leaving at closing time in the wee hours of the morning. "I live at the restaurant, I entertain at the restaurant," Kaufman told The Post in a 2009 interview.

I always liked eating and drinking at Elaine's. She was a great hostess and very nice to me. I haven't been there in almost a decade, but I remember her vividly. R.I.P. Elaine, and thank you.

Elaine's will remain open with the staff "fully intact."