government has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit : while shackled they were kicked and punched until they bled

U.S. Is Settling Detainee's Suit in 9/11 Sweep | By NINA BERNSTEIN

The federal government has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by an Egyptian who was among dozens of Muslim men swept up in the New York area after 9/11, held for months in a federal detention center in Brooklyn and deported after being cleared of links to terrorism.
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The settlement, filed in federal court late yesterday, is the first the government has made in a number of lawsuits charging that noncitizens were abused and their constitutional rights violated in detentions after the terror attacks.
..

"This is a substantial settlement and shows for the first time that the government can be held accountable for the abuses that have occurred in Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo Bay and in prisons right here in the United States," said one of the lawyers, Alexander A. Reinert of Koob & Magoolaghan.

The lawsuit accuses Mr. Ashcroft and the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, of personally conspiring to violate the rights of Muslim immigrant detainees on the basis of their race, religion and national origin, and names a score of other defendants, including Bureau of Prison officials and guards at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
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Mr. Elmaghraby, who spent nearly a year in detention, and the Pakistani man, Javaid Iqbal, held for nine months, charged that while shackled they were kicked and punched until they bled. Their lawsuit said they were cursed as terrorists and subjected to multiple unnecessary body-cavity searches, including one in which correction officers inserted a flashlight into Mr. Elmaghraby's rectum, making him bleed. ...

Fitzgerald discloses White House recently turned over 250 pages of emails in CIA leak inquiry [... possible obstruction of justice?]

The Raw Story | Fitzgerald discloses White House recently turned over 250 pages of emails in CIA leak inquiry: "John Byrne |Published: February 24, 2006

Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a court hearing Friday that the White House "recently located and turned over" 250 pages of emails from the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney, according to an article filed by the Associated Press Friday evening.
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The AP mentions little more than the fact that 250 pages of emails were turned over by the Vice President's office and does not indicate when. The White House was enjoined to preserve and turn over all correspondence relating to the inquiry when it began in 2003.

In October 2003, then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales told all White House employees to turn in copies of numerous documents relating to the CIA leak investigation. It was sent after the Justice Department told the White House to hand over all records that could be relevant to investigators. According to an article at the time, the deadline was Oct. 10, 2003.

The newly-turned over emails could indicate that not all information had been divulged when the Justice Department first required the information be delivered. ...

A Judicial Green Light for Torture - Judge took the rare step of blocking the lawsuit entirely

A Judicial Green Light for Torture - New York Times: "Published: February 26, 2006

The administration's tendency to dodge accountability for lawless actions by resorting to secrecy and claims of national security is on sharp display in the case of a Syrian-born Canadian, Maher Arar, who spent months under torture because of United States action. A federal trial judge in Brooklyn has refused to stand up to the executive branch, in a decision that is both chilling and ripe for prompt overturning.

Mr. Arar, a 35-year-old software engineer whose case has been detailed in a pair of columns by Bob Herbert, was detained at Kennedy Airport in 2002 while on his way home from a family vacation. He was held in solitary confinement in a Brooklyn detention center and interrogated without proper access to legal counsel. Finally, he was shipped off to a Syrian prison. There, he was held for 10 months in an underground rat-infested dungeon and brutally tortured because officials suspected that he was a member of Al Qaeda. All this was part of a morally and legally unsupportable United States practice known as "extraordinary rendition," in which the federal government outsources interrogations to regimes known to use torture and lacking fundamental human rights protections.

The maltreatment of Mr. Arar would be reprehensible — and illegal under the United States Constitution and applicable treaties — even had the suspicions of terrorist involvement proven true. But no link to any terrorist organization or activity emerged, which is why the Syrians eventually released him. Mr. Arar then sued for damages.

The judge in the case, David Trager of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, did not dispute that United States officials had reason to know that Mr. Arar faced a likelihood of torture in Syria. But he took the rare step of blocking the lawsuit entirely, saying that the use of torture in rendition cases is a foreign policy question not appropriate for court review, and that going forward would mean disclosing state secrets. ...

Tortured thru US rendition, sues for damages ... and told to get lost -- oreign policy and national security issues "Compelling"

Sound off: Where the views and opinions of our staff and others are expressed on various topics that relate to Bush: "The Torturers Win | by Bob Herbert | The New York Times | February 20, 2006

Justice? Surely you jest.

Terrible things were done to Maher Arar, and his extreme suffering was set in motion by the United States government. With the awful facts of his case carefully documented, he tried to sue for damages. But last week a federal judge waved the facts aside and told Mr. Arar, in effect, to get lost.

We're in a new world now and the all-powerful U.S. government apparently has free rein to ruin innocent lives without even a nod in the direction of due process or fair play. Mr. Arar, a Canadian citizen who, according to all evidence, has led an exemplary life, was seized and shackled by U.S. authorities at Kennedy Airport in 2002, and then shipped off to Syria, his native country, where he was held in a dungeon for the better part of a year. He was tormented physically and psychologically, and at times tortured.

The underground cell was tiny, about the size of a grave. According to court papers, 'The cell was damp and cold, contained very little light and was infested with rats, which would enter the cell through a small aperture in the ceiling. Cats would urinate on Arar through the aperture, and sanitary facilities were nonexistent.'

Mr. Arar's captors beat him savagely with an electrical cable. He was allowed to bathe in cold water once a week. He lost 40 pounds while in captivity." ...
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The Center for Constitutional Rights in New York filed a lawsuit on Mr. Arar's behalf, seeking damages from the U.S. government for his ordeal. The government said the case could not even be dealt with because the litigation would involve the revelation of state secrets.

In other words, it wouldn't matter how hideously or egregiously Mr. Arar had been treated, or how illegally or disgustingly the government had behaved. The case would have to be dropped. Inquiries into this 21st-century Inquisition cannot be tolerated. Its activities must remain secret at all costs.

In a ruling that basically gave the green light to government barbarism, U.S. District Judge David Trager dismissed Mr. Arar's lawsuit last Thursday. Judge Trager wrote in his opinion that "Arar's claim that he faced a likelihood of torture in Syria is supported by U.S. State Department reports on Syria's human rights practices."

But in dismissing the suit, he said that the foreign policy and national security issues raised by the government were "compelling" and that such matters were the purview of the executive branch and Congress, not the courts.

He also said that "the need for secrecy can hardly be doubted."

Under that reasoning, of course, the government could literally get away with murder. With its bad actions cloaked in court-sanctioned secrecy, no one would be the wiser. ...

100 prisoners have died in US custody in Iraq and Afghanist:an: 34 homicides, 11 suspicious , 12 tortured to death

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Report probes US custody deaths: "Tuesday, 21 February 2006

Almost 100 prisoners have died in US custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since August 2002, according to US group Human Rights First.

The details were first aired on BBC television's Newsnight programme.

Of the 98 deaths, at least 34 were suspected or confirmed homicides, the programme said.
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The report defines the 34 cases classified as homicides as "caused by intentional or reckless behaviour".

It says another 11 cases have been deemed suspicious and that between eight and 12 prisoners were tortured to death.

But despite this, charges are rare and sentences are light, the report says. ...

One of the Pentagon's top civilian lawyers repeatedly challenged the Bush administration's policy on the coercive interrogation of terror suspects

Senior Lawyer at Pentagon Broke Ranks on Detainees - New York Times: "By TIM GOLDEN| Published: February 20, 2006

One of the Pentagon's top civilian lawyers repeatedly challenged the Bush administration's policy on the coercive interrogation of terror suspects, arguing that such practices violated the law, verged on torture and could ultimately expose senior officials to prosecution, a newly disclosed document shows.

The lawyer, Alberto J. Mora, a political appointee who retired Dec. 31 after more than four years as general counsel of the Navy, was one of many dissenters inside the Pentagon. Senior uniformed lawyers in all the military services also objected sharply to the interrogation policy, according to internal documents declassified last year.

But Mr. Mora's campaign against what he viewed as an official policy of cruel treatment, detailed in a memorandum he wrote in July 2004 and recounted in an article in the Feb. 27 issue of The New Yorker magazine, made public yesterday, underscored again how contrary views were often brushed aside in administration debates on the subject. ...

Excite News

Excite News: "White House Ordered to Release Spy Papers | Feb 16, 8:36 PM (ET) | By KATHERINE SHRADER

WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge ordered the Bush administration on Thursday to release documents about its warrantless surveillance program or spell out what it is withholding, a setback to efforts to keep the program under wraps.

At the same time, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said he had worked out an agreement with the White House to consider legislation and provide more information to Congress on the eavesdropping program. The panel's top Democrat, who has requested a full-scale investigation, immediately objected to what he called an abdication of the committee's responsibilities.

U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy ruled that a private group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, will suffer irreparable harm if the documents it has been seeking since December are not processed promptly under the Freedom of Information Act. He gave the Justice Department 20 days to respond to the group's request.

"President Bush has invited meaningful debate about the wireless surveillance program," Kennedy said. "That can only occur if DOJ processes its FOIA requests in a timely fashion and releases the information sought." ...

Abu Ghraib abuse against international law: ICRC - Yahoo! News

Abu Ghraib abuse against international law: ICRC - Yahoo! News: " By Stephanie Nebehay 11 minutes ago

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday the latest images of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison showed clear violations of international humanitarian law. ...
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"We are shocked and dismayed at the mistreatment and abuse displayed in these images," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas told Reuters in Geneva.

"The type of treatment in these images -- video or photos -- very clearly violates the rules of international humanitarian law which are designed to protect people detained in the context of armed conflict," she added.

The 1949 Geneva Conventions protecting people captured in conflict -- which the ICRC seeks to uphold -- "forbid torture as well as any cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under any circumstance," according to the spokeswoman. ...

Abu Ghraib abuse against international law: ICRC - Yahoo! News

Abu Ghraib abuse against international law: ICRC - Yahoo! News: " By Stephanie Nebehay 11 minutes ago

GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday the latest images of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at

Abu Ghraib

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News | News Photos | Images | Web

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Abu Ghraib prison showed clear violations of international humanitarian law. ...
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"We are shocked and dismayed at the mistreatment and abuse displayed in these images," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas told Reuters in Geneva.

"The type of treatment in these images -- video or photos -- very clearly violates the rules of international humanitarian law which are designed to protect people detained in the context of armed conflict," she added.

The 1949 Geneva Conventions protecting people captured in conflict -- which the ICRC seeks to uphold -- "forbid torture as well as any cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under any circumstance," according to the spokeswoman. ...

Cheney Says He Can Declassify Information - (about disclosing the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.???)

Cheney Says He Can Declassify Information - Yahoo! News: " By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer 16 minutes ago |

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney says he has the power to declassify government secrets, raising the possibility that he authorized his former chief of staff to pass along sensitive prewar data on Iraq to reporters.

Cheney coupled his statement in a TV interview Wednesday with an endorsement of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, his ex-aide. Libby is under indictment on charges of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI about disclosing the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.

"Scooter is entitled to the presumption of innocence," Cheney told Fox News Channel. "He is a great guy. I worked with him for a long time. I have tremendous regard for him. I may well be called as a witness at some point in the case, and it is therefore inappropriate for me to comment on any facet of the case."

In a recent court filing, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald revealed Libby's assertions to a grand jury that superiors had authorized him to spread sensitive information from a National Intelligence Estimate. The administration used the NIE assessment on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction as part of its justification for going to war. ...

UN inquiry demands immediate closure of Guantanamo

Telegraph | News | UN inquiry demands immediate closure of Guantanamo: " By Con Coughlin, Defence and Security Editor in New York | (Filed: 13/02/2006)

A United Nations inquiry has called for the immediate closure of America's Guantanamo Bay detention centre and the prosecution of officers and politicians 'up to the highest level' who are accused of torturing detainees.

The UN Human Rights Commission report, due to be published this week, concludes that Washington should put the 520 detainees on trial or release them.

It calls for the United States to halt all "practices amounting to torture", including the force-feeding of inmates who go on hunger strike.

The report wants the Bush administration to ensure that all allegations of torture are investigated by US criminal courts, and that "all perpetrators up to the highest level of military and political command are brought to justice". ...

Abu Ghraib Prison: Horrific New Torture Pictures Released

Horrific New Torture Pictures Released: "Horrific New Torture Pictures Released

MORE photographs have been leaked of Iraqi citizens tortured by US soldiers at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad."

Warning

The pictures below should only be viewed by a mature AUDIENCE

See Also

The photos America doesn't want seen: : MORE photographs have been leaked of Iraqi citizens tortured by US soldiers at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad. ...

ABA Lawyers group slams Bush on eavesdropping

Top News Article | Reuters.com: "Lawyers group slams Bush on eavesdropping | Mon Feb 13, 2006 5:06 PM ET172 |By Michael Conlon

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The American Bar Association told President George W. Bush on Monday to either stop domestic eavesdropping without a warrant or get the law changed to make it legal.
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"Nobody wants to hamstring the President," he added, "But we cannot allow the U.S. Constitution and our rights to become a victim of terrorism," he added. ...

Whistleblower says NSA violations bigger: might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights

United Press International - Security & Terrorism - Whistleblower says NSA violations bigger: "Whistleblower says NSA violations bigger

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights.

Russell D. Tice told the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations he has concerns about a 'special access' electronic surveillance program that he characterized as far more wide-ranging than the warrentless wiretapping recently exposed by the New York Times but he is forbidden from discussing the program with Congress.

Tice said he believes it violates the Constitution's protection against unlawful search and seizures but has no way of sharing the information without breaking classification laws. He is not even allowed to tell the congressional intelligence committees - members or their staff - because they lack high enough clearance.

Neither could he brief the inspector general of the NSA because that office is not cleared to hear the information, he said.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said they believe a few members of the Armed Services Committee are cleared for the information, but they said believe their committee and the intelligence committees have jurisdiction to hear the allegations."

Israel plans to build 'museum of tolerance' on Muslim graves

Independent Online Edition > Middle East: "Israel plans to build 'museum of tolerance' on Muslim graves | By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem | Published: 09 February 2006

Skeletons are being removed from the site of an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem to make way for a $150m (£86m) "museum of tolerance" being built for the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre.

Palestinians have launched a legal battle to stop the work at what was the city's main Muslim cemetery. The work is to prepare for the construction of a museum which seeks the promotion of "unity and respect among Jews and between people of all faiths".

Israeli archaeologists and developers have continued excavating the remains of people buried at the site - which was a cemetery for at least 1,000 years - despite a temporary ban on work granted by the Islamic Court, a division of Israel's justice system. Police have been taking legal advice on whether the order is legally binding. The Israeli High Court is to hear a separate case brought by the Al Aqsa Association of the Islamic Movement in Israel next week. ...

Bush faces Republican revolt over spying ...

FT.com / World / US - Bush faces Republican revolt over spying : "By Edward Alden and Holly Yeager in Washington | Published: February 9 2006 00:22 | Last updated: February 9 2006 00:22

Congressional Republicans are threatening to force a legal showdown with President George W. Bush over his claim that he has the constitutional power to order domestic surveillance of Americans in the name of national security.

Arlen Specter, Republican chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, said on Wednesday he was drafting legislation that would require the administration to seek a ruling from a special US intelligence court on whether the spying programme was legal.

The move could put the Republican-controlled Congress on a collision course with the administration, which has insisted that it is acting legally in monitoring calls and e-mails that might help disrupt future terrorist plots. ...

Bush faces Republican revolt over spying ...

FT.com / World / US - Bush faces Republican revolt over spying : "By Edward Alden and Holly Yeager in Washington | Published: February 9 2006 00:22 | Last updated: February 9 2006 00:22

Congressional Republicans are threatening to force a legal showdown with President George W. Bush over his claim that he has the constitutional power to order domestic surveillance of Americans in the name of national security.

Arlen Specter, Republican chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, said on Wednesday he was drafting legislation that would require the administration to seek a ruling from a special US intelligence court on whether the spying programme was legal.

The move could put the Republican-controlled Congress on a collision course with the administration, which has insisted that it is acting legally in monitoring calls and e-mails that might help disrupt future terrorist plots. ...

Secret Court's Judges Warned NSA Spy May Have Led Improperly to Warrants .... assured by administration officials it would never happen.

Secret Court's Judges Were Warned About NSA Spy Data: "By Carol D. Leonnig | Washington Post Staff Writer | Thursday, February 9, 2006; Page A01

Program May Have Led Improperly to Warrants

Twice in the past four years, a top Justice Department lawyer warned the presiding judge of a secret surveillance court that information overheard in President Bush's eavesdropping program may have been improperly used to obtain wiretap warrants in the court, according to two sources with knowledge of those events.

The revelations infuriated U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly -- who, like her predecessor, Royce C. Lamberth, had expressed serious doubts about whether the warrantless monitoring of phone calls and e-mails ordered by Bush was legal. Both judges had insisted that no information obtained this way be used to gain warrants from their court, according to government sources, and both had been assured by administration officials it would never happen. ...

Senior House Republican wants answers on wiretap program

The Raw Story | Senior House Republican wants answers on wiretap program: "John Byrne | Published: February 8, 2006

The Republican Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has issued 51 questions to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on President Bush's warrantless wiretap program.
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Strikingly, the letter to Gonzales quotes Harvard University professor Lawrence Tribe, a constitutional scholar who testified at unofficial hearings held by ranking Judiciary Democrat John Conyers (D-MI). In a letter to Conyers, Tribe wrote that the taps "far from being authorized by Congress, [fly] in the face of an explicit congressional prohibition and [are] therefore unconstitutional."

Writes Sensenbrenner: "Do you agree that FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) 'expressly prohibits' the specific activities under this program?"

Sensenbrenner also questions the program's authorization under FISA.

"What is the rationale for authorizing a program to conduct surveillance in a manner that does not require prior judicial review by the FISA court?"

"Have past United States Presidents employed signals intelligence of the kind authorized by President Bush after 9/11 to protect the nation during wartime? Please explain." ...

Amidst flurry of Bush attacks, Feingold hits Congress wiretaps: 'Congress has lost its way'

The Raw Story | Amidst flurry of Bush attacks, Feingold hits Congress wiretaps: 'Congress has lost its way': "Amidst flurry of Bush attacks, Feingold hits Congress wiretaps: 'Congress has lost its way'

Mr. President, last week the President of the United States gave his State of the Union address, where he spoke of America’s leadership in the world, and called on all of us to “lead this world toward freedom.” Again and again, he invoked the principle of freedom, and how it can transform nations, and empower people around the world.
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The President was blunt. He said that he had authorized the NSA’s domestic spying program, and he made a number of misleading arguments to defend himself. His words got rousing applause from Republicans, and even some Democrats.

The President was blunt, so I will be blunt: This program is breaking the law, and this President is breaking the law. Not only that, he is misleading the American people in his efforts to justify this program.

How is that worthy of applause? Since when do we celebrate our commander in chief for violating our most basic freedoms, and misleading the American people in the process? When did we start to stand up and cheer for breaking the law? In that moment at the State of the Union, I felt ashamed.

Congress has lost its way if we don’t hold this President accountable for his actions. ...

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None of the President’s arguments explains or excuses his conduct, or the NSA’s domestic spying program. Not one. It is hard to believe that the President has the audacity to claim that they do. It is a strategy that really hinges on the credibility of the office of the Presidency itself. If you just insist that you didn’t break the law, you haven’t broken the law. It reminds me of what Richard Nixon said after he had left office: “Well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal.” But that is not how our constitutional democracy works. Making those kinds of arguments is damaging the credibility of the Presidency.

And what’s particularly disturbing is how many members of Congress have responded. They stood up and cheered. They stood up and cheered.

Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote: “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”

The President’s actions are indefensible. Freedom is an enduring principle. It is not something to celebrate in one breath, and ignore the next. Freedom is at the heart of who we are as a nation, and as a people. We cannot be a beacon of freedom for the world unless we protect our own freedoms here at home. ...

Gonzales: refused to assure ... that administration had not deliberately tapped Americans' calls and e-mail ... or searched homes and office w/o warr

The Art of Saying Nothing - New York Times: "Published: February 8, 2006

We thought President Bush's two recent Supreme Court nominees set new lows when it came to giving vague and meaningless answers to legitimate questions, but Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made them look like models of openness when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday about domestic spying. Mr. Gonzales seems to have forgotten the promise he made to the same panel last year when it voted to promote him from White House counsel to attorney general: that he would serve the public interest and stop acting like a hired gun helping a client figure out how to evade the law.

The hearing got off to a bad start when Senator Arlen Specter, the Republican who leads the committee, refused to have Mr. Gonzales testify under oath. Mr. Gonzales repaid this favor with a daylong display of cynical hair-splitting, obfuscation, disinformation and stonewalling. He would not tell the senators how many wiretaps had been conducted without warrants since 2002, when Mr. Bush authorized the program. He would not even say why he was withholding the information.

On the absurd pretext of safeguarding operational details, Mr. Gonzales would not say whether any purely domestic communications had been swept up in the program by accident and what, if anything, had been done to make sure that did not happen. He actually refused to assure the Senate and the public that the administration had not deliberately tapped Americans' calls and e-mail within the United States, or searched their homes and offices without warrants. ..

Defense of Eavesdropping Is Met With Skepticism in Senate - New York Times

Defense of Eavesdropping Is Met With Skepticism in Senate - New York Times: "By DAVID STOUT | Published: February 6, 2006
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But Mr. Gonzales immediately drew sometimes harsh reactions from committee leaders. The panel's chairman, Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, said federal law prohibits "any electronic surveillance without a court order."

And Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the committee's ranking Democrat and, like Mr. Specter, a former prosecutor, said Mr. Gonzales's assertions were not supported by history.

"Congress has given the president authority to monitor Al Qaeda messages legally, with checks to guard against abuses when Americans' conversations and e-mails are being monitored," Mr. Leahy said. "But instead of doing what the president has the authority to do legally, he's decided to do it illegally, without safeguards."

But throughout his testimony, Mr. Gonzales refused to retreat. Nor did he appear rattled in the least when Senator Russell D. Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, accused him of having misled the committee about the very existence of the program in his testimony a year ago, when his nomination to be attorney general was being considered.

Not so, the attorney general insisted, saying that he had answered a "hypothetical question" a year ago. ...

Ex-President Carter: Eavesdropping Illegal

Ex-President Carter: Eavesdropping Illegal - Yahoo! News: "By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press Writer Tue Feb 7, 1:12 AM ET

HENDERSON, Nev. - Former President Jimmy Carter criticized the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program Monday and said he believes the president has broken the law.

"Under the Bush administration, there's been a disgraceful and illegal decision — we're not going to the let the judges or the Congress or anyone else know that we're spying on the American people," Carter told reporters. "And no one knows how many innocent Americans have had their privacy violated under this secret act."
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"It's a ridiculous argument, not only bad, it's ridiculous. Obviously, the attorney general who said it's all right to torture prisoners and so forth is going to support the person who put him in office. But he's a very partisan attorney general and there's no doubt that he would say that," Carter said. "I hope that eventually the case will go to the Supreme Court. I have no doubt that when it's over, the Supreme Court will rule that Bush has violated the law." ...

U.S. is back in assassination business [... after 30 years of prohibition]

Salt Lake Tribune - Opinion: "02/04/2006 03:34:11 PM | U.S. is back in assassination business | Patrick Shea

Thirty-one years ago I worked for Sen. Frank Church of Idaho on the first U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. What began as an analytic investigation of the U.S. intelligence community rapidly devolved into a much-televised investigation into the U.S. policy of attempting to assassinate foreign leaders.
...
... However, in 1977 after President Carter was sworn into office with Walter Mondale as his vice president, an executive order was issued prohibiting the use of political assassination. Mondale, a former member of the Church committee, implemented the policy in the new administration.

Under Presidents Reagan, Bush "41" and Clinton, the executive order prohibiting political assassination was maintained and honored. As has now been publicly revealed, the administration of Bush "43" secretly repealed the prohibition on assassination. In its place, under the omnipresent 9/11 rationale, the U.S. is back in the business of assassination. ....

Can the President Order a Killing on U.S. Soil? - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com

Exclusive: Can the President Order a Killing on U.S. Soil? - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com: "Feb. 13, 2006 issue -

In the latest twist in the debate over presidential powers, a Justice Department official suggested that in certain circumstances, the president might have the power to order the killing of terrorist suspects inside the United States. Steven Bradbury, acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, went to a closed-door Senate intelligence committee meeting last week to defend President George W. Bush's surveillance program. During the briefing, said administration and Capitol Hill officials (who declined to be identified because the session was private), California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked Bradbury questions about the extent of presidential powers to fight Al Qaeda; could Bush, for instance, order the killing of a Qaeda suspect known to be on U.S. soil? Bradbury replied that he believed Bush could indeed do this, at least in certain circumstances. ...

Sen. Arlen Specter said Sunday he believes that President Bush violated a 1978 law ...

Specter Criticizes Rationale for Spying - Yahoo! News: "By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer Sun Feb 5, 5:29 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has not adequately justified why the Bush administration failed to seek court approval for domestic surveillance, said the senator in charge of a hearing Monday on the program.

Sen. Arlen Specter said Sunday he believes that President Bush violated a 1978 law specifically calling for a secret court to consider and approve such monitoring. The Pennsylvania Republican branded Gonzales' explanations to date as "strained and unrealistic." ...

Sen. Arlen Specter said Sunday he believes that President Bush violated a 1978 law ...

Specter Criticizes Rationale for Spying - Yahoo! News: "By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer Sun Feb 5, 5:29 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has not adequately justified why the Bush administration failed to seek court approval for domestic surveillance, said the senator in charge of a hearing Monday on the program.

Sen. Arlen Specter said Sunday he believes that President Bush violated a 1978 law specifically calling for a secret court to consider and approve such monitoring. The Pennsylvania Republican branded Gonzales' explanations to date as "strained and unrealistic." ...

Sen. Arlen Specter said Sunday he believes that President Bush violated a 1978 law ...

Specter Criticizes Rationale for Spying - Yahoo! News: "By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer Sun Feb 5, 5:29 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has not adequately justified why the Bush administration failed to seek court approval for domestic surveillance, said the senator in charge of a hearing Monday on the program.

Sen. Arlen Specter said Sunday he believes that President Bush violated a 1978 law specifically calling for a secret court to consider and approve such monitoring. The Pennsylvania Republican branded Gonzales' explanations to date as "strained and unrealistic." ...

Democrats Call for Special Prosecutor in Lobbying Case- 'we need an independent investigation, not a whitewash led by Attorney General '

Democrats Call for Special Prosecutor in Lobbying Case - New York Times: By PHILIP SHENON | Published: February 2, 2006

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — Most Senate Democrats called on the Justice Department today to appoint a special prosecutor to take over the criminal investigation centered on the Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to corrupt members of Congress and other public officials.

The 35 Democrats and Senator James Jeffords of Vermont, an independent, said in a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales that an outside prosecutor was needed because of 'Mr. Abramoff's significant ties to Republican leadership in Congress and allegations of improper activity involving administration officials.'

The Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said he signed the letter because 'we need an independent investigation, not a whitewash led by Attorney General Gonzales, President Bush's best friend.' He added in a statement, 'President Bush has worn out his credibility with the American people yet he continues to stonewall an investigation into his involvement with Jack Abramoff, asking him to trust him without explaining why.'"

Senate intelligence chair endorses domestic spying ... [the same chair who is blocking the investigation into Doug Feith's OSP pre-war intelligence?!]

Excite News: "Senate intelligence chair endorses domestic spying | Feb 3, 5:10 PM (ET)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee on Friday endorsed President George W. Bush's domestic surveillance program and said the White House was right to inform only a handful of lawmakers about its existence.

In a letter to the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas expressed 'strong support' for a program that has raised an outcry from Democrats and some Republicans who believe Bush may have overstepped his authority. The panel is to hear testimony Monday from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the issue.

Roberts said he believes Bush's use of warrantless surveillance is legal, necessary, reasonable and within the president's powers." ...

Senator Feingold: President seems to be that basically the FISA law, passed in 1978, is out of date.

Daily Kos: Pre-1776 Mentality: "Pre-1776 Mentality | by Senator Russ Feingold | Thu Feb 02, 2006 at 08:58:01 AM PDT

I've seen some strange things in my life, but I cannot describe the feeling I had, sitting on the House floor during Tuesday's State of the Union speech, listening to the President assert that his executive power is, basically, absolute, and watching several members of Congress stand up and cheer him on. It was surreal and disrespectful to our system of government and to the oath that as elected officials we have all sworn to uphold. Cheering? Clapping? Applause? All for violating the law?

* Senator Russ Feingold's diary :: ::
*

The President and his administration continue their spin and media blitz in attempts to defend the fact that they broke, and continue to break, the law. Their weak and shifting justifications for doing so continue. The latest from the President seems to be that basically the FISA law, passed in 1978, is out of date. His decision that he can apparently disregard 'old law' fits the pattern with the President and his administration. He's decided to disregard a statute (FISA) and the Constitution (the 4th Amendment) by continuing to wiretap Americans' phone calls and emails without the required warrant, while at the same time claiming powers of the presidency that do not exist. (Perhaps he feels the Constitution is too 'old,' as well.) This administration reacts to any questions about spying on American citizens by saying that those of us who stand up for our rights and freedoms are somehow living in a 'pre-September 11th, 2001 world.'

In fact, the President is living in a pre-1776 world.

Our Founders lived in dangerous times, and they risked everything for freedom. Patrick Henry said, 'Give me liberty or give me death.' The President's pre-1776 mentality is hurting America and fracturing the foundation on which our country has stood for 230 years. The President can't just bypass two branches of government, and obey only those laws he wants to obey. Deciding unilaterally which of our freedoms still apply in the fight against terrorism is unacceptable and needs to be stopped immediately.

Many of you saw this week's story in the Washington Post on the exchange Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and I had during his confirmation hearing in January of last year. Mr. Gonzales misled me and the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath about whether the President could spy on Americans without a warrant. (Many of you blogged about it when the story first broke and I thank you for getting the word out.) That exchange is extremely telling about the depths to which this administration will go to grab power. I look forward to a little more honesty from the Attorney General when he testifies about the spying program before the Judiciary Committee on Monday. " ...