Wire Tap

Boston Globe: A judge has ordered the Justice Department to produce White House memos that provide the legal basis for the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 warrantless wiretapping program.

Office of Legal Counsel

Washington Post:

A legal opinion allowing the Justice Department to dole out a $1.5 million grant to a Christian aid group that makes religious belief a condition of employment is shining new light on an obscure office that interprets laws across the government.

The Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel, which issued the interpretation last year to little notice, has been a target of congressional Democrats for its blessing of detainee interrogation techniques and a warrantless eavesdropping program that nearly provoked a mass resignation of top law enforcement officials four years ago...

Accountability?

Despite his complete ineffectiveness and irrelevance during the current financial troubles, it might be a good idea to remind folks that George W. Bush is still the President. There have been two significant revelations about the Bush administration recently, but aside from sporadic media coverage both issues have been sidelined by the financial crisis.

The Washington Post reports:

Top White House officials were told in early 2002 about harsh measures used by the CIA to extract information from suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in the agency's secret prisons, according to an account given to congressional investigators by the office of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The details of the controversial program were discussed in multiple meetings inside the White House over a two-year period, triggering concerns among several officials who worried that the agency's methods might be illegal or violate anti-torture treaties, according to separate statements signed by Rice and her top legal adviser.

And today McClatchy News reports:

Attorney General Michael Mukasey agreed Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials involved in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys broke the law.

The move comes at the request of Justice Department's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, who in a report released Monday detailed "substantial evidence" that partisan politics played a role in several of the ousters.

Gonzales "abdicated his responsibility to safeguard the integrity and independence of the department," said a statement from Fine's office.

Of course, none of these reports should come as a surprise but that doesn't mean the lunatics running the White House should be able to get away scot-free! Where's the outrage? Why is Dennis Kucinich the only one talking about impeachment?