Justice Department

December 21, 2007 Judge Refuses to Order Hearing on C.I.A. Tapes By DAVID STOUT and DAVID JOHNSTON WASHINGTON -- A federal judge on Friday declined to rule immediately on a request to compel the government...

Naomi Wolf in her blog of Dec. 13 brings a necessary note of outrage to the unfolding story of the torture tapes. Let us not forget, as we examine the affair around the CIA's claim to have destroyed video records of prisoner interrogations, that U.S. government officials have already admitted or directly and publicly confessed to a series of crimes: torture, lying to a government investigation, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence. Wolf argues for adding murder as a charge. There is no rationale left for not convening an immediate, independent investigation by special prosecutor. Wolf: "What we are likely to see if the tapes... are ever recovered is that the "confessions" of the prisoners upon which the White House has built its entire case for subverting the Constitution and suspending civil liberties in this country [were] obtained through methods such as electrocution, beating to the point of organ failure, hanging prisoners from the wrists from a ceiling, suffocation, and threats against family members... if we could witness the drama of manufacturing by torture the many violently coerced "confessions" upon which the whole house of cards of this White House and its hyped "war on terror" rests, it would likely cause us to reopen every investigation, including the most serious ones (remember, even the 9/11 committee did not receive copies of the tapes)." Elsewhere, for further speculation on what the CIA may be hiding, a discussion thread at Democratic Underground by poster leveymg makes the case that "Abu Zubaydah was a key Al-Qaeda figure in the CIA's Chechnya operation, which involved several of the 9/11 hijackers. He was in a position to know about the relationship of the 9/11 Hamburg cell with the CIA." Meanwhile, we recommend the full text of Naomi Wolf's article, after the jump...

December 6, 2007 By MARK MAZZETTI WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 -- The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency's custody,...

The National Lawyers Guild on Friday unanimously and enthusiastically passed a resolution supporting the impeachment of Bush and Cheney.   Editor's Note: At the National Lawyers Guild 70th Anniversary Law for the People Convention, being held October...

Remember when it never occurred to you that expressing your disagreement with or asking questions about this government could cause problems, other than irritating your coworkers or neighbors? When you felt secure in your person, house, papers and effects? (Okay, when at least most Caucasian Americans felt secure, anyway...) Remember when it was simply unfathomable that any governmental "agency" would be allowed to enter your home, listen to your phone calls, intercept your email, or open your mail without a warrant? No more. We gave up all that liberty in response to 9/11, right? Then why was the NSA spying on us well before 9/11? How can it be that the courts are allowing those who don't cave in to illegal demands to be openly punished for saying "No"? And why does it seem not many Americans seem to care? A bit of history on the issue of warrantless spying follows, together with recent news, and opportunity to take action. Yes, you. Take action. Pay attention. This is your Fourth Amendment, and you need to remember it...

The Fourth Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

911Truth.org posted a story by Sander Hicks 10/14/07, Treason in Shreveport. He investigated the story of Shreveport dentist David Graham, who became ill and died under mysterious circumstances following his investigation of 9/11 hijackers' movement and pressing the FBI to investigate. When this story was sent to intrepid Shreveport television KSLA journalist Jeff Ferrell, he reported this story on the evening news. We applaud the continuing journalistic integrity being displayed by these gentlemen, and encourage readers to press the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General to fully investigate this man's death.

10/24: We've just learned of yet another important article on this, very thorough including video interviews with interested parties, The strange death of Dr. David M. Graham at "YES! Weekly" - Greensboro's Alternative Newsweekly. Bravo!