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Saturday, October 31, 2009 Obama DOJ shovels out more grist for foreign prosecutions of Bush officials   [Andy McCarthy] Well, the hyper-"transparent" Obama administration won't share any of its internal deliberations on matters about which there is no good reason to keep the public in the dark — e.g., its strong-arming in Honduras, its dismissal of a slam-dunk civil rights case against the New Black Panther Party, and the legal analysis by DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel that explains why the DC Voting Rights Bill is unconstitutional — but it continues to shovel out previously classified information about interrogation techniques...

On Thursday, the United States House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution funding the Federal Government through December 18th. The continuing resolution was passed as part of the behemoth Interior-Environment Appropriations conference report. A continuing resolution is a stop-gap provision which allows the government to continue its operations until Congress can determine the next year’s appropriations. The actions taken today merely extended the expiration date of the resolution which went into effect on October 1st. By extending the existing continuing resolution Congress has continued to deprive ACORN and its affiliates of federal funds until December 18th. This is not a...

Mr. Holder and Miss Schmaler, however, are not the only powerful Obama administration officials who want to redefine one of our society's central institutions. Cass Sunstein, Mr. Obama's powerful "regulatory czar," is equally out of touch. In a new edition of his book "Nudge," coauthored with Richard Thaler, the authors call marriage an "anachronism" and its benefits "surprisingly low." The book goes on to complain that marriage, "produce* unnecessary polarization. ... the most obvious difficulty is that religious organizations insist that they should be permitted to define marriage as they like, while same-sex couples insist that they should be able...

Black voters across the land should be offended by the Obama Justice Department. In a decision last month, the department effectively told black voters in the town of Kinston, N.C., that they are too stupid to choose their own elected officials unless the candidates are identified by party label. In doing so, the department overruled Kinston's black voters themselves,....

This is news .. the DOJ has officially notified CA Judge David Carter, presently reviewing his next move in the Keyes et al v. Obama et al lawsuit ... of a GA judge's decision in the Kerchner v Obama lawsuit. ______________________________________________________ It clearly shows that Judge Carter doesn’t deserve to be addressed as such the guy is looking for the easy way out while making sure not to upset the Usurper-in-Chief. I may be wrong but Carter has sold out. -David Crockett Maybe Judge Carter was waiting for Judge Simandle’s ruling granting dismissal in the Kerchner case. It came down...

Note: The following text is a quote: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Attorney General Eric Holder at the University of Maine's William S. Cohen Lecture Series Orono, Maine ~ Friday, October 23, 2009 Before I begin, I’d like to thank President Kennedy and Chancellor Pattenaude for welcoming me to this wonderful university. Chief Justice Saufley and First Lady Baldacci, thank you for being here as well. And I’d like to recognize the distinguished representative of the Justice Department in Maine, United States Attorney Paula Silsby. I especially want to thank our host and my friend, Secretary Bill Cohen, and...

October 22, 2009 Note: The following text is a quote: Investigation Nets Alleged Cocaine Traffickers in Springfield, Virginia ALEXANDRIA, VA—Nine individuals were arrested this morning on cocaine trafficking charges as part of an ongoing investigation of cocaine dealers working in and around Springfield, Va. Two subjects were already in custody for unrelated state charges. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Joseph Persichini Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office; and Colonel David Rohrer, Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after the criminal complaint was unsealed and the defendants...

Sheriff Joe held a sweep in NW Phoenix, Friday October 16, 2009. He had a press conference after. US Department of Justice Officials (approximately 5) showed up at the conference, UNDERCOVER, POSING AS REPORTERS. When contacted by a Sheriff commander, the Federal Civil Rights officials posing as journalists, conducted themselves "unprofessionally" and "refused to provide official identification. Only one official from the "covert team provided any form of ID when pressed." That was the senior trial attorney, (phonetics) G. Yong Jung. She has been conducting the DOJ's investigation of the Sheriff's office re: allegations of racial profiling. Ms. Yong Jung...

Note: The following text is a quote: Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMonday, October 19, 2009 Attorney General Announces Formal Medical Marijuana Guidelines Attorney General Eric Holder today announced formal guidelines for federal prosecutors in states that have enacted laws authorizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The guidelines make clear that the focus of federal resources should not be on individuals whose actions are in compliance with existing state laws, while underscoring that the Department will continue to prosecute people whose claims of compliance with state and local law conceal operations inconsistent with the...

Justice Department leaders are pressing ahead with reforms to prevent lapses by prosecutors in sharing evidence in criminal cases, a series of changes spurred by failures that led the federal government to take a highly unusual step earlier this year and abandon the conviction of former senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). The reforms come as new allegations emerge that cast doubt on the credibility of the key witness in the Alaska political corruption scandals, including the botched prosecution of Stevens. Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer outlined...the fresh safeguards, such as new training programs for federal prosecutors on their evidence-sharing obligations...

US House backs Guantanamo prisoner transfer 15 Oct 2009 17:26:42 GMT Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted to allow the Obama administration to bring foreign terrorism suspects from the Guantanamo Bay prison to the United States to face trial. The 307 to 114 vote removes one of many roadblocks the administration faces as it tries to empty the internationally condemned prison by January.

The U.S. Justice Department has denied Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel’s appeal of its decision to reject Handel’s plan for verifying voters’ citizenship. Handel, a 2010 Republican gubernatorial hopeful, asked the department in August to reconsider its decision to reject the system. The Justice Department in May said the verification program is frequently inaccurate and has a “discriminatory effect” on minority voters. The decision meant Georgia had to halt the citizenship checks, which Handel launched in 2007 in response to the Help America Vote Act. That federal law required states to verify voters’ identity, but not necessarily citizenship. Handel...

Bloggers of the world, relax - the Federal Trade Commission is not out to get you. That was the message from Mary Engle, associate director for advertising practices at the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Sen. John Ensign has admitted to having an affair with a staffer, admitted that he helped find a job for the staffer’s husband and admitted that his parents paid the staffer’s family nearly $100,000. But the worst may still be to come. The Justice Department is expected to decide within weeks whether to pursue a criminal probe into the relationship between Ensign (R-Nev.) and the staffer’s husband, and two prominent Washington defense attorneys say prosecutors are likely to find Ensign’s case irresistible. “I don’t see how they cannot look at this case,” Stan Brand, a Washington attorney who specializes in...

Attorneys for Roman Polanski met with Justice Department officials and presented arguments against extraditing the jailed director from Switzerland, where he is being held, to Los Angeles to face sentencing for his 1977 criminal case. Polanski’s lawyers recently sought help from Obama administration officials in the Justice Department requesting that they not return the filmmaker to America, according to court documents filed in L.A.. Members of the director’s legal team met with a deputy assistant attorney general and other Justice Department officials on Oct. 2, according to the appellate court filing...

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today announced more than $37 million in Recovery Act and Fiscal Year 2009 grants have been awarded to support organizations in developing, implementing and expanding youth mentoring activities. "These funds allow us to invest further in the future of today's youth by providing mentoring opportunities to help children reach their full potential," said Attorney General Holder. "These grants will help steer young people away from criminal activities by providing them with healthy life alternatives, positive role models, and direct contact with caring adults." The Recovery Act, signed into law by President Obama, provides the Office...

Welcome to the new Justice.gov. If you’re a regular visitor to our site, you’ll notice some changes today. If you are joining us for the first time, welcome. The Department of Justice launches Justice.gov today in an effort to increase openness and transparency in government. Utilizing a variety of online tools, we will be able to share news and information, not just on our own web site, but through popular social networks Twitter, YouTube and MySpace and Facebook. The Justice presence on these social networks will allow Americans to interact with the Department in entirely new ways. The new Justice.gov...

Various conservative blogs are talking about the existence of a "blog squad" at the U.S. Justice Department. The website, the Muffled Oar writes that a blogging unit formed within the Department of Justice to counter websites with posts, articles, and user comments critical of the Obama administration. Matthew Miller Director of Public Affair at the Justice Department told the Washington Times,: "There is no 'blog squad'. There is Tracy [Russo] who handles online media. It’s the policy of the office of public affairs to not post anonymous comments. We have not seen any evidence that anyone does post comments, and...

Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, has apparently hired a cadre of left-wing, Democrat campaign bloggers to troll through the Internet looking for news stories and blog posts that denigrate the Obama agenda. After such websites are found it is the job of these secret lefty bloggers to leave comments that come to the support of Obamaism in the comments sections. It seems that Eric Holder has created his own little propaganda unit in a valiant effort to become the Bloggi Riefenstahl of the Obama era. As reported at The Muffled Oar, a blog that first broke the story of Holder’s...

Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, has apparently hired a cadre of left-wing, Democrat campaign bloggers to troll through the Internet looking for news stories and blog posts that denigrate the Obama agenda. After such websites are found it is the job of these secret lefty bloggers to leave comments that come to the support of Obamaism in the comments sections. It seems that Eric Holder has created his own little propaganda unit in a valiant effort to become the Bloggi Riefenstahl of the Obama era. As reported at The Muffled Oar, a blog that first broke the story of Holder’s...

Various conservative blogs are talking about the existence of a "blog squad" at the U.S. Justice Department. The website, the Muffled Oar writes that a blogging unit formed within the Department of Justice to counter websites with posts, articles, and user comments critical of the Obama administration. Matthew Miller Director of Public Affair at the Justice Department told the Washington Times,: "There is no 'blog squad'. There is Tracy [Russo] who handles online media. It’s the policy of the office of public affairs to not post anonymous comments. We have not seen any evidence that anyone does post comments, and...

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that it will be difficult to meet the administration's Jan. 22, 2010, deadline to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., voted against President Barack Obama’s pick to head the U.S. Justice Department’s civil right division. U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., voted for the nomination. Twenty-two votes were cast against Thomas Sanchez, who was confirmed Tuesday. Republicans expressed concern about his links to some immigrant groups and the Department of Justice’s disposal of a voter intimidation case involving New Black Panther Party activists who stood in front of polling places on election day holding nightsticks. Hispanic groups including the National Council of La Raza welcomed Sanchez’s nomination. McCain’s office did not respond to questions regarding his...

Obama's Attorney General, Eric Holder, has apparently hired a cadre of left-wing, Democrat campaign bloggers to troll through the Internet looking for news stories and blog posts that denigrate the Obama agenda. After such websites are found it is the job of these secret lefty bloggers to leave comments that come to the support of Obamaism in the comments sections. It seems that Eric Holder has created his own little propaganda unit in a valiant effort to become the Bloggi Riefenstahl of the Obama era. As reported at The Muffled Oar, a blog that first broke the story of Holder's...

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has decided not to seek the death penalty against a former Guantánamo detainee who was ordered by President Obama to face trial in a civilian court in New York. Mr. Holder communicated the decision to federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Friday, and they in turn informed the federal judge who is presiding in the case. “You are authorized and directed not to seek the death penalty against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani,” Mr. Holder wrote to Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Ghailani faces federal charges of conspiring...

The U.S. government has decided not to seek the death penalty against a Guantanamo detainee charged in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. A letter released Monday advises a federal judge that Attorney General Eric Holder told prosecutors not to seek the death penalty in the New York trial of Ahmed Ghailani (guh-LAHN'-ee). His trial is scheduled for September 2010.

Civil Rights Commission Chairman Seeks Responses In Voter Intimidation Case The Chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Gerald A. Reynolds, has sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder seeking answers to their questions about a voter intimidation case in Philadelphia involving the New Black Panther Party (NBPP). It considers the responses "overdue." The letter, dated September 30, 2009, is seemingly an unprecedented action. It asks for Mr. Holder to "instruct Department officials to fully cooperate" with the Commission's investigation, as required by federal law. The correspondence noted that the Commission still has not received any of the...

In a 24-page filing littered with all-caps, bold, and underlined text, Birther attorney Orly Taitz is demanding that a federal judge recuse himself in a case that has morphed from a soldier's attempt to resist Barack Obama's orders to what Taitz sees as a prosecution of herself. Taitz alleges that Judge Clay Land met with Attorney General Eric Holder, who was allegedly spotted at a small coffee shop across from Land's courtroom in Columbus, Georgia, on the day of a Birther hearing. A strange affidavit by one Robert Douglas describes the putative sighting of Holder, sans entourage, who "probably thought...

The Department of Justice has hired a team of partisan Democrat campaign bloggers to work at the Department.....Tracy Russo is one such blogger from the campaign of John Edwards. The unit is housed in the Office of Public Affairs....They are also tasked with posting anonymous comments, or comments under pseudonyms, at newspaper websites with stories critical of the Department of Justice, Holder and President Obama....“There is clearly a designed effort to rebut stories that are exposing the Holder Justice Department as more political than the last. We’ve seen a change in the pattern of anonymous emails we receive and comments...

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Wednesday to name a Justice Department official to oversee the production of what it called "our overdue information requests" for documents in the dismissal of a civil complaint against New Black Panther Party members accused of disrupting a polling place in the November elections. Commission Chairman Gerald A. Reynolds, in a letter, said the department has been "largely non-responsive" to requests for information since questions about the dismissal were first raised in June and had turned over "none of the documents" being sought. Mr. Reynolds said...

It wasn't their intention, but seven former CIA directors who asked President Obama to abort a Justice Department inquiry into "enhanced interrogation techniques" have moved Obama to renew his promise that he will do no such thing. Last month, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. asked a career federal prosecutor, John H. Durham, to conduct a "preliminary review" into whether laws were violated in overseas interrogations of suspected terrorists. Holder made it clear that interrogators who complied with Justice Department guidelines, inadequate as they were, had nothing to fear. That didn't prevent the former directors from sending Obama a letter...

Even though the Border Patrol now reports that almost 1,300 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border is not under effective control, and the Department of Justice says that vast stretches of the border are “easily breached,” and the Government Accountability Office has revealed that three persons “linked to terrorism” and 530 aliens from “special interest countries” were intercepted at Border Patrol checkpoints last year, the administration is nonetheless now planning to decrease the number of Border Patrol agents deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Senate Republicans on Friday pulled out of a bipartisan investigation into controversial "war on terror" detentions and interrogations, including tactics widely condemned as torture. The move by the opposition party dealt a sharp blow to the Senate Intelligence Committee's efforts to find out exactly what methods were used when and whether they paid off -- without prosecuting witnesses or agents thought to have committed abuses. Senator Kit Bond, the panel's top Republican, blamed Attorney General Eric Holder's investigation into alleged CIA abuse of detainees, which he said made it impossible for current or former CIA officials...

The top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee has pulled out of the panel's bipartisan review of Bush-era terrorist interrogation techniques, saying Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s criminal investigation into the CIA undermines the committee's ability to interview witnesses. "Had Mr. Holder honored the pledge made by the president to look forward, not backwards, we would still be active participants in the committee's review," said Sen. Christopher S. Bond of Missouri, the panel's vice chairman. "Instead, DOJ sent a loud and clear message that previous decisions to decline prosecution mean nothing and old criminal charges can be brought anytime...

War On Terror: The arrest of a suspected father-and-son al-Qaida cell near Denver is a reminder that the bad guys remain among us. Why is the Justice Department hunting the good guys?Twenty-four-year-old Afghan native Najibullah Zazi, his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, and an associate from New York City were arrested Saturday at what by all appearances was a quintessential suburban residence in Aurora, Colorado. Zazi's computer reportedly contained a handwritten formula for an explosive device. All three are either naturalized U.S. citizens or legal resident immigrants. And all three are under FBI investigation as operatives in what could have...

"The Justice Department's inspector general has agreed to investigate whether ACORN has applied for or received any DOJ grant money, in the wake of bipartisan criticism of the community activist group's operation. And seven other inspectors general are being asked by two congressional members to take a look at their funding mechanisms."

Sometimes there is more than one good reason for a slowdown. That's the case when it comes to Thomas E. Perez, the nominee to head the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Mr. Perez is the Maryland secretary of labor. His resume -- two graduate degrees from Harvard University and a previous staff role in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department -- looks solid on paper. But several published reports have said that Republicans have slowed Mr. Perez's nomination in protest of the Obama administration's dismissal of already-won voter-intimidation cases against agents of the New Black Panther Party....

Airplane shoe bomber Richard C. Reid no longer faces severe limits on his prison activities or communications after the Obama administration quietly ended years of hard-nosed curbs against the British-born al-Qaeda terrorist. This summer the Justice Department halted six years of measures that kept Reid from associating or praying with fellow jailed Muslim terrorists, and limited his access to the news media and pen pals.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama says he has no plans to ask the Justice Department to end its criminal investigation into the harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the Bush administration. Seven former CIA directors have asked the president to do just that. In a letter to Obama on Friday, they warned that the probe could discourage CIA officers from doing the kind of aggressive intelligence work needed to fight terrorism. Obama tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that he appreciates that the former CIA chiefs are wanting "to look after an institution that they helped to build." Obama says he wants...

WASHINGTON -- President Obama says he has no plans to ask the Justice Department to end its criminal investigation into the harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the Bush administration. Seven former CIA directors have asked the president to do just that. In a letter to Obama on Friday, they warned that the probe could discourage CIA officers from doing the kind of aggressive intelligence work needed to fight terrorism. Obama tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that he appreciates that the former CIA chiefs are wanting "to look after an institution that they helped to build."

Watching the developing courageous and romantic story of two young people brave enough go undercover and discover the truth can distract us from seeing the obvious. By following the unfolding story of ACORN, one has enough information to conclude that there is a pattern of bad conduct embedded in the culture of those who associate themselves with an organization that claims to be interested in the good of the community. They have cloaked themselves with the official documents of state corporation papers, and an extensive review by the Internal Revenue Service to enable nonprofit status. It is neither here nor...

Very, say longtime watchers of the extreme leftwing group that sprouted out of a radical 60s anti-government movement. For decades ACORN has presented itself as a grassroots network dedicated to improving the lives of the poor. But there's more to ACORN than its do-gooder veneer. Just ask the banks, corporations and politicians who've been the target of ACORN's shameless shenanigans over the past 40 years. Here's how the tiny seed of 1960s radicalism blossomed into a well-funded, national organization with political connections reaching all the way to the White House:

chicagotribune.com Independent prosecutor for ACORN By Charles Lipson September 20, 2009 ACORN is in very deep, very public trouble, and the U.S. attorney general should appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate. What we know so far is due entirely to two amateur reporters, James E. O'Keefe III, 25, and Hannah Giles, 20, who managed to videotape a web of corrupt practices in ACORN offices. Dressed as a pimp and prostitute, O'Keefe and Giles walked into ACORN offices from New York to California and simply asked for business advice. ACORN officials were happy to provide it and were secretly recorded explaining...

I took Indian Law at ASU and one thing that surprised me was how much jurisdiction the federal government has in Indian Country--that means that the US Attorney (especially for Arizona) needs to have extensive experience in Indian Law. That's why there was widespread excitement in the ASU Indian Law Department when President Bush appointed ASU Indian Law Center graduate Diane Humetewa as US Attorney. Not only did Diane know Indian Law, but she was Native American, and some folks felt it was a nice touch to have a highly qualified native American woman working with Arizona's 23 Indian Tribes....

Tom Maguire, citing the Washington Post, reports that AG Eric Holder seems to be winding down the much ballyhooed and widely criticized decision to investigate the CIA interrogators: The WaPo reports that, having finished with the grandstanding and puffery, Attorney General Eric Holder's investigation into the already-investigated detainee abuse cases is narrowing and winding down. Beyond the obvious problems - in addition to demoralizing the CIA they are investigating the foot soldiers, not the generals who ordered the policy - it turns out that technicalities of law, jurisdiction and evidence make prosecutions and convictions difficult.  That is hardly a surprise to...

C.I.A. Chiefs Ask Obama to Stop Abuse Inquiry WASHINGTON — Seven former directors of the Central Intelligence Agency asked President Obama on Friday to shut down the new Justice Department inquiry into past abuses during interrogations of terrorism suspects, arguing that it “will seriously damage” the nation’s ability to protect itself. In a letter to Mr. Obama, the former C.I.A. chiefs said the cases under study had already been examined by career prosecutors who found that no criminal charges were warranted. To reopen cases based on a change in which political party controls the government, they wrote, will make it...

The Obama administration signaled Wednesday that it would scrap a controversial Bush-era rule that set stricter limits for smog but fell short of scientific recommendations. In a notice filed Wednesday in a federal appeals court, the Justice Department says there are concerns that the revision made by the Bush administration does not adhere to federal air pollution law. The Environmental Protection Agency will propose revised smog standards to protect health and the environment in late December.

A short time ago, President Obama's Justice Department filed a brief in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts defending the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defends the right of states to not recognize same-sex marriages from other states -- a law President Obama opposes. You can read the brief HERE. Unlike the administration's previous filing in June -- which upset gays and lesbians by seeming to compare the illegitimacy of same sex couples to incestuous couples -- this filing states right off the bat that the president opposes DOMA because it is "discriminatory." "The government’s filing continues to make...

The Justice Department investigation into CIA torture allegations may have already jeopardized American intelligence capabilities, seven former CIA directors told President Obama have claimed. In a letter, the spy chiefs urge him to reverse Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to re-review case files of a dozen interrogations for possible criminal prosecution. Letter to President Obama from Former DCIs and DCIAs.

"Elections have their consequences." In countries without the democratic tradition of America, those consequences may include putting the former leaders in jail, or worse. But that has never been the tradition in the US. The history of America has been that those consequences have been political, a change in policy, appointment of advisers who were hated by the old regime, etc. But has not been the Obama way. Since his election, Obama and his team have attempted to appease their political left by publicly denouncing the Bush Administration's national security policies which kept us safe, even as they claimed Obama...