Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a Republican since 1966, said on Tuesday April 28 that he will switch to the Decmocratic Party and will run as a Democrat in 2010, thus presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters. Here is a link to…
In response to litigation brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Obama administration authorized the Justice Department to release four secret legal memoranda used by the Bush administration to justify torture. The memoranda were releasd on April 16, 2009. President Obama also issued a statement, emphasizing that “this…
Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today a 118-count indictment of a Chinese citizen and his company for charges relating to the misuse of Manhattan banks and the proliferation of illicit missile and nuclear technology to the Government of Iran. The Chinese company, known as LIMMT, is a major…
The Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has prepared an audit report, Fugitive Felons Serving As Representative Payees. March 2009. The Report consists of a review and analysis of representative payee issues within the SSA. To conduct the review, a file of fugitive records was…
The U.S. Justice Department moved on Wednesday April 1 to drop all charges in the case against former Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. In a federal court on Wednesday Justice Department lawyers explained that in addition to earlier disclosures they discovered further evidence of misconduct that raised questions about the…
In a 75 page, 19 count indictment, prosecutors allege that Mr. Blagojevich and his associates sought illegal profits from the governor’s authority to award money and jobs in construction, legal work, consulting and investmentments. Included in the indictment are allegations that Mr. Blagojevich and his associates “schemed to auction off…
A Report of the Violence Policy Center* authored by Senior Policy Analyst Tom Diaz Introduction Mexico is under siege, its democratic governance is at risk. This report examines the role of the U.S. civilian gun market in the drug-related violence in Mexico that is creeping northward into the United States.…
On Monday March 23, 2009 the Obama administration presented the details of the Public-Private Invetment Program as a major initiative to help stimulate the U.S. economy. Below are links to four documents which were prepared to help introduce this program. Press Briefing by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Plans to…
In his memorandum of March 19, 2009 to heads of executive departments and agencies, Attorney General Holder rescinds former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s October 12, 2001 memorandum which states that records could be witheld by the Department of Justice “unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an…
Secret legal opinions issued by the Bush administration lawyers after the September 11, 2001 attacks were among the nine that were released and disclosed publicly by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday March 2, 2009. In a Department of Justice Press Release announcing this action, Eric Holder the current…