By CHARLIE SAVAGE The New York Times WASHINGTON — Two senators claimed on Thursday that the Justice Department had secretly interpreted the so-called Patriot Act in a twisted way, enabling domestic surveillance activities that many members of Congress do not understand. At the same time, Congress and the White House were rushing to enact legislation…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — It’s been anything but smooth sailing for Atty. Gen. Eric Holder Jr. since he took the job on Feb. 3, 2009. In fact, he’s often been a pinata for some key Republicans, who have bashed him at hearings time and again. Still, despite the shuffling of people in the…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The war against drugs is looking more and more like a war. The New York Times reports that the Obama administration has started sending drones deep into Mexico to gather intelligence on the location and activities of major drug traffickers. The Times reports that the Pentagon began flying the unarmed drones…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON –– Who leaked the info on President Obama’s aunt’s immigration status days before the 2008 election campaign? Well, according to the website Talking Points Memo, the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility still wants to know. The Office of Professional Responsibility still has an “ongoing law enforcement investigation”, Freedom of Information…
Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer, is a senior fellow in the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution. His most recent book is “Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America, and the Future of the Global Jihad.” By Bruce Riedel Los Angeles Times Op-Ed Page Al Qaeda has just released the latest in its series of how-to guides…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — A controversy is surfacing over the questioning of an American teen in Kuwait who is on the no-fly list. The New York Times reports that the teen Gulet Mohamed says he was detained in Kuwait and “underwent a heated interrogation by F.B.I. agents for several hours on Wednesday, in…
By the Los Angeles Times Editorial Page Granting a request by the Obama administration, the Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether former Atty. Gen. John Aschroft can be sued by a U.S. citizen who says he was wrongly arrested as a material witness. Rather than reflexively protecting a former government official, the justices should…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON– As part of what seems like a never ending process of filling the U.S. Attorney posts nationwide, President Obama on Wednesday nominated Conner Eldridge to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Eldridge has served as a Special Deputy Prosecutor for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office of…
