December 4th, 2005

Chris Keeley

(no subject)

Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA Mistake
German Citizen Released After Months in 'Rendition'

By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 4, 2005; A01

In May 2004, the White House dispatched the U.S. ambassador in Germany to pay an unusual visit to that country's interior minister. Ambassador Daniel R. Coats carried instructions from the State Department transmitted via the CIA's Berlin station because they were too sensitive and highly classified for regular diplomatic channels, according to several people with knowledge of the conversation.

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Meanwhile, a German prosecutor continues to work Masri's case. A Macedonia bus driver has confirmed that Masri was taken away by border guards on the date he gave investigators. A forensic analysis of Masri's hair showed he was malnourished during the period he says he was in the prison. Flight logs show a plane registered to a CIA front company flew out of Macedonia on the day Masri says he went to Afghanistan.

Masri can find few words to explain his ordeal. "I have very bad feelings" about the United States, he said. "I think it's just like in the Arab countries: arresting people, treating them inhumanly and less than that, and with no rights and no laws."

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this article.

Chris Keeley

Howard dean

Dean Hammers Bush On War, Immigration
DNC Chief Gives Preview of '06 Race

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 4, 2005; A05

PHOENIX, Dec. 3 -- Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean offered a preview of the 2006 elections here Saturday with a blistering critique of President Bush's policies on Iraq and immigration and the Republicans' ethics scandals. But he warned Democrats they cannot expect to win next year without offering an agenda of their own.

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To that end, Democrats held two organizing sessions for new bodies within the DNC, one called the "people of faith" group and the other open to veterans and military families. But apparently fearing potential divisions at the preliminary discussions, DNC officials closed both meetings to reporters, angering some DNC members.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company
Chris Keeley

FBI Cover-up

December 4, 2005

Report Finds Cover-Up in an F.B.I. Terror Case
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 - Officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation mishandled a Florida terror investigation, falsified documents in the case in an effort to cover repeated missteps and retaliated against an agent who first complained about the problems, Justice Department investigators have concluded.

In one instance, someone altered dates on three F.B.I. forms using correction fluid to conceal an apparent violation of federal wiretap law, according to a draft report of an investigation by the Justice Department inspector general's office obtained by The New York Times. But investigators were unable to determine who altered the documents.

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Mr. Martinez told investigators that he did not remember making the statements but  that if he had, it was a "knee-jerk reaction but did not mean to indicate I was retaliating against him," the report said.

The inspector general disagreed. It said in the report that Mr. Martinez's treatment of Mr. German amounted to improper retaliation and "discrimination that could have a chilling effect on whistle-blowing."
Chris Keeley

Conyers: Investigate Bush Shutdown of 2002 Abramoff Case!

Not while the (R)s are in charge. Even if they are genuinely
disgusted and horrified by this crap, they can't take too many more
body blows, and one thing that the (R)s have proved is a party
loyalty that far exceeds national loyalty. The (R) party has become
the party of treason and viciousness. When you consider that this was
once Lincoln's party, it just makes you cry. These guys must have
been planning their corruption for years before they took over. Look
at how fast they went bad. It took the (D)s forty years to get about
half as bad.

When the (D)s take over next year, the skeletons are gonna come
dancing out of the closet like a Grateful Dead(TM) bumper sticker.

Look at what is coming out, and they have the lid clamped about as
firmly down as you can get it. They have been killing inquiries and
investigations at every chance. They must be getting awful tired from
whacking all those moles.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/4/5304/98461

Chris M.

Conyers: Investigate Bush Shutdown of 2002 Abramoff Case!
by Sherlock Google

Sun Dec 04, 2005 at 03:30:04 AM PDT

 
DoJ Inspector General Glen Fine is investigating Bush's ending of Abramoff's Guam Scandal

John Conyers in August asked for an investigation for possible Obstruction of Justice charges against Bush for abruptly ending an inquiry on Abramoff and Guam.  Covered this in Bush Abruptly Ended Abramoff Investigation in 2002! Obstruction of Justice? (must-see!!), my diary yesterday. 

Here is the full letter:


It was on November 19, 2002, that President Bush announced he was demoting U.S. Attorney Black. The federal grand jury took no further action in the Abramoff investigation.
The Los Angeles Times reports that an extensive effort by lobbyists connected to the Government of Guam is responsible for U.S. Attorney Black's demotion. In May 2003, U.S. Attorney Black was replaced by Leonardo Rapadas who had been recommended by the Republican Party of Guam. Fred Radewagen, a lobbyist, said he carried that recommendation to Karl Rove, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, in early 2003.

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*

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit, progressive legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions. CREW drafted the complaint against Rep. Tom DeLay, filed by former Congressman Chris Bell, for which DeLay was admonished last year.

http://citizensforethics.org/...
Chris Keeley

Pete Returns To Rehab For Kate

http://xtramsn.co.nz/entertainment/0,,12254-5100899,00.html

Pete Returns To Rehab For Kate
05/12/2005 10:00 AM
ScreamingMedia
Troubled singer Pete Doherty has vowed to return to rehab in a bid to win back his ex-lover Kate Moss, who ditched him when he abandoned the treatment she paid for.

The crack addict rock star quit the Meadows clinic in Arizona - where Moss kicked her own cocaine habit - last week after just nine days of treatment.

But despite branding rehab "rubbish", he is determined to resume the therapy to rekindle his romance with the supermodel.

He says, "She's furious with me for leaving rehab - and that's understandable. But I will go back in. I've promised her.

"I don't know how Kate managed to get off the cocaine because I thought the clinic was a load of rubbish.

"When I went there it felt like a prison. It was a waste of time in the middle of the desert.

"But if it means being with Kate, I will go back there. I swear we will get back together."

(c) 2004 World Entertainment News Network


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http://xtramsn.co.nz/entertainment/0,,12254-5100899,00.html