No matter how you look at this attempt to suppress and ignore the WikiLeaks material, it is bizarre and somewhat comical. The WikiLeaks Gitmo Detainee files genie is out of the bottle; it would behoove the US government to join the battle and arguments on the merits and facts instead of trying to cram the genie back in and play hide the bottle.

According to Josh Gerstein, DOJ decided not to charge anyone in the illegal wiretap leak probe. The Justice Department has dropped its long-running criminal investigation of a lawyer who publicly admitted leaking information about President George W. Bush’s top-secret warrantless wiretapping program to The New York Times – disclosures that Bush vehemently denounced as a [...]

There’s an interesting tidbit in the government’s mediation questionnaire in anticipation of their appeal of Vaughn Walker’s decision that al-Haramain had been illegally wiretapped and was entitled to damages. The government is willing to negotiate. In response to the direction, “Provide any other information that might affect the suitability of this case for mediation,” the [...]

Judge Vaugn Walker has issued an extremely significant decision in the illegal wiretapping case of al-Haramain v. Bush/Obama. He has awarded damages and attorney fees to the plaintiffs on their claims of illegal and unconstitutional surveillance by the US government.

I think it was the timing of the end of the torture investigation that hurts most of all. Just days ago, Harold Koh was boasting of the Durham investigation to the UN. Then Bush started his dog and pony show, including his proud admission to have ordered up torture. All of which made today’s announcement, [...]

Vaughn Walker is retiring and President Obama is way behind the curve on maintaining the health of the Federal judiciary and liberal thought in the judiciary is on its deathbed.

With the long anticipated retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, it was important for President Obama to appoint and get confirmed a new justice so there would not only be a full compliment of justices on the court, but to insure the ideological balance of the court was maintained. By selecting Elena Kagan, Obama certainly [...]

Now that Earl Blumenauer has exposed the craven indemnification agreement the US government under the Bush/Cheney Administration gave to Halliburton/KBR, he should pursue the same types of agreements secretly given to telcom companies participating in the illegal wiretapping program.

Is the US government prone to using their prohibited terrorist designations in some kind of shell game for political expediency?

The government has responded to Plaintiffs’ al-Haramain’s proposed judgment. To put it lightly, the DOJ is NOT going to give up and pay.