Scandal

Washington -- 23 June 2008 -- A U.S. federal appeals court has struck down the U.S. military's classification of a Guantanamo Bay detainee as an enemy combatant. This is the first time the U.S. court system has overruled the Bush administration's designation of a detainee since the Guantanamo facility began operations in early 2002.

Guantanamo protesters, Barcelona: Photo by Quim (CC)    » read more »

The court's latest rebuke of Guantanamo Bay won't close the prison down. But it's a step toward curbing Bush's unilateral tactics.

Jun. 13, 2008 | For the third time in four years, the U.S. Supreme Court has slammed the Bush administration's detention policies at Guantánamo Bay – locking up terrorist suspects indefinitely and beyond the law.

Guantanamo protesters, London: Photo by Val Kerry (CC)    » read more »

13 June 2008 -- "The Carter Center and I welcome the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Boumediene v. Bush, restoring the constitutional rights of habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees. This hallmark decision represents a victory for the rule of law and will improve the United States' image as a champion for human rights and freedom across the world, as well as ensure that individuals in Guantanamo will be afforded an adequate treatment as guaranteed by our nation's Constitution.

It is my hope that this decision will mark an end to an era of indefinite detentions, torture, coerced evidence, and other egregious violations of civil rights in the name of the war on terror, and that compliance with the ruling will be expedited."

Source: The Carter Center

June 12, 2008 -- Chicago, IL - "Today's Supreme Court decision ensures that we can protect our nation and bring terrorists to justice, while also protecting our core values. The Court's decision is a rejection of the Bush Administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo - yet another failed policy supported by John McCain.

Barack Obama mural, Brooklyn: Photo by Shira Golding (CC)    » read more »

June 12, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC— Anthony Coley, spokesman for Senator Edward M. Kennedy, today issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision in Boumediene v. Bush.

“When Congress passed the Military Commissions Act in 2006, Senator Kennedy called the Act ‘fatally flawed’ and said ‘its evisceration of the writ of habeas corpus for all non-citizens is almost surely unconstitutional.’ Today, the Supreme Court agreed, and rejected the Bush Administration’s blatant attempt to create a legal black hole beyond the reach of the rule of law.”    » read more »

June 12, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement today after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Boumediene v. Bush, which held that Guantanamo Bay prisoners have the right to contest their detention in federal courts:

Guantanamo Bay protest outside US Supreme Court: Photo by takomabibelot (CC)

“Today, our nation’s highest court again rejected the Bush Administration’s expansive view of executive power.    » read more »

09 June 2008 -- The Pentagon says U.S. forces in Iraq will not be used to launch attacks on any of the country's neighbors. The comment was made as U.S. and Iraqi negotiators work on an agreement to cover the future U.S. troop presence in Iraq, and as Iraq's prime minister visits Iran.

Fast food franchises at Balad air base, Iraq: Photo by Nutloaf (CC)

Spokesman Bryan Whitman says the United States wants an agreement that would allow its forces to stay in Iraq temporarily, and would protect the troops like agreements with other countries do. And he went one step further to try to reassure Iran and other Iraq neighbors.    » read more »

06/09/2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sens. John Kerry, Bob Menendez, Byron Dorgan, and Frank Lautenberg today introduced legislation that will prohibit the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) from using appropriated funds for propaganda and will require the DoD Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to deliver reports to Congress within 90 days.    » read more »

June 6, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement today after news reports indicated that Senator McCain supports President Bush’s wire-tapping program:

John McCain: Photo by Christy Frink (CC)    » read more »

May 30, 2008 -- Washington, DC - Today, House Judiciary Commitee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released the following statement in response to revelation about the Valerie Plame CIA leak made in former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's new book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception:

"I find Mr. McClellan's revelations about attempts to cover-up the Valerie Plame leak extremely troubling. Particularly disturbing is McClellan's assertion that he was specifically directed by Andy Card to 'vouch' for Scooter Libby after the investigation had begun, which, if true, could amount to obstruction of justice beyond that for which Mr. Libby has already been convicted.    » read more »

01 June 2008 -- Scott McClellan, former spokesman for U.S. President George Bush, says he should have spoken up sooner about his doubts about the leak of the identity of a U.S. intelligence agent and about the rationale for invading Iraq.

Scott McClellan (left): White House photo

McClellan said on U.S. television Sunday that he blames his failure to do so on youth and inexperience. He says he believes White House staffers should resign if they have a strong disagreement with the president.

McClellan wrote about his doubts about the Bush administration in his new memoir, which says the White House relied on "innuendo and implication" to bolster its claim that Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction.    » read more »

May 28, 2008 -- MS. PERINO: Hi, guys. All right. Well, we are on our way now to Utah, after a great morning -- and the President is running a little bit late because it took a little longer for him to shake 1,012 hands, salute them all and take his picture with them. But he had a really fantastic time at the Air Force Academy and thinks they were great hosts.

And so we'll try and make up a little bit of time in the air so that we can get to Utah and get on with our events today, which are the fundraisers that you know of.

That's all I've got.

Q I know that you said you weren't going to be speaking anything more about McClellan, but could you give us a little sense of who told the President about it, when it occurred and any reaction he had?    » read more »

May 22, 2008 -- (Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) issued a subpoena to former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove for testimony about the politicization of the Department of Justice (DOJ), including former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman's case. Yesterday, Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, sent a letter to the committee expressing that Rove would not agree to testify voluntarily, per the committee's previous requests.    » read more »

May 20, 2008 -- “The Inspector General credits the FBI for maintaining a higher standard in the interrogation of detainees. In a majority of circumstances, agents at the FBI appear to have adhered to a clear policy in the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I still wish that Director Mueller had been more forthcoming when I asked him about these matters at our May 2004 hearing. Had he done so, he might have helped paved the way for Congress to investigate allegations of abuse sooner. The Republican majority refused to subpoena documents relating to the interrogation and treatment of detainees. The Bush administration has delayed four years in providing them. This remains a sorry chapter in our nation’s history.    » read more »

May 20, 2008 -- The Committee held holding a hearing titled, “EPA’s New Ozone Standards” at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building.

The hearing examined the new ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and the process the Environmental Protection Agency used in setting them.    » read more »