Abuse of power

March 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- The Department of Justice today released two previously undisclosed Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memoranda and seven previously undisclosed opinions.

"Americans deserve a government that operates with transparency and openness," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "It is my goal to make OLC opinions available when possible while still protecting national security information and ensuring robust internal executive branch debate and decision-making."    » read more »

12 August 2008 -- A new report says the United States has spent about $100 billion on private contractors to support operations in Iraq since the 2003 invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.

At the height of last year's military surge in Iraq, the United States had roughly 168,000 troops deployed in the country.

Blackwater security guards, Republican Palace, Baghdad: US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) photograph by ACoE photographer Jim Gordon.

But America's armed forces have been outnumbered by what some see as a private army funded by the federal government: contractors that provide a wide array of services, from security operations to rebuilding projects to logistical support.    » read more »

Contractors Allegedly Violated Small-Business Laws

August 12, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC—Following release of a Congressional Budget Office report today showing the massive expenditures and an over-reliance on private contractors in Iraq under the Bush Administration and the revelation of a report by the Small Business Administration Inspector General showing Blackwater was awarded millions of dollars in federal contracts designated for small businesses, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today called on Congress to act on her legislation to reform the contracting system and put in place needed accountability measures and urged the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to launch an investigation into the impact of Blackwater’s violation.    » read more »

Washington, D.C. -- August 11, 2008 -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) sent a letter Monday to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller pressing the Director to provide more information to Committee members about the misuse of so-called “exigent letters.” Press accounts last week revealed that Mueller apologized to editors at The New York Times and The Washington Post for a 2004 breach of Department of Justice guidelines regarding subpoenas for reporters’ phone records.    » read more »

August 12, 2008 -- The Department of Defense announced today that an independent advisory panel, the Defense Business Board, will review the overall performance of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA).

The review follows a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released July 23 that concluded DCAA auditors were improperly hindered in some of their investigations of defense contractors.

The Defense Business Board, an independent federal advisory committee comprised of senior business executives, has agreed to form an independent review panel supported by subject matter experts to review DCAA procedures and make recommendations for improvement as appropriate.    » read more »

Poses Risk to Public Health

WASHINGTON -- June 12, 2008 – A new White House policy deals a crippling blow to the ability of the scientific staff of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify chemicals that pose the greatest risk to public health, potentially putting millions of people at risk, according to public health experts at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).    » 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 -- 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 »

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 »

May 27, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC — Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today issued the following statement in response to the Department of Defense (DOD) Inspector General’s announcement of an investigation into reports of Pentagon manipulation of independent military analysts:

“We welcome the DOD Inspector General’s decision to investigate whether the Pentagon unduly influenced the commentary of independent television military analysts. We called for this investigation last month because the American people need information they can trust to make their own informed judgments. It is critical to find out if the Pentagon was manipulating independent analysts, especially if the Pentagon used government contracts as a means of influence.”    » 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 »

Public Citizen Sues to Force U.S. Trade Office To Release Details of WTO Internet Gambling Deal

May 19, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bush administration is illegally withholding the details of its offer accepted by the European Union to bind more sectors of the U.S. economy to World Trade Organization (WTO) jurisdiction as part of a settlement relating to a WTO ruling against the U.S. ban on Internet gambling, Public Citizen contended today in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.    » 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 »