The Perrspectives Document Library has been expanded to include the latest news, key reports, document releases and other essential materials surrounding Bush administration and GOP wrong-doing. From the U.S. attorneys purge, Plamegate, and illegal NSA domestic surveillance to Iraq intelligence manipulation, torture scandals and the ongoing Jack Abramoff fall-out, it's all there.
Some of the latest developments and additions to the Perrspectives Document Library:
U.S. Attorneys Scandal Document Center
Despite Alberto Gonzales' vow to "sprint to the finish line," the Attorney General's job security continues to erode. While internal probes of political hiring have been extended to include a focus on immigration judges in the wake of Monica Goodling's House testimony, Congress may call former AG John Ashcroft to testify over then White House Counsel Gonzales' bedside manner during the March 2004 confrontation over NSA homeland spying. This Tuesday, Bradley Schlotzman, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division and currently serving in the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys,will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his own role in political hiring and voter suppression efforts. Meanwhile, Karl Rove favorite and vote caging expert Tim Griffin is leaving his Arkansas prosecutor post to join Fred Thompson's presidential campaign. (Thompson, as it turns out, is a major player in the Scooter Libby legal defense Fund, about which more follows below).
Iraq Intelligence and WMD Document Center
Just days after a scathing Senate Intelligence Committee report detailed how the Bush administration ignored warnings about the prospects for sectarian strife and civil war in post-Saddam Iraq, the White House announced its intent to maintain U.S. bases in Iraq for perhaps generations to come. Comically misreading history, the Bush team compares the U.S. occupation of Iraq to the American force posture in South Korea. Meanwhile, while Congressional Republicans like Jeff Sessions (R-AL) point to a magical September date for progress towards U.S. troop reductions, a "furious" President Bush rejected a New York Times story describing plans for a 50% cut in American forces in Iraq in 2008. The Iraq Intelligence and WMD document center also includes the Phase I Senate Intel Committee Report, the Robb-Silberman Commission Report, the Downing Street memos, the Iraq Study Group recommendation, the Iraq Survey Group's WMD findings, and more.
Plamegate CIA Leak Resources
On Tuesday, former Cheney chief-of-staff Scooter Libby will be sentenced for his March conviction on four counts of perjury and obstruction of justice in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. While prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has asked for up to three years in prison for Libby, Scooter's defense team has asked for probation and community service. The defense also asked Judge Reggie Walton to seal letters from Libby friends and foes regarding the sentence, a request Walton denied. On May 25th, Fitzgerald filed a CIA document detailing Plame's status as a covert CIA operative, which while definitive, was not sufficient to silence right-wing talking heads claiming otherwise. Meanwhile, Valerie Plame has been forced to sue the CIA over its blocking her upcoming book "Fair Game" on the spurious grounds it includes intelligence materials declassified 15 years ago. And in the irony department, Fred Thompson, the Watergate committee lawyer who famously asked Nixon aide Alexander Butterfield about listening devices in the White House, is an advisor and fundraiser for the Libby Legal Defense Trust. The soon-to-be GOP presidential candidate has also called for Libby's pardon.
NSA Domestic Surveillance Scandal Center
Speaking of the Libby case, Judge Walton has been appointed to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court charged with approving domestic surveillance under FISA. And while Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell asks for new FISA powers from a skeptical Congress, the U.S. government is assisting Mexican President Felipe Calderon with new programs to monitor the phone and email communications of that country's narco-gangs. In the House, the House Judiciary Committee's Jerrold Nadler will hold hearings on the "Constitution in Crisis," delving into NSA domestic spying, the denial of habeas corpus in the Military Commissions Act, Patriot Act violations, and much more.
Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff Scandal Resources
Meanwhile, the Jack Abramoff scandal is the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats. Robert Novak reports that Abramoff-tainted Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) will not seek a 16th term next year. This week, we learned more about how the missing Abramoff White House visit records came to be missing. Apparently, President Bush and Vice President Cheney directed the Secret Service to maintain the confidentiality of visitor logs, breaking precedent to declare them presidential records not covered by the Freedom of Information Act. Meanwhile, former House Majority leader Tom Delay, who frequently compares himself to Jesus, claimed "God has spoken to me" about establishing a conservative counterweight to MoveOn.org.
For more, visit the Perrspectives Document Library here.