Employees of the local trash collector, Republic Services Inc., as well as U.S. Postal Service employees have been given tips on how to act as effective witnesses to crimes. … Read More
Five Dead In Santa Monica Shooting Rampage
At least five people are dead and several others injured after a gun rampage in the beachfront city of Santa Monica, California, police say. … Read More
Attorney General Holder under investigation on perjury suspicions
The Daily Mail, which is attributing the new information to a Republican aide familiar with the ongoing investigation, alleges that “perjury is on the table” regarding the probe, which hinges on whether Holder was intentionally misleading in claims on the stand that he had no involvement in the Department of Justice’s spying on some 20 journalists with the Associated Press. “With regard to the potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material,” Holder testified on May 16, “that is not something that I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be a wise policy. In fact, my view is quite the opposite.” Though the scandal stemming from the Department of Justice’s alleged surveillance is still developing, early calls for Holder’s resignation were be skirted by the Attorney General through his denial of direct involvement with the subpoenas used in against the AP. However, only days later an NBC News report confirmed that another target of a DOJ subpoena for phone records targeting Fox News Channel’s James Rosen and Holder’s personal signature on that order undermined Holder’s testimony. In both cases, neither Fox News nor the Associated Press were notified by the DOJ that phone records were being examined by using a legal loophole under the Espionage Act, which waives that requirement in the interest of US national security. And in both cases, the DOJ, and by extension the Obama administration, appears to have been zealously pursuing the source of leaks, fanning the flames in what critics call a relentless persecution of whistleblowers that has had a “chilling effect” on American freedom of the press. In their application for secret monitoring of the Associated Press the Obama administration, in conjunction with the DOJ, aimed to determine the source of a leak about a CIA operation in Yemen reported by the news agency in 2012. Responding to NBC’s investigation on the Rosen case, a statement provided by the DOJ acknowledged that the search warrant application was approved “at the highest levels” of the agency, including “discussions” with Holder himself. Even more noteworthy, that affidavit also labeled Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in a crime. Holder’s office would not comment to the Daily Mail regarding any ongoing probe, though the Attorney General could in theory argue that his May 15 testimony is not in conflict with the agency’s access to Rosen’s phone records as the DOJ did not intend to prosecute him, though that, in turn, would undermine the loophole used under the Espionage Act. According to an investigation by The New Yorker, the DOJ approached three different judges in its bid to gain secret access to Rosen’s communications. Ultimately, the chief judge in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, Royce C. Lamberth, agreed to overturn the opinions of the two other judges, signing off on the DOJ’s request. In 2009, an article written by Rosen on North Korea sparked an internal investigation on Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a former US State Department employee and the alleged source of leaked classified information. According to documents examined by The New Yorker, two judges separately declared that the Justice Department was required to notify Rosen of the search warrant over his communications. “The subscriber therefore will never know, by being provided a copy of the warrant, for example, that the government secured a warrant and searched the contents of her e-mail account,” Judge John M. Facciola wrote in an opinion rejecting the Obama administration’s argument. Ultimately, the DOJ asked the court to order Google not to notify Rosen that the company had handed over his e-mails to the US government. According to Rosen, he only learned that his communications had been seized once it was reported by the Washington Post earlier in May. The DOJ seems to have taken a sizable gamble in exercising the Espionage Act to keep its surveillance of members of the press a secret, and the Daily Mail’s source into an ongoing Congressional probe indicates that the Attorney General may still bear the brunt of the blame. … Read More
Majority of Americans say feds have too much power
Gallup on Monday released survey findings indicating that 54 percent of Americans consider the federal government too powerful, while only eight percent say it is not powerful enough and 36 percent says it has just the right amount of power. “Americans’ views of federal power have become a renewed focal point in recent weeks with allegations that the IRS used its power to selectively audit certain types of organizations, and news reports of Justice Department investigations into Associated Press and Fox News records and e-mails,” Gallup writes before announcing the results of its survey. The number of Americans who perceive the government as too powerful resembles 2005 figures and is only slightly higher than 2012 figures. The number is also marginally lower than 2010 and 2011 findings. The survey results show a drastic difference between Democrats’ and Republicans’ views on federal power. About 76 percent of Republicans believe the government has too much power, while only 32 percent of Democrats believe so. Independents generally answered like Republicans, Gallup reports. Of the 1,016 survey respondents, 48 percent said they also believed the federal government “poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens.” The numbers have remained relatively steady since 2005, despite recent cases in which the government may have overstepped its constitutional rights. Even though the majority of Americans consider the feds too powerful, the IRS’ recent targeting of conservative groups and the Justice Department’s secret investigation of AP and Fox reporters appears not to have drastically impacted the poll results. Gallup explains that it might take longer for Americans’ views about the federal government to change significantly – especially since this term encompasses all departments. “The relative stability of these measures suggests that the current news focused on allegations of misuse of government power has not had an immediate impact on the public’s views of the federal government, at least as measured by these two questions,” Gallup writes. “At the same time, an update on Americans’ views of the IRS shows significantly more negative attitudes now than in 2009, underscoring the idea that the current scandals’ impact may be more localized to specific agencies rather than generalized to the entire federal government. “ … Read More
Key Senate Committee Approves “Gang of Eight” Amnesty Immigration Bill
The Democrat controlled Senate Judiciary Committee passed what is being described as a landmark immigration reform bill yesterday, paving the way for a fight on the Senate floor over legislation that many believe provides amnesty for people who have entered the country illegally. … Read More
Surveillance of AP on behalf of national security the ‘last refuge of scoundrels’
RT: If indeed in the interest of national security surely the action against the Associated Press was justified in this instance?Norman Solomon: Well, a lot is done in the name of national security and protecting the public. Several decades ago spying by the Nixon administration on the press – dirty tricks and so forth – were also rationalized within the White House and later publicly as somehow protecting the public from subversive or other elements that threaten the republic. And that is, really, one of the last refuges of scoundrels, when it comes to top leaders who want to turn off the tap of information reaching their own public. That those leaders would rather the public be kept in the dark. And I think what we’ve seen with these revelations about the phone records of AP reporters is that this administration, which has already waged a larger war against more whistleblowers than any other in US history, has continued to push the envelope and tried to have a chilling event not only on journalists but to sources within the administration.RT: And targeting obviously a credible organization like the Associated Press, in some ways has it been a victory for journalists because it’s been a major embarrassment now for the Obama administration?NS: Well, I think it cuts both ways, because while the Obama administration in the last couple of days has encountered fierce criticism from very mainstream and even some conservative media outlets, the administration has also sent a very clear message to every employee of the US government. “You may think that you’re on your cellphone or your home telephone speaking to a journalist telling them something that perhaps we at the White House don’t want you to tell, but now you’re on clearer notice than ever that down the road your phone number may turn up in subpoenaed documents by the Department of Justice or some other agency, and then we can turn the screws on you and find out whether you’re a whistleblower.” That’s a very dangerous message, and in that sense this is a blow for freedom of the press, against freedom of the press.RT: But aren’t there rules though? If it is classified information that person is leaking to the press, then of course the White House would be saying that sort of information could compromise national security, then they’re in the wrong and they do deserve to be tracked down?NS: Well, that’s always the argument, but it turns out that there’s so much classification of information that the US public, not only has a right to know, but must know for democracy to function. And to be kept in the dark, to not know what is being done in our names, with our own tax dollars, by our elected leaders is to short-circuit our own capacity to be part of a democratic process.RT: So a fine balance, then, between the need for national security and for respecting freedom of speech and privacy rights. It’s going to be a long argument this one, isn’t it? And do you think there ever will be a balance found?NS: Well, the balance will be fought over, but until the US ends the perpetual war footing, this so-called War on Terror, then the domestic repression is going to be a major problem. … Read More
US government defends phone-records seizure
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