The Media Consortium

By Brian Beutler, the Media Consortium

Last night, Chris Dodd took to the floor of the Senate and made an impassioned plea to his colleagues not to support the House FISA legislation. The video, and text are available here.

by Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium

When former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the use of harsh techniques, he did so over the objections of senior military attorneys from all branches of the armed services. Before the Senate Armed Services Committee, key players in the drama that led to the use of torture in Guantanamo answered questions.

By Brian Beutler from the Media Consortium

Divulged in memos, but largely undiscussed at yesterday's bombshell Senate Armed Services hearing about the origins of American torture was a September 25, 2002 meeting at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba between Major General Michael Dunlavey--who at the time was overseeing interrogations at the detention facility there--and several of the administrations top lawyers, including Jim Haynes, then general counsel to the Department of Defense, John Rizzo, acting CIA general counsel, David Addington, counsel to the vice president, and Michael Chertoff, then head of the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice.

by Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium: Thu., May 29, 2008

On May 11, the Rio Grande Guardian reported that customs agents in the Rio Grande Valley have devised a plan to check the documents of evacuees who attempt to board evacuation buses in the event of a hurricane.

The article reads reads:

by Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium: Thu., May 22, 2008

An Inspector General report released today confirms what just about everybody already knew–that the Department of Defense has squandered billions of American dollars due to contracting fraud and abuse in Iraq.

by Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium: Wed., May 14, 2008
Filed under: Congressional Oversight

On Friday, White House lawyers filed a motion in civil court, arguing against the House’s own filing last month in its attempt to enforce subpoenas against Josh Bolten and Harriet Miers. As I reported at the time, the White House appears to be arguing that the courts ought to stay out of the fight and let the House use other means of leverage to get the information it seeks from the executive branch.

by Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium: Wed., May 14, 2008
Filed under: War Making and Oversight

The ACLU–conducting more oversight these days than Congress and the mainstream media combined–has gotten a hold of some previously unreleased documents detailing the torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and other overseas facilities. Here (PDF file), for instance:

by Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium: Wed., Apr 16, 2008
Filed under: Congressional Oversight

The missing White House email scandal raises one very obvious set of questions. Namely: Where’d they go and what did they say? Those questions will hopefully be addressed as Congress investigates the controversy, but the inquiries won’t answer another, perhaps equally important question: How can this be prevented from happening again?

by Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium: Thu., Apr 10, 2008
Filed under: War Making and Oversight

by Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium: Fri., Mar 7, 2008
Filed under: Congressional Oversight