Gillespie Claims ‘We Don’t Know’ Whether The Bush Administration Practices Waterboarding
Gillespie Claims ‘We Don’t Know’ Whether The Bush Administration Practices Waterboarding
Today on CNN, White House adviser Ed Gillespie defended attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey’s legal dodge on whether waterboarding constitutes torture. Mukasey called the technique “hypothetical.”
Gillespie similarly tried to claim that waterboarding doesn’t exist. “[F]irst of all, this technique, we don’t know that it’s used by the government or is used by the government,” he said. “That’s never been confirmed by the U.S. government.”
Host John Roberts called out Gillespie’s dodge, noting, “It’s widely held that waterboarding was what broke Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to get him to divulge all of the information that he had.” Gillespie simply replied, “[T]he fact is the government doesn’t confirm techniques regardless of whether they’re used or not used.” Watch it:
While Bush administration officials have refused to publicly say whether or not they waterboard detainees, CIA officials have repeatedly told the media that they have carried out this torture. Some examples:
– In one of the administration’s most high-profile cases, al Qaeda mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed reportedly endured waterboarding two minutes — “far longer than any of the other ‘high-value’ terror targets who were subjected to the technique.” A former CIA officer called it an “extraordinary amount of time for him to hold out.”
– In
20052002, the CIA subjected Ibn al Shaykh al Libbi to weeks of “enhanced interrogation.” CIA officials stated that he “finally broke after being water boarded and then left to stand naked in his cold cell overnight where he was doused with cold water at regular intervals.”– In 2002, “a presidential finding” authorized a list of CIA interrogation techniques, including waterboarding. In 2005, current and former CIA officials confirmed to ABC News that they were trained to waterboard detainees, which entailed “handcuff[ing] the prisoner and cover[ing] his face with cellophane to enhance the distress.”
Gillespie also tried to insist that waterboarding is legal, claiming that “those who have been briefed on the program in the United States Senate, members of the Intelligence Committee and others who are familiar with the program, have said that it is legal.” Yet as Raw Story points out, earlier this month Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said that they don’t know the details about the administration’s interrogation practices because officials have “refused to turn over key legal documents since day one.”
Transcript: More »
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Durbin and Whitehouse will oppose Mukasey’s nomination.
Durbin and Whitehouse will oppose Mukasey’s nomination.
In an impassioned speech on the Senate floor today, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he “will oppose” the nomination of Michael Mukasey to be Attorney General because of his refusal to explicitly say that waterboarding is torture. Watch it:
Another member of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), also said today that he would oppose Mukasey’s nomination.
UPDATE: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) sent Mukasey a letter today, co-signed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Warner (R-VA), indicating support for his nomination.
Law firm sues Kerik for $200,000.
Law firm sues Kerik for $200,000.
Bernard Kerik, former NYPD commissioner and close friend of Rudy Giuliani, is now “being sued for allegedly stiffing a law firm on a $202,384.04 tab, after its lawyers helped keep him out of jail.” The suit comes as federal prosecutors are reportedly prepared to file charges against Kerik “that will likely include allegations of bribery, tax fraud and obstruction of justice.” Marc Mukasey, son of Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey, has also been tasked by Giuliani “to keep an eye on” Kerik’s criminal investigation and “distance Giuliani from all” the allegations.
Petraeus Personally Introduces Disgraced Ahmed Chalabi To U.S. Troops In Iraq
Petraeus Personally Introduces Disgraced Ahmed Chalabi To U.S. Troops In Iraq
On Sunday, McClatchy reported that disgraced Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi had “re-emerged as a central figure” in the U.S. strategy for Iraq. His latest job: to press Iraq’s government to “deliver better electricity, health, education and local security services to Baghdad,” as “the next phase” of the escalation.
Today, Blackanthem.com reports that Petraeus has been trumpeting his new alliance with Chalabi, introducing him to U.S. troops serving in Iraq:
Gen. David Petraeus, commanding general, Multi-National Force-Iraq, Dr. Ahmad Chalabi, director of services in Iraq, and Dr. Safi Al-Sheik, director of the Iraqi National Reconciliation Committee, met with Soldiers and leaders of the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga., who are operating in the Arab Jabour area.
For Petraeus to proudly introduce troops to Chalabi is particularly unfitting, considering that Chalabi has repeatedly put the lives of U.S. troops in danger in Iraq.
Before the war, Chalabi provided faulty intelligence on Iraq’s supposed weapons programs, helping launch the war. He was investigated for allegations that he passed intelligence to Iran, “wrongdoing that could have endangered American troops and American lives,” according to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). Furthermore, Chalabi has alliances with militia leader Muqtada al Sadr, who has led a “series of uprisings against the U.S. military.”
In February, Chalabi became a lead figure in building Iraqi support for the Bush administration’s escalation plan. Subsequently, he “sabotaged” de-Baathification reforms. Nevertheless, Petraeus’s spokesman insists that Chalabi “has a lot of energy.”
Byrd blasts Bush’s ‘rhetorical ghosts and goblins’ on Iran.
Byrd blasts Bush’s ‘rhetorical ghosts and goblins’ on Iran.
On the Senate floor today, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) denounced the White House’s saber-rattling on Iran, calling the Bush administration’s warnings of a nuclear threat “rhetorical ghosts and goblins to scare the American people”:
Today is a fitting day to discuss the issue of Iran. Today is All-Hallow’s Eve — Halloween — a day when people don masks and costumes to frighten others. The White House has been busy unleashing its rhetorical ghosts and goblins to scare the American people, with claims of an imminent nuclear threat in Iran, as they did with Iraq.
Watch it:
Earlier this month, Byrd also warned his colleagues against “sleep-walking” into another war, saying, “I hope that we can stop this war of words before it becomes a war of bombs.”
UPDATE: Steve Clemons received a previously undisclosed letter Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) personally sent to President Bush, warning against the “dangerous and increasingly isolated position” the United States could find itself in should it continue to push for war with Iran.
Diplomats ‘upset over forced postings to Iraq.’
Diplomats ‘upset over forced postings to Iraq.’
In a “contentious” hour-long “town hall meeting” today, several hundred U.S. diplomats “vented anger and frustration Wednesday about the State Department’s decision to force foreign service officers to take jobs in Iraq, with some likening it to a ‘potential death sentence.’” The AP reports on the exchange:
“Incoming is coming in every day, rockets are hitting the Green Zone,” said Jack Crotty, a senior foreign service officer who once worked as a political adviser with NATO forces. [...]
“It’s one thing if someone believes in what’s going on over there and volunteers, but it’s another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment,” Crotty said. “I’m sorry, but basically that’s a potential death sentence and you know it. Who will raise our children if we are dead or seriously wounded?”
“You know that at any other (country) in the world, the embassy would be closed at this point,” Crotty said to loud and sustained applause from the about 300 diplomats who attended the meeting in a large State Department auditorium.
UPDATE: ABC News has the audio.
Karen Hughes Resigns With Legacy Of Unambitious, Misguided State Department Projects
Karen Hughes Resigns With Legacy Of Unambitious, Misguided State Department Projects
Karen Hughes, one of President Bush’s longest-serving advisers, resigned today as Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. According to the State Department’s website, Hughes’s role was to “marginalize the violent extremists” and “[f]oster a sense of common interests and common values between Americans and people of different countries.”
In remarks today, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heaped praise upon Hughes and the “remarkable job” she’s done. “If I could put on one sheet all of the things that Karen has achieved, I would do so, but it would take me a quite long time to talk about her achievements,” said Rice.
But it’s actually unclear exactly what Hughes accomplished. As the AP notes:
Polls show no improvement in the world’s view of the U.S. since Hughes took over. A Pew Research Center survey earlier said the unpopular Iraq war is a persistent drag on the U.S. image and has helped push favorable opinion of the United States in Muslim Indonesia, for instance, from 75 percent in 2000 to 30 percent last year.
Some more highlights of her time at the State Department:
– In 2006, Hughes sent an internal memo called “Thinking ‘Bigger’” to National Security Council principals. Her recommendations for countering the insurgency though were “unambitious and disconnected from reality.” They included “reviving book publishing to support Iraq’s “hard-pressed intellectuals” and expanding a “Micro scholarship” program for “youth in key disadvantaged areas in Iraq.”
– In March 2006, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sharply criticized the diplomatic efforts of Rice and Hughes, stating, “If I were grading, I would say we probably deserve a D or a D-plus as a country as to how well we’re doing in the battle of ideas that’s taking place in the world today.”
– Arabs repeatedly criticized Hughes for her “lack of understanding of the region.” In 2005, for example, Hughes claimed that Saddam Hussein poisoned “hundreds of thousands” of his own citizens with “weapons of mass destruction.” Her comments came “just days after Saddam went on trial in Baghdad for the deaths of 148 people in a Shiite town in 1982.”
Rice also confirmed that Hughes will “continue to consult for us on a few projects.” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack today refused to promise that the White House would replace Hughes with a permanent Senate-confirmed nominee, but said that it is the administration’s “intent.”
While it’s so hard to say good bye, this may not be the end for Karen Hughes. After all, she also resigned in 2002, but then came back and joined the State Department in 2005.
UPDATE: The Seminal looks at the flight of Bush’s Texas inner circle.
Specter only federal lawmaker to earmark for abstinence.
Specter only federal lawmaker to earmark for abstinence.
Last month, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) quietly added more than two dozen earmarks for abstinence education, totaling more than $1 million, to a Labor and Health and Human Services measure. In an expose on Specter’s abstinence-only efforts, the Politico notes today that “no other member of Congress earmarks money for abstinence education.”
Rep. LaTourette pressured paper to fire blogger.
Rep. LaTourette pressured paper to fire blogger.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer yesterday fired blogger YellowDogSammy, who contributed to the paper’s group politics blog Wide Open. The measure came after Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH) complained to the paper’s editorial page editor that Sammy had contributed $100 to his opponent’s campaign. The paper let Sammy go after he refused to never again write about LaTourette. YellowDogSammy has more on how the Plain Dealer is selectively targeting him HERE.
Giuliani Cites Faulty ‘Facts’ From Right-Wing Magazine To Slam ‘Socialized Medcine’
Giuliani Cites Faulty ‘Facts’ From Right-Wing Magazine To Slam ‘Socialized Medcine’
In a new radio ad running in New Hampshire, GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani cites his own experience with prostate cancer to warn against the dire consequences of government-provided health care, which he terms “socialized medicine”:
I had prostate cancer, five, six years ago. My chance of surviving prostate cancer, and thank God I was cured of it, in the United States: 82 percent. My chances of surviving prostate cancer in England: only 44 percent under socialized medicine.’
Listen here:
Giuliani’s ad is full of misleading right-wing claims that overhype the broken U.S. health care system. A look at his “facts”:
– Giuliani cites inaccurate statistics. While the rate for men with prostate cancer is slightly higher in the United States, the five-year survival rate in England is actually 74.4 percent according to the Office of National Statistics in Britain.
– Giuliani relies on unsourced figures from a right-wing think tank. Giuliani’s campaign confirmed that it obtained its faulty numbers from an article entitled “The Ugly Truth About Canadian Health Care” in the right-wing quarterly magazine City Journal, which is an arm of the conservative Manhattan Institute. As MSNBC notes, the author of the “Ugly Truth” article provided no sources for his “facts.” The Manhattan Institute receives funding from multiple pharmaceutical companies.
– Giuliani uses a weak measurement of comparison. Cancer experts note that mortality rates, which “show the number of people who actually die from the disease,” may be better measurements than five-year survival rates. Under this comparison, the two countries are even closer: “Age-standardized prostate cancer mortality rates are 15.4 per 100,000 people in the United Kingdom and 12.0 per 100,000 in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.”
The right wing consistently touts U.S. health care as the world’s finest. In an Aug. 3 op-ed, Giuliani wrote, “America has the best medical care in the world.” President Bush has claimed that the United States has “the best health care system in the world.” But in reality, the U.S. health system “spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance,” notes the World Health Organization.
Instead of complaining about Britain and bragging about America, Giuliani should turn his attention toward improving the U.S. health system. According to a CNN poll from May, 64 percent of the public believes the government should provide universal health care.
The Center for American Progress has put together a progressive plan to guarantee every American quality, affordable health coverage. View it HERE.
UPDATE: As Ezra Klein notes, Giuliani “received his care for prostate cancer while still mayor of New York, which meant he was probably receiving insurance through the state of New York, utilizing one of those government-regulated purchasing pools he terms ’socialism.’”
UPDATE II: Greg Sargent points out that The New York Times asked Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella whether the campaign would continue to repeat the faulty statistics and continue to run the ad. Commella replied, “Yes. We will.“
White House withholds 600 pages of Abramoff docs.
White House withholds 600 pages of Abramoff docs.
Today, House Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote to White House Counsel Fred Fielding and requested that the administration hand over more than 600 pages of documents relating to the White House’s activities with fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff. From Waxman’s letter:
Despite the refusal of key witnesses to provide testimony, the Committee has learned that some senior White House officials had regular contact with Mr. Abramoff. Former White House political director Matt Schlapp cooperated with the Committee’s investigation and provided voluntary testimony in a deposition. Mr. Schlapp estimated that he had “monthly” contact with Jack Abramoff on subjects that often involved official government business. He also told the Committee that Mr. Abramoff and his associates “had many friends in the administration”; that Mr. Abramoff was regarded as a “point of information” because of “his knowledge and his experience and his judgment on issues surrounding politics and policy and how the town works”; and that Mr. Abramoff’s lobbying team was “viewed by many as a very respected lobbying team.” [...]
The withholding and redacting of documents that describe internal White House deliberations relating to Mr. Abramoff is not appropriate. As you know, the Committee takes the position that responsive documents that are relevant to the Committee’s investigation cannot be withheld unless the President makes a valid assertion of executive privilege, No such assertion has been made in this case. Therefore, I request that you provide these documents to the Committee by November 6,2007.
Graham ‘Heartened’ By Mukasey’s Waterboarding Dodge: ‘He Did Himself Some Good’
Graham ‘Heartened’ By Mukasey’s Waterboarding Dodge: ‘He Did Himself Some Good’
On CBS’ Face The Nation this past Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) commented on Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey’s refusal to classify waterboarding as torture, saying that he is “convinced” the technique “is clearly illegal under domestic and international law.”
“I hope he will give a direct answer to that question” and “embrace” the view that it is torture, said Graham:
I am urging him that he needs to come forward. … I don’t think you have to have a lot of knowledge about the law to understand this technique violates Geneva Convention common article three, the War Crimes statutes, and many other statutes that are in place. So I do hope that he will embrace that.
Watch it:
Graham changed his tune yesterday, however, after Mukasey again refused to explicitly say whether he believed the interrogation technique was torture, instead calling it a “hypothetical.” Graham said in interviews that he was “heartened” by Mukasey’s letter and that it “helped his cause“:
I think Judge Mukasey did himself some good with this letter. He helped his cause with me.
As CNN’s Ed Henry pointed out yesterday, with the careful wording of his letter, Mukasey “essentially” dodged “the question of whether legally waterboarding is torture.” Instead, his letter said only that it was “over the line” and “repugnant” on “a personal basis.”
Watch an example of Mukasey’s “hypothetical” technique here.
UPDATE: During a hearing on FISA today, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) indicated he was satisfied with Mukasey’s response as well:
I think we need extensive assurances. But as I carefully read Judge Mukasey’s letter, I don’t know how much more he could say than what he has said, considering the exposure to people in collateral circumstances and considering the impossibility of predicting what may be faced with respect to a future potential danger, if the so-called ticking bomb hypothetical were to reach fruition.
UPDATE II: Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced today that the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold its vote on Mukasey on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
UPDATE III: “A senior Senate Democrat” told the Hill that “Mukasey’s nomination had no chance of passing the Judiciary Committee” if he doesn’t classify waterboarding as torture.
Cheney repeatedly rejected proposals ‘to help the poor, sick.’
Cheney repeatedly rejected proposals ‘to help the poor, sick.’
In his new book, President Bush’s controversial former speechwriter Michael Gerson sharply criticizes the office of Vice President Cheney and his misplaced priorities:
For Michael Gerson, the pattern became discouragingly familiar. A proposal to help the poor or sick would be presented at a White House meeting, but Vice President Cheney’s office or the budget team or some other skeptical officials would shoot it down. Too expensive. Wrong priority. [...]
Gerson is more critical of Cheney’s office, former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and two Texas Republicans who served as House majority leaders, Tom DeLay and Richard K. Armey.
Gerson writes that he urged Bush to fire Rumsfeld after the 2004 election, but that Cheney opposed the move. He recounts meetings in which Cheney’s office tried to kill proposals to increase training of death-row defense lawyers, transition assistance for prisoners and aid for Hurricane Katrina victims.
BREAKING: Karen Hughes resigns.
BREAKING: Karen Hughes resigns.
Karen Hughes, one of President Bush’s longest-serving advisers, is stepping down from her position at the State Department as Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Before taking the job at State, Hughes was a Counselor to the President and played an integral role in his 2000 campaign. MSNBC reports:
President Bush had asked Karen Hughes to go to the State Department and help sell America’s ideas about democracy and the war on terror around the world. Polls show that there has been no improvement in the way the world views the United States since Hughes took over. Now it appears she’s resigning.
Watch it:
Hughes is one of the last members of Bush’s inner circle from Texas to leave the administration.
UPDATE: The AP reports that Hughes plans to “return to Texas,” telling her staff that “improving the world’s view of the United States is a ‘long-term challenge’ that will outlast her.”
ThinkFast: October 31, 2007
ThinkFast: October 31, 2007
One in eight: Number of veterans under the age of 65 who are uninsured, “a finding that contradicts the assumption many have that all vets qualify for free health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs.” Approximately 1.8 million veterans overall lack health coverage, a jump of 290,000 since 2000.
“Preliminary Veterans Affairs Department research obtained by The Associated Press reveals for the first time that there were at least 283 suicides among veterans who left the military between the start of the war in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001 and the end of 2005.”
“Twenty-one states will run out of money for children’s health insurance in the coming year, and at least nine of those states will exhaust their allotments in March if Congress simply continues spending at current levels.” President Bush threatened to veto Congress’ SCHIP legislation yesterday.
Lawmakers have increasingly steered federal funds to “overtly religious organizations — many of which claim proselytizing or religious conversions as their primary function” — using earmarks. For instance, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) tried to earmark $100,000 for a creationist organization.
“In a shift of strategy that indicates an increasingly weakened political position, President Bush has included at least $2.51 billion for projects unrelated to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in his latest ‘emergency’ supplemental request.” More »
FBI investigates Sen. Stevens’ fishing bills.
FBI investigates Sen. Stevens’ fishing bills.
The federal investigation into Sen. Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) potentially corrupt relationship to an Alaskan oil company has expanded to include his ties to the fishing industry. Investigators issued “subpoenas throughout the industry last year” asking whether Stevens “pushed seafood legislation that benefited” his son Ben, who is a state lobbyist and politician. One fisherman provided the FBI with a taped conversation indicating that Ben Stevens told a client, “I’ll get Dad to fund you guys, too.”
GAO: Reduction In Violence Due To ‘Ethnically Cleansed Neighborhoods’ In Iraq
GAO: Reduction In Violence Due To ‘Ethnically Cleansed Neighborhoods’ In Iraq
Looking for signs of progress in Iraq, the Bush administration has been quick to jump on reports of reduced violence in Iraq. The “violence is thankfully coming down,” said White House spokesperson Dana Perino. Violence is “down significantly from last year,” declared President Bush.
In a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee today, Joe Christoff of the Government Accountability Office stated that this recent reduction in violence should be taken with a grain of salt, as it coincides with increased sectarian cleansing and a massive refugee displacement:
I think that’s [ethnic cleansing] an important consideration in even assessing the overall security situation in Iraq. You know, we look at the attack data going down, but it’s not taking into consideration that there might be fewer attacks because you have ethnically cleansed neighborhoods, particularly in the Baghdad area. [...]
It’s produced 2.2. million refugees that have left, it’s produced two million internally displaced persons within the countryas well.
Watch it:
Christoff’s conclusions echo that of ret. Gen. James Jones last month, who observed “progress” in a Shi’a-led ethnic cleansing campaign.
Also in attendance at the hearing was Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Stuart Bowen. In his quarterly report to Congress released today, Bowen acknowledged the reduction in violence but stated that it has not been accompanied by tangible political reconciliation, a finding that was neglected by the traditional media in its reporting today. In Baghdad, for example, Provincial Reconstruction Team officials note:
Despite reduced violence, officials are pessimistic that lasting reconciliation is occurring. … In Diyala, there is a desire to work toward reconciliation, but it will take years to overcome ill-will between tribes.
Earlier this month, Gen. David Petraeus confidently declared, “There’s a local reconciliation” in Diyala province.
Mukasey Calls Waterboarding ‘Hypothetical,’ Dodges Legal Question Of Whether It Is Torture
Mukasey Calls Waterboarding ‘Hypothetical,’ Dodges Legal Question Of Whether It Is Torture
In a written response to questions from Senate Democrats today, Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey refused to explicitly say whether he believed waterboarding to be torture. In the four-page letter, Mukasey called the interrogation technique “over the line” and “repugnant” on “a personal basis,” but added that he would need the “actual facts and circumstances” to strike a “legal opinion”:
Hypotheticals are different from real life and in any legal opinion the actual facts and circumstances are critical.
CNN’s Ed Henry notes that with his “facts and circumstances” hedge, “essentially Michael Mukasey is dodging the question of whether legally waterboarding is torture.” Watch Henry’s report:
Senate Democrats have said that Mukasey’s answer on the question of waterboarding and torture is crucial to their vote on his confirmation. “It’s fair to say my vote would depend on him answering that question,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) told reporters last week. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) called it “the seminal issue.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a judge advocate general in the military, has said that it shouldn’t be difficult for Mukasey to be clear on the issue:
If he does not believe that waterboarding is illegal, then that would really put doubts in my own mind because I don’t think you have to have a lot of knowledge about the law to understand this technique violates” the Geneva Convention and other statutes.
Time reported earlier today that if Mukasey “refuses to declare waterboarding expressly illegal, he looks likely to be rejected by the Judiciary Committee.”
Read Mukasey’s full answers HERE.
UPDATE: In a statement, Leahy said he was “very concerned” that Mukasey was “unable to state unequivocally that waterboarding is illegal”:
Based on an initial review of his response to the letter, I remain very concerned that Judge Mukasey finds himself unable to state unequivocally that waterboarding is illegal and below the standards and values of the United States.
Former Employee Identifies Voting Rights Head As ‘Both The Cause And Effect’ Of DoJ Politicization
Former Employee Identifies Voting Rights Head As ‘Both The Cause And Effect’ Of DoJ Politicization
Today, the Justice Department’s controversial Voting Rights section chief John Tanner testified to the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights. He offered an anemic apology for his comments that minorities “die first” before becoming elderly, and are therefore not as affected by voter ID laws. He said the comments “do not in any way accurately reflect my career of devotion to enforcing federal laws designed to assure fair and equal access to the ballot.”
Yet after Tanner’s testimony, Toby Moore, a former Voting Rights section employee, testified that Tanner’s remarks “are a fair example of Tanner’s approach to the facts, the truth, and the law.” Moore also said that Tanner “is both the cause and the effect of the politicizing of the Civil Rights Division” and that the voting rights section was “a wounded institution”:
John Tanner is both the cause and the effect of the politicizing of the Civil Rights Division, and should not be allowed to hide behind a career status which he has abjured by his actions.
Until someone in the department, in this administration or the next, admits to the mistakes of the past several years and restores credible leadership, the voting section of the Civil Rights Division will remain a wounded institution. How long will the Department of Justice tolerate chronic mismanagement simply to save face?
Watch it:
One of Tanner’s most controversial acts as Voting Rights chief surrounded his approval of a 2005 Georgia law requiring voters to show photo identification to vote, a law a federal judge compared to a Jim Crow-era poll tax. Today Moore called it a “discriminatory” and “nasty piece of legislation” that included “draconian restrictions.”
Under the Bush administration, the Civil Rights division, of which the Voting Rights section is a part, has undergone “a sea change,” shifting from its traditional focus of protecting minority voting rights to bringing cases alleging reverse discrimination against whites. The section “has notably shirked its legal responsibility to protect voting rights,” former Voting Rights section head Joseph Rich wrote last March.
Transcript: More »
GOP candidates postpone another minority debate.
GOP candidates postpone another minority debate.
Last month, the four Republican presidential frontrunners skipped a PBS debate hosted by Tavis Smiley that would have been the first time they answered questions from “a panel exclusively comprised of journalists of color.” At the time, Smiley said the snubbing was part of a “pattern” of “disrespect” towards “black and brown Americans.” Today, the Huffington Post reports that the GOP candidates are now postponing another black voter forum due to “scheduling conflicts.”
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