-by Jennifer Bendry

September 29, 2011- Democratic lawmakers on Thursday called for a federal investigation into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' failure to report hundreds of thousands of dollars on annual financial disclosure forms.

Led by House Rules Committee ranking member Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), 20 House Democrats sent a letter to the Judicial Conference of the United States -- the entity that frames guidelines for the administration of federal courts -- requesting that the conference refer the matter of Thomas' non-compliance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to the Department of Justice.

Hack team leader: 'Can do similar things on pretty much every e-voting machine'...

-By Brad Friedman

September 27, 2011- The Vulnerability Assessment Team (VAT) at the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois has managed to hack a Diebold Accuvote touch-screen voting machine in what I describe at my exclusive today at Salon as perhaps "one of the most disturbing e-voting machine hacks to date."

As noted by the computer scientists and security experts at Argonne's VAT, largely all that's needed to accomplish this hack is about $26 and an 8th grade science education.

On August 19, 2011, Protect Our Elections attorney Kevin Zeese wrote a letter to the Cincinnati, Ohio FBI Office asking that it launch a criminal investigation into the 2004 presidential election in light of new filings in a civil case which included a contract proving the relationship between Ohio SOS Ken Blackwell and the GOP hosting company SmarTech. In short, the contract combined with the analysis of cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore confirm that SmarTech was used for a man in the middle computer attack on election night 2004.

Activists Demand Full Accountability as Phone Hacking Scandal Spreads Across The Atlantic

The government accountability group ProtectOurElections.org is urging the FBI and the SEC to launch parallel criminal and civil investigations into Rupert Murdoch's media empire in the United States for possible prosecution under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal in the United Kingdom.

The umbrella group, representing grassroots activists across the country, sent a letter today to both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Security and Exchange Commission asserting that the scandal overseas was in and of itself evidence of violation of the Act, because the company is headquartered in the United States, and urged both agencies to seek warrants to search the company's New York offices. It also pointed to evidence that phone hacking by News Corp journalists and editors may have spread across the Atlantic.

New Information Reveals Thomas Invested In Lobbying Firm Tied To Tea Party and Engaged In "Judicial Insider Trading" To Enrich His Wife

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ProtectOurElections.org, a campaign finance watchdog, has asked the FBI and Department of Justice to investigate Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia (Ginni) Thomas for financial and judicial corruption partly based on the Justice's newest financial disclosures.

First, the organization alleges, Justice Thomas falsified 20 years of judicial financial disclosure forms by denying that his wife had income sources; second, he engaged in judicial corruption by receiving $100,000 in support from Citizens United during his nomination and then ruling in favor of Citizens United in 2010 without disclosing that fact or disqualifying himself; and third, he apparently conspired with his wife in a form of "judicial insider trading" by providing her with information about the result of the Court's decision in Citizens United prior to its issuance, which she then used to launch a new company to take financial advantage of that decision to benefit her and her husband.

-A message from Don Siegelman:

For eight long years, the Bush-Cheney Administration politicized the Department of Justice and pursued politically-motivated prosecutions all across the country.

It infused the Justice Department with Rove-anointed, Bush-appointed officials who put politics ahead of the law — including many of the 93 U.S. Attorneys — like Leura Canary, the wife of Karl Rove's best friend and business partner who said he got Rove to get the DOJ to come after me.

When President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder took office, we expected real change. That means ending the Bush-Rove politically motivated prosecutions with no basis in fact and restoring the integrity of the Department of Justice.

Still, after seven months, only a handful of the hundreds of Bush-Rove DOJ appointees have been replaced. That's unacceptable. It's time to clean house of all the Bush-Rove appointees in the Justice Department, including all 93 U.S. Attorneys, and ensure justice for all.

Applauds IRS Initiative to Enforce Gift Tax of Fraudulent Non-Profits

Announcement Comes Months After Campaign Accountability Watch Sends Letter on Issue to AG Holder

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Campaign Accountability Watch (CAW), a watchdog at the forefront in the battle against secret campaign contributions, today applauded the IRS for announcing it will seek payment of a gift tax of 35% for donations made to non-profit organizations involved in electoral campaigns. CAW called it a good "first step" to reigning in these organizations.

CAW sent a letter on October 25, 2010 to Attorney General Holder seeking a special prosecutor for the misuse of non-profit organizations to hide the source of electoral donations.