DhafirTrial

Rawstory

A 10-year veteran Internal Revenue Service (IRS) attorney has demanded a Congressional audit of the IRS to investigate the agency’s alleged role in allowing American corporations to illegally avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes at the same time the agency is cracking down on individuals and small businesses. (more…)

The CIA is still fighting for creative control of its most anticipated 21st century work: the Torture Report. Long before it got involved in the ongoing redaction battle, it was spying on those putting the report together, namely Senators and Senate staffers. (more…)

ACLU

Twenty years ago, the United States ratified an international treaty banning the use of torture and cruelty worldwide. Three successive American presidents, with bipartisan support, threw their weight behind the treaty – Ronald Reagan signed it in 1988, George H.W. Bush approved it, and Bill Clinton signed implementing legislation into law in 1994. (more…)

Commondreams

More than seven years after guards with the private mercenary company Blackwater opened fire on Iraqi civilians in downtown Baghdad, killing 17 people and wounding 20, a federal jury on Wednesday found four of the men involved with the massacre guilty in the case. (more…)

Peter Hart  Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

It’s 2014, and they’re still at it.

Since the release of the film Kill the Messenger, there has been renewed focus on Webb’s story, which documented how CIA-linked drug traffickers were supplying US drug dealers with cheap cocaine that helped fuel the crack epidemic in the 1980s. For the Post, this means it’s time to argue once again that Webb got the story wrong. (more…)

Spencer Ackerman Guardian U.K.

The Obama administration has until early December to detail its reasons for withholding as many as 2,100 graphic photographs depicting US military torture of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, a federal judge ordered on Tuesday. (more…)

Today is the 10th anniversary of my first day attending Dr. Dhafir’s 17-week trial: Judge Mordue gave instructions to the jury, then prosecutors and defense attorneys presented an overview of the case.  My early postings (some during the trial) can be seen here (scroll down for links to early posts), and see some photos of pages from my eight notebooks here (scroll down).  After the trial, I started to go through the 60-count indictment to say why I didn’t believe the government had proven its case. If you would like to be added to a list that receives updates about Dr. Dhafir’s case: katherinehugh [at] gmail.com  If you would like to become a member of the Dr. Dhafir Support Committee: macgregoreddy [at] gmail.com

Federal authorities notified the American Civil Liberties Union—which is representing 13 people who sued to get off the list—of its decision (PDF) late Friday. The government has until January to deal with the other six plaintiffs the ACLU is handling. (more…)