CIA

That is from a federal judge:

A federal judge said Thursday that CIA interrogation videotapes may have been relevant to his court case, and he gave the Bush administration three weeks to explain why they were destroyed in 2005 and say whether other evidence was destroyed.

Several judges are considering wading into the dispute over the videos.

But U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts was the first to order the administration to provide a written report on the matter.

You can bet that this will be going on long after Bush is out of office. We just need to make sure he doesn't leave the country.

Kind of sounds like it:

The CIA official who gave the command to destroy interrogation videotapes apparently acted against the direction of his superiors, the top Republican House Intelligence Committee member said Wednesday.

"It appears he hadn't gotten authority from anyone," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., speaking to reporters after the first day of closed testimony in the committee's investigation. "It appears he got direction to make sure the tapes were not destroyed."

Hoekstra said that raises the troubling prospect that there's a thread of unaccountability in the spy culture.

Yes there has been a troubling problem in our "spy culture". The problem is accountability. Now the question is when will it get fixed? Instead of always having fall guys, perhaps it's time for someone to say "oops"! Of course under a Bush regime the buck stops way before the White House. Hell the buck isn't even there!

That is exactly what the CIA has done:

The CIA destroyed videotapes it made in 2002 of two top terror suspects because it was afraid that keeping them "posed a security risk," Director Michael Hayden has told agency employees.

Hayden's revelation to the CIA employees became public Thursday and it caused a commotion on Capitol Hill where members of the Senate Intelligence Committee immediately vowed to conduct a thorough review. A leading human rights group voiced alarm about it.

In his message to agency workers, Hayden said that House and Senate intelligence committee leaders had been informed of the existence of the tapes and the CIA's intention to destroy them to protect the identities of the questioners. He also said the CIA's internal watchdog watched the tapes in 2003 and verified that the interrogation practices were legal. Hayden said the tapes were destroyed three years after the 2002 interrogations.

If you or me destroyed evidence we would face criminal charges. Some how I doubt that will be the case. In our corrupt capital, the rule of law takes the backseat to everything else.

Gee ya think?

Fired San Diego U.S. attorney Carol Lam notified the Justice Department that she intended to execute search warrants on a high-ranking CIA official as part of a corruption probe the day before a Justice Department official sent an e-mail that said Lam needed to be fired, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Sunday.

Feinstein, D-Calif., said the timing of the e-mail suggested that Lam's dismissal may have been connected to the corruption probe.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse denied in an e-mail that there was any link.

"We have stated numerous times that no U.S. attorney was removed to retaliate against or inappropriately interfere with any public corruption investigation or prosecution," he wrote. "This remains the case and there is no evidence that indicates otherwise."

Today will be very interesting. Another big document dump is coming and everyone is predicting some more damaging evidence.

Emptywheel has a very interesting post up:

On June 29, SCOTUS ruled that even enemy combatants must be treated according to the Geneva Convention.

On July 13, Christine Axsmith posted this on her blog on the CIA's confidential intranet, Intelink.

Read on to find out what happened to Christine.

Well things are really heating up in DC:

Law enforcement officials executed search warrants Friday on the house and office of the CIA's outgoing executive director, the FBI said.

The agency's third ranking official, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, has been under investigation by the FBI, IRS, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the CIA's inspector general, said FBI spokeswoman April Langwell in San Diego.

Under a sealed warrant, officials searched Foggo's Virginia home and his office at the CIA's Langley, Va., campus, Langwell said. She could provide no other details.

The FBI and other agencies have been investigating whether Foggo improperly intervened in the award of contracts to a San Diego businessman and personal friend, Brent Wilkes, who has been implicated in a congressional bribery scandal.

This should make for some real interesting talk on the Sunday morning talk shows.

From TPM Muckraker

Hayden, President Bush's pick to replace Porter Goss as head of the CIA, contracted with MZM Inc. for the services of Lt. Gen. James C. King, then a senior vice president of the company, the sources say. MZM was owned and operated by Mitchell Wade, who has admitted to bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham with $1.4 million in money and gifts. Wade has also reportedly told investigators he helped arrange for prostitutes to entertain the disgraced lawmaker, and he continues to cooperate with a federal inquiry into the matter.

Read On

I guess hookers isn't enough corruption for the top man at our main intelligence agency. Now we need someone involved in bribery.

The Porter Goss resignation has taken off like wildfire. First up we have this great little piece from Think Progress:

Minutes ago on Fox News, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol said he doesn’t believe the White House spin that Porter Goss’ resignation had been planned for at least a few weeks.

I think there were either serious disputes or some internal problem at the agency or some scandal conceivably involving an associate of Goss’. Who knows? Something that popped this week and that caused this sudden event this Friday.

I can't believe that Gross would just "up and decide to resign" without something major happening. I have to agree with the buzz on the blogosphere that this is possibly tied to the hookers, bribery and other investigations stemming from Gross' time in Congress.

Next up we have the buzz about his possible replacement, courtesy of Raw Story:

Rumors in the intelligence committee, as reported by MSNBC and confirmed by sources to RAW STORY, indicate that Frances Townsend, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism is seen as a likely replacement. RAW STORY stresses that so far, this is only a rumor within the intelligence committee, and no announcement is seen to be coming today.

This is really scary to think off. I don't know anyone outside of the Bush-apologist, PNAC crowd that would feel Townsend would be a good choice to head the CIA. What's next - an appointment of Barbara Bush to head DHS?

Finally, Crooks and Liars has an interesting video up of MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell explaining how the resignation of Gross could very well be tied to hooker-gate.

(Oh and as a side note, Huffington Post is reporting that the resignation of a Pentagon Under-Secretary is also imminent.).