OCC Circles Back to JP Morgan's Money Laundering
When I first read that the government was going to investigate JP Morgan Chase ∂for money laundering, I thought this was another case where the government continued to give wrist slaps--in the form of softball fines--to banks for behavior…
Week Two Trash Talk
Hi folks, apologize for the late start on Trash Talk; had a very long day yesterday on a matter and with clients after. So, let us get down to business.
I'm worrying myself a little with this one, because neither the Big 10.2 nor Notre Dame…
Latif's Death: A Blow to the Head of Our System of Justice
I'd like to take issue with Ben Wittes' post on the sadness of Adnan Farhan abd al Latif's death. I certainly agree with Wittes that Latif's death is terribly sad. But I object to Wittes' take on three related grounds. Wittes,
Provides a…
Lanny Breuer Admits That Economists Have Convinced Him Not to Indict Corporations
I've become increasingly convinced that DOJ's head of Criminal Division, Lanny Breuer is the rotting cancer at the heart of a thoroughly discredited DOJ. Which is why I'm not surprised to see this speech he gave at the NYC Bar Association selling…
"They Hate Us for Our Religious Freedom"
As anti-American (and anti-Western) protest continue to spread across the Muslim world, the White House continues to claim the protests are all a response to the film, The Innocence of Muslims. Yesterday, Jay Carney said,
I think it’s important…
I'll Take Middle Class "Pockets of Prosperity" for $250,000, Please
Yesterday, Mitt's advisor said that the campaign press corps lived in "pockets of prosperity" that prevented them from understanding the realities of the harsh economy.
The adviser, granted anonymity to criticize a press corps the campaign…
The Tragedy of Suicide Bombs: Children Killing Children
It was probably easy to overlook the suicide bomb attack in Kabul back on Saturday. The bomber appeared to have been stopped short of the target of ISAF headquarters and the death toll was initially reported at six, a relatively low number…
Treasury's Quaint Notion of "Voluntarily"
As DDay noted earlier, Treasury will ignore that Standard Chartered signed a settlement confirming that it had hidden $250 billion worth of transfers by gaming its documentation so that it can sign a softball unified settlement with everyone…
DOJ Files Appeal: Further Thoughts On Hedges and The Lawfare/Wittes Analysis
Last night (well for me, early morning by the blog clock) I did a post on the decision in the SDNY case of Hedges et. al v. Obama. It was, save for some extended quotations, a relatively short post that touched perhaps too much on the positive…
Mitt Criticizes Pockets of Prosperity from Bank Accounts of Looting
One of Mitt's advisors--hiding his own identity, but not his affiliation with the campaign of a man who has a car elevator--just said this:
The adviser, granted anonymity to criticize a press corps the campaign still relies on every day, went…
What "Desert Warriors" Attacked Us in Libya?
There's a weird bifurcation in the coverage of yesterday's Libya tragedy.
The Islamist plot in Benghazi
One strand of coverage revised the initial claims that the mob that burned the consulate in Libya were responding solely to an anti-Mohammed…
When Job-Killing Regulations Are Removed, Jobs Become Killers
The city of Karachi is shut down today:
Public transport was suspended and schools and colleges closed. Factories and markets also shut while attendance at offices was thin.
This city of 18 million is in mourning for the deaths of 258 people…
Chris Hedges et. al Win Another Round On the NDAA
You may remember back in mid May Chris Hedges, Dan Ellsberg, Jennifer Bolen, Noam Chomsky, Alexa O'Brien, Kai Wargalla, Birgetta Jonsdottir and the US Day of Rage won a surprising, nee stunning, ruling from Judge Katherine Forrest in the Southern…
The Benefit of Teachers Unions
[YouTube]IMUboOIQT48[/YouTube]
Matt Yglesias has solved the riddle of why so many purportedly liberal wonks hate teachers unions, even while they claim to support unions generally.
The most salient difference, completely absent from his…
Did Fox News Really Interview Dr. Shakeel Afridi From Peshawar Central Jail?
In a remarkable development, Fox News published a story Monday based on an interview Dominic Di-Natale says he conducted with Dr. Shakeel Afridi, the doctor who aided the CIA's search for Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. As I had described back…
US Ambassador Christopher Stevens Dies in Attack on Benghazi Consulate
The US Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed earlier today in an attack on the Consulate in Benghazi.
An armed mob attacked and set fire to the building in a protest against an amateur film deemed offensive to Islam's Prophet…
Bittersweet Justice for Bradley Birkenfeld
Today, the IRS awarded whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld $104 million to reward him for having exposed UBS' methods of helping US tax cheats hide their loot, tax free, in Switzerland.
It's a bittersweet award, I'm sure. As Birkenfeld's lawyer,…
Janice Rogers Brown and Our Failed Justice System Killed Adnan Farhan abd al Latif
Since the Pentagon announced a detainee died yesterday, I've been praying it wouldn't be Adnan Farhan abd al Latif, even as details suggesting it was--that the detainee who had died had been a hunger striker, that he had never been charged--piled…
AP's George Jahn, ISI's David Albright Re-run Allegations of Iranian Bomb Calculations
Breathlessly calling today's story an "AP Exclusive", George Jahn sticks to his usual routine of depending on "diplomats" to leak information on Iran and then using David Albright to cast the information in a way calculated to make it look…
Mark Thiessen: More Important to HEAR--Not Read--Daily Brief Than Actually Respond to It
Yesterday, Mark Thieseen made a what amounts to a complaint that, half the time, President Obama reads his daily brief rather than receives it from a briefer directly. Here's Obama's response.
I figured, as Thiessen's bleatings often are,…