Is the White House Whitewashing History?

Staff / Truthdig Feb 12, 2007 Margie Burns, reporting for the Brad Blog, says the White House may be up to some old, unsavory tactics, deleting unfavorable material from its website in potential violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978. At issue are briefing references to Jeff Gannon, the faux journalist whose non-questions helped deflect criticism during press briefings. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Taliban Resurgence Produces Record Opium Harvest in Afghanistan

Staff / Truthdig Sep 2, 2006 Opium production in Afghanistan is at the highest level ever recorded and shows an increase of 50 percent from last year. The increase in opium cultivation is a result of the resurgence of Taliban rebels. The head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, said in a statement: ?The southern part of Afghanistan was displaying the ominous hallmarks of incipient collapse, with large-scale drug cultivation and trafficking, insurgency and terrorism, crime and corruption.? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Feinstein: I Wasn’t Briefed Beforehand on Bank Program

Staff / Truthdig Jul 3, 2006 The White House says it briefed Congress on its bank records collection program long ago, but Senate Intelligence Committee member Diane Feinstein says she was briefed only after it became clear that the N.Y. Times was going to run its story on the program. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Report: NSA Sought Phone Records Before 9/11

Staff / Truthdig Jul 3, 2006 The NSA asked AT&T to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the attacks of Sept 11, 2001, allege lawyers filing a lawsuit on behalf of telephone company customers This is huge because, according to a lawyer on the case, "The Bush Administration asserted this became necessary after 9/11 This undermines that assertion''. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Powell – Times Bashing

Dwayne Powell / Truthdig Jul 1, 2006 Dig deeper

Richard Clarke: How Gullible Does Bush Take Americans to Be?

Staff / Truthdig Jul 1, 2006 The president's former counter-terrorism chief says the White House wants "the public to believe that it had not already occurred to every terrorist on the planet that his telephone was probably monitored and his international bank transfers subject to scrutiny." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

USA Today Backs Off Phone Records Story

Staff / Truthdig Jun 30, 2006 The newspaper originally reported that AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon have been providing phone call data to the NSA. But now USA Today says it can't confirm that either BellSouth or Verizon provided the data. (AT&T definitely appears to have done so.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Colbert Weighs In on N.Y. Times Bank Records Controversy

Staff / Truthdig Jun 29, 2006 Stephen Colbert said the N Times could learn a thing or two about secrecy from Superman, who continued to be "a pretend journalist" -- "like Brit Hume" . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Feds Getting Phone Data Without Warrants

Staff / Truthdig Jun 20, 2006 Officials from the Dept of Homeland Security and the FBI are paying private data brokers to gather personal phone record information--circumventing the need to obtain warrants for such data It's ironic that some federal agents are availing themselves of this potentially illegal service; other federal agents (from the FCC) are already investigating the practice See "Feds Probe Sale of Private Phone Records" And earlier: All Your Phone Call Records Are for Sale, Cheap. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gonzales Sidesteps Legal Issues of NSA Spying

Staff / Truthdig May 24, 2006 The attorney general, in defending the NSA's collection of millions of U.S. phone records, claims it is constitutional--but conveniently ignores the fact that it appears to be illegal. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Did Telcos Use Scapegoat-for-Hire in NSA Case?

Staff / Truthdig May 21, 2006 Via Business Week, we learn that an entire niche industry has sprung up to provide the government with commercially purchased telecommunications records that the government isn't allowed to purchase itself. (TPM Muckraker has a good sum-up.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Authorities Mining More Corporate Data for Personal Information

Staff / Truthdig May 21, 2006 We learn from the Wall Street Journal that banks, Internet service providers and other companies are being besieged by law enforcement authorities who want to pore over their corporate data in hunting for clues in criminal cases. Just another example of how the government is going through personal records. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )