The CIA must adequately respond to BuzzFeed Inc.'s Freedom of Information Act request for information about payments to Syrian rebels because President Donald Trump already acknowledged them in a tweet, a federal district court ruled.
Because Trump’s tweet acknowledged some payments, the CIA can’t avoid responding to BuzzFeed’s request by saying it can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a covert program to arm the rebels, the opinion by Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said....
I tend to support transparency, but can't say that I know for sure that it's a good thing for us to know more about payments to Syrian rebels. Rather, I'm posting this because 45SHOLE is an idiot, again, an incompetent threat to our national security.
On April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks published a classified U.S. military video documenting the killing of 12 people including a Reuters photojournalist and his driver in Baghdad by the military. Collateral Murder, as the video is known, contradicted the military’s official version of events that was reported by major news outlets claiming the Reuters employees had been “killed during a firefight with insurgents.” Reuter’s attempts to independently verify the incident through freedom of information requests were repeatedly denied by the Pentagon, and it wasn’t until Julian Assange and WikiLeaks released the video that the public learned the truth.
Assange obtained the video after it was leaked to WikiLeaks by former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. Speaking at the National Press Club at that time, Assange asserted the leak was proof that “some people within the military don’t like what is going on,” referring to the almost decade-long U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Manning was subsequently charged under the Espionage Act and received 35 years in prison, the longest sentence for any whistleblower in American history. Manning’s sentence was eventually commuted by President Obama, but that did not end her persecution (see our coverage of her saga here).
None of those responsible for the killing depicted in the video or anyone involved in its cover-up have been held accountable. Instead, after nearly ten years of a bizarre and arbitrary detention in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Assange is likely to be extradited from the UK to the U.S., where he will face charges under the Espionage Act for publishing truthful information. Assange was recently denied bail after a judge rejected his lawyer’s request that he be released over fears of becoming infected with the coronavirus while in prison, the same fear shared by thousands of corrections officers and inmates in our country’s overcrowded prisons and other detention facilities.
10 years after Collateral Murder, the only people our government seems to think deserve prosecution are those that uncovered the crimes. Let that sink in for a moment.
The House on Thursday voted 268 to 161 to repeal the 2002 resolution authorizing former President George W. Bush to invade Iraq. The bill to revoke the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (UAMF) had bipartisan backing — 49 Republicans voted with all but one House Democrat to pass the measure, authored by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) — and the support of President Biden. Senate Majorit Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) endorsed the bill Wednesday and promised to hold a vote on it later this year.
The 2002 AUMF is seen as low-hanging fruit compared with repealing the 2001 authorization to attack the parties responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Still, when the House passed Lee's 2002 AUMF repeal measure after the Trump administration assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, only 11 Republicans voted yes.
Supporters of repealing the 2002 AUMF point out that the Iraq War formally ended years ago, and there's widespread agreement that successive presidents have used the 2001 and 2002 authorization to conduct military operations only tangentially related to their original intent. Some Republicans oppose repealing the war authorizations without a replacement on deck, and the Biden White House has been negotiating with lawmakers on a 2001 AUMF successor better aligned with the current terrorism threats....
Still,
Vote Question: On Passage
To repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002
He probably just pushed the wrong button while being preoccupied thinking about getting back to his wife. He may realize this in a couple of weeks.
Maaaybe. His idol, 45SHOLE, is anti-intervention on some issues, and we know that Mad already got busted for stolen valor. Your Harshbarger (R) voted Nay.