connecting*the*dots

The time to resign would be right now.

Pelosi move triggers revolt
by Josephine Hearn

[…]

Jefferson has been the subject of a wide-ranging bribery investigation by the Department of Justice. Pelosi’s call for his ouster came several days after a newly filed court document offered more details on Jefferson’s alleged acceptance of $100,000 from an FBI informant in a sting operation. Days after that purported exchange, the document said, the FBI found $90,000 in Jefferson’s freezer.

The search of his Capitol Hill office has prompted a storm of criticism from congressional leaders from both parties, including Pelosi, who charged that the executive branch had overstepped the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers.

Yesterday’s CBC meeting with Jefferson was well-attended, drawing nearly all of the caucus’s heavyweights — Ways and Means ranking Democrat Charles Rangel (N.Y.), Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat John Conyers (Mich.) and Democratic Caucus Chairman James Clyburn (S.C.).

Most lawmakers would not comment afterwards, but a CBC aide summed up some members’ frustration, saying, “Congresswoman Pelosi, by preemption without any legal justification, has now created a new precedent for how members are going to be treated. Unfortunately, she’s chosen to single out an African-American for this honor.�

Then the aide added an electoral threat, saying, “The African-American community, which overwhelmingly backs the Democratic Party, will not take this lightly. I hope she enjoys being minority leader.�

[…]

Dude got caught on tape accepting a bribe, the feds then found $90k in his freezer and the numbers on the bills exactly matched the bribe money.

What’s he trying to pull, an Eddie Murphy, “It wasn’t me” act?

The CBC’s reputation has never been good. Whether such a rep is deserving or not, their position in this matter isn’t going to help them at all. What a bunch of schmucks.

UPDATE: zefrank’s position on this mess is actually quite enlightening. Yes, he does think, so I don’t have to.

Spam Daily News
EFF: AT&T forwards all Internet traffic into NSA

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on Wednesday filed the legal briefs and evidence supporting its motion for a preliminary injunction in its class-action lawsuit against AT&T.

After asking EFF to hold back the documents so that it could review them, the Department of Justice consented to EFF’s filing them under seal — a well-established procedure that prohibits public access and permits only the judge and the litigants to see the evidence.

While not a party to the case, the government was concerned that even this procedure would not provide sufficient security and has represented to the Court that it is “presently considering whether and, if so, how it will participate in this case.”

“The evidence that we are filing supports our claim that AT&T is diverting Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale, in violation of federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment,” said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston.

“More than just threatening individuals’ privacy, AT&T’s apparent choice to give the government secret, direct access to millions of ordinary Americans’ Internet communications is a threat to the Constitution itself. We are asking the Court to put a stop to it now,” said Bankston.

EFF’s evidence regarding AT&T’s dragnet surveillance of its networks includes a declaration by Mark Klein, a retired AT&T telecommunications technician, and several internal AT&T documents. This evidence was bolstered and explained by the expert opinion of J. Scott Marcus, who served as Senior Technical Advisor for Internet Technology to the Federal Communications Commission from July 2001 until July 2005.

The internal AT&T documents and portions of the supporting declarations have been submitted to the Court under a tentative seal, a procedure that allows AT&T five court days to explain to the Court why the information should be kept from the public.

“The public deserves to know about AT&T’s illegal program,” said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. “In an abundance of caution, we are providing AT&T with an opportunity to explain itself before this material goes on the public docket, but we believe that justice will ultimately require full disclosure.”

The NSA program came to light in December, when the New York Times reported that the President had authorized the agency to intercept telephone and Internet communications inside the United States without the authorization of any court.

“Mark Klein is a true American hero,” said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. “He has bravely come forward with information critical for proving AT&T’s involvement with the government’s invasive surveillance program.”

In the lawsuit, EFF is representing the class of all AT&T residential customers nationwide. Working with EFF in the lawsuit are the law firms Traber & Voorhees, Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP and the Law Office of Richard R. Wiebe.

Does anyone actually choose to use AT&T anymore? If EFF is right, they’ve gone beyond clueless and entered the territory of dangerous. This is a perfect example of fat cat, old money corporations having control of major aspects of web infrastructure. Business as usual has no regard for the US Constitution unless it’s to protect their own collective asses.

IMHO of course.

I’ll play the broken record once again; go join EFF and donate as much as you can.