Chicago -
By Cora Currier/ProPublica
A Senate committee is close to putting the final stamp on a massive report on the CIA’s detention, interrogation and rendition of terror suspects.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who heads the Select Committee on Intelligence, called the roughly 6,000-page report “the most definitive review of this CIA program to be conducted.”
But it’s unclear how much, if any, of the review you might get to read.
Posted on December 10, 2012
By Cora Currier/ProPublica
On Tuesday, the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, a yearly military spending bill.
Last year, the bill affirmed the U.S.’s authority to hold suspected terrorists indefinitely and without charges.
The provision had generated plenty of controversy, particularly about whether U.S. citizens could be detained indefinitely.
This year, the Senate bill says that citizens can’t be detained in the U.S. – but concerns remain about the scope of detention powers.
We’ve taken a step back, run through the controversy, and laid out what’s new.
Posted on December 7, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
Bill Daley described his nephew, R. J. Vanecko, as “basically a good kid” on Wednesday, and you know what? That isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.
It’s also hard to square with the fact that Vanecko fled the scene after throwing the punch that killed David Koschman – and refused from day one to speak to police.
That’s not what a “good” kid does, even on the advice of a lawyer – not when a mother is grieving the death of her son.
Posted on December 6, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
So far it looks like Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez stands to come out the biggest loser in the Vanecko indictment, which is somewhat remarkable considering that she does not appear to have been involved in the original case – just the most recent chapter of the cover-up.
I suppose that’s because Richard M. Daley is no longer mayor, and Daley’s pal Dick Devine is no longer state’s attorney. Phil Cline is no longer the police chief, for that matter, so Alvarez is the biggest target left standing – Vanecko himself notwithstanding.
Alvarez is finally facing scrutiny of a sort for a series of bungles that have tarnished her tenure as the county’s prosecutor-in-chief. By the time the Vanecko case is over, that tarnish just might make her toxic.
Posted on December 5, 2012
