Morning Must Reads

The Obama administration dipped its toe in the water of closing Guantanamo Bay by bringing Ahmed Ghailani, who bombed U.S. embassies, from the military prison to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

If President Obama’s justice department can successfully detain and convict Ghailani, the president will argue that many or most of the hundreds of terrorists and Islamist fighters under guard by the U.S. Marines in Cuba can be imported and handled by civilian authorities

“Ghailani was indicted in 1998 for the al-Qaida bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, attacks which killed more than 224 people, including 12 Americans.

U.S. officials charge Ghailani began his terrorist career on a bicycle delivering bomb parts and rose through the al-Qaida ranks to become a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden.

Ghailani, a Tanzanian, was in his twenties when prosecutors say he helped terrorists build one of the bombs that destroyed U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998.”

 

Financial Times – Supreme Court delays Chrysler sale

While the White House was hoping for blitz bankruptcy for Chrysler followed by a shotgun wedding with Italy’s Fiat to show that a similar outcome was possible for bigger General Motors.

Writers Bernard Simon and Tom Braithwaite explain that with legal doubts looming over just how rough President Obama’s car team can be with bondholders, the hasty Chrysler deal could start to come unraveled as other creditors reconsider the raw deal they got – especially compared to General Motors.

The move comes as Congress is starting to get uneasy about the number of Chrysler and GM dealers (aka donors) being shut down. Plus, the administration will soon have to answer a request for $8 to $10 billion more for auto parts makers. With so much up in the air and public sentiment so strongly against the bailouts/buyouts, the administration was hoping that they could motor past the point of no return on the “bankruptcies” quickly.

“Elena Kagan, US solicitor-general, said in a brief opposing the Indiana funds’ request that unless the Supreme Court was able to complete a full review of the Fiat deal by the deadline, a stay order “could itself have the effect of preventing the sale from going forward”.

Chrysler said late on Monday that “pending further information from the court, we have no comment”.

The pension funds contend that the government-brokered restructuring has unlawfully subordinated them to more junior creditors such as a United Auto Workers union trust, which will emerge as the biggest shareholder once the carmaker is restructured.

The funds also contend that the government’s task force overstepped its authority by using funds from the troubled assets relief programme to prop up GM and Chrysler. Ron Bloom, a senior member of the task force, will face tough questions from Republicans on Wednesday when he appears before the Senate banking committee.”

 

 

Washington Post — CIA Urges Judge To Keep Bush-Era Documents Sealed

Rather than just arguing that notes about videos of terrorist being interrogated should not be released, CIA director Leon Panetta staked out a new position that the agency should be generally allowed to keep such information secret.

Writer Jeffrey Smith explains that the notes about the videos, destroyed in 2005, are a key part of the plan among liberal groups to seek criminal prosecution against American intelligence operatives and Bush officials.

“In total, the CIA has said that 580 documents are related to the ACLU’s 2007 request; Panetta said that his statement applies to all of the 65 documents selected so far by the court for potential release and that the CIA will in the future consider releasing “non-operational documents” in the larger set.

In two exhibits given to the court along with Panetta’s affidavit, the CIA said the material that must be withheld includes a photograph of Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein, known as Abu Zubaida, the first detainee that the CIA believed to be of high value; a lengthy handwritten summary of notes taken after reviewing the videotapes; a five-page account by a CIA lawyer detailing the agency’s policy and legal guidance about the destruction of the videotapes; an e-mail to CIA managers summarizing the opinions of others about the tapes; a six-page account by an agency employee of a discussion with an agency lawyer about the tapes; and a series of e-mails discussing what the CIA should say publicly about the destruction.”

 

Wall Street Journal – GOP Blocks Census Nominee

 

Robert Graves is the leading figure in the art of sampling, which demographers use to estimate populations without actually counting them. He is also the man that President Obama wants to run the U.S. Census, which the Constitution says has to actually count people, not just get a pretty good sense of how many folks are out there.

Graves has said he doesn’t plan to use sampling to estimate the large, transient populations of illegal immigrants, the profoundly poor and other hard-to-count groups in the 10-year census that will redraw the nation’s political map. But that would be like Babe Ruth trying out to be a fleet-footed shortstop and promising not to swing for the fences.

The White House has already raised the specter of a deeply politicized census by putting Rham Emanuel in charge of the effort, cutting out then-Commerce secretary designee Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.

Republicans are digging in for a fight over Graves and the difference between enumeration and guesstimation.

While the census mostly runs on its own, the Obama folks are ready to militate for their man Graves.

“‘Every day that goes by that the Census Bureau does not have a director that is responsible for steering the ship, the risk to the Census in terms of its operational success grows great,’ said Terri Ann Lowenthal, who headed the Obama transition team’s effort on the Census.

Preparations are well under way for the 2010 count. In recent decades, the count has been plagued by data-collection problems in low-income urban areas and remote rural areas. Engaging undocumented immigrants, who are hesitant to provide personal information, has always been difficult.”

 

Milbank – Keynoter or Not, Palin Steals Spotlight at GOP Fundraiser

 

There was plenty of drama between the Republican Party and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin over the fundraising dinner for the 2010 House and Senate campaigns. Palin was invited to speak, then while she was taking her time deciding, the party moved on and asked Newt Gingrich to take the slot. Then Palin was re-invited, only to have the invitation rescinded over concerns of her upstaging Gingrich. A deal was eventually struck between Palin’s people and the party, that the governor would attend, but not speak.

Dana Milbank provides a useful and droll snapshot of a party that struggles to manage even the scant pool of talent the Republicans have. But Palin stole the show again.

“The focus, meanwhile, was on a table in the first row, where a certain governor was holding court. During dinner, all the television cameras trained their lenses on Palin, her image grainy across the room. Dozens of well-wishers clustered around her table in the first row, for a chance to have a photo taken with her.

Several speakers ignored the elephant in the room, but when Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, head of the Senate Republicans’ election effort, rose to speak, he mentioned Palin. “Thank you for being here with us tonight,” he began. The ovation in the hall drowned out the next words.

Gingrich, a skilled politician, knew what to do. “I also want to thank Governor Palin and Todd for coming tonight and being part of this,” he said. Recalling the two couples’ joint walk at the start of the dinner, he said they were greeted coming off the stage by Sen. John McCain, the GOP’s presidential candidate last fall. “I felt, looking at John McCain and Sarah Palin, this country would have been amazingly better off had they been in the White House,” he said.

It was the easiest applause line of the night.”