Peter Scheer

The Justice Department on Friday released to the First Amendment Coalition a newly declassified legal memo advising the CIA on the legality of a proposed “lethal operation” against Anwar al-Awlaki, the American citizen who joined forces with Al-Qaida and was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen in September 2010. The memo is posted below. The newly released memo, dated February 19, 2010, was provided to FAC in connection with our ongoing FOIA lawsuit

I recently wrote that Edward Snowden should return to the US and face trial for his revelations about NSA surveillance. (“Snowden Go Home”). The longer Snowden is a fugitive (particularly in Vladimir Putin’s Russia), the harder it is to characterize his conduct–obtaining and disclosing classified records by the gigabyte–as an act of conscience. In the venerable tradition of civil disobedience, he should submit to American legal processes. Not surprisingly, these views triggered some critical comments. Several

The public has grown accustomed to “pay to play” scandals and other misconduct at CalPERS, the nation’s largest public employee pension plan with over $300 million in investments. Still, the former CEO’s guilty plea entered in federal court last week was shocking even by CalPERS’ standards. Frederico Buenrostro, CalPERS’ top official from 2002 to 2008, acknowledged in his plea agreement with the government that he had taken $200,000 in cash bribes, delivered in paper bags

Edward Snowden, leaker extraordinaire of classified NSA documents, is said to be seeking an extension of his political asylum in Russia, where he has resided, beyond the reach of US jurisdiction and under legal protection granted by Vladimir Putin personally, for a little over one year. Snowden seems to be settling in for the long haul as a fugitive expatriate. He is making a big mistake. At some point Snowden must return to the US

The US Justice Department has advised FAC that it plans to release a second redacted memo analyzing the legality of the government’s proposed use of force to kill al-Aulaqi, a US citizen who had joined Al Qaeda and taken on operational functions for Al-Qaeda’s  operations in Yemen. Al-Aulaqi was subsequently killed in a 2010 drone attack.The disclosure about the second memo was made in a filing in FAC’s FOIA suit against the Justice Department, which