The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged transition

Petraeus, Flournoy Defend July 2011 Transition Date in Afghanistan

By | 06.16.10 | 10:19 am

So far, this Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Afghanistan is less about Kandahar and more about parsing what President Obama meant when he established July 2011 as an “inflection point” for beginning a transition to Afghan security.

Trying to clarify after yesterday’s initial back-and-forth with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), More…

Not That You’d Expect a Conspiracy Site to Apologize, But …

By | 11.06.09 | 12:25 pm

Jason Linkins, in fine form after Jerome Corsi’s conspiracy ramblings about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and President Obama, does some reporting:

I contacted Frank Cillusso, the director of the HSPI at George Washington University, who tells me that Nidal Hasan has no affiliation with the HSPI or

More…

Gibbs: Geithner Not Paying Taxes an ‘Honest Mistake’

By | 01.13.09 | 4:18 pm

Reports are trickling out that President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, may not have paid Social Security or Medicare taxes for “years” and he may have employed an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper, according to Mark Halperin, via the Wall Street Journal. MSNBC just reported the More…

CQ: CIA Operations Folks Dissatisfied With Panetta

By | 01.07.09 | 8:25 am

My CIA sources on Monday were surprised but not so dismayed by the news that Leon Panetta is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to head the agency. Jeff Stein’s CIA sources yesterday? Much more dismayed.

Writing in his CQ column, Jeff talks to veterans of the CIA’s operations directorate — the More…

Arlen Specter Compares Eric Holder to Alberto Gonzales

By | 01.06.09 | 5:35 pm

Republicans have made it clear that Attorney General-designate Eric Holder is the most problematic of President-elect Barack Obama cabinet nominees. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, gave a scathing floor statement on Holder Tuesday, laying out many of the GOP’s lines of attack: the More…

Report: Obama to Tap CNN Doc Gupta for Surgeon General

By | 01.06.09 | 4:51 pm

President-elect Barack Obama has offered the post of surgeon general to neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, who is better known for his work as a CNN correspondent, The Washington Post reports.

Civil Libertarians Pretty Pleased With Dawn Johnsen at OLC

By | 01.05.09 | 5:15 pm

As Daphne blogged earlier today, Dawn Johnsen of Indiana University Law School is going to helm the Justice Dept.’s Office of Legal Counsel, a crucial position for the balance between civil liberties and national security. (Under the Bush administration, it became the go-to office for rubber-stamping the legality More…

Dianne Feinstein Not Too Pleased With Panetta Pick

By | 01.05.09 | 4:16 pm

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who’s about to take the reins as chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, doesn’t appear to be too happy with Leon Panetta’s prospective appointment to head the CIA. Here’s what her office just sent me:

“I was not informed about the selection

More…

Leon Panetta to CIA?

By | 01.05.09 | 2:44 pm

Both Chuck Todd at NBC and The New York Times are reporting Leon Panetta, a former member of President George W. Bush’s Iraq Study Group who doesn’t have much more of an intelligence background, is President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to head CIA.

Well, he’s no Mike Hayden. More soon.

Obama Announces Key DOJ Posts

By | 01.05.09 | 12:39 pm

The Obama-Biden transition team this morning announced several key posts for the Justice Department: David Ogden as Deputy Attorney General; Elena Kagan as Solicitor General; Tom Perrelli as Associate Attorney General; and Dawn Johnsen, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel.

None of these appointments, some of More…