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Senate Committee Approves Comey As Next FBI Director; Full Senate Vote Next
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com James Comey is closer to being the next FBI director. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously approved Comey, Obama’s choice to replace Robert Mueller, the USA Today reports. Now the Senate must approve the nomination of the former senior Justice Department official. The USA Today wrote that Comey is almost guaranteed…
Drug Dealer Says Accused Mobster ‘Whitey’ Bulger Forced Him to Play Russian Roulette
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Accused Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger forced a former drug kingpin to play Russian roulette in the back room of a nightclub in 1983, according to testimony at the racketeering and murder trial, Reuters reports. “The conversation wasn’t going too well… But I wasn’t going to pay him $1 million. I just…
NSA Leaker Snowden May Be Granted Temporary Asylum in Russia
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com NSA leader Edward Snowden issued a hand-scrawled application for temporary asylum in Russia, and his lawyer said he could soon walk out of Sheremetyevo airport, The Christian Science Monitor reports. “The question of giving him temporary asylum won’t take more than a week. I think that in the near future he will…
NYPD Commissioner Kelly Seems Open to Head Department of Homeland Security
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly appears to be open to considering the top job at the Department of Homeland Security, the New York Daily News reports. Rep. Pete King said the city’s top cop is “not saying no” to the possibility of taking the job. The comment follows President Obama’s comments about Kelly…
Federal Review Finds As Many As 27 Problematic Death Penalty Convictions
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com As many as 27 people were convicted of the death penalty by exaggerated scientific testimony, an unprecedented federal review of old criminal cases shows, the Washington Post reports. The review found that FBI forensic experts may have mistakenly linked to defendants to the exaggerated testimony. In one case in May, the review…
Commentary: Frightening Questions Raised Over Drones Patrolling Border
Glenn Garvin The Columbus Dispatch Last month, when the Senate passed an amendment to its immigration-reform bill that included $46 billion to beef up border security, Sen. John McCain declared: “We’ll be the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall!” He didn’t know the half of it. Since then, documents released…
Detroit U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade: We Expected Some Ridicule From the Dig For Jimmy Hoffa
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade By Allan Lengel Deadline Detroit DETROIT — Things haven’t been dull for Barbara McQuade. Right after being sworn in as the Detroit U.S. Attorney in January 2010, she started dealing with the “Underwear Bomber” case involving Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to detonate an explosive aboard a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas…
South Shore Businessman Testified That ‘Whitey’ Bulger Forced Him to Pay Friend’s $300,000 Debt
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Just weeks after his friend was killed in 1982, a South Shore businessman came face-to-face with James “Whitey” Bulger. Michael Solimando testified in the racketeering and murder trial of James “Whitey” Bulger, saying the accused mobster ordered him at gunpoint to pay his friend’s $400,000 outstanding debt, the Boston Globe reports. “We…