After saying he could see torture was needed after simply looking at the GITMO detainees, Republican strategist Phil Musser gets a lecture from Lawrence O’Donnell.

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Report Gives New Detail on Approval of Brutal Techniques - A newly declassified Congressional report released Tuesday outlined the most detailed evidence yet that the military’s use of harsh interrogation methods on terrorism suspects was approved at high levels of the Bush administration. (Senate Report pdf)

Harsh Tactics Readied Before Their Approval - Intelligence and military officials under the Bush administration began preparing to conduct harsh interrogations long before they were granted legal approval to use such methods — and weeks before the CIA captured its first high-ranking terrorism suspect, Senate investigators have concluded.

Freddie Mac acting CFO found dead in apparent suicide - David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage giant Freddie Mac, was found dead on Wednesday in his suburban Virginia home, a Fairfax County police spokeswoman said.

Morgan Stanley swings to $177m loss - Morgan Stanley reported a loss of $177m in the first three months of the year on Wednesday, worse than analysts expected, and said it would cut its quarterly dividend as real estate investments sapped its profits.

Secret Dark Side to Craig’s List Killer - By most accounts, Philip Markoff’s life had all the hallmarks of a solid middle-class existence. He grew up in upstate New York, where his father was a dentist, his mother worked in a casino, and he played basketball with his brother in the driveway. High school acquaintances said he was a smart, if slightly nerdy, student who excelled in science, made the honor roll, and liked to bowl.

President Obama Meets with Mideast Leaders - US officials say the leaders of Israel, Egypt and the Palestinians have been invited for talks in Washington in a new push for Middle East peace.

From Talking Points Memo:
As David noted over at TPM, there was some potentially big news in a blog post that was written this morning over at Foreign Policy by Philip Zelikow, a top State Department lawyer under Condoleezza Rice.

“Do you really have to waterboard somebody 183 times? Doesn’t the efficacy go down? I assume after 90 waterboardings the guy’s thinking ‘you’re not really drowning me.’”

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Pressure Grows to Investigate Interrogations - On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, said on the ABC News program “This Week” that “those who devised policy” also “should not be prosecuted.” But administration officials said Monday that Mr. Emanuel had meant the officials who ordered the policies carried out, not the lawyers who provided the legal rationale.

Bill Clinton and George W. Bush Scheduled to Debate - Former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will appear together in Toronto next month on a public stage for the first time since Mr. Bush ended his presidency, in a remarkable twist on the cultural cold war that Barack Obama and others are trying to lay to rest.

NYT Confirms: Harman Pressed Paper To Spike Wiretap Story In ‘04 - The New York Times adds some details to yesterday’s blockbuster CQ report about Rep. Jane Harman and AIPAC.

U.S. to give Chrysler, GM new aid - The Obama administration will make about $500 million available to Chrysler LLC through the end of this month as it seeks to reach an alliance with Fiat, and up to $5 billion through May to help General Motors Corp restructure outside of bankruptcy, an independent oversight report on the Treasury Department’s corporate rescue fund said on Tuesday.

From the Huffington Post:
Former Rep. Tom Davis warned on Saturday night that the Republican Party he has been a part of throughout his career had become “a private club with an admissions test,” destined to long-term minority status without major structural changes.

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From The Atlantic:
Dan Bogden, who served as the United States attorney from Nevada until he was abruptly dismissed from his job during the infamous wave of firings of U.S. attorneys in late 2006, hoped to someday learn why he was let go. By most accounts, Bogden had served his community and the Department of Justice with distinction: former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who had once directly supervised Comey, would later testify before Congress that Bogden was one of his best prosecutors, and that he could not understand why anyone would want to fire him.

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