memeorandum: Twitter Nabs a Legal Eagle from Google (Brad Stone/Bits)

11:55 AM ET, July 12, 2009

Top Items:

Cheney Is Linked to Concealment of C.I.A. Project — The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency's director, Leon E. Panetta …

Daniel Klaidman / Newsweek:

Obama doesn't want to look back, but Attorney General Eric Holder may probe Bush-era torture anyway. … From the magazine issue dated Jul 20, 2009 — It's the morning after Independence Day, and Eric Holder Jr. is feeling the weight of history. The night before, he'd stood on the roof …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Wizbang, Macsmind, Don Surber, Atlas Shrugs, Gateway Pundit, Salon, The BRAD BLOG, Hullabaloo, The Reaction, Raw Story and TalkLeft

Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:

Probe of Alleged Torture Weighed — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is leaning toward appointing a criminal prosecutor to investigate whether CIA personnel tortured terrorism suspects after Sept. 11, 2001, setting the stage for a conflict with administration officials who would prefer …

Discussion: Salon, The Caucus, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, New York Times, Balloon Juice and Obsidian Wings

Washington Post:

Democrats May Investigate Secret Program — House Democrats said yesterday that they expect to launch a formal investigation into a secret CIA program that was not disclosed to Congress for almost eight years, a probe that could entangle senior Bush administration officials who oversaw intelligence issues.

Discussion: The Page

Pamela Hess / Associated Press:
Report: Bush surveillance program was massive

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Think Progress

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Holder Considers A Torture Prosecutor

Discussion: Emptywheel, Salon and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:

EXCLUSIVE: Palin plans to stay in politics — Brushing aside the criticisms of pundits and politicos, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she plans to jump immediately back into the national political fray — stumping for conservative issues and even Democrats — after she prematurely vacates her elected post at month's end.

Discussion: The Page, Outside The Beltway and PoliBlog

Jordy Yager / The Hill:

McCain: Palin not a quitter — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) defended his former running mate Sarah Palin on Sunday, saying she wasn't a quitter and that her decision to resign as governor was consistent with his own leadership qualities. — McCain said Palin did not tell him she was resigning …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

WCBS-TV:

Teen Girl Falls In Open Manhole While Texting — Alexa Longueira Suffers Deep Cuts, Bruises After Landing In Raw Sewage, Blames DEP For Leaving Hole Unattended — NEW YORK (CBS) ― It was an accident waiting to happen — an open sewer and a 15-year-old girl who was texting while she walked.

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY, American Power, Jules Crittenden and Scared Monkeys

Barack Obama / Washington Post:

Rebuilding Something Better — Nearly six months ago, my administration took office amid the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. At the time, we were losing, on average, 700,000 jobs a month. And many feared that our financial system was on the verge of collapse.

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Hot Air and The Page

Frank Rich / New York Times:

She Broke the G.O.P. and Now She Owns It — SARAH PALIN and Al Sharpton don't ordinarily have much in common, but they achieved a rare harmonic convergence at Michael Jackson's memorial service. When Sharpton told the singer's children it was their daddy's adversaries, not their daddy …

Brad Stone / Bits:

Twitter Nabs a Legal Eagle from Google — Twitter, the popular micro-blogging service, has stolen a prominent Google lawyer. — The startup has hired Alexander Macgillivray, associate general counsel for products and intellectual property at Google, to be its general counsel, according to a person with knowledge of the hiring.

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, MediaMemo, TechCrunch and Mashable!

Doctor Zero / Hot Air:

A Seemingly Very Nice Middle-Class Girl — Peggy Noonan used her Friday column in the Wall Street Journal to throw some dirt on Sarah Palin's grave. It's vintage Noonan: airheaded, dripping with condescension, and completely missing the point. No serious conservative needs to hear anything …

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Skepticrats and Grasping Reality …

Associated Press:

Gov. Ritter Steered Stimulus Money To Ex-Employer — DENVER (AP) ― Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has awarded some of the state's first stimulus money to his former employer in a no-bid contract. — Ritter hired his former law firm, the Washington-based Hogan & Hartson …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Macsmind, Moe_Lane's blog, Don Surber and Gateway Pundit

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:

In Supreme Court Pick Sotomayor, an Insider's Rise Meets an Outsider's Doubts — In Sotomayor, an Insider's Achievements Meet an Outsider's Insecurities — Within weeks of arriving in New Haven as a law student in the fall of 1976, Sonia Sotomayor fell in with a few first-year classmates whose ascent …

Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Nominee Wraps Up Rehearsals

Discussion: Los Angeles Times