memeorandum: Crackdown or conciliation: China's politburo split over response to Uighur violence (Emma Graham-Harrison/The Independent)

6:00 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: Salon, The BRAD BLOG, Gateway Pundit, Atlas Shrugs, Emptywheel, Hullabaloo, The Reaction, TalkLeft and Raw Story

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: Washington Monthly and Balloon Juice

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.

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:

Holder Considers A Torture Prosecutor — A Justice Department official confirms Newsweek's report that Attorney General Eric Holder is leaning towards appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Bush administration-era torture and interrogation policies.

Discussion: Emptywheel and Salon

Lara Jakes / Associated Press:
Obama admin: No grounds to probe Afghan war crimes

Discussion: MyDD, Firedoglake and AfghanMassGrave.org

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Sotomayor backers urge reporters to probe New Haven firefighter — WASHINGTON — Supporters of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are quietly targeting the Connecticut firefighter who's at the center of Sotomayor's most controversial ruling. — On the eve of Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearing …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, PoliGazette, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Washington Post, Townhall.com, Blue Crab Boulevard, Cold Fury, Verum Serum, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Macsmind, Don Surber, Gateway Pundit, The Political Carnival, The Jawa Report, NewsBusters.org and JammieWearingFool

Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:

Nominee Wraps Up Rehearsals — WASHINGTON — For a few hours each day for more than a week, Judge Sonia Sotomayor has sat in a small conference room in a building adjacent to the White House, fielding questions from lawyers helping her prepare for the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on her nomination to the Supreme Court.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post: In Supreme Court Pick Sotomayor, an Insider's Rise Meets an Outsider's Doubts

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
The New Haven firefighter is no stranger to employment disputes.

Discussion: The Mahablog, Daily Kos, unbossed.com, Hullabaloo, The Volokh Conspiracy and TPMDC

Adam Liptak / New York Times: Path to Supreme Court: Speak Capably, Say Little

The Ninth Justice: How Ricci Almost Disappeared

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: Don Surber, Moe Lane and Gateway Pundit

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

Weekly remarks: Obama still clearing wreckage; Cantor asks, where are the jobs? — This week's weekly remarks open with President Obama in Africa opening on foreign affairs. But by the second paragraph out of 20, he gets to what he really wants — needs — to talk about: domestic business in general and the economy specifically.

Discussion: Don Surber, Hot Air and Pundit & Pundette

Edwin Chen / Bloomberg:
Obama Says Economic Stimulus Plan Worked as Intended

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Pajamas Media, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Shot in the Dark and Wizbang

Emma Graham-Harrison / The Independent:

Crackdown or conciliation: China's politburo split over response to Uighur violence — The unrest that claimed 184 lives last week has again forced Beijing to question its reaction to calls for regional autonomy — The script is jarringly familiar. Bodies lie on riot-scarred streets …

Discussion: AMERICAblog News

Paul Singer / Roll Call:

Freshman Rep. Grayson Taken to Cleaners in Ponzi Scheme — Freshman Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) lost $3 million in a stock swindle between 2000 and 2005, a Florida television station reported this week. — According to Orlando's Local 6, Grayson was an investor in a Ponzi scheme run by the company Derivium Capital.

Discussion: Redhot

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 Other McCain

WhiteHouse.gov Blog:

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT TO THE GHANAIAN PARLIAMENT — Accra International Conference Center — Accra, Ghana — THE PRESIDENT: (Trumpet plays.) I like this. Thank you. Thank you. I think Congress needs one of those horns. (Laughter.) That sounds pretty good. Sounds like Louis Armstrong back there.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, UN Dispatch and TigerHawk