Charlie Savage
New York Times national security and legal reporter; MSNBC contributor;
author of the books "Power Wars" and "Takeover"
Last synced from Twitter 1358d ago
Biden Punts on Expanding the Supreme Court, Calling for a Panel to Study Changes
The Democratic presidential nominee said he would appoint a bipartisan commission to examine whether an overhaul is needed to the judiciary and to make recommendations.
Analyst Who Collected the Infamous Trump Tape Rumor Wants to Clear His Name
The Steele dossier’s main source explained where its most notorious claim came from — and called Republicans’ accusations that he is a Russian agent “slander.”
G.O.P.-Appointed Judges Threaten Democracy, Liberals Seeking Court Expansion Say
A new study found a partisan pattern in rulings that could make it easier or harder to vote, fueling a debate among Democrats over court packing.
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Charlie Savage
A new study shows GOP-appointed judges have been far more likely to interpret the law in ways that make it harder for Americans to vote, fueling the ongoing intra-liberal debate over whether to expand the Supreme Court & pack it w/ extra liberal justices.
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Islamic State ‘Beatles’ Fighters Being Brought to U.S. to Face Charges
The federal prosecution of two Britons involved in the kidnapping and torture of American hostages comes more than two years after they were captured in Syria.
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Charlie Savage
The federal prosecution of two Britons involved in the kidnapping and torture of American hostages comes more than two years after they were captured in Syria.
w/ @adamgoldmanNYT
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Judge Scrutinizes Justice Dept. Request to Drop Michael Flynn Case
The judge has signaled skepticism about the legitimacy of Attorney General William Barr’s intervention to help a Trump ally.
The Quiet 2013 Lunch That Could Have Altered Supreme Court History
President Obama met with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, hinting at retirement, but the art of nudging justices off the court is politically delicate and psychologically complicated.
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Charlie Savage
NEW: How President Obama secretly tried, ever so delicately, to nudge Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg into retiring when Democrats still controlled the White House and the Senate but that window of opportunity was about to close. w/ @susandominus
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White House Accused of Intervening to Keep Bolton’s Book From Becoming Public
A career official said political appointees “commandeered” the prepublication review process.
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Charlie Savage
BREAKING: Career official who reviewed John Bolton's book & determined it no longer had classified info alleges extraordinary irregularities & political interference as White House/DOJ sought to block publication & opened criminal investigation.w/ @nytmike
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Charlie Savage
BUILT OUT THE STORY: The account by a former National Security Council official also implied that the Justice Department may have told a court that the book contains classified information and opened a criminal investigation based on false pretenses.
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Mueller’s Team Should Have Done More to Investigate Trump-Russia Links, Top Aide Says
A new book by one of the special counsel’s top deputies, Andrew Weissmann, is the first inside account of the investigation.
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Charlie Savage
The 7 p.m. embargo lifted so my real news story on Andrew Weissmann's book, not just aggregating tidbits from the Atlantic essay, has pubbed. If you clicked that link before, I urge you read it again now to get my real take of what is interesting. /1
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U.S. Military Seeks Authority to Expand Counterterrorism Drone War to Kenya
Draft rules for potential airstrikes, drawn up after a Shabab attack at a base in January, are said to be limited and would require Kenyan assent.
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Charlie Savage
EXCLUSIVE: DOD is seeking authority to expand the counterterrorism drone war to a region of Kenya, as further fallout from the Manda Bay attack. (Officials do not expect it will carry out many or any airstrikes there in practice). w/ @EricSchmittNYT
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Top Aide in Review of Russia Inquiry Resigns From Justice Dept.
The resignation came amid increasing expectations that the department may disclose partial results from the review before it is completed but ahead of the presidential election.
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Charlie Savage
The resignation came amid increasing expectations that Barr may disclose partial results from Durham review before it is completed but ahead of the presidential election.
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White House Asked Justice Dept. to Take Over Defamation Suit Against Trump, Barr Says
The attorney general argued that the intervention was routine but did not say why the department waited 10 months to step in.
Unwanted Truths: Inside Trump’s Battles With U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Last year, intelligence officials gathered to write a classified report on Russia’s interest in the 2020 election. An investigation from the magazine uncovered what happened next.
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Charlie Savage
This is the nearly month-old @DraperRobert article that prompted John Ratcliffe to issue his policy directive targeting the NYT for disfavored treatment by his agency.
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Court Approves Warrantless Surveillance Rules While Scolding F.B.I.
The release of a newly declassified ruling follows a separate decision by an appeals court that a defunct National Security Agency program was illegal.
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Charlie Savage
Trump's director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, has ordered ODNI coms staff to freeze out NYT reporters as punishment for a NYT Magazine article by @DraperRobert on the politicization of intelligence re Russian interference in the 2020 election. nytimes.com/2020/09/05/us/… pic.twitter.com/TYQ0qCQqAj
144d
Judge Calls Barr’s Handling of Mueller Report ‘Distorted’ and ‘Misleading’
The judge said the attorney general lacked credibility on the matter and said he would review the report to decide whether to make its redacted portions public.
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Charlie Savage
And of course there was his description to the public of the then-still secret Mueller investigation report, which a federal judge said was so “distorted” and “misleading” that the judiciary could not trust his DOJ to be candid on that topic. /6
145d
Endorsing Trump’s Firing of Inspector General, Barr Paints Distorted Picture
The attorney general misstated key facts in explaining the dismissed official’s handling of the whistle-blower complaint that prompted impeachment.
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Charlie Savage
Like that time in April when he told Fox News that an inspector general Trump had fired, Michael Atkinson, tried to send the Ukraine whistleblower complaint to Congress without exec branch review and ignored DOJ, which was false. /4
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U.S. Attorney Who Investigated Trump Associates Is Abruptly Replaced
The United States attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey Berman, had been leading the investigation into Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.
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Charlie Savage
Like that time in June when he told the public that the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, had resigned, which was false. /3 nytimes.com/2020/06/19/nyr… pic.twitter.com/R4OeISjdui
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Appeals Court Denies Flynn’s Attempt to End Case
A lower-court judge can continue to scrutinize the Justice Department’s highly unusual request to drop the charge against President Trump’s former national security adviser, the court ruled.
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Charlie Savage
Updated DC Circuit Flynn ruling story to also include McGahn subpoena ruling. Both cases came from the Trump-Russia inquiry, raise separation of powers issues, & highlight a partisan-tinged divide that keeps leading to en banc reversals of panel rulings.
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C.I.A. Uncensors Memoir of F.B.I. Agent Who Protested Torture of Terrorists
Nine years after the C.I.A. blacked out parts of Ali Soufan’s book, the agency has finally allowed a more complete version of his story to be published.
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Charlie Savage
In 2011, the CIA classified significant parts of FBI counterterrorism agent's @Ali_H_Soufan's memoir on interrogating high-level Al Qaeda detainees w/ and w/out torture, "The Black Banners." A de-censored version republishes next month. w/ @carolrosenberg
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White House Dismisses Questions of Whether Convention Events Broke Anti-Corruption Law
The law is aimed at preventing public officials from using their power for partisan political activity.
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Charlie Savage
“With regard to high-level officials, certainly with regard to Senate-confirmed officials, [Hatch Act] enforcement would depend on officials being shameable. Do they have the capacity to be shamed for misconduct?”
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