Roger Clemens perjury trial underway in D.C. courthouse
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on July 14th, 2011 4:36 am by HL
Roger Clemens perjury trial underway in D.C. courthouse
Wearing a dark suit and gray tie instead of a baseball uniform and spikes, Roger Clemens strode into a federal courtroom Wednesday morning for the most consequential performance of his life.
He took a seat at the defense table in Courtroom 16, where the legendary former baseball star is being tried on charges he lied to Congress about having taken steroids during his playing days. As the trial began, prosecutors said Clemens used performance-enhancing drugs to extend his career, then lied to preserve his image; his defense team said he was clean throughout his 24-year career, and never lied.
The Influence Industry: Coming soon to a screen near you — a lobbying campaign
Lobbying groups have long relied on traditional advertising to get their messages out to the broader public. Now one of Washington’s most powerful organizations has discovered a new medium: film.
This week, a documentary called “InJustice,” which attacks America’s class-action lawsuit system, began airing on the cable television ReelzChannel. The film was bankrolled in part by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s legal arm, which has long lobbied for tort reforms more favorable to corporations.
The release of “InJustice” comes at the same time that another movie about the civil-justice system, “Hot Coffee,” has taken the documentary world by storm. The film, which argues that civil lawsuits help protect consumers, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is now airing on HBO.
CIA defends running vaccine program to find bin Laden
U.S. officials on Wednesday defended a tactic used by the CIA to attempt to verify the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden — the covert creation of a vaccine program in Abbottabad, the town in Pakistan where he was later killed in a U.S. raid.
The vaccine drive was conducted shortly before the raid in early May on bin Laden’s compound, officials said, and was overseen by a Pakistani doctor who traveled to Abbottabad. The goal was to collect DNA evidence from residents to learn whether bin Laden lived in the compound.
