Government Documents

Legal experts said Tuesday that they were taken aback by the claim in the latest batch of secret Bush-era memos that the president alone had the power to set the rules during the war on terrorism. Yale law professor Jack Balkin called this a "theory of presidential dictatorship. They say the battlefield is everywhere. And the president can do anything he wants, so long as it involves the military and the enemy." The criticism was not limited to liberals.

Historical government files that chronicle the lives of immigrants in the U.S. will become part of the National Archives instead of being destroyed, officials announced Wednesday. The files could reveal the untold stories of millions of immigrants, including scores of Jews who fled Europe after World War II and Chinese who came to the U.S. as part of the diaspora.

The chairman of a key congressional committee issued a subpoena Friday to compel the Environmental Protection Agency to turn over documents on its decision to deny California permission to implement its own global warming laws. Escalating the fight over the decision, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, directed the EPA to provide uncensored copies of its staff recommendation to agency Administrator Stephen L.

Some officials at the Environmental Protection Agency were so worried their boss would deny California permission to implement its own global-warming law that they worked with a former EPA chief to try to persuade the current administrator to grant the state's request. That unusual effort was revealed by documents released Tuesday by congressional investigators probing whether EPA Administrator Stephen L.

Escalating a fight with Democrats on Capitol Hill, the White House on Friday invoked executive privilege in refusing to turn over documents to a congressional committee investigating the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to deny California permission to implement its own vehicle emission standards.

The Justice Department in 2002 told the CIA that its interrogators would be safe from prosecution for violations of anti-torture laws if they believed "in good faith" that harsh techniques used to break prisoners' will would not cause "prolonged mental harm."

A lot worse things have happened in Iraq, but the removal of the Baath Party archives from the country -- 7 million pages that undoubtedly document atrocities of the Saddam Hussein regime -- is significant. The documents were seized shortly after the fall of Baghdad by Kanan Makiya, an Iraq-born emigre who teaches at Brandeis University and heads a private group called the Iraq Memory Foundation.

If you have certain stocks you follow closely, it's important to keep up with each company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. At first glance, SEC documents seem like just dreary gray text with lots of small print. But the careful reader can find valuable information such as strategic plans, lawsuit settlements and the pay of top executives. By signing up with the free website SECfilings.com you can be alerted by e-mail as soon as a company you're following makes a filing.

Alaska offers no bargains to people asking for records of the taxpayers' money at work. On the contrary, the prices it has set for copies of state documents could yield the government millions of dollars -- if anyone agrees to pay them. Officials say they have been swamped with requests for records since Gov. Sarah Palin was selected to be Republican John McCain's running mate. Some news organizations have asked for copies of e-mails between state employees and Palin's husband, Todd.

A judge has ordered the Justice Department to produce White House memos that provide the legal basis for the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 warrantless wiretapping program. U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy Jr. signed an order Friday requiring the department to produce the memos by the White House legal counsel's office by Nov. 17.