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Nineteen retired generals, admirals, and former top civilian defense officials have filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, opposing former President Donald Trump’s plea for immunity from prosecution, claiming that granting such a request would pose a significant threat to national security. The Supreme Court is set to deliberate on Trump’s presidential immunity argument on April 25, as reported by The Gateway Pundit. The Supreme Court will deliberate on whether a president can be shielded from legal consequences for actions taken while in office. The decision, which may not arrive until late June, according to analysts, has significant repercussions...

Engineers monitoring BP Plc's damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico detected seepage on the ocean floor that could mean problems with the cap that has stopped oil from gushing into the water, the government's top oil spill official said today. Earlier on Sunday, BP officials had expressed hope that the test of the cap which began Thursday could continue until a relief well can permanently seal the leak next month. Oil gushed from the deep-sea Maconda well for nearly three months until the new cap was put in place last week. But late on Sunday, the U.S. government released...

This is an AP excerpt, there was a story last night (which can't be posted on Free Republic) explicitly stating that Thad Allen had ordered BP to reopen the well after testing because he wanted to measure what the oil flow had been, even though this would further pollute the gulf. "NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- BP hopes to keep using its giant cork to block oil from reaching the Gulf of Mexico until they plug the blown out well permanently. Federal officials said earlier that the cap would be tested, and then oil would be pumped through pipes up to...

NEW ORLEANS — BP allayed last-minute government fears of making the disaster worse and began testing the new, tighter-fitting cap Wednesday that could finally choke off the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the Obama administration's point man on the disaster, said the government gave the go-ahead after carefully reviewing the risks. "What we didn't want to do is compound that problem by making an irreversible mistake," he said at the end of a 24-hour roller-coaster of hopes raised, hopes dashed and hopes raised again along the Gulf Coast. The cap - a...

Gov. Bobby Jindal chastised the Coast Guard today for stopping eight barges equipped with vacuums to siphon oil for an unnecessary inspection Wednesday. "The last 24 hours have been incredibly frustrating," Jindal said at a news conference at Fort Jackson in Buras, following an aerial tour of oil-fighting efforts on the coast. Calling for "more urgency" in the federal government's response to the growing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, Jindal described how it took calls to the White House to clear the way for the barges to commence with cleaning up surface oil today. "Twenty-four hours were lost...

Jon Stewart pointed out something interesting: how often President Obama or his underlings tell us how complicated or complex the job is. So I did some searching on the White House web site to see how often such words appear in various speeches and remarks. Below is a partial summary, going back only through April. (Emphases added.) "There are some complicating factors... That is very, very complex... It's the breadth and the complexity of the disaggregation of the oil, which I don't think was accounted for and anticipated in any plans. It's very complex. It's one of the hardest things...

It's been a big week for Coast Guard Cmdr. Thad Allen, who is in charge of overseeing the federal response to the BP oil leak. This morning, he announced that BP's "top kill" is working, halting the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico since last month's Deepwater Horizon explosion. But earlier in the week, with far less media attention, Allen, 61, stepped down from his position as Commandant of the Coast Guard, the highest position in that branch of the military. He had plans to retire soon after being relieved of command, but was instead tapped to run...

The next time you see Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen in Louisiana, it will be to hand over the reins of his role as principal official for the Katrina response to somebody else. Admiral Allen will leave Louisiana on Saturday and will return at the end of the month to wrap things up. In his last few weeks as the top FEMA operator on Katrina, Allen talked to 9 News about what he believes FEMA has learned from this disaster and where the federal agency is headed next. Admiral Allen, appearing at his last media appearance in Louisiana Friday,...

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans' mayor has the authority to let residents return to his hurricane-damaged city, but the Coast Guard official in charge of the federal disaster response said today that all the information from health and environmental experts recommends against it. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen plans to meet with Mayor Ray Nagin on Monday and develop what he called a logical plan to repopulate the city. If Allen gets his way, that repopulation won't start on Monday, as the mayor planned, but it will be soon. "I wouldn't want to attach a time limit to it,...

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Federal and local authorities clashed on Sunday over whether New Orleans was ready for residents to return, putting in doubt efforts to quickly resettle the devastated city. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, head of the federal recovery efforts in New Orleans, said the city lacked most basic services -- such as drinkable water, sewage and electricity. Its protective levees remained vulnerable, and the city lacked a plan to respond to any new emergency. Tens of thousands of New Orleans' residents ravaged by Hurricane Katrina nearly three weeks ago remain housed in temporary shelters across the...

The Talk Shows Sunday, September 18th, 2005 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Russian President Vladimir Putin; Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Former President Bill Clinton; Allen. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Allen. THIS WEEK (ABC): Clinton; Sen. David Vitter, R-La.; Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.; Caroline Kennedy, editor, "A Family of Poems." LATE EDITION (CNN) : Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; Allen; Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt...

...First, the blame game is missing the mark. George W. Bush is being accused by his natural enemies [b]ut his real error came long before Katrina, when he and Congress created a Department of Homeland Security.... After a disaster, politicians want to "do something." Striking back at U.S. enemies was essential and Mr. Bush did that against al Qaeda with the enthusiastic approval of Congress... giving free rein to Beltway gluttony.... That leads to lesson No. 2: If an agency is meant to cope with emergencies, don't put lawyers in charge.... In Mr. Brown's defense, lawyers are conditioned by training...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: After the President and First Lady attended church in Washington this morning, they participated in a September 11, 2001 rememberance and moment of silence on the White House lawn. GWB then headed for New Orleans where he touched down mid-afternoon. He will be spending the night aboard the USS Iwo Jima, which is docked in New Orleans harbor near downtown. The President was met by New Orleans Mayor Nagin, but Gov. Kathleen Blanco was not present. Patriot Day 2005 Proclamation A Proclamation by the President of the United States of AmericaFour years have passed since...

The Talk Shows Sunday, September 11th, 2005 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen; Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Sen. David Vitter, R-La.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin; Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; Ivor van Heerden, director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center; historian John M. Barry. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore; Sens Landrieu, and Susan Collins, R-Maine. THIS WEEK (ABC): Adm. Allen; Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.; the Dalai Lama. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Honore; Vitter; Rep. Nancy Pelosi,...

WASHINGTON - Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, tapped on Friday to head the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, has taken on big challenges before. Allen was commander of all Coast Guard operations east of the Rocky Mountains on Sept. 11, 2001. In the days after the terrorist attacks, he was responsible for making sure local responders in the New York area had the vessels, aircraft and personnel they needed. He also is credited with leading the Coast Guard’s smooth transition from the Transportation Department to the Homeland Security Department in 2003. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff elevated...

Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, tapped on Friday to head the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, has taken on big challenges before. Allen was commander of all Coast Guard operations east of the Rocky Mountains on Sept. 11, 2001. In the days after the terrorist attacks, he was responsible for making sure local responders in the New York area had the vessels, aircraft and personnel they needed. He also is credited with leading the Coast Guard's smooth transition from the Transportation Department to the Homeland Security Department in 2003. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff elevated Allen from...