Yesterday I blogged about the Bush administration’s re-write of executive order 12333, which governs how the executive branch’s 16 intelligence agencies work together. The re-write, announced yesterday, gives broad policy-making power to the Director of National Intelligence, a post created only four years ago. Apparently nobody bothered to ask Congress if Bush’s revision was okay.

The Wall Street Journal’s Siobhan Gorman reports that Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the top Republican on the House intel. committee, furiously walked out of a meeting where Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell was briefing committee members about the change. While intelligence committee chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Tex.) wasn’t quite as dramatic, he also expressed indignation toward the White House.

This sounds bad, bad, bad. The intelligence agencies are notorious for their feuds with Congress and each other. The redesign looks like it’s only added to the problem.-MB

U.S. District Judge Robert Bates issued a ruling yesterday that White House aides cannot use executive privilege to make them immune from Congressional subpoenas. The decision compels former White House counsel Harriet Miers to testify and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten to provide documents about fired U.S. Attorneys. It would also appear to force Karl Rove to testify about his role in politicizing the Justice Dept.– and prosecuting former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.

The Washington Post’s Del Quentin Wilbur reports that the White House has not decided whether to appeal the decision. There are still obstacles to getting Miers, Bolten, and Rove to spill the beans– like how much they claim selective executive privilege in refusing to answer questions. But the ruling is a meaningful victory for executive branch accountability.-MB

The Dept. of Homeland Security has gone public with another eyebrow-raising part of their "war on terror"/get tough at the border policies: Customs and Border Protection agents can, without explanation, take away a laptop, cellphone or many other electronic devices from people entering the country. The Washington Post’s Ellen Nakashima reports that the feds can hold and examine the contents of these devices for however long they please. DHS has said the policy has been in place for a while, but they decided to reveal it recently out of public interest.

Predictably, and understandably, civil liberties groups, along with frequent fliers, are up in arms. So what exactly is DHS accomplishing with a policy that could make innocent travelers feel helpless and spied on? Well, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff has said that searches have uncovered "violent jihadist materials" as well as child pornography.

Left unanswered is what percentage of these searches are vital to improving law enforcement.-MB