We can confirm that Sen. McConnell’s office reported this matter to us and we are looking into it.Paul Bresson, FBI spokesman • Confirming that the FBI is investigating the circumstances of a recording released by Mother Jones today, of a private meeting between Senator Mitch McConnell and his aides regarding a possible Senate challenge from Ashley Judd (she decided not to run in March). In the audio, McConnell refers to his campaign as in a “Whac-a-Mole” phase, saying “when anybody sticks their head up, do them out.” His aides subsequently talk of exploiting Judd’s views on religion and consumerism, as well as her depression and a past suicide attempt. Upon the release of the recordings, McConnell asserted that it was a “bugging” by “Nixonian” liberals, but we don’t actually know anything yet about who released this, how, and why. But that may not last for long if the FBI’s investigations bear any fruit. source
From Mother Jones:
A 718-page digital document obtained by Mother Jones contains names, phone numbers, neighborhoods, and alleged activities of thousands of dissidents apparently targeted by the Syrian government. Three experts asked separately by Mother Jones to examine the document—essentially a massive spreadsheet, whose contents are in Arabic—say they believe that it is authentic. As Bashar Al-Assad’s military continues a deadly crackdown on dissent inside the country, the list appears to confirm in explicit detail the scale of the regime’s domestic surveillance and its methodical efforts to destroy widespread opposition.
“The way it’s organized looks similar to other documents I’ve seen,” said Syrian expert Andrew Tabler, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “It organizes people in such a way that it would allow the security services to be able to track them down.”
Put us over the top, people!
justsayjolie said: Oh no, Mother Jones, nooo!! I have a strict policy to immediately unfollow any tumblr that talks about followers in any way, shape or form. Guess you better update that to “seven followers away”!
Geez, I hate people! Follow MoJo fo realz.
Come on, seriously? A Tumblr that notes its follower counts, not the quality of their posts (which, in MoJo’s case, are pretty awesome) is your mitigating factor for unfollowing a site? Stop being lame.
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