A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicted former CIA agent John Kiriakou for releasing classified information to journalists that included the identities of a “covert CIA officer” and information on the role of “another CIA employee in classified activities.” The Justice Department charged him with one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and three counts of violating the Espionage Act, along with a count for “allegedly lying to the Publications Review Board of the CIA” so he could include classified information in his book.

A State Department internal memo opposing the Justice Department’s arguments for CIA “enhanced interrogation techniques”—torture—has been released. The memo from February 2006 was written by Philip Zelikow, then counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It was believed that all copies of the memo had been destroyed, but on April 3, the National Security Archive, obtained a copy through a FOIA request and posted it online.

A federal appeals court judge on the Fifth Circuit pretty much freaked out yesterday during a trial with a member of the Justice Department, pouncing on President Obama’s comments about the Supreme Court’s health care case and badgering counsel on whether judicial review exists. The judge is displaying more ego than sense.

Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, who was given a two-year sentence in prison for making fake bids in a Utah public land auction that was later found to be corrupt, has reportedly been moved to solitary confinement after a member of Congress contacted the Bureau of Prisons.

The Justice Department and the FBI, responding to a growing display of outrage, will open an investigation into the killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17 year-old African-American killed in a gated community in Sanford, Florida by a neighborhood watch captain. This follows a month of protests over the shooting and the failure of local authorities to arrest the shooter.

Many cheered when the Obama Administration intervened and refused to pre-clear Texas’ draconian voter ID legislation. And given the risk to disenfranchisement of particularly minority voters, it was the right thing to do. But a pernicious by-product of this has now been realized: Texas, in its response, will seek to invalidate Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act entirely.

When the HUD Inspector General tried to examine the major banks foreclosure records and practices, they uncovered many instances of potential legal violations, which they referred to the Justice Department. DoJ sat on this information while pushing for settlements. Meanwhile, the banks stonewaled the IG investigation, refusing to provide documents and preventing the IG from interviewing employees or others with direct knowledge.

The Obama administration has come to be regarded as being deceitful on policies of openness and transparency; and in many cases, worse on freedom of information than the Bush Administration. That is something government officials have had to confront during Sunshine Week, as they try to celebrate freedom of information and open government.

Dayen’s news roundup from Monday evening, March 12, including stories from Krugman on Yurp, Mitt on minimum wages, Rush on advertisers, Doonebury on ultrasound, Kucinish on killings, everyone on Obama, church foreclosuress, Syria, Pakistan, UN on Bradley Manning, and much more.

The foreclosure fraud settlement has been filed in federal court in Washington. The Justice Department has provided the relevant documents, over a month after the settlement was announced. So now we can finally begin to assess the settlement and what it will mean for housing policy. At first glance, the list of offenses for which the banks are granted release from further liability is so long, you have to wonder why these banks are allowed to stay in business. More to come.