Feinstein slams Obama CIA head pick  —  (CNN) — Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Senate's incoming Intelligence committee chair, slammed President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Leon Panetta as director of the CIA Monday.  —  “I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA Director.

Obama's impressive new OLC chief  —  The Office of Legal Counsel, inside the Justice Department, is probably the most consequential federal government office that remains relatively obscure.  The legal opinions which it issues become, more or less automatically, the official legal position of the Executive Branch.

Panetta On Torture  —  Here's Central Intelligence Agency director-designate Leon E. Panetta, writing about torture, in the Washington Monthly.  Actually, no — he's writing in the Washington Monthly about torture:

Funny Business in Minnesota  —  In which every dubious ruling seems to help Al Franken.  —  Strange things keep happening in Minnesota, where the disputed recount in the Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken may be nearing a dubious outcome.  Thanks to the machinations …

Senate recount: Franken's on top; Coleman to sue  —  The state Canvassing Board certified final results this afternoon in Minnesota's marathon U.S. Senate race, but that won't end the battle between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman, whose Senate term ended on Saturday.

Minnesota elections board says Franken won  —  The Minnesota Board of Canvassers certified Democrat Al Franken as winner of the state's Senate race, but incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman's (R) attorneys have vowed to challenge the decision.  —  After two months of political and legal wrangling …

Coulter's ‘Today’ show interview canceled  —  Ann Coulter was scheduled to appear on the “Today” show Tuesday morning to promote her new book, “Guilty.”  But it's now been canceled, according to her website.  —  Coulter wrote: “TODAY SHOW AND TODAY SHOW FOURTH HOUR: CANCELLED!”