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BLACKWATER

Security firm denies CIA link

The private security company once known as Blackwater is disputing a New York Times report that Blackwater USA security guards participated in clandestine CIA raids against suspected insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the company, now called Xe Services, said, “Blackwater USA was never under contract to participate in covert raids with CIA or Special Operations personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else.”

The newspaper reported the “snatch-and-grab” raids took place regularly between 2004 and 2006, when the insurgency in Iraq was escalating and security throughout the country was deteriorating.

A U.S. official confirmed to the Associated Press that Blackwater provided security and moved around with CIA teams on missions in war zones, but he denied they performed CIA missions.

The former Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., changed its corporate name after a series of controversies involving the use of force by its employees, including a September 2007 shooting in Baghdad that left 17 civilians dead.

SPENDING

Senate primed for weekend vote

A massive year-end spending bill cleared a key obstacle in the Senate on Friday.

By a 60-36 vote, the Senate defeated a Republican procedural move that would have unraveled the $1.1 trillion measure. The bill bundles six spending bills into a 1,000-plus-page “omnibus” spending package.

The bill would finance 10 Cabinet-level agencies for the coming year and help fund the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs.

A vote to stop a Republican filibuster is scheduled for Saturday morning, and the final bill could be voted on before Monday. Friday’s vote demonstrates that Democrats will have the 60 votes needed do so.

COURTS

ACORN funding cut ruled unconstitutional

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