Senate Committee Subpoenas Fort Hood Documents

In a rare public dispute between a Democratic-led Congress and the White House, a Senate committee on Monday subpoenaed the Obama administration for secret documents and access to witnesses in last year's mass shooting at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas.

Congress has been largely supportive of President Barack Obama's policies and the White House prides itself on increased government transparency. Nonetheless, the chairman and ranking Republican of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have alleged that the administration is covering up critical details on the case, including whether the government had access to information that could have prevented the shooting.

"Unfortunately, it is impossible for us to avoid reaching the conclusion that the departments simply do not want to cooperate with our investigation," wrote Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, in a letter accompanying the subpoena.

The Defense and Justice departments say that release of the disputed data would compromise the prosecution of Maj. Nidal Hasan, the disgruntled Army doctor charged with killing 13 people.

"We'll obviously be reviewing it and determining the department's next steps," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said of the subpoena.

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TX Process Servers Comment on Accusations Against Sheriff

Ruben Dominguez made strong accusations against the Ector County Sheriff's Office Friday as he was still questioning whether a deputy was in his right to come inside his yard, knock on his door and then shoot his rottweiler after she started chasing the deputy through his yard.

"He (deputy Bobby Hodges) saw the dog, the dog didn't seem like a threat, he decided to get down (out of his car and in the yard)," Dominguez said. "He decided he wanted to kill that dog."

Meanwhile, Sheriff Mark Donaldson gave more details to how the Monday morning shooting unfolded as he stood by deputy Hodges' actions.

Donaldson contended the gates to Dominguez's fence was left open that day, meaning anyone including the deputy had a right to approach his front door. He further said Hodges never actually had the man's phone number before the shooting, contradicting Dominguez's claim.

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Justice of Peace Signs Up for E-Filing

A Williamson County justice of the peace is hoping to make the process of filing a civil case less time-consuming and save paper at the same time.

Dain Johnson of Precinct 1 is the first justice of the peace in the county to begin using the new filing method, which allows attorneys to go online to file cases seeking up to $10,000.

Johnson said there are a lot of benefits to using the new system. When documents are due, lawyers can file them until midnight. Previously, they had to wait in lines at the courthouse, and they had to go during business hours. Johnson said lawyers can also avoid sending couriers or mailing heavy boxes that could be expensive.

Once a file is entered, court clerks can access it online. The system went online this month.