Happy Friday, and welcome to today's Daily Read. Apart from the litany of grim economic news and continued focus on Obama's transition (will Hillary be our next Secretary of State or not??), we've got plenty of interesting investigative news to keep us busy. Please send us your tips, headlines, and anything else we should be paying attention to. On to the Read!

Obama's Verizon Account Compromised » Verizon Wireless said last night that a number of its employees have "accessed and viewed" President-elect Barack Obama's personal cellphone account without authorization. For now, the company is putting all employees who viewed the account - whether they were authorized or not - on leave without pay. — Washington Post

Guantanamo Prisoners Ordered Released » For the first time, a federal judge ordered the release yesterday of detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay after evaluating and rejecting government allegations that five men were dangerous enemy combatants. — Washington Post

Farewell, Sen. Stevens » There, for a final time at his Senate desk, stood Ted Stevens: longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history, shepherd of Alaska statehood, convicted felon."I don't have any rearview mirror," Stevens said in his farewell address. "I look only forward. And I still see the day when I can remove the cloud that currently surrounds me." — Washington Post

Contractors Lose Immunity in Iraq » Thousands of contractors, both private Americans and non-Iraqi foreigners working in key roles for the United States in Iraq, will lose immunity and be subject to Iraqi law under new security arrangements, Bush administration officials say. — Associated Press

Surprise Turn in Russian Trial » The trial of three men accused of helping to organize the murder of one of Russia's most prominent investigative reporters, Anna Politkovskaya, took a surprise turn Thursday as a juror publicly challenged the court's decision to hold the proceedings behind closed doors. — Washington Post

Senate to Probe Bond-Rating Firms » The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is opening a probe into causes of the global financial crisis, focusing in part on whether bond-rating firms, driven by conflicts of interest, boosted mortgage investments that have since collapsed. — Wall Street Journal

Court Rules on Drug Data Mining Ban » Data-mining companies have no constitutional right to buy prescription data in order to help pharmaceutical companies lobby doctors to prescribe their brand-name drugs, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. — Wired

Kansas City Mayor Fights for Wife's Position » Since the City Council ousted the mayor's wife, an unpopular office volunteer, Mark Funkhouser has filed a lawsuit to overturn the council's decision and has been conducting more city business from his three-bedroom house seven miles from City Hall. — Wall Street Journal

L.A. Prosecutors: Drug Dealer "Set Up" » Michael Edward Baker's sentence is overturned after prosecutors admit that police falsified the reputed drug dealer's arrest report last year. Baker is still facing trial in a federal drug case. — L.A. Times