New York

Paterson Gives Narrow Denial On Role In Aide's Domestic Violence Case (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | March 17, 2010, 2:53PM

Gov. David Paterson (D-NY)

Appearing on Don Imus' show on Fox Business today, New York Gov. David Paterson for the first time appeared to deny that he improperly intervened in the domestic violence case of a top aide.

Asked by Imus what happened when he reportedly spoke on the phone with the woman who had accused Paterson aide David Johnson of assaulting her on Halloween last year, Paterson responded in narrow terms (emphasis ours):

Read more »

Republican Majority Campaign

In It For The Money? Conservative PAC Spends Big, But Not On Candidates

Justin Elliott | March 17, 2010, 1:00PM

Gary Kreep

A California-based PAC called the Republican Majority Campaign spent nearly all of the $1.7 million it raked in from conservative donors last year, but less than 2% of the money went to supporting candidates or independent political spending.

The rest of the money raised by the group went to operating expenses, salaries for the PAC's top officers, and back into fundraising appeals -- which often ask supporters for as much as $144 in exchange for sending faxes opposing health care reform to members of Congress.

The lion's share -- roughly $1.3 million -- of the group's 2009 fundraising haul went to a murky Arizona telemarketing firm that goes under the name Political Advertising, which has been linked to questionable PAC activities in the past. Its business type in the state's registry is given as "telephone fundraising."

Read more »

Pay-Day Lenders

With Heavy Washington Presence, Pay-Day Lenders Sway Lawmakers, Attack Critics

Zachary Roth | March 17, 2010, 12:39PM

The weakening of the Senate proposal on financial reform unveiled this week, after lobbying from the pay-day lending industry, should come as little surprise. In recent years, the industry has built a sophisticated Washington lobbying and public relations operation, which it has used to promote its interests, savage its critics, and shape the public debate.

The $42-billion-a-year pay-day lending industry offers short-term loans often designed to tide customers over until their next pay-check. But the loans, which can carry interest rates of as much as 400 percent on an annualized basis, lead many working-class borrowers to end up digging themselves deeper into debt. As a result, the pay-day lenders have become a prime target of consumer advocates and their allies on Congress, who accuse the industry of preying on struggling Americans, and have in recent years sought ways to rein it in.

Read more »

Sue Myrick

GOP Rep. Myrick Endorses Conference Of Noted Islamophobe

Justin Elliott | March 17, 2010, 10:03AM

Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC)

Fresh off a tense town hall with Muslim constituents last month, Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) has blasted out a letter enthusiastically endorsing the group ACT! For America, and its leader, Brigitte Gabriel, who has made a number of extreme comments against Muslims.

ACT! For America's national conference and legislative briefing is scheduled for June in Washington, D.C. The group describes itself as "a collective voice for the democratic values of Western Civilization, such as the celebration of life and liberty, as opposed to the authoritarian values of Islamofascism, such as the celebration of death, terror and tyranny."

Read more »

John Conyers

'On Her Own' For Legal Fees, Monica Conyers Declared Indigent

Justin Elliott | March 16, 2010, 5:33PM

Monica Conyers and Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

With former Detroit City Council president Monica Conyers appealing the three-year sentence she received last week after pleading guilty to bribery charges, a federal judge today appointed a public defender to represent Conyers, whom he declared indigent.

A statement from a court spokesman suggests that Monica Conyers' husband, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), is not willing to pitch in for legal fees.

Read more »

Don Young

Don Young To GOP: Earmark Ban Schmearmark Ban

Zachary Roth | March 16, 2010, 2:53PM

Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

Rep. Don Young (R-AK) praising earmarks is hardly news. After all, the Alaska lawmaker, whose "generous appetite for legislative pork," was once noted by the New Republic, is a co-sponsor of the Bridge to Nowhere, and bragged of an appropriations bill that he had "stuffed it like a turkey" with homestate spending items.

But these days, Young's pro-earmark position isn't jibing too well with the image the GOP caucus wants to project. Eager to present themselves as more restrained than House Democrats and the Obama administration, House Republicans last week announced a one-year earmark hiatus.

Read more »

Scott Rothstein

Report: FL Ponzi Schemer Wore Wire To Snag Alleged Mobster

Justin Elliott | March 16, 2010, 1:01PM

Scott Rothstein

With his $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme crumbling last fall, a desperate Scott Rothstein agreed to cooperate with the Feds in a sting operation that helped bring down an alleged Sicilian mafioso, according to a remarkable new story in the Miami Herald.

Roberto Settineri was arrested in Florida last week on money laundering charges. On the same day, he was charged in Italy with "extortion, drug trafficking, attempted homicide, and other crimes arising from their alleged affiliation with Santa Maria di Gesù, a Sicilian mafia family," according to the FBI.

Read more »

Pay-Day Lenders

After Lobbying By Pay-Day Lenders, Dodd Bill Is Weakened

Zachary Roth | March 16, 2010, 12:33PM

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).

As we've reported, the pay-day lending industry -- one of the most predatory players corners in the modern financial system -- has recently been hard at work lobbying to water down provisions in the financial regulatory reform bill currently in the Senate. (We also told you about the industry's key lobbyist, who used to be the sub-prime industry's man in Washington.)

Now Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) has unveiled the reform proposal that will create the basis for the Senate bill. And it looks like the industry's lobbying, up to a point, has paid off -- although it's still unhappy that it's being seriously regulated at all.

Read more »

Virginia Thomas

Clarence Thomas's Wife's New Group Uses Stock Photos Of Minorities

Zachary Roth | March 16, 2010, 10:01AM

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Virginia Thomas

There's nothing wrong with an organization using stock photos in its promotional pictures. After all, that's why they're produced.

Still, it's kind of funny to note that the new Tea-Party-inspired advocacy group launched by Virginia Thomas -- the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas -- uses stock photos to convey the impression of minority support for its conservative goals.

Read more »

Birthers

Appeals Court Upholds $20,000 Fine Against Orly Taitz

Justin Elliott | March 16, 2010, 8:50AM

Orly Taitz

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected Orly Taitz's appeal of the $20,000 fine imposed on her for making frivolous filings in a long-running Birther case.

"We have fully considered Taitz's arguments," the ruling from a three-judge panel reads. "We find them unpersuasive and therefore affirm the district court's sanctions judgment."

Read more »

Marco Rubio

Report: Rubio Failed To Disclose $34,000 In PAC Expenses

Zachary Roth | March 15, 2010, 6:06PM

Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL)

Marco Rubio has led a pretty charmed life lately, as he's vaulted past Gov. Charlie Crist to take a commanding lead in the race for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate.

But that could be ending. Last week, the Miami Herald reported that Rubio had charged computer supplies, groceries, and products from a music equipment store and a wine store, among other items, to the Florida GOP. And over the weekend, the St. Petersburg Times added to the picture, with a detailed look at the finances of the various political action committees that Rubio set up over the last decade, as he charted a course from little-known local pol to Speaker of the Florida House.

Read more »

Virginia Thomas

Clarence Thomas's Wife Teams With Federalist Society Exec On New Conservative Lobby Group

Zachary Roth | March 15, 2010, 3:28PM

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Virginia Thomas

The new conservative advocacy group launched by Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has close ties to Washington's powerful conservative legal community.

As the Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend, Virginia Thomas recently created Liberty Central, a new lobbying group that seeks to tap into the grassroots energy unleashed by the Tea Party movement.

Read more »