Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: "Pink Sugar" Pushes God, as the Money Runs out

Justin Rood | August 26, 2006, 1:10PM

Oh, Katie.

Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) has set fire to her own ambitions yet again, this time declaring to reporters, "if you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin."

It's increasingly clear to observers that the Harris for Senate campaign has become, in essence, a Civil War re-enactment of Sherman's march through Atlanta, with Harris playing Sherman and her campaign playing Atlanta. Even the tone of media coverage of her antics seems to have shifted, to be no more or less than a somber and respectfully brief, unflourished recounting of the mayhem that she has caused.

That's probably because she's down roughly 30 points in recent polls, so her self-immolating displays hardly matter. Hence reporters are more likely to give only a spare report of the facts, insert an obligatory Democratic "outrage" quote, make a sympathetic call to Harris' spokeswoman for whatever clean-up statement she's allowed to give, and call it a day.

What's more, it turns out Harris may not even have the money to fund her own self-destruction. The $10 million of her own money she promised to pour into her campaign -- which was necessary, because she couldn't raise outside funds to keep going -- doesn't exist, according to a new report.

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AP: PhRMA Footed Bill for Medicare Drug Benefit Ads

Paul Kiel | August 26, 2006, 12:10PM

From the AP:

The pharmaceutical industry quietly footed the bill for at least part of a recent multimillion-dollar [$10 million] ad campaign praising lawmakers [almost all Republicans] who support the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to political officials.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims credit for the ads, although a spokesman refused repeatedly to say whether it had received any funds from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America....

The officials who described PhRMA's involvement said they did not know whether the industry had given the Chamber money to cover the entire cost of the ads and other elements of an election-year voter mobilization effort, or merely a portion.

Conrad Burns

Former Burns Finance Official Accused of Fraud

Justin Rood | August 25, 2006, 3:49PM

Montana officials have accused a recently-departed fundraising chief for Sen. Conrad Burns' (R-MT) re-election campaign with securities fraud, according to a press release.

State Auditor John Morrison says Pat Davison defrauded two families of $1.2 million. Morrison said Davison convinced them to withdraw the money from investment accounts so he could put them in "fake" investments, including a bond issue from a local school trust.

Officials from the school "confirmed that no such trust exists and they do not issue bonds," the release states. Morrison has referred the matter to the state attorney general for possible prosecution.

Burns named Davison his state finance director in January. According to Burns spokesman Jason Klindt, Davison left the campaign last month. "Pat Davison resigned on July 27th. He is not Burns’ finance chief," he said in a message. However, a search of the campaign's Web site turns up no press release announcing the departure, and a search of the Nexis database results in no articles mentioning the split.

Klindt added that the finance director spot was a "voluntary position."

Davison also convinced people to invest in several of his companies, none of which had been registered to offer or sell securities in the state, according to Morrison.

Calls to the Montana Attorney General's office were referred to FBI's Office in Salt Lake City, Utah. A bureau spokesperson said she could not confirm or deny "any sort of activity."

Reached by phone this afternoon, the Burns campaign appeared to be unaware of the charges. A receptionist there said all spokespeople were at lunch and unavailable. Telephone messages left at Davison's house and business went unreturned.

Full press release after the jump.

Update: This post originally referred to Davison as Burns' current state finance director.

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Conrad Burns

BREAKING: Former Burns Finance Chief Accused of Securities Fraud

Justin Rood | August 25, 2006, 3:42PM

Montana officials have accused the former state finance director for Sen. Conrad Burns' (R-MT) re-election campaign, Pat Davison, of securities fraud, TPMmuckraker has learned.

Developing. . .

Update: This post originally referred to Davison as Burns' current state finance director.

Whistleblowers: State Farm Brought in The "Shredding Truck" To Deal with Katrina Claims

Paul Kiel | August 25, 2006, 1:46PM

From ABC:

State Farm Insurance supervisors systematically demanded that Hurricane Katrina damage reports be buried or replaced or changed so that the company would not have to pay policyholders' claims in Mississippi, two State Farm insiders tell ABC News.

Kerri and Cori Rigsby, independent adjusters who had worked for State Farm exclusively for eight years, say they have turned over thousands of internal company documents and their own detailed statement to the FBI and Mississippi state investigators....

At one point, they say State Farm brought in a special shredding truck they believe was used to destroy key documents. State Farm says shredding is standard to protect policyholders' privacy.

The sisters say they saw supervisors go to great lengths to pressure outside engineers to prepare reports concluding that damage was caused by water, not covered under State Farm policies, rather than by wind.

Cloudy -- with a Chance of Kickbacks?

Justin Rood | August 25, 2006, 1:04PM

The Washington Post asks a provocative question: does bad weather cause corruption?

Update: Major Studio Mulling Osama Lover Biopic?

Justin Rood | August 25, 2006, 11:40AM

That Janet Jackson-Osama bin Laden sex scene may be closer to reality than we think -- so says Door of Kush Books, publisher of a new memoir by Kola Boof, the woman who claims to have slept with (and kept by) the al Qaeda leader for several months in 1996.

"If a film gets made about Kola Boof, it will likely be at FOX SEARCHLIGHT," senior editor Nafisa Goma emailed me yesterday. "At this time, that is all that I am allowed to reveal, as it's far too early to publicly discuss the project." I'm thinking, "Pretty Woman" meets "Midnight Express," with a heart?

I called Fox Searchlight to ask if they were really considering a project that would involve Rhythm Nationalist Janet Jackson dancing for and having sex with Osama bin Laden. It's almost pointless to note that they did not respond to my voice mail message.

Also: earlier I reported that Kola Boof objected to being portrayed by Janet Jackson. In fact, Goma wrote me, "Please note that Kola Boof loves Janet Jackson and is a lifelong fan of Janet Jackson, but Boof doesn't want a film made about her life."

And what of her detractors? I checked in with bin Laden expert Peter Bergen, who has called Boof's book "the worst book of the year" and said it was "rife with howlers." Goma had promised to "discredit and humiliate" the CNN reporter and analyst with evidence supporting the tales whose veracity he had challenged.

"Boof is a pathological liar and a fraud," Bergen told me with more than a note of irritation in his voice. "The book is a tissue of lies from beginning to end."

A final note: in an email to Wonkette.com (who has also been following this breaking story), Goma clarified that Kola Boof -- that's "Ms. Boof" if you are, like bin Laden, alleged to be nasty -- was not a "sex slave," despite being abused and forced to dance naked. She was his "mistress."

Tom DeLay

DeLay "Disappointed in Our Justice System"

Paul Kiel | August 25, 2006, 9:13AM

From the AP:

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said he never thought the courts would prevent the Republican Party from replacing him on the November ballot, a Houston television station reported Thursday.

"I'm very disappointed in our justice system. There doesn't seem to be justice," DeLay told KTRK-TV....

DeLay said he doesn't have second thoughts about his decision to resign from Congress and give GOP leaders a chance to replace him on the ballot.

"Knowing what I know now, I don't think I would have done it any differently because I read Texas law, I knew what Texas law was," he told the television station.

Does this sound like a man who needs a legal team drawn from nine different firms? Won't all those lawyers just get in the way of his righteous knowledge?

Ernie Fletcher

Clarification: KY Gov. Didn't Get Away So Easily

Paul Kiel | August 25, 2006, 9:11AM

Yesterday, in the rush of events, we linked to an AP piece reporting that charges against Gov. Ernie Fletcher had been "dismissed."

What was missing there was that the charges were dismissed because Fletcher pled guilty. As part of a deal struck with the state's attorney general, Fletcher admitted wrongdoing (although not "criminal wrongdoing"), several of his appointees will be forced to resign, and all charges were dropped.

The New York Times has a good rundown of the agreement.

The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

pauljustin | August 25, 2006, 8:50AM

Sri Lankan Terror Group Paid for Congressman's Trip
"The five-term Democratic congressman [Danny Davis (D-IL)] said he was unaware that the [Tamil] Tigers paid for the trip [to Sri Lanka] and on his required congressional disclosure form he reported that the trip was paid for by a Tamil cultural organization, the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, based in Hickory Hills, Ill.

"During the visit, Davis spent most of his time in a region controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the group is formally known, and visited the organization's political headquarters. He also met with a police chief for the region appointed by the Tigers." (Chicago Tribune)

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Rick Santorum

Court Rules against Green Challenge; Case Heads to PA Supreme Court

Paul Kiel | August 24, 2006, 5:07PM

We're one step closer to learning whether the GOP-sponsored effort to secure the Green Party a spot on the Pennyslvania ballot will succeed. Today, a judge denied a Green Party effort to have the matter quickly resolved in its favor and punted the mess to the state supreme court.

It's just the latest step in ongoing battle between the Dems and Romanelli.

Funded by conservatives, Romanelli mounted a large-scale signature drive that netted nearly 100,000 signatures. He needed at least 67,000 to qualify, based on a Pennsylvania state law that requires candidates to gather 2 percent of the ballots cast for the largest vote-getter in the last statewide election race.

The Democrats have challenged Romanelli's signatures, alleging that nearly 70,000 of them are invalid.

But Romanelli's lawyer has tried to undercut the Dem's challenge by arguing that the law had been improperly applied by the state. The requirement of 67,000 signatures was based on Democrat Bob Casey's run in 2004 for state treasurer; but Romanelli's lawyer Lawrence Otter argued that the last statewide election was actually a 2005 judicial race.

If Romanelli's motion were to prevail, he'd only need 15,949 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Today, a state judge ruled against the motion, but indicated that the case should ultimately be decided by the state supreme court due to its unique nature. Otter told me that he planned to file the appeal Monday.

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Ernie Fletcher

Charges Dismissed against KY Gov.

Paul Kiel | August 24, 2006, 12:48PM

Kentucky's Attorney General has been pursuing an investigation of Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) since last year; in May, he finally won an indictment charging political favoritism in Fletcher's administration. Today, he got bad news. From the AP:

A judge on Thursday dismissed charges against Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher that had accused him of breaking state law by basing personnel decisions on political considerations.

A lawyer for the Republican governor had been negotiating a settlement to the misdemeanor charges for the past two days, Democratic state Attorney General Greg Stumbo said Thursday.

The special judge assigned to the case, David E. Melcher, dismissed the charges Thursday with prejudice, meaning they can't be brought again.

More, as always, at the BluegrassReport.

Surveillance

Approving Use of Wiretap, Judge Deals Blow to Free Press

Paul Kiel | August 24, 2006, 12:39PM

Journalism took another hit yesterday when a federal judge ruled the government could legitimately tap the phones of anyone handling "material that is not generally available to the public."

As one observer noted, that's just what a free press traffics. "If the press could only report on 'information generally available to the public,' there would be no need for a press," secrecy expert Steven Aftergood told JTA.

The ruling came in the AIPAC case, which deals with two pro-Israel lobbyists' receipt of classified intelligence from a Pentagon official. The two lobbyists had challenged the use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by investigators to secretly record their conversations. But the judge ruled that “collection or transmission of material that is not generally available to the public” qualifies as an activity that could merit wiretapping under FISA.

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Osama Gets His Groove Back? Publisher Defends OBL Ex-Lover's Claims

Justin Rood | August 24, 2006, 11:43AM

So exactly how freaky is the rangy al Qaeda leader? Alleged former bin Laden lover/sex slave Kola Boof made a splash recently with her new autobiography, where she claims that Osama was obsessed with Whitney Houston, loved the B-52's and was more or less fixated on women's rears. But some have cried foul: yesterday we noted that bin Laden expert Peter Bergen charged that Boof's book was "rife with howlers large and small."

In particular, Bergen cited Boof's alleged retelling of a sexual liaison with bin Laden -- and his mentor Abdullah Azzam and extremist Sayyid Qutb, both of whom have been dead for years.

Au contraire, says Boof's publisher, Calif.-based Door of Kush Books. "We happen to know they're very much alive," senior editor Nafisa Goma wrote in an e-mail to us yesterday evening, "and at a later date, will use that information to discredit and humiliate Mr. Bergen[.]" (She didn't say when that might be.)

What's more, Goma said a movie "about Ms. Boof's book" is "being planned," and "such a major star as Janet Jackson may be taking on the [starring] role."

According to Goma, Boof is "not happy" with the idea of Janet Jackson playing her. Neither, we assume, is bin Laden, who would likely prefer Whitney Houston.

Full text of Goma's email after the jump.

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PBS Ombud Blasts Network's Snow Job on Pundit's Plum Post

Justin Rood | August 24, 2006, 8:27AM

PBS recently weighed in on the Karen Czarnecki flap, saying they were fine with identifying the Bush-appointed Labor Department official only as a "conservative commentator" when she appears on one of their talk shows, where she sometimes discusses the Bush administration's labor policies.

That contradicts the opinions of top media ethics experts, as well as that of the network's own ombudsman, Michael Getler, who called the move a "big mistake" and a possible violation of the network's ethics guidelines. Yesterday, Getler responded to PBS:

Not to routinely identify [Czarnecki] more fully is not being fair and upfront with viewers, in my opinion, and amounts to withholding information they have a right to know.

. . . . [H]aving looked further into this, I also disagree with PBS's assessment. This, in my opinion, is a breach of faith with broad journalistic principles of full and pertinent identification and much closer to being a violation of PBS's own editorial guidelines than it is to meeting those guidelines, as PBS maintains.

The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

pauljustin | August 24, 2006, 8:00AM

Ariz. Congressman Won't 'Cut-and-Run' from DeLay
"As GOP stalwarts try to distance themselves from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Arizona's Rep. Trent Franks has remained by his side.

"The embattled DeLay spoke at a Franks fund-raiser on Capitol Hill in December. Franks gave $4,200 to DeLay's re-election committee in March, nearly six months after the then-Texas congressman was indicted by a grand jury on money-laundering and conspiracy charges. . . .

"'Congressman Trent Franks isn't going to cut and run from a friend when the going gets tough,' said [Franks spokesman Sydney] Hay, a former 2002 congressional candidate." (Arizona Republic)

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Osama Expert: the Bin Laden I Know Doesn't Groove Like That

Justin Rood | August 23, 2006, 5:54PM

Say it ain't so! Peter Bergen, a leading Western expert on Osama bin Laden, says that the recent portrait of the terror kingpin as a Whitney Houston-obsessed, Van Halen-loving schizo pothead doesn't hold up. (Who saw that coming?)

"The worst book of the year, is surely Diary of a Lost Girl: The Autobiography of Kola Boof," Bergen writes on his personal Web site. "The book is rife with howlers large and small," he says:

. . . there is one vividly recounted scene in which Boof performs sex acts on a group that included bin Laden; Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s number two; Abdullah Azzam, bin Laden’s mentor, and Sayyid Qutb, the Egyptian jihadist theoretician. Boof says this happened in Morocco in 1996. However, in 1996 bin Laden was living in Sudan, Ayman al Zawahiri was imprisoned in Dagestan, Azzam had been assassinated in Pakistan thirteen years earlier, and Qutb had been lying in his grave for three decades.

Well, cross that guy off your party "A" list. (Bin Laden, I mean. I hear Bergen can really cut a rug -- even to "Rock Lobster.")

GOPer and Alleged Coin Thief on for October Trial

Paul Kiel | August 23, 2006, 3:28PM

Ah, Coingate. Thomas Noe, the Bush Pioneer who allegedly embezzled more than $1 million from a coin fund he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, is on for an October trial.

That's not good news for Ohio Republicans, who've been battered by scandal for more than a year now. Noe's trial, which is scheduled to start October 10th, is expected to go on for months, which means that voters will have a steady reminder of the local GOP's ethical and criminal problems during the heat of the election season.

Noe has already pled guilty to federal charges that he illegally funneled more than $45,000 to the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign, but he's fighting state charges of Racketeering, Theft, Forgery, Money Laundering, and Tampering with Records relating to his management of the coin fund.

Ernie Fletcher

Great Kentucky Blog Ban Rumbles into Court

Paul Kiel | August 23, 2006, 2:19PM

When is a reporter not a reporter?

The answer: when he/she writes for a blog, according to Kentucky officials.

Back in June, Kentucky's administration abruptly banned state employees from reading blogs. They claimed that it wasn't censorship -- but the proprietor of the blog BluegrassReport.org, Mark Nickolas, sued (pdf) in July, claiming that the government censored Nickolas and other blogs because they were critical of Gov. Ernie Fletcher's (R) administration.

A recent motion (pdf) by Nickolas discloses emails between Kentucky administration officials showing what is an apparently very low opinion of blogs. In deciding whether to reply to one reporter's query, one official wrote to another, "John prefers that I not to respond to bloggers since they not reports (sic)." When another official figured out that whoever was calling was actually from a publication of the National Journal Group, and thus deemed worthy of their response, the other responded, "I'll call him then."

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Katrina

Katrina: Unsung Villian Gets Due in New Book

Justin Rood | August 23, 2006, 11:16AM

We're nearing the first anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe. Two Wall Street Journal reporters have a new book out, and it gives some necessary attention to an under-appreciated figure in the debacle: the former director of the Homeland Security Department's 24-hour watch command with the unlikely name of Matthew Broderick.

As head of the 24/7/365 Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC), Broderick controlled the "eyes and ears" of the Department. As reporters Christopher Cooper and Bobby Block point out, administration officials relied on his reports of events unfolding in the Gulf. Focusing on Broderick, the authors attempt to explain one of the key frustrations of the Bush administration's response: Why did it take them so long to figure out what was going on?

The answer: Broderick. (To his credit, Broderick has accepted blame for failing to properly inform his superiors. He resigned in March to take "an offer I couldn't refuse" from a private company, according to CQ.)

The ops center Broderick ran features 24-hour watchstanders, 16 50" flat-panel monitors, and access to real-time information from all over the government and the nation. DHS describes it this way:

The Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC) serves as the nation’s nerve center for information sharing and domestic incident management. . . . [T]he HSOC provides real-time situational awareness and monitoring of the homeland, coordinates incidents and response activities. . . . HSOC staff can apply imagery capability by cross-referencing informational data against geospatial data that can then pinpoint an image down to an exact location.

As the world has since learned, New Orleans' levees and floodwalls were collapsing in the early morning of Monday, Aug. 29, 2005. However, Broderick insisted for the next 30 hours that no breaches had occurred, and the levees had merely been "overtopped" -- "normal, typical, hurricane background stuff," he later told Senate investigators.

It wasn't until noon the next day when he confirmed news of the catastrophe to DHS Secretary Mike Chertoff.

Block and Cooper write (excerpted by the Wall Street Journal):

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Valerie Plame

Plame to Sue Former State Official over Leak?

Justin Rood | August 23, 2006, 10:24AM

AP reports that outed CIA undercover operative Valerie Plame is mulling whether to add a former Deputy Secretary of State to her suit against Bush administration figures involved in leaking her identity.

The wire service revealed yesterday that Richard Armitage, who served under former Secretary of State Colin Powell, met with the Washington Post's Bob Woodward in June. That's "the same day Woodward met with a confidential source who spoke to him about Plame," AP reports, surmising that Armitage is likely Woodward's leaker.

The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

pauljustin | August 23, 2006, 8:28AM

Qwest Joins White House Push for Mandatory Data Retention Law
The telecommunications company that was recently hailed by civil libertarians for resisting the NSA's demands for domestic call data is now drawing criticism from those same groups. Qwest has endorsed a Bush administration proposal to force internet companies to keep lengthy records of their subscribers' surfing habits, so federal authorities could review them. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says the law would help fight terrorism and child exploitation. (News.com)

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Tom DeLay

DeLay Co-Defendants: Law Is Too Confusing

Paul Kiel | August 22, 2006, 6:11PM

From The Austin-American Statesman:

"The law that helped drive U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay from office and put two of his allies under criminal indictment can't be understood by the "man in the street," defense lawyers argued this morning.

Lawyers for Jim Ellis and John Colyandro, two DeLay lieutenants who operated Texans for a Republican Majority during the 2002 campaign, argued that the 3rd Court of Appeals should throw out indictments brought against their clients because the state's ban on corporate campaign money is confusing."

Via The Stakeholder.

Tom DeLay

For TX GOP, Is Disaster Spelled S-H-E-L-L-E-Y S-E-K-U-L-A--G-I-B-B-S?

Paul Kiel | August 22, 2006, 4:52PM

After Tom DeLay dropped out last week, the Texas GOP was forced to try a Hail Mary, throwing their support behind a write-in candidate. But the candidate's name -- Shelley Sekula-Gibbs -- may be a problem.

In short, the Republican strategy is now this: tens of thousands of GOP voters will go to the polls on November 7, ignore the names printed on the ballot, and write in a hyphenated name of 20 characters (counting spaces). A long shot, for sure -- as the AP noted, only four candidates in U.S. electoral history have ever succeeded with a write-in campaign.

But it gets trickier. Voters in Texas' 22nd District will use the eSlate electronic voting machine. I decided to take it for a test drive and experience the thrill of democracy myself -- which you can do on Hart Intercivic's website.

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Oil Exec: WH Won't Push Energy Conservation -- So We Will

Justin Rood | August 22, 2006, 4:00PM

UPI reports:

"If we could conserve even 5 percent of gasoline we would see in a period of six to eight weeks a significant difference in the price of gas," [Shell Oil President John] Hofmeister told the Infragard National Conference, a critical infrastructure protection convention in Washington. "The political leadership has chosen not to actively promote conservation. So we continue to produce to demand and that's what keeps prices up," Hofmeister said. . . . .

Vice President Dick Cheney dismissed conservation as a viable government strategy to the nation's energy problems in a speech in 2001, when gas was reaching about $2 a gallon.

"Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy," Cheney said.

Cheney said the issue had to be addressed by increasing the supply of energy.

Jack Abramoff

Scandal Firm Earned Big Till The End

Paul Kiel | August 22, 2006, 2:15PM

Tom DeLay's former aides continued to make millions off their access to the onetime majority leader even after major scandals broke, new filings show.

Alexander Strategy Group may be no more, but they had their biggest year ever in 2005 -- before abruptly closing their doors in January of this year due to the Jack Abramoff probe.

The small firm, known for its unrivaled access to Tom DeLay, pulled down $8.13 million in 2005 from big-time clients like Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), UPS, RJ Reynolds, and the U.S. Telecom Association, making 2005 the firm's biggest year yet, according to lobbying disclosure records filed last week.

$170,000 of that came from Brent Wilkes, one of the defense contractors fingered for bribing Duke Cunningham in the congressman's guilty plea.

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Regime Change at Pentagon?

Justin Rood | August 22, 2006, 1:26PM

Is the White House mulling regime change at the Pentagon? WarandPiece.com's Laura Rozen thinks so. "Bush has put out a quiet feeler to replace Rumsfeld in recent weeks," she wrote this morning. "He was politely turned down by at least one candidate he personally called."

The Bin Laden I (Was Forced to) Groove With

Justin Rood | August 22, 2006, 1:05PM

Turns out bin Laden hasn't always been the ascetic figure we've come to know. For a while in the 1990s, he appears to have gone through a rather unpleasant 70's-swinger phase.

The latest Harper's Magazine has an excerpt from the autobiography of novelist Kola Boof, onetime sex slave of the al Qaeda leader. She's the same woman quoted by the London Daily Mail that we noted earlier.

So what made bin Laden's disco ball spin? Smokin' some weed, listenin' to some Van Halen or the B-52's, checkin' out the booty, and talkin' government conspiracies, according to Boof. "To this day I hear the song 'Rock Lobster' in my sleep," Boof wrote.

The man could get going on his crazy government theories, too! "He said the U.S. government was made up of 'fanatical crusaders' and that he'd once been a mind reader for the U.S. government and trained secret agents for the CIA," Boof recalled.

He loved the badonkadonks: "Everywhere I went, his eyes followed my buttocks," Boof wrote. "His lust was thick." But he still found grounds for criticism. "Your ass is too big, show me the front," he once told her.

Despite all this, his Whitney Houston obsession stayed foremost in his mind:

He explained to me that to possess Whitney he would be willing to break his color rule and make her one of his wives. I tried to hide my outrage at his racist remarks, but it would come to pass that for the entire six months that I would be trapped in his palm, Whitney Houston's was the one name that would be mentioned constantly.

"Anyway," Boof wrote, "it would later come to the point where I was sick of hearing Whitney Houston's name."

Update: Harper's has posted the excerpt here.

Bin Laden's Secret Crush: Whitney Houston?

Justin Rood | August 22, 2006, 9:47AM

This seems like an invaluable piece of intelligence. From the London Daily Mail -- Osama bin Laden's former sex slave says the al Qaeda leader has a "paramount desire" for Whitney Houston:

Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden is so obsessed with singer Whitney Houston he thought about killing her husband, Bobby Brown, it was claimed last night.

The suggestion is made by Sudanese poet and novelist Kola Boof, who claims she was bin Laden's sex slave for four months 10 years ago.

Boof has written a new autobiography. The paper quotes her book:

"Whitney Houston's name was the one that would be mention[ed] constantly.

"How beautiful she was, what a nice smile she has, how truly Islamic she is but is just brainwashed by American culture and by her husband Bobby Brown, whom Osama talked about having killed, as if it were normal to have women's husbands killed."

Boof also notes that bin Laden's favorite television programs include MacGyver (natch), the Wonder Years and Miami Vice. She also says she found copies of Playboy and Star magazine in his belongings. (via Gawker)

The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

pauljustin | August 22, 2006, 8:03AM

Calendars Show Armitage Met with Reporter
"Then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage met with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in mid-June 2003, the same time the reporter has testified an administration official talked to him about CIA employee Valerie Plame.

"Armitage's official State Department calendars, provided to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, show a one-hour meeting marked "private appointment" with Woodward on June 13, 2003. . . .

"Armitage's calendar also shows that a week before Woodward's meeting with Armitage, the deputy secretary of state met for 15 minutes with [then-Cheney chief-of-staff Scooter] Libby." (AP)

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Duke Cunningham

Duke Cunningham Investigation Sprawls into 2007

Paul Kiel | August 21, 2006, 5:57PM

Today the judge presiding over felonious defense contractor Mitchell Wade's case set a March 12th, 2007 date for their next status conference. That means the leaves will have turned, snow fallen, and the first buds of spring sprung before Mitchell Wade will know his sentencing date. It could be as late as next summer.

Why the delay? It gives him plenty of time to earn his stripes as a cooperator.

Wade's known to have told prosecutors plenty about his alleged fellow briber, Brent Wilkes. He's thought to possibly have dirt on Pentagon officials, also. But remember, Wade oversaw over $150 million in contracts throughout the defense-intelligence world. Who knows what he's giving up?

TPMm reader James Roxbury sent us this video of what appears to be Wade leaving the courthouse today:

Video courtesy of James Roxbury.

Tom DeLay

TX-22: Tough-Talking Wallace Withdraws

Paul Kiel | August 21, 2006, 3:44PM

David Wallace had thumbed his nose at the 22nd District Republican powwow last week and said he'd run no matter who they picked to be official write-in candidate. That "may have worked in Moscow," he said then.

Well, apparently it works in Sugar Land, too. After pressure from local and national Republicans, Wallace is dropping out, helping Republicans improve their prospects from hopeless (two write-in candidates) to dismal (only one).

Update: More here. Turns out the Republican National Committee had promised to put $3 million in the race -- but only if Wallace dropped out.

Bush Official Still Won't Be ID'd, PBS Host Says

Justin Rood | August 21, 2006, 3:36PM

A PBS talk show will not routinely disclose that a "conservative commentator" on its panel is a senior appointee in the Bush administration.

Responding to criticism from her network's own ombudsman, "To the Contrary" host Bonnie Erbe has said she will not change her policy and identify government officials as such if they say they are appearing in a personal capacity. Network ombudsman Michael Getler suggested that Erbe identify the official in question, Karen Czarnecki, by verbally announcing her official title.

"Getler writes on the PBS website I should “at least describe the association verbally to viewers and state that she is not speaking for the department," Erbe says in her statement, posted to PBS. org. "I did so once about five years ago and am doing so again here." But apparently that's as far as it will go.

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WP: Brits Charge 11 in "Liquid Terror" Plot

Justin Rood | August 21, 2006, 2:44PM

British authorities charge 11 in terror plot with crimes, the Washington Post reports:

British authorities today announced terrorism and murder-conspiracy charges against 11 people in the alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners, saying their searches since Aug. 10 have uncovered large caches of bomb-making components as well as "martyrdom" tapes of the type often prepared by Islamic suicide bombers before they attack.

Charges may also be brought against 11 others arrested on Aug. 10, officials said in a televised news conference, as they continue what Scotland Yard described as a globe-spanning probe, nowhere near complete, of an "immense," "deadly" and "enduring" conspiracy to kill air passengers between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Harry Reid

LAT: Reid Pushed for Buddy Developer, Contributor

Justin Rood | August 21, 2006, 2:33PM

Democrats have tried to make a campaign theme out of the "culture of corruption" in GOP-run Washington. But stories like this don't help their cause one bit.

From his perch as the top Dem in the Senate, Harry Reid (D-NV) -- that's would-be Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to you, ma'am -- has been trying to do big favors for a close real estate developer/lobbyist friend, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. Unfortunately for his pal, Reid's efforts were only middlingly effective.

How close is Reid to Harvey Whittemore? Reid's son, Leif, is Whittemore's personal lawyer. At one point or another, all four of Reid's sons have worked for Whittemore's law firm. Whittemore says the relationship goes back "decades." (Reid wouldn't comment to the Times for the article.) And Whittemore's given $45,000 to Reid's various organizations, plus $20,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Eight years ago, Whittemore sank at least $15 million for land and rights in a 67-square-mile tract of empty Nevada desert, the paper reported. There, he hoped to build a massive development of 159,000 homes, 16 golf courses, and requisite stores and services.

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Overruling Fraud Decision, Judge Says: What Happens in Iraq, Stays in Iraq

Paul Kiel | August 21, 2006, 1:00PM

Call it the punchline to the tremendous fraud that occurred under the control of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

In March, a jury ordered a defense contractor to pay more than $10 million in damages and fines. Custer Battles was accused of inflating invoices through a string of shell companies in the Caymans, among other profiteering techniques.

The plaintiffs were two former Custer Battles employees who sued under a federal whistle-blower statute that allows them to sue on behalf of U.S. taxpayers; the Bush administration declined to help with the suit.

But despite the lack of any help from the government on behalf of which they were suing, the pair won.

On Friday, though, a judge overturned the decision because he said it hadn't adequately been demonstrated that the CPA was an arm of the U.S. government. It was "principally controlled" and funded by billions in U.S. taxpayer money, yes, but "this degree of control did not rise to the level of exclusive control required to qualify as an instrumentality of the U.S. government," the judge wrote in his opinion. Because "it was created through and governed by multinational consent," U.S. taxpayers can't get any of their money back from war profiteers.

So the unique structure of the CPA, which made it so vulnerable to fraud, is also what makes it impossible to sue. Brilliant.

That doesn't mean, however, that criminal investigations of the fraud under CPA won't proceed. Stuart W. Bowen, Jr., the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, told Congress earlier this month that they have "82 open investigations into alleged fraud, corruption, bribery, kickbacks, and gratuities" under CPA. 25 of those cases are awaiting prosecution at the Department of Justice, he said.

GOP Push Polling in Arizona?

Paul Kiel | August 21, 2006, 12:10PM

Greg Sargent picks up on possible push polling in Arizona's 8th District. Democrat Patty Weiss claims that the calls, which asks about Weiss' "deep connections" to pharmaceutical companies (a charge she says is false), seem to have gone out to the entire district.

Push polling, which it looks like you'll be hearing a lot about this campaign season, is when a a candidate floats negative messages about an opponent by hiring a fake "pollster" to ask loaded questions of target voters. A more thorough definition is here.

George Bush

Bush: We Never...

Paul Kiel | August 21, 2006, 11:53AM

During a long, wandering answer about his administration's rationale for the Iraq War during his press conference today, President Bush asserted that "nobody's ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attacks."

Here's the video:

That's technically true -- but distorts the truth. In fact, his administration has repeatedly asserted the falsehood that Saddam was somehow involved with the 9/11 attacks.

That's undeniable. As Josh noted back in November, Vice President Cheney did suggest on numerous occasions, most notably on Meet the Press in September 2002, that Iraq might have been involved in the attacks:

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I'm not here today to make a specific allegation that Iraq was somehow responsible for 9/11. I can't say that. On the other hand, since we did that interview, new information has come to light. And we spent time looking at that relationship between Iraq, on the one hand, and the al-Qaeda organization on the other. And there has been reporting that suggests that there have been a number of contacts over the years. We've seen in connection with the hijackers, of course, Mohamed Atta, who was the lead hijacker, did apparently travel to Prague on a number of occasions. And on at least one occasion, we have reporting that places him in Prague with a senior Iraqi intelligence official a few months before the attack on the World Trade Center. The debates about, you know, was he there or wasn't he there, again, it's the intelligence business.

Mr. RUSSERT: What does the CIA say about that? Is it credible?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: It's credible. But, you know, I think a way to put it would be it's unconfirmed at this point. We've got...

Brits to FBI: Quit Leaking Terror Probe Secrets

Justin Rood | August 21, 2006, 10:19AM

Last week I noted the curious silence from the Bush administration about leaks to the press that appeared potentially damaging to the ongoing investigation of the British "liquid terror" plot.

Not everyone has been so sanguine as the White House, apparently. British counterterror police have angrily requested the FBI quit leaking sensitive information about the ongoing probes, according to the British paper, the Observer:

The British security services, MI5 and MI6, are understood to be dismayed that a number of sensitive details surrounding the alleged plot - including an FBI estimate that as many as 50 people were involved - were leaked to the media.

FBI sources confirmed to The Observer that the bureau had been ordered to stop briefing at the request of the British authorities. 'The shutters have come down,' a bureau source said. 'We have been told not to discuss the case any more.'

The paper also reported that some British officials fear they acted too hastily, and may not have enough evidence to properly charge all suspects. Two of the two dozen men arrested have been released without being charged, the Observer noted.

Katherine Harris

HarrisWatch: Aide, Zen Riddler, Quits Campaign

Justin Rood | August 21, 2006, 8:32AM

Rhyan Metzler, the Harris campaign aide who reported a fallen tree despite no one else having heard or seen it come down, left soon after questions were raised about the incident.

The backstory: on Thursday, Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) held a rally for her struggling Senate campaign in an airport hangar -- a building which dwarfed the meager 40-person crowd that showed up.

When asked why about the rally's size, "Harris blamed the paltry turnout . . . on a last-minute location change caused by a falling tree," the Palm Beach Post reported.

Reporters checked with the airport and were told there had been no reports of any trees falling there.

When the inconsistency was noted to the Harris campaign, spokeswoman Jennifer Marks blamed Metzler, the political director, for telling Harris the tree story.

When the Post reached Metzler by phone, "He said the tree incident was 'not necessarily' the reason for his quitting. He hung up when asked for further reasons," the paper reported.

Bob Ney

Ohio GOP House Hopeful Won't Face Legal Hassle

Paul Kiel | August 21, 2006, 8:05AM

Why is this woman smiling?

Because it looks like she (Joy Padgett, the Ohio state senator Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) endorsed to succeed him) will avoid the hassle of a legal challenge in her bid to serve in Congress.

Ohio Democrats have been hinting for weeks that they'd challenge her candidacy, based on two different Ohio laws that prevent candidates from running twice in the same year. Padgett lost the Republican nomination for Ohio lieutenant governor earlier this year.

Friday, the Democrats said they wouldn't file complaints, noting that Padgett suddenly had six primary opponents to keep her busy.

The brother of one of Padgett's Republican opponents filed a complaint against Padgett Saturday on the same grounds, however. But no dice: Yesterday, the Tuscarawas Board of Elections ruled against the complaint. No one's made any noise about an appeal, so it looks like Padgett's in the clear.

The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

pauljustin | August 21, 2006, 7:59AM

CIA's Secret UK Bank Trawl May Be Illegal
"A covert programme under which confidential information about British banking transactions is passed to the CIA with the full knowledge of the government may breach both British and European law, the Guardian has learned. The information commissioner, who is responsible for enforcing the Data Protection Act, is investigating the arrangement, which has seen details of computerised transactions from around the world passed to the CIA in an attempt to spy on the financiers of jihadist terrorism." (Guardian)

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