Will Thomas July 31, 2007, 9:40 AM

After reports came out that the research findings of Bush’s previous surgeon general might have been stifled by one William Steiger, Rep. Waxman (D-CA) asked to see exactly what changes had been made to official documents. Yesterday, Waxman wrote that the report written by former SG Richard Carmona “thoughtfully covers a wide range of global health topics. Mr. Steiger’s draft ignores or glosses over serious global health problems and emphasizes the achievements and policies of the Bush Administration.” (The Gavel)

Democrats are at the final push to pass an ethics and reform bill that was unveiled Monday before the start of the August break. The bill focuses mostly on lobbying, but the idea of an independent Office of Public Integrity that could bring charges against violators has unfortunately been scrapped. (Roll Call)

June 3, 2008. According to the New Yorker, this might be the most important date in next year’s election. That’s because a California ballot-initiative will be voted on that, if passed, will award electoral votes by district, rather than as a winner-take-all block for the entire state. The likely result would be a swing of as many as twenty California electoral votes to the party who usually loses the bid for the state; we’ll give you two guesses who that is. (New Yorker)

“You could open an ice rink between the buildings.” That’s how one Mueller aide describes the current relationship between the FBI and main Justice after Mueller gave testimony that undermined that of the Attorney General. Via ThinkProgress. (NY Daily News)

Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-NY) turned over records to an ethics panel yesterday because of last week’s report that found several of his staffers provided misleading reports to local papers in efforts to embarrass a prominent Republican. Spitzer and his office are currently facing up to four separate investigations drawing from the imbroglio. (Associated Press)

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, yesterday called Saudia Arabia to task for not doing what it can to help stabilize Iraq. He went so far as to suggest that regional U.S. allies were pursuing destabilizing policies, alluding to Saudia Arabia in the same sentence in which he excoriated Syria and Iran. (AFP)

Paul McNulty, former deputy attorney general who left the department just in time to be thrown under the bus by Alberto Gonzales, has found a job. (Roll Call)

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