The Daily MuckWe’ve written about Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s (R) impressive talent for securing federal Katrina aid funds. That might come from his former role as RNC chairman. But it might also have to do with the fact that he still receives monthly checks from Barbour Griffith & Rogers Inc., the lobbyist firm he helped to start. Haley says all the money coming is part of a pension; others say it’s generally good practice to disclose these things. (Bloomberg)
The only officer prosecuted in the Abu Ghraib scandal was acquitted on all three abuse charges, though he was found guilty on one count of disobeying a direct order in connection with the investigation. (The Boston Globe)
The federal government is shifting its investigation of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to Kay LiCausi, his former chief of staff. Menendez had been accused of having conflicts of interests with some of his legislation, but now the concern is that LiCausi (who moved right from Congress to be a lobbyist) might be the source of the conflict. (NY Times)
The GOP leadership is seeking an investigation into Sen. Larry Craig’s (R-ID) bathroom imbroglio. Meanwhile, CREW is curious why Republicans are willing to bring an investigation against Craig but were unwilling to do so against Rep. Vitter (R-LA).
It’s the economy, stupid. Afghanistan’s opium production continues to skyrocket; in the past two years, nationwide production of the plant has doubled. (AFP)
The Department of Defense has decided to send a team of auditors to Iraq to help deal with the growing number of “contracting improprieties” involving weapons and military gear both there and in Afghanistan. And all it took was a missing $19 billlion. (USA TODAY)
Michael Chertoff is a poor choice for a replacement Attorney General. So says Nicholas Katzenbach, the former Attorney General for Lyndon B. Johnson. It doesn’t bode well for a Chertoff nomination when he’s already lost the LBJ vote. (PoliticsNJ.com)