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The Daily Muck
The maverick reform candidate John McCain claims on the campaign trail that Jack Abramoff and "his lobbyist cronies" have felt the impact of his efforts to combat the lobbying industry. But campaign finance filings show that McCain accepted more than $100,000 from employees of Abramoff's old firm, Greenberg Traurig. McCain has also accepted more than $400,000 from lobbying firms and 59 of his "bundlers" are lobbyists. (Huffington Post)
The trial procedures for Guantanamo Bay detainees that Congress approved in 2006 may prevent defense attorneys from mounting a fair and adequate defense of their clients. Civilian lawyers for the detainees are not allowed to have private meetings with the defendants, will not be allowed to share classified information with their clients, and must turn over all of their mail and notes to the military. The Bush administration has also stated that evidence obtained through torture will not be permissible, but evidence secured through "cruel, inhuman, and degrading" treatment will be allowed. (Washington Post)
The Bush administration has decided to cut over $193 million in funding for UN peacekeeping missions in Africa. According to the Better World Campaign, because U.S. funding for the UN is already low these cuts will bring the total unpaid for peacekeeping next year to more than $600 million. President Bush, appropriately enough, is scheduled to visit Africa beginning this Friday. (ABC's "The Blotter)
Jamie Leigh Jones, the former KBR/Halliburton employee who says co-workers gang-raped her in Baghdad, asserts that 38 women have contacted her about similar stories of assault but that the public or a court will never hear them because of arbitration agreements in their KBR/Halliburton contracts. Instead, the cases will be heard before secret arbitration panels that don't produce public records or transcripts. (ABC's "The Blotter")
The scandal surrounding the destruction of CIA videotapes of the interrogations of detainees has led to new rules governing the preservation of documentation of the treatment of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay and other prisons. According to court documents, Rear Adm. Mark Buzby, the commander at Guantanamo, has ordered staff "to record specific events on demand," including "forced cell extractions; medical emergencies; incidents of suspected/alleged guard misconduct; incidents of possible self-harm or injuries to detainees; significant damage to government property; mass disturbances by detainees; and any other similar events." (U.S. News and World Report)
Speechnow.org, a conservative group with ties to the Club for Growth and the Center for Competitive Politics, plans to challenge (sub. req.) an FEC advisory opinion stating that it should operate according to the rules governing political advocacy groups, which include limits on yearly individual contributions. If the challenge is successful, the group, which has not incorporated and has pledged not to take any corporate or union money, could potentially raise unlimited amounts of money from donors and become an organizational model for other groups. (Roll Call)
The Bush administration is proposing stricter new rules for "self-reporting" fraudulent activity involving government contracts, but they're making one major exception: "contracts to be performed outside the United States" will be exempt. The Justice Department says that the exemption is "a mistake that should be fixed before the plan becomes final." (AP)
The House Inspector General, in a just completed report (sub. req.) on the dorm that houses congressional pages, has found few problems with the residence hall. The review was initiated last year after two pages were expelled for "engaging in public sex acts" and another two were expelled for shoplifting. (Roll Call)
Josh
Zachary
Abramoff is McCain's Achilles heel. He needs to be called out upon it.
Kos diarist "Dengre" has been tracking Abramoff for years.
Dengre has good evidence that McCain, as head of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee covered up and buried thousands of pages of documents obtained during the Committee's extensive investigation of the matter.
February 13, 2008 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting, now that I think about it. Most of the incriminating e-mails given to McCain's Committee were from Greenburg-Trarig since that was the firm Abramoff was working for at his zenith.
Hush money?
February 13, 2008 10:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Recently, I've seen references to Republicans disgruntled about McCain's role in bringing the Jack Abramoff scandal to light. As chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, McCain held hearings in late 2005 about Abramoff and his Indian tribe clients.
I'm convinced, however, that McCain's hearings were circumscribed to protect then Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton. The evidence is in Italia Federici's testimony and what the Senate Indian Affairs Committee never asked her.
Federici's professional relationship with Gale Norton began in 1996 when she worked on Norton's failed senate campaign in Colorado. Norton then founded, and Federici managed, the Coalition of Republican Environmental Advocates, the predecessor to Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA). Norton's official calendar lists at least two meetings and one phone call with Federici. But McCain never asked Federici about her relationship with Norton.
Federici had an affair with Assistant Secretary of the Interior Steven J. Griles that began in 1998 and lasted several years. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee must have known about it. The relationship was not secret and many people in DC including Gale Nortn knew about it.
Federici even gave the Senate Indian Affairs Committee an opening to ask about her romantic relationship with Griles when she made this remark to Senator Dorgan, "I was told that there was a narrative of a very personal nature that was being put forward from committee staff. You know, it sort of fits with----."
Did Senator McCain cover up Gale Norton's involvement with Jack Abramoff to protect the Bush administration?
February 13, 2008 10:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
C92,
That last comment was mine, of course. Thanks for the link to Kos diaries by denegre. You might remember that I did a couple of TPM Cafe posts about Federici and McCain which are no longer online. I did save them though and they are still useful.
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) is now chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. He holds the key to opening an investigation into McCain's "investigation." Dorgan was knows if the committe agreed beforehand that Federici's romance with Griles and her relationship with Norton was out of bounds and Dorgan could release the withheld docs.
But does Senator Dorgan have the ball to do it?
February 13, 2008 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'd have to guess that all the files are still in the hands of the Committee. Unless of course the departing Republican staffers who were fired following the changeover took them with them.
February 13, 2008 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
I checked Legistorm for the names of the committee staffers. Two names stand out:
Pablo E. Carillo, Chief Investigative Counsel
Bryan D. Parker, Deputy Chief Investigative Counsel
Carillo and Parker were both investigative counsel for the Senate Commerce Committee until January 2005. I think the Senate Indian Affairs Committee began investigating Abramoff in 2004 so it looks like Carillo and Parker were brought into to manage the investigation.
Carillo and Parker stayed on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee until January 2007 when they became minority counsel for the Senate Armed Services Committee.
I bet Carillo and Parker could shed some light on what was covered up by McCain.
February 13, 2008 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Come off it. You conspiracy buffs are starting to sound like Ron Paul discussing the hemispheric superhighway.
Greenberg Traurig is a large, respected law firm. It should surprise no one that some of its partners made contributions to McCain. That doesn't mean he's linked to Abramoff.
The rest of these comments are pretty much speculative nonsense more suited to Ron Paul's campaign than any self-respecting Democrat.
February 13, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ms. Biswanger,
The point about McCain was that he does indeed take money from lobbyists, in fact, a lot of it. Perhaps you disagree with the characterization of Greenberg Traurig attorneys as cronies of Abramoff? Fair enough but that doesn't change the fact that McCain takes money from lobbyists.
As far as the comments here being speculative nonsense, it is obvious that you are not familiar with the Abramoff investigation and McCain's hearings.
15 months after he testified before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Steven J. Griles pled guilty to lying to Congress. Interestingly enough, Griles was not required to cooperate with the DOJ as part of his plea agreement.
18 months after testifying before Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Italia Federici pled guilty to tax invasion in connection with the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA). Federici did agree to cooperate with the DOJ as part of her plea deal. The results of her cooperation are not publicly known.
Jack Abramoff has been cooperating with the DOJ for almost two years now. The results of his cooperation are not publicly known.
Federici and Griles had a romantic relationship that began in 1998 and lasted at least five years. Both Federici and Griles had a professional and social relationship with Secretary Gale Norton.
When he opened the November 2005 Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing, Chairman McCain proclaimed that his investigation determined that Norton was innocent of involvement in the Abramoff investigation.
When Assistant Secretary Steven J. Griles lied to Congress, Secretary Gale Norton knew he was lying. One of my questions is whether Norton was interviewed by the committee investigators before the hearings and if so, was she forthcoming about what she knew about Griles and Federici. As an aside, I am curious what Norton did after Griles lied to Congress. Did she come forward?
Again, did McCain limit the scope of the hearings to protect Gale Norton and the Bush administration?
February 13, 2008 1:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey man, we call them as we see them. The present Administration has made swift use of "moles" and insiders to do its dirty dealings throughout the government.
Remember Phil Zelikow over at the 9/11 Commission? Backchannel with Karl Rove... Protecting Condi and the image of the Administration.
Remember Manuel Miranda over at the Judiciary Committee? Leaking private Democratic memos... Attempting to embarrass Dems so they would approve Bush's unacceptable judicial nominees?
Maybe it wasn't McCain, but staffers have been proven they can be bought and sold, again and again.
Mrs P, it appears as though Carillo and Parker work under. Remember him? He was going to be Porter Goss' #3 guy over at CIA until it was discovered he shoplifted some bacon?
February 13, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Carillo and Parker work under Michael Kostiw. The bacon stealer.
February 13, 2008 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
According to Wikipedia, Michael Kostiw is now the Republican Staff Director of the Senate Committee on Armed Services for the ranking Member John McCain.
It looks like McCain had Carillo and Parker transferred to the Senate Armed Services Committee, doesn't it? Maybe there was no room in the Senate Indian Affairs Committe budget for them.
Generally speaking, we already know the DOJ has been politicized during the Bush administration. Some of the DOJ investigations like the Abramoff one have been dragging on for years. I suspect that is intentional on the part of the DOJ.
February 13, 2008 1:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I second your suspicions about the DOJ.
It was widely reported tjat for three months John Ashcroft was regularly receiving updates on the Plame-Wilson investigation until he recused himself.
That's how DOJ works. Information flows up from the investigative units to the Assistant Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries. If the AssSec's or DepSec's happen to be informing the White House of what they learn, well, shame (with no consequences) on them.
Was it a coincedence that the acceptable paths of communication between the DOJ and White House were widened from 4 (under Clinton) to over 400 (under Bush)?
February 13, 2008 2:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Look at the Griles case. He lied to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in November 2005 yet the DOJ waited until January 2006 to charge him with obstruction. I don't think it is a stretch to think that the timing was linked to the 2006 election.
February 13, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
DHS AND THE FBI ARE TEACHING TERRORISTS NEW WAYS TO ATTACK AMERICA IN IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN AND AT HOME THROUGH THEIR POLITICAL FEAR-MONGERING EFFORTS
Saul B. Wilen
Female Suicide Bombers Can Use False Pregnancies - a story reported by MSNBC on 2/11/08
DHS and the FBI regularly oppose media reports of situations that expose security vulnerabilities in the systems that they are charged to operate in securing America. Immediate considerations just to mention a few, are the holes in airport security, the lack of regulation of chemical plants and the absence of adequate communication systems among first responders all still promised by the Bush administration since 9/11, 2001. New technology to plug the airport security gaps according to the Washington Post 2/8/08 will take many more years before they are in place. Violations of the law by the FBI have been documented in their actions taken beyond those permitted by the Patriot Act. Despite assurances that these FBI abuses (illegal and probably criminal) would stop, they continue unabated. DHS responsibilities required by statute are routinely violated and DHS routine participates actively in political efforts and even deception/lies (the staged, fictitious news conference) not in the security interests of America.
The excuse given by the DHS and the FBI continues to be, exposure of these facts to the American public tells the terrorists about these security holes. DHS and the FBI have no problem spreading such information when they want to scare Americans and push Congress to pass very bad "Domestic Spying Laws" through efforts of fear-mongering. By the way, terrorists already know about women suicide bombers and the holes in airport security. Maybe by the DHS and the FBI spreading the word about mimicking pregnancy or even explosives in false breasts they are actually teaching the terrorists how to better attack America.
The DHS and the FBI are the culprits aiding the terrorists in spreading these ideas in their political use of the media as a fear-mongering tool. But, the real problem is evident in the fine print of the new 2009 BUSH BUDGET, which cuts the DHS funding for first responders in the United States by 50%. What will happen to the presently inadequate airport security with the funding drying up? Obviously it’s the Bush White House and Bush himself who DO NOT SUPPORT THE SECURITY of AMERICA AGAINST TERRORISM.
February 13, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mrs. P:
Can we/did we ever find any links between WH Press Secretary Dana Perino and Gail Norton or Italia Federici?
Perino is from Colorado and did work as spokesperson at the White House CEQ (Council on Environmental Quality) before moving to the WH press shop. CEQ was one of the many players in the Cheney Energy task force drama.
Rolling Stone Magazine called CEQ "Cheney's shadow EPA."
February 13, 2008 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink