National Republican Congressional Committee staffer Christopher J. Ward was the golden boy of the Right's fundraising efforts. He handled more than $360 million at the committee since 2003. Now he is the subject of an FBI embezzlement inquiry. (New York Times)

Legislation spearheaded by the Senate Armed Services Committee will attempt to shift the influence defense contractors like Blackwater have acquired overseas. Yet news of these efforts has caused the defense companies to counteract, deploying a massive lobbying effort to sway legislators to reconsider shutting the private contractors down. (Politico)

Rep. Ron Paul's campaign for president is still going ... in case you weren't aware. The fully functional campaign staff is at the forefront of his continued push. And as FEC reports show, he's literally keeping the family together. (Washington Post)

The Government Accountability Office releases a report today detailing the federal program Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism that monitors port safety. The report has assessed U.S. ports vulnerable to the smuggling of cargo containers, worrying congressional leaders of the possibility of terrorist activity. (CNN)

American Prospect chronicles the push-pull between big business and one of the basic and often taken-for-granted aspects of human life: clean drinking water. (American Prospect)

Former Congressman Curt Weldon has been subject of an ongoing investigation into the possible steering of business to his daughter's lobbying firm. The Federal Election Commission now reports Weldon has transferred $10,000 in funds from his campaign contributors to his legal effort. (Harper's)

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is looking into allegations that some private U.S. testing laboratories held back sub-standard food samples in order to allow certain importers to pass inspection. (Chicago Tribune)

Jimmy Faircloth, an executive counsel to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), advised the Coushatta Indian tribe to invest $30 million in a wounded Israeli tech firm. The Coushattas, who fell prey to lobbyist Jack Abramoff's promises of gambling windfalls in recent years, are struggling to see a financial return from the investment. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

American businessman Morris Talansky has testified in court that he gave Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert up to $150,000 in illegal campaign contributions. Olmert is under investigation for accepting $500,000 total in bribes before his election as prime minister. (Associated Press)

In light of the housing mortgage crisis, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) says, "The SEC needs to function. We've got some huge issues out there." So Dodd led the push to confirm three nominees to the Securities and Exchange Commission despite calls from the former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt to wait until a new president takes office in January. (Bloomberg)