TPMMuckraker August 10, 2008 - August 16, 2008
Norm Coleman
Coleman On Cheap DC Rent: Minnesotans Are Glad I Live So Humbly
Norm Coleman took some tough questions today from the press back in Minnesota about his interesting housing deal in Washington, which involves him renting a studio apartment on Capitol Hill from a political contributor for only $600 per month.
For months, the senator had no written lease and paid no utility bills.
Coleman's answer: People appreciate that he's living so humbly. Here's a tracking video from the Minnesota Democrats:
Coleman said this really isn't a big deal -- it's just a nine-and-a-half feet by nine-and-a-half feet bedroom. "It's not not paying taxes on millions and millions of dollars in income. It's a shoebox that I spend a couple waking hours in."
"And as I travel the state," Coleman added, "I gotta tell you, people of Minnesota actually appreciate the fact that I live humbly as a senator -- that I'm not living the way some people think senators live."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Topics: Norm Coleman
Former Rep. Bob Ney Leaves Halfway House
The Columbus Dispatch reports:
Former Congressman Bob Ney is a free man.The six-term lawmaker from eastern Ohio walked out of a Cincinnati halfway house at 7:30 this morning, ending his 17 months in federal custody for trading legislative acts for meals, a golf trip and other perks from a disgraced Washington lobbyist.
...Ney, a Republican from Heath, pleaded guilty in October 2006 to taking actions on behalf of clients of lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for gifts. Abramoff remains in prison for his role in a wide-ranging corruption case.
Now Ney can get on with his career as a radio commentator.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics:
Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens Talked To Grand Jury Witness: Feds
Here's another interesting email federal prosecutors found when they were sifting through Sen. Ted Stevens' files.
Stevens (R-AK) was writing to a friend described here only as "Person A," who was slated to appear before a grand jury.
This is how the scenario is spelled out in court documents filed last night:
By mid-May 2007, Stevens learned that Person A had been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in D.C. On May 17, 2007, Stevens sent Person A two emails that discussed Person A's upcoming grand jury testimony. In the first email, Stevens told Person A that "I hope we can work something out to make sure you aren't led astray on this occasion."In the second, Stevens was more explicit: "don't answer questions you don't KNOW the answers to."
It's not clear who "Person A" is but it's likely one of Stevens' close friends, possibly one who lives near Stevens' home in Girwood, AK. The only other reference to that person in the motion describes an incident just after the FBI mounted a series of raids and Stevens, emailing in the middle of the night, asks this same person whether federal agents had searched Stevens' own home in Girdwood.
On September 1, 2006, defendant Stevens sent two emails to Person A, asking if Stevens' house had been searched in connection with the Allen/VECO investigation. At 3:49 a.m. on September 1, 2006, Stevens wrote Person A: "press releases say the FBI served a warrant in Girdwood??? Did they hit our house? T."At 5:33 p.m. later that day, Stevens again wrote: "Have you been by the Chalet? Teds"
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)
Topics: Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens
Feds List Favors Stevens Allegedly Did For Oil Firm
Federal prosecutors have never tried to say Sen. Ted Stevens provided any illegal favors to VECO, the Alaska-based oil and gas company that helped renovate his home.
Rather, the senator's indictment charges only that he accepted gifts from the company and failed to disclose them in Senate financial reports.
But in new court filings last night, the feds laid out evidence from wiretaps and seized emails to show in detail some favors Stevens allegedly did for the company. Prosecutors made the disclosure in a motion seeking to introduce the information at Stevens' trial set for September.
One of those alleged favors concerns a proposed pipeline that VECO hoped the state and federal governments would approve. In a phone conversation tapped by federal agents in 2006, Stevens told Bill Allen, the head of VECO, that the senator would try to smooth out the politics -- specifically resistance on the state level -- involved in the permit approval process.
I've been working with [Stevens' son] and, uh, we're trying to see what we can do about this [State Senator's] hearing. Uh, I'm gonna try to see if I can get some bigwigs from back here to go up there and say, "Look, uh, you just gotta make up your mind, you gotta get this done. There's no politics in it, there's necessity in it for the Federal government." We'll see if I can get that done.A few days after Stevens traveled to Alaska to push state lawmakers to approve the project, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a report also urging state officials to approve the pipeline.
Nevertheless, the pipeline project has not materialized.
Another alleged favor came in 1999, when Allen sought Stevens' help securing a grant from the National Science Foundation. Allen wrote a letter to Stevens and included some proposed wording Allen hoped could be inserted into some legislation, prosecutors said.
In early 2000, the foundation granted a VECO subsidiary a contract valued at $27 million, according to court papers.
In another case, VECO sought Stevens help with a deal the company was forging in Russia. In order for VECO to get a large energy-services contract with the Russian government, some Russian workers needed training on how to use American equipment, the motion said.
The company sought Stevens' assistance in getting federal funding for the worker training in both 1999 and 2004. Federal prosecutors found an email from 2004 from a VECO executive referring to money Stevens had secured:
Bill got Ted to fund this a few years ago. Bill went back to Ted Stevens over the weekend to ask about more money. Ted found $3 million that is available now. Stevens [s]taff person is going to call [an oil company executive] next week to make the money
available so that Exxon can get some good publicity.
Another incident prosecutors point to involves VECO's request for assistant with Pakistan. Pakistan owned money to VECO for a pipeline project and after Allen asked Stevens for help in the matter, Stevens wrote a letter to the president of the World Bank Group urging him to help resolve the financial dispute between VECO and Pakistan. The debt was paid soon afterward.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Topics: Ted Stevens
Alberto Gonzales
Class Action Suit Against DOJ Grows, Names Gonzales and Goodling as Defendants
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and embattled former White House liaison Monica Goodling are among those newly named as defendants in a private class-action lawsuit against the DOJ.
The suit, Gerlich et al. v. Department of Justice, was orginally filed in response to the Inspector General's report on politicized hiring in the Attorney General's Honors Program. The report found that a number of DOJ officials, namely Esther Slater McDonald and Michael Elston, had broken the law in basing hiring decisions based on political affiliations.
The amended lawsuit expands the defendant list from only the Justice Department to specific individuals. Besides Gonzales and Goodling, Elston and McDonald are also named as new defendants in the case.
The suit also added five new plaintiffs.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (16)Topics: Alberto Gonzales, DOJ Office Of The Inspector General, DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility, Esther Slater McDonald, Justice Department, Michael Elston, Monica Goodling
Alaska
Sen. Stevens Scored Big In Florida Condo Deal, Prosecutors Allege
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) flipped a Florida condo deal to turn $5,000 into about $100,000 back in 2001 when the housing boom was heating up, according to newly filed court documents.
Federal prosecutors are not charging the sitting senator with any additional crimes, but they are laying out the new allegations in an effort to show a pattern of lying on his Senate financial disclosure reports.
Prosecutors say the details of Stevens' deal amount to an interest-free loan that he should have publicly disclosed.
The Anchorage Daily News first reported the details on Stevens' deal this morning:
On Feb. 4, 2001, Stevens and his wife, Catherine, signed a contract on a pre-construction condominium just north of Miami priced at $360,000, prosecutors said.
While most buyers put down 10 percent, or $36,000, Stevens only put down $5,000. One of the developers fronted the senator $31,000 in an interest-free loan that he paid to an escrow company "for the benefit of 'Theodore and Catherine Stevens,' " according to the motion.
About six months later, the developer, referred to in court papers only as "Person C" contacted Stevens and told him the condo could be flipped "as I told you," according to the motion.
In August 2001, Stevens sold the contract on the condo for $515,000, later paid off the interest-free loan and retained a windfall of about $100,000, prosecutors say.
That's not illegal per se, but prosecutors say Stevens should have disclosed the deal, according to the prosecutors' motion.
Part VII of the 2001 United States Senate Financial Disclosure Form required Stevens to disclose any liability that he "owed to any creditor which exceeded $10,000 at any time during" calendar year 2001. Although Stevens knowingly carried debt on a $31,000, interest-free loan from his personal friend for more than 10 months during 2001, Stevens did not list such a liability on his 2001 Financial Disclosure Form.
There's a photo here of the condo in a high-rise in Bay Harbor Island along the so-called Gold Coast, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense. PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Alaska, Ted Stevens
Randy Scheunemann
McCain Adviser Was Arrested For Carrying A Shotgun To Work At The Capitol
As if helping to plan the Iraq war wasn't troubling enough, now we learn that Randy Scheunemann, John McCain's top foreign policy adviser, has been personally arrested at the Capitol for carrying an illegal weapon.
Scheuneman was arrested, charged and fingerprinted back in 1997 when Capitol Police saw a shotgun case in the back of his SUV while he was driving to work.
The Huffington Post points out today an old Washington Times article about the Jan. 23, 1997 arrest. Scheunemann was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm (an unloaded 12-gauge) and unregistered ammunition (two rounds).
Scheunemann, then an aide to Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), told police he'd been duck hunting recently and fogotten to take the weapon out of the car, according to the Times story.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Topics: Randy Scheunemann
Randy Scheunemann
Behind The Scenes, Scheunemann Shilled For Georgia
There's been a lot of talk this week about how Randy Scheunemann, John McCain's top foreign policy adviser, spent years as a lobbyist for the Georgia government.
So let's take a look at what Scheuneman was actually doing in that role -- which helped earn his firm nearly $900,000 since 2004. Lobbying for a foreign government is a vaguely defined task that involves cultivating contacts, trying to shape perception and influence key decisions. For Georgia, the goal was clear -- to get on track for NATO membership and secure western backing against Russian influence and aggression.
Schuenemann's dual role of paid foreign agent (as recently as March) and key adviser to a presidential candidate is unusual, especially since McCain has not indicated that Scheunemann will recuse himself from Georgia issues.
That conflict of interest is underscored by McCain's aggressive effort to influence the situation in Georgia over the past week. McCain appears to be conducting his own foriegn policy independent of the White House. The candidate is sending Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to travel to Georgia, though it is not clear how their visit will comport with the State Department's own efforts to manage the situation.
"John McCain is heavily politicizing this process. That is weird when one of the participants in the process is a guy who has taken $900,000 from the Georgia government," said Steve Clemons, director of the foreign policy program at the New America Foundation. "It stinks."
As a paid foreign agent, Scheunemann and his lobbying firm, Orion Strategies, filed disclosure reports with the Department of Justice, which offer some insight into the process of exercising influence in Washington.
Scheunemann spent a lot of time working the phones, talking to key Bush Administration officials about Georgia's efforts to join NATO. He often spoke to Ambassador John Tefft who heads the U.S. embassy in Georgia, as well as Dan Fried and Matt Bryza at the State Department, Dan Fata at the Defense Department and David Merkel from the National Security Council.
Scheunemann also lobbied on Capitol Hill, particularly in late 2006 when a key piece of legislation was moving through the Senate regarding what countries might be added to NATO. He often talked and met with the foreign policy adviser in McCain's office, John Fontaine. He also met regularly with Stephen Rademaker on the Senate majority leader's staff and with Jessica Fugate from the Foreign Relations Committee Staff.
He spent some of his time dealing with journalists. For example in July 2007, Scheunemann met with with Jackson Diehl, a deputy editorial page editor for the Washington Post to discuss developments in Georgia's NATO aspirations. Last year he wrote a letter to Harper's Magazine rebutting a story about Georgia.
When leaders from Georgia came to visit Washington, Scheunemann was out at restaurants introducing them to beltway powerbrokers. For example, in December 2006, Georgia Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli was visiting and Scheunemann arranged a dinner for him with Sen. Joseph Biden(D-DE), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Russ Fiengold (D-WI) and Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), also of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen, Joe Lieberman (D-CT) of the Armed Services Committee. Also at the table was Jessica Fugate, a staffer on the Foreign Relations Committee.
Sheunemann also traveled to Georgia to host key lawmakers from the U.S.. For example, in August of 2006, Scheunemann was there with Sen. John McCain and the rest of a Senate delegation that included Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), who sis on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Mel Martinez (R-FL) of the Senate Armed Services Committee, , and Sen. John Sununu (R-NH).
Scheunemann also traveled to Georgia for more low-profile visits, like in January 2007, when he flew to Tbilisi and spent five nights in the Marriott hotel in the capital. In April 2005, Scheunemann spoke at a conference in Tbilisi, where he was identified as "a member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Committee on NATO."
In addition to peddling his access to Washington power brokers to Georgia officials, Scheunemann also appears to have peddled his access to Georgia officials to energy investors. Scheunemann worked with Stephen Payne, the Houston-based energy consultant who was caught on video offering access to top Bush Administration officials in exchange for big donations to the future George W. Bush library fund. One of Payne's groups touts Scheuneman's ties with Georgia as a way to forge deals with the Georgia state-run oil company.
Scheunemann has tried to distance himself from Georgia as McCain's campaign has geared up this year. He de-registered as a foreign agent in March. But he still owns his firm. And that firm signed a new $200,000 contract with Georgia on the same day McCain called Saakashvili and then issued a public statement in support of Georgia. A McCain aide denied there was any connection.
"For a country like Georgia, what they are trying to do essentially is get meetings, to get noticed, to further their goals. What Randy Scheunemann was essentially trying to do is build relationships between key decision makers in the White House and in Congress, to sell the notion that this is a vital democracy," said Clemons of the New America Foundation.
"What Randy Scheunemann achieved was an effort to kind of put Georgia and the ideological meaning of hugging this young democracy over the geostrategic reality of managing vital American interests," Clemons said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: Randy Scheunemann
The Daily Muck
The Daily Muck
Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will not be allowed to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Kilpatrick is restricted to the Detroit metro area due to his assault charges. In another blow, the state's governor, Jennifer Granholm, said Thursday that she cannot legally pardon Kilpatrick. (AP)
A federal appeals court is set to reconsider tossing out the case of Canadian citizen Maher Arar based around Arar's claims of torture while in U.S. custody. Born in Syria, Arar was detained by the U.S. in 2002 and sent to a prison in Syria for nearly a year after falsely being accused of links to al-Qaeda. Arar's lawyers did not ask for the federal appeals court to reconsider the increasingly high profile case, but rather the court has come to the decision on its own. (AP)
A lobbyist in Alaska is facing criminal charges accusing him of persistently failing to file lobbying disclosure reports. Prominent lobbyist Ashley Reed faces seven misdemeanors, each punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment for up to a year, or both. (Anchorage Daily News)
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: The Daily Muck
Don Young
Club For Growth Misses The Point In New Anti-Young Ad
Someone is finally going directly after GOP Congressman Don Young over his suspicious earmark for the Coconut Road interchange in Florida -- but they're just skimming the surface.
The Club For Growth, which is backing Young's GOP primary challenger Sean Parnell, is airing this new ad attacking Young for putting a $10 million earmark for Florida in the budget in order to benefit a contributor:
Unfortunately, the ad doesn't mention the really juicy part -- that Young's staff inserted the earmark in after the whole budget had passed in Congress, making the whole thing almost certainly unconstitutional as well as ethically questionable.
If this whole blogging thing doesn't work out, maybe we'll go into the ad-writing business.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Alaska, Don Young
Ted Stevens
Sen. Stevens Claims Constitutional Violation
From the AP:
Sen. Ted Stevens says his indictment on federal corruption charges violates the Constitution.He says the FBI overstepped its bounds when it questioned members of his legislative staff as part of the investigation.
Stevens says that violated the Constitution's speech-and-debate clause, which prohibits the executive branch from using its law enforcement authority to interfere with legislative business. His lawyers filed court documents Thursday asking that the case be thrown out.
The Senate's longest-serving Republican, Stevens is scheduled to face trial next month on charges that he lied about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and services he received from an oil services contractor.
Late Update: We kind of thought Stevens would try out this argument. Rep. William "Cold Cash" Jefferson (D-LA) tried that, too. And it worked.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: Ted Stevens
John McCain
FEC Draft Opinion Sides With McCain On Loan Question
Odds are looking good Sen. John McCain will get a favorable ruling next week regarding his request to withdraw from the public campaign financing program.
Democrats complained when McCain sought to opt out of the program -- and its spending limits -- even after he took out a loan that hinged on his participation. A final decision comes next week.
Roll Call reports:
In the recently rebooted agency's first major test, the FEC distributed a draft opinion Thursday siding with McCain, whose fate the commission's three Democrats and three Republicans must still decide at the public meeting next week.PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)The agency's legal department concluded that McCain did not break the law by taking the loan -- and then exceeding contribution limits -- despite warnings to the contrary from since-ousted FEC chairman David Mason, who had a tense back-and-forth with the campaign in early 2008.
"We believe that the matching payment act does permit candidates to withdraw after they have been declared eligible," the FEC's lawyers concluded in their new draft guidance. "Although no eligible candidate may exceed the expenditure limits, the statues simply do not say whether the commission has discretion to reverse its eligibility determination and decertify a candidate."
Topics: FEC, John McCain
Anthrax
FBI Appears To Change Theory In Anthrax Case
Last week, the Washington Post published a story that appeared to finally tie Bruce Ivins to that New Jersey mailbox where the 2001 anthrax letters were mailed -- something the feds have been unable to do in their six-year investigation.
The Post breathlessly reported in a story -- headlined "New Details Show Suspect Was Away On Key Day" -- that Ivins took part of the day off on Sept. 17.
A partial log of Ivins's work hours shows that he worked late in the lab on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 16, signing out at 9:52 p.m. after two hours and 15 minutes. The next morning, the sources said, he showed up as usual but stayed only briefly before taking leave hours. Authorities assume that he drove to Princeton immediately after that, dropping the letters in a mailbox on a well-traveled street across from the university campus. Ivins would have had to have left quickly to return for an appointment in the early evening, about 4 or 5 p.m.
But then Glenn Greenwald over at Salon drilled down into the details and found that the whole story didn't make any sense -- and that the timeline described by the FBI and the Post may actually give Ivins an alibi, since the anthrax letter was stamped Sept. 18.
Now today's story in the Post appears to propose a new theory on when Ivins allegedly drove to New Jersey.
Investigators now believe that Ivins waited until evening to make the drive to Princeton on Sept. 17, 2001. He showed up at work that day and stayed briefly, then took several hours of administrative leave from the lab, according to partial work logs. Based on information from receipts and interviews, authorities say Ivins filled up his car's gas tank, attended a meeting outside of the office in the late afternoon, and returned to the lab for a few minutes that evening before moving off the radar screen and presumably driving overnight to Princeton. The letters were postmarked Sept. 18.
That's a big shift. But the Post didn't play it that way. Today's story emphasized the incremental development that the feds recovered human hair at the New Jersey mailbox where the 2001 letters were dropped -- and they did not match Ivins.
It's clear that the FBI's case against Ivins is less than airtight. The main question at this point might be whether anyone is going to make the FBI cough up any more details of its investigation. Skeptical scientists are clamoring for more details. And there's movement from Congress, albeit slowly. The Post reports today that the House Judiciary Committee is also negotiating to hold a hearing with FBI officials. That comes on the heels of Sen. Chuck Grassley's questions for Mueller and Attorney General Michael Mukasey last week.
But the furor over the troubled investigation may be fading a bit. Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD), who received one of the anthrax-laced letters in 2001, announced yesterday that he is satisfied that the FBI's investigation was "complete and persuasive." Meanwhile, the AP filed a story yesterday dismissing some of the doubters as conspiracy theorists, comparing Ivins to Lee Harvey Oswald.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)Topics: Anthrax
Randy Scheunemann
After Signing New Lobbying Contract, Scheunemann Riles Georgians With Tough Talk
For those you wondering how Georgia came to believe that the U.S. might come to their rescue in case of war with the Russians, we found something pretty interesting.
Here's an interview that Randy Scheunemann, John McCain's top foreign policy advisor, gave to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty back in April, which is posted on a Georgia government Web site.
And note the date -- April 28, 2008. That's less than two weeks after Scheunemann's lobbying firm, Orion Strategies, had signed a new $200,000 lobbying contract with Georgia's National Security Council.
At no point in the interview does Sheunemann mention that he was Georgia's primary lobbyist in Washington for several years.
I think what is most important, first and foremost, is to have Western unity in the face of the latest Russian undermining of Georgian sovereignty. Traditionally, we have seen that the Russians will push and push until they meet opposition. And what they need to understand is that all European countries and the United States are united in opposing the latest Russian moves, which is really the culmination of years of what they've been doing, undermining Georgian sovereignty.
...The reason, I think, that there's been such support for years on a bipartisan basis in the U.S. Congress, as well as support through successive administrations, for Georgia is not because Georgia has resources -- as you point out, Georgia is relatively resource poor -- it is because, in particular since the Rose Revolution, that the Georgian example has inspired Americans and American leaders in their dedication to democracy, their willingness to take risks for democracy, the tremendous reforms that the Saakashvili government has put in place.
It's really about shared values, and it's something that Senator McCain feels particularly deeply. He's been to Georgia, I think, three or four times and witnessed the legendary Georgian hospitality on those occasions, and it had a deep and lasting impact on him that will continue.
Obviously, the government of Georgia thought these sentiments would play well to its domestic audience, or else the transcript would not be on the government Web site. And whatever message was relayed from Washington to Tbilisi over the past few years, Sheunemann was a primary messenger. PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: Randy Scheunemann
Norm Coleman
Sen. Coleman Wasn't Paying Utility Bills In His Sweetheart Apartment Deal In Lobbyist's Capitol Hill Home
You might remember earlier this summer when we pointed out that Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) was getting an exceptionally good deal on an apartment in Capitol Hill.
And -- who would have guessed? -- it's in a townhouse owned by Coleman's political backer and longtime Republican operative Jeff Larson.
Today, Coleman concedes to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he wasn't paying any utility bills and didn't even have a written lease until July, when reporters started asking about the arrangement.
Responding to media requests, the Coleman campaign Wednesday released copies of the lease that Coleman and Larson signed July 3, and the $532.88 check that Coleman's wife, Laurie, made out July 14 to Larson for 12 months' worth of unspecified utilities.
Finding a place for $600 a month just a few blocks from the Capitol is difficult, to say the least. And the deal -- and questions about whether Coleman was essentially accepting undisclosed gifts -- are cropping up as an issue in Coleman's reelection bid against former comedian-turned-Senate-candidate Al Franken.
According to the Star-Tribune:
"The more we learn about this sweetheart rent deal, the more concerns it raises," said Franken spokesman Andy Barr. "Now that Coleman is finally answering questions about what he got, it's time for him to start answering questions about what Larson got in return."PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (17)
Topics: Norm Coleman
The Daily Muck
The Daily Muck
An Army major pleaded guilty Wednesday to bribery charges. Maj. James Momon Jr., who served as a contracting officer in Kuwait in 2005 and 2006, admitted that he had a $5.8 million deal to push contracts for supplies such as bottled water to certain companies. Major Momon was the replacement for a major who pleaded guilty to money laundering in a similar scheme in January. (AP)
An American general testified against another general during pretrial hearings Wednesday at Guantanamo Bay. Gen. Gregory Zanetti, who is deputy prison camps commander at Guantanamo, described his counterpart in the Air Force as haphazardly rushing the military commissions process to an "unprofessional" and "bullying" extent. (McClatchy)
A former sheriff in Oklahoma will stand trial on 35 felony charges after female jail inmates accused him of demanding sex in exchange for help getting them into a drug rehabilitation program. He could face up to life in prison if convicted. (Associated Press)
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: The Daily Muck
Sarah Palin
AK Gov. Says Staffer Pressed for Trooper's Firing
In a press conference this afternoon, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) conceded that someone inside her administration pressured the state's Department of Public Safety to fire State Trooper Mike Wooten, Palin's former brother-in-law, who is now embroiled in a bitter custody battle with Palin's sister.
Palin's statement is the latest in what has come to be known around Alaska as "Wooten-gate." The scandal began on July 11, when Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan was fired from his post with little explanation, a move that quickly raised questions in Alaska.
A few days later, Monegan came forward, stating that he had been pressured by those around Palin to fire Wooten -- but had refused to do so -- a choice that he believes led to his sudden dismissal. Palin denied Monegan's accusations, and a Legislative Council has appointed a special commission to probe the matter.
In today's conference, Palin said that state troopers had taped a phone call from Frank Bailey, Palin's director of boards and commissions whom she appointed last August, in which Bailey inquired about having Wooten fired.
At the press conference today, Palin distanced herself from Bailey's actions claiming that he acted alone, but the recordings suggest that he was acting at her instigation.
"The Palins can't figure out why nothing's going on," Bailey said in the recorded phone call. "So Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads saying 'Why is this guy representing the department, he's a horrible recruiting tool.' You know? So from their perspective everybody's protecting him. . . Audi probably disagrees with me, Walt [Monegan] does and I understand it's really touchy, but I just want you to understand that cops that use excessive force or go out of the lines, they just have no tolerance, because they've seen the facts personally."
Bailey has yet to comment. Calls to his phone went directly to voice mail.
Late update: Audio of Frank Bailey's recorded phone conversation has been released on the governor's state website, you can listen to it here.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (42)Topics: Alaska, Sarah Palin, Trooper-Gate
Michael Mukasey
Conyers Criticizes Attorney General For Ruling Out Charges in Hiring Scandal
Yesterday Attorney General Michael Mukasey made it clear he has no plans to prosecute any of the DOJ officials who clearly violated the law by using political criteria to select career judicial officials.
Apparently, that's not what Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) wanted to hear. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said there's good reason to think somebody broke the law -- not just for screening out Democrats from key positions, but also failing to fully cooperate with the DOJ Inspector General's investigation.
In a statement today, Conyers said:
I am distressed that Attorney General Mukasey has been so quick to determine that no criminal offense has been committed in connection with the illegal hiring practices at the Department of Justice.
...
It is not enough for Mr. Mukasey to assert that things are different under his watch. The Department of Justice cannot reestablish its credibility so long as it persists in a strategy designed to avoid revealing all the facts that have so compromised the integrity of the Department of Justice and to prevent real accountability for misconduct by former DOJ officials.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: DOJ Office Of The Inspector General, Michael Mukasey
Pentagon
Pentagon Pressured About Refusal To Let Sexual Assault Expert Testify
It's been a couple weeks since the Pentagon defied a Congressional subpoena and refused to let the military's chief sexual assault expert testify at a hearing about sexual assault in the military.
Lawmakers on the House oversight committee were definitely not happy about it at the time.
Now the committee is stepping up its pressure on the Department of Defense to let Dr. Kaye Whitley, the director of the department's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, speak on Capitol Hill.
Yesteday, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates urging the department to comply with the Congressional subpoena issued for Whitley.
"We believe the Department's actions are completely without justification. The Department has provided no valid legal basis for its decision to prevent a witness from complying with a duly authorized congressional subpoena. The President has not asserted executive privilege over the testimony of Dr. Whitley. During the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Tierney asked Mr. Dominguez whether there had been any assertion of executive privilege, and he testified that there had not been.
In addition, the committee also wants to know precisely why officials didn't want Whitley to testify. The letter to Gates also asked for all emails and other internal communications relating to the request for Whitley's testimony.
If the Pentagon does not comply, the committee threated to subpoena three high-ranking Pentagon officials to a hearing on Sept. 12 to testify about the Defense Department's legal rational for not allowing Whitley to testify.
Late Update: Gates has agreed to let Whitley testify
Topics: Pentagon
Randy Scheunemann
McCain Talked With Georgia President On The Same Day McCain Aide Sealed Georgia Lobbying Contract
Randy Scheunemann earned about $70,000 serving as Sen. John McCain's top foreign policy adviser between the January 2007 and May 15, 2008.
During the same period, the government of Georgia paid his firm $290,000 in lobbying fees.
Today's Washington Post reports a stark illustration of the conflict of interest that Scheunemann faced while advising McCain on foreign policy matters related to the former Soviet Republic and also working for the Georgia embassy.
On April 17, McCain got on the phone with Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili about Russian efforts to gain leverage over two of Georgia's troubled provinces. That same day, McCain issued a public statement condemning Russia and expressing strong support for the Georgian position.
And also on that same day, Georgia signed a new, $200,000 lobbying contract with Scheunemann's firm, Orion Strategies, according to the Post.
[McCain Campaign spokesman Brian] Rogers said Orion's representation of Georgia had no bearing on McCain's decision to speak with Saakashvili in April. "The Embassy of Georgia requested the call because of Georgian concerns over recent Russian actions dealing with South Ossetia and Abkhazia," he said.
The McCain campaign said Scheunemann has not received any payments from his lobbying firm since May 15 -- a few weeks after the Georgia contract was signed -- when the campaign imposed strict new restrictions on lobbying by campaign staffers. And the campaign notes that Scheunemann de-registered as a lobbyist for Georgia in March.
But Scheunemann remains owner of the firm, according to the Wall Street Journal. It's not a big firm -- essentially including only one other person, Scheunemann's partner, Mike Mitchell.
The firm has lobbied McCain's senate office a lot over the past few years. Orion reports making at least 71 phone calls to McCain and his staffers since 2004 to lobby on behalf of foreign clients, including Georgia.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (12)Topics: John McCain, Randy Scheunemann
The Daily Muck
The Daily Muck
The Mayor of Detroit will not return to jail after a judge Tuesday ruled that he did not violate the terms of his bond. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was jailed last week when he traveled to Canada without notifying the court. This time the judge declined to jail him for allegations that he met with a witness from his pending case, where he is charged with assaulting a sheriff's deputy. (Detroit Free Press)
About two thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), who was among the Democratic lawmakers who requested the study, said it proves that many corporations are using "tax trickery" to send profits overseas and avoid paying U.S. taxes. (New York Times)
The West Virginia governor reportedly consulted with the DuPont company before filing a friend-of-the-court brief urging a judge to overturn a $382 million judgment against the powerful chemical company. Although Gov. Joe Manchin III presented the court document as being in the public interest, records show he had actually asked DuPont officials to provide a draft of the brief. (New York Times)
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: The Daily Muck
Randy Scheunemann
McCain's Top Foreign Policy Adviser Lobbyed For Georgia: What Did He Tell Tbilisi?
John McCain's top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, has for years been an essential conduit for the relationship between the United States and Georgia, the former Soviet republic that has been pounded by the Russian military for the past week.
He was Georgia's top lobbyist in Washington until earlier this year. He has taken leave from his lobbying firm, Orion Strategies, but he is still listed as president of in the firm, which has received nearly $900,000 from the Embassy of Georgia since 2004.
Scheunemann is tight with the Bush administration and many neoconservatives in Washington's foreign policy establishment. A former aide to Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), Scheunemann also has easy access to lawmakers like McCain, whose office Scheunemann has lobbied directly in recent years.
For the Georgia government back in Tbilisi, having Scheunemann on the payroll in Washington has been empowering.
"Randy Scheunemann is at a vital nexus...and it made Tbilisi feel as if it was wedged into the back pocket of Dick Cheney," Steve Clemons, head of the foreign policy program at the New America Foundation in Washington, told TPMmuckraker today.
Scheunemann's primary mission on behalf of Georgia was getting the Russian border state on track for NATO membership, according to Scheunemann's filings with the Department of Justice database maintained under the Foreign Agent Registration Act.
NATO membership would include a mutual defense pact that could legally draw the U.S. and the rest of Europe into a conflict between Georgia and its neighbor to the north.
Of course, Russia loathes that idea and even some Americans think it's unnecessarily risky and provocative. But pushing NATO further eastward and ultimately up to the Russian border has long been a key mission for hawkish Republicans and neoconservatives.
The Bush administration has been a big proponent of Georgia's NATO bid, despite resistance in Europe. Bush visited Georgia in 2005 and has been especially chummy with Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, the young Georgetown-educated pro-American leader.
It sure made for great rhetoric -- casting Georgia as a beacon of spreading democracy and freedom.
But now, since violent clashes have erupted between Georgia and Russia, the Bush administration is taking some blame for not reigning in its small and militarily weak ally.
After all, it was the Georgians who catalyzed this week's bloodshed when its military mounted an incursion into South Ossetia and confronted the Russian troops there (prompting many to ask: what were they thinking?).
"I would say Georgia has a very good PR team. The U.S. and the Georgian government built a very close relationship and it was too close for the good of either party. . . The U.S. allowed Saakashvili to get too puffed up and think he could fly too close to the sun," Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a professor at Georgetown University, said in an interview today.
Few on this side of the Atlantic doubt that Russia's response was brutish and heavy handed. But the Bush Administration is taking a lot of criticism for possibly sending mixed signals to the Georgian government about our level of commitment and support for the tiny nation. (Those critiques are, for example, spelled out here, here and here.)
Georgia was until this week the third-largest contributor of troops to Iraq after the U.S. and Great Britain, where its roughly 2,000 troops were welcomed by the Bush administration.
State Department officials insist they were clear that Georgia should not expect U.S. military support in case of a clash with Russia.
Sure, that was the official line. But we can't help but wonder, what did Scheunemann tell the Georgians? While they were paying his firm hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to help build a strong relationship with Washington, how did he characterize the level of support Georgia might expect?
Scheunemann's influence, either spoken or unspoken, emboldened Saakashvili, Clemons said.
"Saakashvili overplayed his hand. He believed he had the world's best lobbyist helping him not only with Cheney-land. . . but that he also had this wedge into the nerve cell of John McCain, who he may have believed would be the ultimate victor over Barack Obama."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (13)Topics: John McCain, Randy Scheunemann
Bob Ney
Former Rep. Ney to Be Released from Halfway House, Take Job As Radio Commentator
After serving 17-months of a 30-month federal sentence for accepting bribes from disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former Ohio Rep. Bob Ney (R), is set to be released on Saturday.
Time was taken off Ney's sentence upon completion of an alcohol rehabilitation program while at a minimum security prison, where he was first assigned before being sent to a half-way house in February of this year.
So what is a disgraced former U.S. represenative to do after nearly a year and half in the federal pen.?
Radio commentary of course!
From The Wheeling News-Register:
As a condition of his stay in the halfway house, Ney was required to work at a job. He was hired by his friend, Ellen Ratner, bureau chief for the Talk Radio News Service, who confirmed in March to a Capitol Hill newspaper that Ney was doing research for the news network.But Ney was prohibited by federal regulations from being on-air until his release. Ratner indicated she planned to use him as a political contributor after he was placed on probation.
Interestingly, Talk Radio News is a media company with a liberal bent, quite the change for the former Republican congressman.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Bob Ney, Jack Abramoff
Valerie Plame
Plame's Hope for Civil Suit Dashed Again
Valerie Plame lost an appeal when the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected her request for a civil suit against the Bush administration.
From the AP:
A federal judge dismissed the case last year on largely procedural grounds. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld that ruling Tuesday.
The lawsuit accused Vice President Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, among others, as naming Plame to reporters as a CIA operative in 2003.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)Topics: Valerie Plame
Iraq
Massive Private Contractors' Role In Iraq Documented By New Congressional Report
Today private military contractors supporting the U.S. occupation in Iraq far outnumber U.S. troops inside the country.
All together, these non-uniformed workers have cost nearly $100 billion, accounting for roughly 20 percent of the total U.S. budget for the five-year war.
That's according to the most comprehensive study to date (.pdf) of private contractors in Iraq, released today by the Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO estimates that more than 190,000 contractors were working on U.S.-funded contracts in the Iraq theater as of early 2008. This is somewhat higher than past estimates and far outnumbers the roughly 150,000 U.S. troops inside the country.
The report provides the first reliable breakdown of who these contractors are and where they come from.
Only about 20 percent are U.S. citizens, who work jobs such as armed security or logistical services for firms such as Blackwater or KBR.
Under 40 percent of contractors are citizens of the country where they work, mainly Iraq, some Kuwait and Jordan. (Surrounding countries such as Kuwait and others are considered part of the "Iraq theater" where logistical services essential to the occupation are provided.)
And the report for the first time estimates that about half are from other countries, mostly poor, unskilled workers from places like India or the Philippines These migrant workers are paid far less than Americans yet are critical to the day-to-day operations of the occupation.
The full cost -- in both money and lives -- related to these contractors has gone largely unreported. There are no reliable estimates on non-Americans who have been injured or died working for the U.S. military.
Working as bodyguards, engineers, translators, drivers, construction workers cooks, janitors and laundry operators, these workers have helped the Pentagon hold down the number of military personnel sent to Iraq and avoid public discussion of a draft.
The CBO study notes that U.S. dependence on contractors is radically higher than during prior conflicts. Contractors in Iraq are proportionally about 5 times higher than in Vietnam.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (14)Topics: Iraq
Justice Department
Mukasey to Bar Association: "The System Failed"
Attorney General Michael Mukasey dove right into the sensitive topic of the politicization of the Justice Department in his speech to the American Bar Association this morning in New York.
"I would like to talk to you today about a topic that I'm sure is of mutual interest," Mukasey began. "[N]amely, professionalism at the United States Department of Justice."
Calling the findings of the two recent reports by the DOJ Inspector General on politicization in the Justice Department "disturbing," Mukasey bemoaned the system for failing to stop the "active wrong-doing."
I want to stress that last point because there is no denying it: the system failed. The active wrong-doing detailed in the two joint reports was not systemic in that only a few people were directly implicated in it. But the failure was systemic in that the system - the institution - failed to check the behavior of those who did wrong. There was a failure of supervision by senior officials in the Department. And there was a failure on the part of some employees to cry foul when they were aware, or should have been aware, of problems.
Mukasey went on to describe the changes to the Justice Department and responded to critics complaints that those named in the OIG reports have suffered no consequences.
"Far from it," Mukasey said. "The officials most directly implicated in the misconduct left the Department to the accompaniment of substantial negative publicity. Their misconduct has now been laid bare by the Justice Department for all to see. . .To put it in concrete terms, I doubt that anyone in this room would want to trade places with any of those people."
Previously, there have been legislative requests to dismiss those hired at the DOJ during this politicized period -- an idea Mukasey called "unfair" today:
Other critics have suggested that we should summarily fire or reassign all those people who were hired through the flawed processes described in the joint reports. But there is a principle of equity that we all learned in the schoolyard, and that remains as true today as when we first heard it: two wrongs do not make a right. As the Inspector General himself recently told the Senate Judiciary Committee, the people hired in an improper way did not, themselves, do anything wrong. It therefore would be unfair - and quite possibly illegal given their civil service protections - to fire them or to reassign them without individual cause.
The full text of the attorney general's speech after the jump.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)Topics: DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility, Justice Department, Michael Mukasey
The Daily Muck
The Daily Muck
Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D) goes to court today accused of violating the terms of his bond a second time. The mayor is facing charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying under oath about an affair with his chief of staff, as well as a separate set of charges of assaulting a sheriff's deputy. Kilpatrick spent last Thursday night in jail for a bond violation. (Associated Press)
The increased attention on the anthrax investigation, sparked by the recent death of accused anthrax killer Bruce Ivins, has moved lawmakers to investigate security at bio-defense labs. Ivins was allowed to work at a federal lab for years after the FBI listed him as a suspect in the 2001 attacks. (Los Angeles Times)
Prosecutors in the case against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) filed a motion Monday requesting the trial remain in Washington. Stevens' lawyers want the trial heard in Stevens' home state of Alaska, citing the sitting senator's campaign schedule. The prosecution argued that moving the trial to Alaska could taint the jury pool. (Anchorage Daily News)
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: The Daily Muck
John Cowdery
Cowdery Pleads Not Guilty
It's hard to believe it's been a month since Alaska State Senator John Cowdery (R) was indicted on charges of bribery and corruption.
He proclaimed his innocence at the time, and now, after getting his arraignment postponed, he's finally made his plea official.
From the Anchorage Daily News:
An Anchorage state senator with ties to disgraced oil field services company Veco Corp. pleaded not guilty to federal counts of bribery and conspiracy. John Cowdery, 78, was arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court. His trial was set for Oct. 6.He was arraigned on charges of conspiring to bribe a fellow state senator with $25,000 in Veco money.
If the name VECO sounds familiar, it should. It's the same oil field services company behind the recent indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK).
VECO's a gravy train that a number of Alaskan politicians rode straight to jail.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: Alaska, John Cowdery, Ted Stevens, Veco
Iraq
House Judiciary To Probe Allegations White House Ordered Forged Letter Linking Saddam-Al Qaeda
After pundits have commented about the muted reaction to author Ron Suskind's explosive allegations last week, the House Judiciary Committee said today it will "review" the reports of White House and CIA misconduct.
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) didn't mention anything about hearings or subpoenas in his press release this afternoon. But the committee chairman did say he instructed his staff to look into the report that former CIA Director George Tenet in late 2003 ordered agents to concoct a letter showing false evidence linking Saddam to 9/11.
"Mr. Suskind reports that the Bush Administration, in its pursuit of war, created and promoted forged documents about Iraq," Conyers said in the press release. "I am particularly troubled that the decision to disseminate this fabricated intelligence is alleged to have come from the highest reaches of the administration."
After Suskind's new book was released last week, the White House promptly denied the accusation and two of Suskind's key CIA sources criticized the report, claiming Suskind misrepresented their remarks. Suskind responded by releasing a partial transcript of one taped interview with a key CIA source.
While that allegedly forged letter got all the press attention last week, Conyers indicated he would review several other questions raised in the book, "The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism."
A number of issues raised in Mr. Suskind's book to be reviewed include:PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (11)· The origin of the allegedly forged document that formed the basis for Bush's 2003 State of the Union assertion that Iraq sought yellowcake uranium from Niger;
· The role of this document in creating the false impression that 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta had a working relationship with Iraq;
· The relationship between this document and other reported examples of the Bush Administration considering other deceptive schemes to justify or provoke war with Iraq, such as the reported consideration of painting a U.S. aircraft with UN colors in order to provoke Iraq into military confrontation;
· Allegations that the Bush Administration deliberately ignored information from Iraq's chief intelligence officer that Iraq possessed no WMDs;
· The payment of $5 million to Iraq's chief intelligence officer and his secret settlement in Jordan, beyond the reach of investigators;
· The September 2007 detainment and interrogation of Mr. Suskind's research assistant, Greg Jackson, by federal agents in Manhattan. Jackson's notes were also confiscated.
Topics: Iraq, Ron Suskind
Department of Homeland Security
DHS Flouts Experts' Evaluations, Awards Mississippi with Spot on Shortlist
In deciding where to build a $451 million national laboratory to study bioterrorism and bio and agro-defense, the Department of Homeland Security asked a committee of experts to rate potential candidates on a strict set of criteria -- but then disregarded the committee's findings.
Beginning in January 2006, the DHS outlined a schedule to review 29 different locations throughout the country, then narrowed that list to 18, visiting each of the sites. Finally, the carefully selected committee of experts reviewed each possibility and ranked the sites according to the agreed-upon criteria.
The long process ended with the report handed off to DHS Undersecretary Jay Cohen, who weighed the findings of the committee and named six locations to a "short list" to be considered for the site.
According to an article published earlier today which cites "internal" DHS documents, the six shortlist candidates included a site in Flora, Miss. -- which was ranked just 14 out of the 17 candidates for the lab.
From the AP article:
It is the inclusion of Flora on that list that one official for a rival bid, Irwin Goldman of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, called "very suspicious."Mississippi's lawmakers include Rep. Bennie Thompson (D), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, which oversees DHS, and Sen. Thad Cochran, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the subcommittee that oversees DHS money. Each said he was not aware of the department's deliberations about the lab location.
This all seemed a little odd to us, so we called the DHS.
Amy Kudwa, press secretary from the Department of Homeland Security, cited Mississippi's "unique contributions" rather than its "existing resources" as the reason Cohen dismissed the higher-ranked candidates.
"The farther we get in the process, the more we use a qualitative judgment process," Kudwa explained in response to questions as to why the assessments based on a set group of criteria and a panel of experts had not been used.
But according to Margaret McPhillips the press secretary for Sen. Cochran, who released a statement in 2007 when Flora was first named to the National Bio Agro-defense Facility shortlist, Mississippi's selection was all about the great resources it has now.
"Sen. Cochran feels confident in the proposal Mississippi put forward," McPhillips told TPMmuckraker. "We're sure that when people look at the strengths of the Mississippi research facilities they will be convinced that we are the number one choice."
The Gulf-States Bio and Agro-Defense Consortium, which led the proposal to bring the lab to Mississippi echoed those thoughts.
"It is no secret that Mississippi's entire Congressional delegation is supporting this project," Gray Swoope, executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority said. "Mississippi ought not to be criticized for having one of the most unified, bipartisan and supportive Congressional delegations in the nation. Some are trying to use the media to damage Mississippi's application. The fact is, Mississippi and our Consortium partners represent the best proposal."
But according to representatives of some of the failed proposals, DHS' choice in Flora doesn't make much sense.
"We're a five state, twelve institution consortium," said Stephen Schimpff who led the proposal to bring the lab to Beltsville, Md. "We had easy places to train staff and a pool of trained individuals ready to work in that kind of facility. We thought we had a very strong proposal."
Indeed, the first two criteria listed on the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facilities website is "a comprehensive research community that has existing research programs" and is "within proximity to skilled research and technical staff with expertise . . . and within proximity to training programs to develop skilled research and technical staff." The Maryland facility had both, in spades.
Stranger still, was that their proficiency in these two areas seemed to count against them.
"In the end, the critique we got back was the high density of skilled personnel would create a lot of competition," Schimpff told TPMmuckraker. "So it'll be harder to find good people in Maryland than anywhere else."
"That didn't make a lot of sense to us."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Topics: Department of Homeland Security
DOJ Office Of The Inspector General
Lawmakers Still Seeking Details On FBI's Illegal Records Demands
It's been more than a year since we learned that the FBI was abusing its authority granted under the Patriot Act to issue so-called national security letters.
The FBI sent thousands of those letters -- in some cases illegally -- to telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks and other businesses seeking detailed records and personal information without a judge's approval.
We know that some FBI officials are under criminal investigation for the way those letters were used. And the Department of Justice Inspector General's office is also conducting a further investigation. But the details of the program, halted just last year, are still hazy.
Today the Senate Judiciary Committee is still trying to figure out precisely how the FBI was using those letters. The topic was back in the spotlight after reports that the FBI wrongly obtained phone records for reporters from the New York Times and the Washington Post bureaus in Indonesia during a 2004 terrorism investigation.
The committee sent a letter today today to FBI Directer Robert Mueller III asking the FBI to brief the lawmakers on the details of how those records were requested and how these abuses occurred.
These reports of misconduct "create a troubling impression of deliberate wrongdoing or serious negligence at the FBI," according to the letter, signed by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the committee, and its ranking member, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA).
The lawmakers said they are considering a new law that would provide greater protection for reporters or other Americans.
Read more for the full text of the letter.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: DOJ Office Of The Inspector General
Anthrax
Scientsts Continue To Question Anthrax Investigation And Case Against Bruce Ivins
Scientists are stepping up among those most skeptical of the FBI's evidence implicating military microbiologist Bruce Ivins in the 2001 Anthrax attacks.
In yesterday's New York Times, microbiologist Gerry Andrews wrote an op-ed describing himself as "both disheartened and perplexed by the lack of physical evidence" against Ivins. Andrews worked with Ivins for 16 years and served as the chief of the bacteriology division at the military lab at Ft. Detrick in Maryland.
While the FBI last week released extensive documents with circumstantial evidence against Ivins, they provided almost no details of the scientific testing that underpinned the investigation.
While questions about scientific aspects of the case have been aired, they are often relegated to the bottom of news stories behind other aspects of the investigation, such as Ivins' emails around the time of the attacks or his mental problems.
Today Dr. Meryl Nass, a bioweapons expert, rattled off a long list of concerns about the case on her blog.
Editors at Science Blogs built on their initial skepticism by publishing an additional piece titled "Anthrax Case: Reasonable Doubt on the Science."
The American Society of Microbiologists, the primary professional association for the field, has not issued any public statements on the case, but is prepared to provide experts for testimony on Capitol Hill if asked, spokeswoman Barbara Hyde told TPMmuckraker.
Meanwhile, virtually nobody with a science background in microbiology has stepped forward in support of the FBI's conclusion that Ivins was likely the one and only person involved in the 2001 attacks, said Gigi Gronvall, a senior associate with the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
"[Federal officials] came out and said they'd made the case, but they didn't actually present that science. So it really can't be evaluated," Gronvall said in an interview. "They talked about the genetic signature but they didn't elaborate on what that was. We want to know how they were able to determine that that one flask contained the parent train of what was sent out."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (10)Topics: Anthrax
BMW
BMW Direct Mailer For Georgia Republican Lands On Iowa Doorstep of Weekly Standard Reader
Take a look at the latest fundraising pitch from Deborah Travis Honeycutt, a little-known Republican running for Congress in a Democratic stronghold down in Georgia.
Or, we could say, the latest pitch letter drawn up by her Washington-based direct mail fundraising firm, BMW Direct.
That's the company we told you about earlier this summer that mounts massive nationwide fundraising efforts targeting self-styled conservatives on behalf of long-shot GOP candidates.
They're very successful at raking in money. But the catch is that not much of that cash ever gets to the candidates' campaigns because almost all of it -- sometimes upwards of 90 percent -- is eaten up in costs related to the direct mail campaign itself. That helps BMW Direct pay the rent on its downtown Washington office, but doesn't help candidates mount much of a ground campaign in home districts.
A TPM reader out in Iowa sent us this copy of the letter he received recently, where Honeycutt clearly underscores her race.
"I am the Democratic Party's worst nightmare," Honeycutt writes in her eight-page letter on small-sized campaign stationary. "Because I am a black Republican woman and I'm running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives."
"Self-appointed black leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have used their influence with black people in the Democratic Party to gain great personal influence. They've sold us out for 30 pieces of silver, and I intend to say so!"
That echoes a line from one of BMW Direct's former clients, Ada Fisher from North Carolina, who also cited Jackson and Sharpton in one of her letters.
The TPM reader who sent us Honeycutt's mailer said he's convinced, based on the way the mailing address was written out, that his household's contact information was originally provided by the Weekly Standard magazine, to which his wife subscribes.
So far, BMW Direct has helped Honeycutt raise about $2.6 million so far this election cycle, putting her among the nation's top fundraisers.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: BMW
The Daily Muck
The Daily Muck
The FBI formally apologized to two newspapers for wrongfully obtaining reporters' phone records. The bureau said it reviewed records from the New York Times and Washington Post Indonesia bureaus while conducting a 2004 terrorism investigation. (NYT)
Former Anthrax suspect Steven Hatfill was formally cleared of all suspicion in the 2001 letter attacks, the Department of Justice announced. Hatfill recently settled a lawsuit with the DOJ for about $5 million. (MSNBC)
A disgraced Minnesota transportation official was dismissed from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where she was hired shortly after facing criticism for her role in a bridge collapse last year. The DHS said it has imposed stricter rules on background checks for employees, including Google searches. (startribune.com)
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: The Daily Muck
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