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The Daily Muck
The sexual affair between a former Texas judge and a former district attorney has threatened to complicate the conviction and sentencing of a death row case. The judge, Verla Sue Holland, admitted under oath on Monday, that she and Thomas O'Connell carried on an affair for many years. Charles Dean Hood had been scheduled for execution today, but was granted a stay by the Court of Appeals for a hearing on his challenge to jury instructions. The court dismissed the claims that Hood had not received a fair trial due to the affair. (Chicago Tribune)
Two senators, one Republican and one Democrat, have come together to accuse the Department of Labor for failing to uphold the "spirit and goals" of laws protecting whistleblowers. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) wrote the letter in reaction to a recent Wall Street Journal article that showed the government has ruled in favor of whistleblowers in only 17 out of 1,273 complaints. (Wall Street Journal)
Republicans called for embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) to step down from his post as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee until the ethics complaints against him are resolved. House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-OH) wrote to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) requesting she insist that Rangel step down. Complaints over Rangel stem from his failure to disclose income from a rental property in the Dominican Republic. (Los Angeles Times)
A new report from the Government Accountability Office states that the government's bridge repair program is unfocused and lacking in standards. The report comes a little after the one year anniversary of the collapse of the I-35W Minneapolis bridge, that killed 13 people and injured hundreds more. (AP)
Elections in Georgia have been plagued by ethics violations, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Their final report describes "widespread and serious irregularities" as well as ballot box stuffing and beating of opposition activists. The report describes over 1,400 complaints and cites failure by the government to properly respond. (Reuters)
Josh
Zachary
Don't you love it when Boehner ( what an appropriate name) gets his hypocritical little heart all atwitter? I do believe Rangel should have to do like all who "cheat the irs," pay them back with penalties.
September 10, 2008 12:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I liked Charlie as an excellent speaker and has a great sense of humor, but he appears as ethically challenged as many in Congress.
If he didn't report income, that, in addition to civil penalties and interest, is a criminal offense. Of course the IRS wouldn't go after him for that because, oops, I didn't know what I was doing and I made a mistake!
Yeh, right. If you or I tried that line we'd be sending out for petroleum jelly from our jail cell.
September 10, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I liked Charlie. He is an excellent speaker and has a great sense of humor, but he appears as ethically challenged as many in Congress.
If he didn't report income, that, in addition to civil penalties and interest, is a criminal offense. Of course the IRS wouldn't go after him for that because, oops, I didn't know what I was doing and I made a mistake!
Yeh, right. If you or I tried that line we'd be sending out for petroleum jelly from our jail cell.
September 10, 2008 12:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Three hours ago the House Judiciary Committee meeting started. Any news about Mukasey subpoena?
September 10, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's interesting that Leahy and Grassley are the Sens. pushing for whistleblowers' portections.
I wonder if there are any potential whistleblowers in the DoD or elsewhere who know something about the anthrax case (these two Senators are also the ones pushing the FBI to release more info on their 'case closed' story).
September 10, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The developer for the Dominican Republic property has said that Rangel was just one of several original investors in the property, all of whom had their interest waived in return for their initial investment."
It's a rental vacation villa. Clearly the rent pays the interest, and the investors take a cut of the profits. This is typical of an investment property.
"Republicans latched onto the recent admissions by Rangel's lawyer that the congressman had failed to disclose more than $75,000 in rental income from the vacation home in the Dominican Republic and that he had paid no interest on the villa's mortgage. The lawyer said he did not know how the loan was being repaid and was not aware until recently that the interest had been waived. Congressional ethics rules require that members disclose annually all gifts and gratuities."
But this would be neither a "gift" nor a "gratuity", just an investment property paying itself off.
September 11, 2008 7:35 AM | Reply | Permalink