The Daily MuckHouse Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY), who is facing increasing criticism over his finances, met Monday night with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Rangel refused to comment on the meeting last night, but Pelosi insisted that it was focused on Monday’s stock market plummet. Pelosi also claimed she did not ask Rangel to step down as House Ways and Means Chairman. (Politico)
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s former chief of staff turned down a plea deal Monday. The aide, Christine Beatty, is at the center of the Kilpatrick scandal due to their affair and the ensuing text messages. Beatty is charged with lying under oath about her relationship with Kilpatrick. Kwame Kilpatrick resigned as part of a plea deal earlier this month and will leave office Thursday. (New York Times)
Anchorage mayor and Sen. Ted Stevens challenger Mark Begich (D-AK) has run into trouble for omitting items on his state financial disclosure statement. The Alaska Public Offices Commission is considering a recommendation that Begich pay a $1,420 fine for the error. Alaska Republican Party spokesman McHugh Pierre filed a compliant to the commission earlier this summer. (Anchorage Daily News)
A former contractor at the State Department is set to plead guilty to illegally accessing electronic high-profile passport records. The plea, set for Monday, is the first following a breach earlier this year during which the private passport files of Sens John McCain (R-AZ), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) were opened by multiple people. The charge is a misdemeanor with a zero to six month sentence. (Washington Post)
Racial harassment has been found to “permeate” an enforcement branch of the Environmental Protection Agency by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. When a Hispanic special agent, George De Los Santos, complained to a supervisor about derogatory treatment to himself, women, Native Americans, and African Americans, he was told to “act like a man” and stop complaining. The EPA has denied any racial discrimination. (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility)
The Library of Congress’ inspector general criticized the Copyright Office’s roughly 400,000 backlogged claims. The inspector general insisted that the increasing backlog could have a “serious impact” on the U.S. copyright system. The backlog has grown in recent months since the office’s $50 million switch from a paper-based system to an electronic one. (Roll Call)