Jack Bonner

Former Employee: Bonner "Just Got Caught This Time"

Zachary Roth | July 31, 2009, 5:26PM

Earlier today, we told you about the forged letter sent by a lobbying firm to a lawmaker, urging him to oppose climate change legislation. The letter ran under the letterhead of a local Hispanic group, but really was sent by an employee at Bonner and Associates, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm with a slew of corporate clients.

In response, Jack Bonner said the letter had been sent by a "temporary employee" who has since been fired, and blamed the problem on that one "bad employee." But a former Bonner and Associates employee who spoke to TPMmuckraker significantly complicated that picture, portraying Bonner and Associates as a place where ethical missteps were far from rare. "They just got caught this time," he said.

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U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorney Fired Under Bush To Get Old Job Back

Zachary Roth | July 31, 2009, 4:27PM

What better way to demonstrate a change from the bad old days of the politicized Justice Department than to appoint as US attorney one of the people who was fired from that job as part of the Bushies' purge?

The White House has announced that Daniel Bogden, who in late 2006 was fired by the Bush administration as U.S. attorney for the district of Nevada, has been re-nominated for that position.

"I'm extremely honored that President Obama has nominated me," Bogden told TPMmuckraker in a brief phone interview. "I appreciate the opportunity and I'm looking forward to my return to public service. and I certainly appreciate Senate Majority Leader Reid's recommending me for the position."

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Global Warming

Congress To Probe Forged Climate Change Letters

Zachary Roth | July 31, 2009, 2:13PM

That was quick.

A Democratic lawmaker has announced an investigation into the forged letters sent by a Washington lobbying firm to a member of Congress. The letters, which purported to come from Hispanic and African-American groups, urged Rep. Tom Perriello to oppose the recent climate change bill.

Rep. Ed Markey, who chairs the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, just sent out the following release:

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Jack Bonner

Bonner Responds: Forged Letters Were Sent By "Temporary Employee"

Zachary Roth | July 31, 2009, 2:05PM

Jack Bonner of Bonner Associates has responded to the news that an employee at his firm sent a forged letter purporting to come from a local Hispanic group, urging a congressman to oppose the recent climate change bill.

In a statement emailed to TPMmuckraker, Bonner wrote:

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Jack Bonner

Lobby Firm Sent Forged Climate Change Letter To Congressman

Zachary Roth | July 31, 2009, 12:24PM

OK, this is a good one...

Via The American Prospect: Freshman Democratic congressman Tom Perriello -- whose Virginia district leans Republican -- faced a tough decision last month over whether to support the climate change bill. As he was weighing the issue, he got a letter from a non-profit group in his district that focuses on issues of importance to Hispanics. The letter urged Perriello to oppose the bill because it could raise low-income members' utility bills. "Many of our members are on tight budgets and the sizes of their monthly utility bills are important expense items," it read in part.

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AIG

Report: Senate Subpoenas Goldman, Deutsche Bank, On Subprime Statements

Zachary Roth | July 30, 2009, 4:42PM

Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank have received subpoenas from a Senate committee that's probing whether they committed fraud in connection to last year's financial collapse, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.).

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Carl Levin, is said to be looking into whether those firms, and perhaps others, had private doubts about the mortgage-backed securities they were putting together, despite their rosy public pronouncements about the complex products.

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Karl Rove

Emails Show Rove's Role In U.S. Attorney Firings

Zachary Roth | July 30, 2009, 3:14PM

Karl Rove did his second and final day of testimony before Congress about his role in the U.S. attorney firings today. And we're getting more confirmation that that role was more extensive than he's yet let on.

The Washington Post and New York Times have obtained emails that offer glimpses into Rove's role in the firing of certain of the U.S. attorneys. They jibe closely with many similar emails that were released last year as part of a Justice Department inspector general report which essentially found that the firings were engineered by Rove and other White House officials.

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Barack Obama

Author Of Hyped Iraq Memo Also Wrote Unhinged Attack On Health-Care Reform

Zachary Roth | July 30, 2009, 1:07PM

A senior American military adviser in Baghdad, whose memo arguing that the U.S. should leave Iraq is currently the top story on the New York Times website, is also the author of an unhinged online screed against health-care reform.

The health-care post, by Colonel Timothy Reese, sketches far-fetched scenarios about forced abortions and accuses President Obama of being "deceitful" in telling Americans they can keep their doctor under his plan. Its harsh tone raises questions about an active duty officer inserting himself into the political arena. And it suggests that that his widely-publicized military advice -- which was posted on the same blog as the health-care post -- should perhaps be treated more skeptically than is currently being done.

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Goldman Sachs

Emails Show Cozy Ties Between Federal Pension Guarantor And Wall Street Firms He Hired

Zachary Roth | July 29, 2009, 1:57PM

Remember our old friend Charles Millard? He's the former Lehman investment banker who, after taking over the federal agency that guarantees our pension systems, had the genius idea to ignore a host of warnings and switch the agency's investment portfolio from conservative bonds to risky stocks -- just as last year's financial storm was gathering.

We also learned -- thanks to an inquiry by the inspector general for the agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation -- that Millard had had extensive contacts with staff at Goldman Sachs, BlackRock Capital, and JP Morgan, during the period that the P.B.G.C. was choosing firms to hire as managers for its fund. And that Millard also raised the issue of getting a job with these firms once he left government. All three firms ended up winning contracts -- which were recently revoked, thanks to concern about those contacts.

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New Jersey Arrests

Possible Suicide In N.J. Corruption Case

Rachel Slajda | July 29, 2009, 11:06AM

One of the people charged in the New Jersey corruption probe has died under suspicious circumstances, Reuters reports.

Jack Shaw, a 61-year-old Democratic operative was found dead in his home Tuesday, and an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday. A prosecutor said it's possible the death was a suicide, but said it does not look like a homicide.

The sweeping investigation into public corruption, money laundering and organ dealing netted 44 people, including New Jersey mayors and rabbis. Shaw was accused of accepting a $10,000 bribe from an informant posing as a real estate developer. According to investigators, Shaw asked the informant to donate the money to the campaign of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy. Healy has not been charged. Shaw was also accused of introducing the informant to other officials.

Newburgh 4

Feds: Americans Plotted "Violent Jihad" In Middle East

Zachary Roth | July 28, 2009, 4:08PM

So what's up with those seven men arrested yesterday and charged with plotting to wage "violent Jihad"?

The ringleader appears to be Daniel Boyd, 39, a North Carolina man who runs a drywall business, and who about 20 years ago had traveled to Afghanistan as a Muslim convert to fight the Soviet Union. According to the government, Boyd recruited six men -- including two of his sons -- to participate in a scheme "to advance violent jihad, including supporting and participating in terrorist activities abroad and committing acts of murder, kidnapping or maiming persons abroad."

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Media

Debunking The GOP's Phony Euthanasia Myth -- Since Politico Won't

Zachary Roth | July 28, 2009, 2:09PM

In recent days, a new right-wing scare tactic on health-care has blossomed on conservative blogs and emails lists: the notion that the reform bill making its way through the House would lead to euthanasia by requiring senior citizens to submit to "end-of-life consultations."

It won't surprise you to learn this is a lie. But President Obama just got a question on it at a public event. And the idea has now made it into Politico, where a straight news story asks in its headline, all even-handed: "Will proposal promote euthanasia?" Since Politico thinks it'll be easier to "win the morning" by misleading readers into believing there's a legitimate debate over this issue, it's worth taking a minute to debunk it.

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Racism

Tea Partiers On McKalip: "We Lost a Great Freedom Fighter" -- And Health-Care Reform Is Like Slavery

Zachary Roth | July 28, 2009, 12:04PM

Tea Party activists are reacting to the David McKalip setback with defiance and redoubled resolve -- as well as by comparing President Obama's health-care reform plans to slavery, and by attacking TPMmuckraker.

McKalip, a prominent Florida neurosurgeon and conservative activist, announced last week that he would withdraw from the public debate over health-care reform and step down from several medical leadership posts after TPMmuckraker revealed that he had forwarded to other Tea Partiers a racist email showing Obama as a witch doctor.

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Allen Stanford

Stanford Complains: Prison Too Prison-Like

Zachary Roth | July 27, 2009, 6:05PM

Allen Stanford, the Texas banker charged with orchestrating an $8 billion fraud, isn't too happy behind bars, it seems.

His attorney, the heavy-hitting criminal defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin, has filed papers calling conditions at the federal detention facility north of Houston where Stanford is being held "oppressive," and asking that the cricket-loving billionaire be moved.

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John Murtha

Murtha Taking Devil May Care Attitude To Corruption Probes

Zachary Roth | July 27, 2009, 2:12PM

The Feds may be circling uncomfortably close to Rep. John Murtha as they probe kickbacks to defense contractors and possible earmarks-for-campaign-cash deals. But the veteran Democratic power-broker doesn't seem to be sweating it. In fact, he's acting as defiant as ever.

A Murtha spokesman tells TPMmuckraker that the Pennsylvania congressman has not hired a lawyer in connection with the investigations.

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FBI

Apple Jacks, Prada, And Kidney Trafficking: Taking Stock Of The New Jersey Arrests

Zachary Roth | July 27, 2009, 12:04PM

At 6am last Thursday, more than 200 FBI and IRS agents fanned out across the state of New Jersey, as part of that corruption and money-laundering probe that ended up netting 44 people, including mayors, rabbis, and a state lawmaker.

Now that the dust has settled, it's worth taking a look at the whole sprawling operation.

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