October 4, 2009 - October 10, 2009

Hardin

APPF Backs Out Of Hardin Jail Deal

Zachary Roth | October 9, 2009, 6:01PM

American Police Force logo

The end has come...

Controversial private security contractor American Private Police Fore has officially backed out of a deal with Hardin, Montana, to run a local prison, APPF spokeswoman Beck Shay announced this afternoon. (Watch Shay's press conference here.)

Gale Norton

Gale Norton Subpoenaed By Grand Jury: Report

Zachary Roth | October 9, 2009, 5:32PM

Fmr. US Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton

Gale Norton is being investigated by a federal grand jury for allegedly talking to Shell about a job, while she was Interior Secretary in 2006, reports National Journal. Both Norton and Shell are said to have received subpoenas.

The existence of the federal investigation was first reported last month by the Los Angeles Times. In a nutshell, the Feds have been looking at an episode in which Norton's Interior Department awarded three oil shale leases on federal land in Colorado -- potentially worth hundreds of billions -- to a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. Two months later, Norton resigned, saying she had no job lined up. But later that year, she was hired by Shell as in-house counsel.

Barack Obama

"Slimy Thug For Hire" Behind Horton Ad Back With Impeach Obama Campaign

Zachary Roth | October 9, 2009, 4:18PM

Conservative activist Floyd Brown

It was only a matter of time...

The far right has already called Obama a socialist, a communist, and a fascist, among other names, and has compared him to Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin. So it should come as no surprise that the organized Impeach Obama movement is now underway -- with a longtime conservative flamethrower at the helm.

Mary Beth Buchanan

Report: Republican US Attorney With Role In Firings Scandal Mulls Bid For Congress

Justin Elliott | October 9, 2009, 1:50PM

Mary Beth Buchanan

Via Main Justice, we note with interest that
U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, who has been accused of pursuing politically motivated prosecutions and who played a role in the US attorneys firings scandal, is reportedly looking at a run for Congress in Pennsylvania.

Buchanan is consulting with state and national GOP leaders and is "50-50" on whether to run, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, quoting a local Republican county chair.

Charles Rangel

Charlie Rangel's Seven Deadly Sins

Zachary Roth | October 9, 2009, 1:27PM

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)

The House Ethics committee announced yesterday that it will expand its long-running probe into Charlie Rangel's financial affairs -- and Republican-led efforts are heating up once again to oust the beleaguered New York congressman from his post as chairman of the House Ways and Means committee.

We round up and rank the allegations against Rangel, from venal down to moronic.

Joe Arpaio

DiGenova -- Clad In Cowboy Boots -- And Toensing Give AZ Presser, Then Meet With Arpaio

Zachary Roth | October 9, 2009, 10:05AM

Republican lawyers Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing

We've gotten more detail on that press conference that Washington GOP lawyers Joesph diGenova and Victoria Toensing held in Phoenix yesterday, to talk about their hiring as special prosecutors probing Don Stapley, a Maricopa County official whose high-profile arrest by deputies of Sheriff Joe Arpaio caused a stir recently.

In an apparent effort to blend in, reports the Phoenix New Times, diGenova wore cowboy boots. But aside from that, the limelight-seeking power couple apparently didn't reveal too much.

American Police Force

Early Agreement Said APPF Would Provide Hardin With Police Force For $250K

Justin Elliott | October 9, 2009, 10:04AM

APPF SUVs with 'Hardin Police Dept.' decal, 9/30/09

Here's a nice get by the Billings Gazette, which went to court to pry another document from the hands of Hardin, MT, officials on the town's deal with the shadowy American Private Police Force.

The August 18 agreement, signed by APPF's Michael Hilton and Hardin economic development chief Greg Smith, who resigned this week, makes clear that Smith wanted APPF to provide a police force for the town, which doesn't have its own department. Read the whole thing here.

Joe Arpaio

Lights, Camera, Action: DC Power Couple Jet Into Arizona For Stapley Presser

Zachary Roth | October 8, 2009, 6:12PM

Republican lawyers Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing

Well, that didn't take long...

Just three days after the news was announced that they've been hired to probe campaign finance allegations against a heretofore obscure Arizona county supervisor, Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing went before the cameras in Maricopa County.

Charles Rangel

House Ethics Panel Expands Probe Of Rangel

Justin Elliott | October 8, 2009, 4:16PM

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)

The House ethics committee, which for over a year has been investigating alleged financial misconduct by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), voted unanimously to expand the probe, it announced today.

The New York Post reports:

Jenny Beth Martin

Top Tea Partier, Husband, Owed IRS Half A Million Dollars

Zachary Roth | October 8, 2009, 2:36PM

Jenny Beth Martin

A top activist with the anti-tax Tea Party movement has had a personal brush with federal tax collectors. Jenny Beth Martin, a co-founder and national co-ordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, owed, with her husband, over half a million dollars to the IRS when the pair filed for bankruptcy last year, according to filings examined by TPMmuckraker.

The couple's bankruptcy filing, made in August 2008 to the US Bankruptcy Court for Georgia's Northern District, stated that Martin and her husband Lee Martin, of Woodstock, Georgia, owed the IRS $510,000, after making a payment of $16,640 that June. The couple also owed just over $71,000 to Ford Motor Credit, the automaker's financing arm.

Death Penalty

Lawyers Group Urged Perry To Keep Ousted Chair Of Panel Probing Death Penalty Case

Zachary Roth | October 8, 2009, 12:22PM

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

Remember that move by Texas governor Rick Perry to not to reappoint the chair of a panel looking into a flawed arson investigation that may have led to the execution of an innocent man? Well it's looking dodgier than ever.

Last week, Perry announced he would not reappoint Chair Sam Bassett and two other members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which is looking into the probe that led to the execution of Cameron Willingham -- despite strong evidence that he may have been innocent. The panel members terms had expired.

Perry himself, as governor, had signed off on the 2004 execution, leading critics to charge that the decision on Bassett -- who had appeared to push for an aggressive inquiry into missteps in the original probe -- was an attempt by the governor to short-circuit an effort that could have been politically damaging as he faces a tough re-election campaign.

American Police Force

Anonymous APPF 'Investor' Comes Forward, Claims Jail Project Still Alive

Justin Elliott | October 8, 2009, 11:36AM

Just when we thought the American Private Police Force saga might be over, a putative APPF "investor" has come forward -- anonymously.

KULR in Montana reports on a "California man" who claims, under condition that his name not be used, that he is one of several private individuals who gave APPF money for the Hardin jail project.

Apple

Chamber To Apple: It's Not Me, It's You

Zachary Roth | October 8, 2009, 9:56AM

The Chamber of Commerce has fired back, bitchily, to Apple's recent decision to leave the organization over its opposition to serious efforts to fight climate change.

On Tuesday, Chamber CEO Tom Donohue sent a letter to his counterpart at Apple, Steve Jobs, saying:

American Police Force

Beck Tackles American Private Police Force Story

Justin Elliott | October 8, 2009, 8:58AM

And the first cable news personality to take on the story of a private security firm taking over an empty Montana jail is ... Glenn Beck!

Here's the surprisingly fact-based segment from last night, in which Beck approaches the American Private Police Force story with relative calm, interviewing a local reporter:

Denny Rehberg

Rehberg: Boat Driver Who Allegedly Drank Scotch And Wine All Night Didn't Seem Drunk To Me!

Justin Elliott | October 7, 2009, 6:53PM

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT)

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), who was injured in a boat crash in August that led to felony charges against the allegedly drunk driver today, says his friend "didn't appear to be impaired."

Here's Rehberg statement on the charges against Montana State Sen. Greg Barkus, as reported by KECI in Missoula:

American Police Force

The Tragedy Of Becky Shay: Beleaguered APPF Spox Presses On

Justin Elliott | October 7, 2009, 6:36PM

Becky Shay

It's been a rough couple of weeks for Becky Shay, the spokeswoman for the American Private Police Force.

Amid it all -- the tearful press conference, the confrontations with a conspiracist shock jock who parachuted in from Texas, the media scrutiny of her abrupt career shift from Billings Gazette reporter covering APPF to the public face of APPF, and, above all, the persistent charges that her new company is a fraud -- Shay has kept her eye on the ball.

And, she told TPMmuckraker in an interview today, she's damn proud of it.

Charles Rangel

House Votes To Refer Anti-Rangel Resolution To Committee

Justin Elliott | October 7, 2009, 3:52PM

That Republican resolution demanding that Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) give up his committee chairmanship was referred to the ethics committee in a 246-153 vote this afternoon.

The roll call of the largely party-line vote is here. Six Republicans voted yes, and two Democrats voted no. The ethics committee is already probing Rangel. The vote today represents the failure of the GOP effort to formally demand he step down from his chairmanship.

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Topics: Charles Rangel, John Carter

Joe Arpaio

'America's Toughest Sheriff' Teams With Beltway GOP Power Couple In 'Inquisition' Of Arizona Official

Zachary Roth | October 7, 2009, 3:41PM

Republican lawyers Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing

Notorious anti-immigrant sheriff Joe Arpaio is working with a husband-and-wife GOP lawyer team that was one of Bill Clinton's biggest tormentors during the 90s, to go after a local Arizona official. But critics are calling the effort a politically motivated fishing expedition. And the defense lawyer on the case knows something about politicized justice: he was one of the US attorneys improperly fired by Alberto Gonzales.

Here's the back-story. It's got a few twists and turns. But stay with us -- it's worth it:

Denny Rehberg

MT State Senator Charged With Felonies In Allegedly Drunken Boat Crash With Rep. Rehberg

Justin Elliott | October 7, 2009, 2:23PM

The scene of the Aug. 27 accident, State Sen. Greg Barkus (R-MT) inset.

Montana State Sen. Greg Barkus, who crashed his boat in a lake with four passengers aboard, including Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), was charged today with one count of criminal endangerment and two counts of negligent vehicular assault, the Flathead county attorney's office confirmed to TPMmuckraker.

The charges, which can be read in full here, allege that Barkus was drunk on the night of August 27 and that his actions on Flathead Lake endangered the life of Rehberg.

Reached at his home this afternoon by TPMmuckraker, Barkus said he had not heard of the charges, all of which are felonies. He said he had no comment on the matter.

Charles Rangel

Escalating Campaign Against Rangel, GOP Demands He Give Up Chairmanship

Justin Elliott | October 7, 2009, 12:59PM

Rep. John Carter (R-TX) and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

House Republicans plan to introduce a resolution today calling on Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), who has been dogged by charges of financial misconduct and influence peddling, to resign from his powerful post at the head of the Ways and Means Committee.

Rep. John Carter (R-TX), who is leading the charge against Rangel and wrote the resolution -- which House Dems are vowing to block -- said in a statement:

Hardin

Hardin To Create Own Police Force -- But Pledges Not To Hire APPF

Zachary Roth | October 7, 2009, 10:02AM

American Police Force logo

We told you this week the contract between Hardin, Montana and American Private Police Force gave the shady security contractor the chance to take over the town's policing needs, in addition to running Hardin's prison. It appears to have been this potential law enforcement responsibility that led APPF to roll into town late last month in three Mercedes SUVs bearing the words "City of Hardin Police Department," setting off a panic that soon spread far beyond Hardin.

Now that the APPF deal seems to have been on hold, you'd think local officials might now be wary of doing anything that might re-open the police force issue. But yesterday, Big Horn County commissioners nonetheless went ahead and voted to allow the city to create its own police department - though only after making assurances that APPF won't get the job.

Rick Renzi

DOJ Adds Five New Charges Against Ex-Rep. Renzi

Justin Elliott | October 7, 2009, 9:47AM

Fmr. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)

Former Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi, who was indicted on 36 counts of corruption in February 2008, now faces an additional five charges, The Hill reports.

The newspaper explains:

Gun-Toters

Revealed: MN Gun-Toter's Grocery Store Parking Lot Pepper Spray Case Records

Justin Elliott | October 6, 2009, 6:04PM

Josh Hendrickson

Remember the rash of right-wing protesters who showed up to Obama events in August and September armed -- sometimes to the teeth?

In the middle of September, the gun-toter du jour was Josh Hendrickson, who came to an Obama health care speech in Minneapolis with a Glock and a Kel Tec 380 in his back pocket. But Hendrickson was a little different from the other gun-toters: he showed up at the event just after getting out of jail for a pepper-spraying incident.

And based on court records we've obtained, that episode appears to have been an unfortunate flareup of Mall Cop Rage. It resulted in a fifth degree assault misdemeanor conviction.

Charles Rangel

Hoyer: We'll Fight Resolution To Oust Rangel

Rachel Slajda | October 6, 2009, 3:39PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer vowed today to block any resolution by House Republicans to forcibly remove Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

Rep. John Carter (R-TX), the Republican conference secretary, said he will introduce the resolution if Rangel does not step down this week. Republican leaders are reportedly ready to support the resolution.

"To allow Mr. Rangel to continue to serve as chairman is the same as allowing a confessed bank robber to serve as chairman of the Banking Committee during the trial," Carter said in a statement.

American Police Force

APPF Was Handed Keys To Hardin Jail Before Deal With Town Was Sealed

Justin Elliott | October 6, 2009, 3:26PM

Why was a private security firm given control of a jail in Hardin, Montana, before a lease agreement with the town was finalized?

Hardin officials, who yesterday put a deal with American Private Police Force on hold, are having a hard time answering the question.

A bank that is trustee on bonds used by Hardin to build the Two Rivers Detention Facility -- now in default -- never signed off on the APPF deal, which was first announced in early September.

John Ensign

Ensign: I Followed Ethics Laws When I Helped Clients Of Mistress's Husband

Zachary Roth | October 6, 2009, 3:18PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

The John Ensign story is back on the front-burner, thanks to last week's New York Times report that the philandering Nevada senator actively helped Doug Hampton, the husband of his former mistress, get set up as a lobbyist, then acted to benefit Hampton's new clients.

Today brought several new developments:

Al Peterson

Did Hardin Official Benefit Personally From APPF Deal?

Zachary Roth | October 6, 2009, 1:38PM

Fmr. TRA Director Greg Smith

How did American Private Police Force convince the town of Hardin to put it in charge of a 464-bed prison, despite having essentially no proven track record with such projects? The complete answer isn't yet clear. But could the mysterious private contractor have dangled a job for the wife of a top city official to seal the deal?

Let's lay out the evidence...

American Police Force

APPF's 'Major Security Firm' Parent Company: Does It Exist?

Justin Elliott | October 6, 2009, 12:49PM

Michael Hilton

One of the abiding mysteries of the American Private Police Force story is who, if anyone, provided the financial backing the private security company claims to have.

As the project unravels and more of APPF's claims are shown to be dubious, it seems like the key question is not who the parent company is, but: does it actually exist?

Hardin

Hardin Official To APPF: Tell Us "Where The Money Is Coming From"

Zachary Roth | October 6, 2009, 12:01PM

Al Peterson

A Hardin, Montana official who has been the public face of the town's controversial prison contract with American Private Police Force (APPF) is now expressing serious concerns about the deal.

Yesterday, Al Peterson of the Two Rivers Authority (TRA), the city's economic development agency, sent an email to Michael Hilton of APPF and to the TRA's board members, declaring:

Michael Duvall

California AG Won't Probe Duvall's Sex Bragging

Zachary Roth | October 6, 2009, 9:51AM

Fmr. State Rep. Michael Duvall (R-CA)

Finally, some good news for California sex braggart "Hot Mike" Duvall...

Attorney General Jerry Brown says he won't investigate Duvall's claim, captured on a hot mike, to be having an affair with a woman identified as a lobbyist for an energy company. Until he resigned in the wake of the scandal, Duvall, a Republican, had been vice chair of the state legislative committee that oversees energy issues.

American Police Force

Hardin, Montana, Puts Jail Deal With APPF On Ice

Justin Elliott | October 6, 2009, 9:08AM

Michael Hilton

Spooked by a man who turned out to be a convicted felon and who appears to have repeatedly lied on his way to acquiring a lease for an empty jail in Hardin, MT, town leaders yesterday put the deal with American Private Police Force on hold.

Last week, the state attorney general launched a probe of the deal that was pushed through by a man calling himself "Captain" Michael Hilton.

The AP reports on the Hardin board meeting yesterday that put a stop to the whole project:

American Police Force

APPF's Dubious Story Gets Even More Dubious

Justin Elliott | October 5, 2009, 6:46PM

We've known since last week that the story surrounding a deal that handed an empty jail in Hardin, MT, to shadowy private security company American Private Police Force just wasn't adding up. Today, it became still more clear that APPF has a lot of explaining to do.

Let's review the developments:

American Police Force

Hardin Official: Unnamed But 'Highly Qualified' APPF Director Of Ops In Afghanistan Right Now

Justin Elliott | October 5, 2009, 6:08PM

American Private Police Force has hired a director of operations for the Hardin jail project who will not be publicly named until next week but who is a "highly qualified" retired U.S. military person doing training in Afghanistan, a Hardin official tells TPMmuckraker.

"I've got his resume and it looks pretty nice," says Al Peterson of the Hardin economic development agency, which brokered the jail deal with APPF.

Peterson wouldn't say who the director of operations is, but confirmed it was not a Hardin local.

Al Gore

Apple Is Latest To Quit Chamber Over Climate Change

Zachary Roth | October 5, 2009, 6:01PM

The exodus continues...

Apple has become the latest big-name company to defect from the Chamber of Commerce, thanks to the group's uncompromising opposition to serious efforts to stop global warming.

In a letter to the Chamber released today, Apple CEO Catherine Novelli wrote that her company "strongly object[s] to the Chamber's recent comments opposing the EPA's effort to limit greenhouse gases."

American Police Force

APF Deal Let Shady Firm Provide Law Enforcement For Hardin

Zachary Roth | October 5, 2009, 4:57PM

The news that a mysterious private security contractor has been hired to take control of a prison in the tiny Montana town of Hardin has set off some outlandish conspiracy theories -- like the notion that the deal represents the first wave of President Obama's plan to "have all major cities locked down" by the end of October.

But one related concern -- that the contractor, now calling itself the American Private Police Force, could take over law enforcement duties for Hardin -- turns out not to be far-fetched at all. Indeed, the agreement that APPF -- at the time known simply as American Police Force (APF) -- signed with city's economic development arm, the Two Rivers Authority (TRA), specifically provides for that possibility.

American Police Force

Another Blow To APPF's Credibility: Contractor Says Web Site Material Was Lifted

Justin Elliott | October 5, 2009, 4:35PM

From Allied Defense Systems Web site

The head of a California defense contractor says that American Private Police Force brazenly copied information from its Web site and that it's considering legal action against APPF.

CEO Edward Angelino of Allied Defense Systems told TPMmuckraker that APPF's "Mike Hilton came to us for our help looking for supplies and equipment" for the mysterious project at an empty jail in Hardin, Montana.

After a bit of due diligence, Angelino deemed that Hilton and APPF were not fit to do business with -- but not before referring APPF to Allied Defense Systems' Web developer.

American Police Force

APPF Lawyer Who Said Info Would 'Gradually Be More Clear' Quits

Justin Elliott | October 5, 2009, 3:35PM

Attorney Maziar Mafi

Maziar Mafi, the California lawyer who had been variously identified as American Private Police Force's legal affairs director, president, and a "major" in the company, on Friday severed his ties to the Hardin, MT, jail project until he sees "more concrete action."

Mafi's practice, like APPF, is based in Santa Ana, California. As a specialist in personal injury, immigration, and business law, he had seemed an odd choice of counsel for a firm that claims to play a critical role in filling the United States government's "homeland security needs."

Mafi told the AP: "For the time, I'm pulling out. I need to see more concrete action before I can be involved."

David McKalip

Top Health-Care Reform Foe: Racist Emailer Is "Rock Solid Patriot"

Zachary Roth | October 5, 2009, 2:04PM

Greg Scandlen, Heartland Institute

A top conservative health-care reform foe is going to bat for David McKalip, the Florida neurosurgeon and anti-reform activist who this summer was caught by TPMmuckraker sending a racist email that showed President Obama as a witch doctor.

In an email to fellow activists, obtained by TPMmuckraker, Greg Scandlen, the founder and director of Consumers for Health Care Choices, and a senior fellow at the conservative Heartland Institute, called McKalip "one of the best men I know" and "a rock solid patriot." Scandlen also revealed that he himself had urged McKalip to rejoin the fight against reform, after McKalip had temporarily taken a lower profile in the movement in response to widespread outrage over the witch-doctor email.

American Police Force

Scrubbed: APF Web Page That Claimed Ownership Of Blackwater Training Center Now Reads 'ETA Spring 2010'

Justin Elliott | October 5, 2009, 12:31PM

We knew that American Police Force, the shadowy private security company that has taken over an empty jail in a small Montana town, has a history of making outlandish and flat-out bogus claims. And it now appears that the company is taking some of the criticism to heart.

The firm, which is now calling itself American Private Police Force (feel better?), has toned down -- ever so slightly -- some of its colorful Web site's claims. (Old version here, current version here.)

APPF has deleted a reference to a training facility which it had earlier claimed to control, but which is in fact owned by Xe, aka Blackwater,

Barack Obama

Florida Doc Who Sent Obama Witch-Doctor Email Still Helping Lead Anti-Reform Fight

Zachary Roth | October 5, 2009, 12:21PM

Dr. David McKalip

Florida neurosurgeon David McKalip is back in the thick of the fight to stop health-care reform -- just over two months after pledging to withdraw from the public debate on the issue in the wake of a furor set off when TPMmuckraker published a racist email he sent showing President Obama as a witch doctor.

Over the weekend, McKalip emailed a fellow activist, reporting that he had been at a conservative medical association meeting, with leaders of the anti-reform movement, including GOP congressmen Tom Price and Paul Broun, anti-reform writer and activist Betsy McCaughey, and Tea Party coordinator Amy Kremer. Conservative doctors and their allies have been organizing in recent days in response to the White House's event this morning featuring pro-reform doctors.

McKalip's email was then forwarded on to a Tea Party Patriots email list.

John Ensign

Ensign: I'll Cooperate With Ethics Probe Into Help For Mistress's Husband

Zachary Roth | October 5, 2009, 11:18AM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Disgraced Nevada senator John Ensign won't fight the ethics investigation into his dealings with a former staffer, in the aftermath of an affair between Ensign and the staffer's wife.

"Sen. Ensign will cooperate with any official inquiry," a spokeswoman for the senator told TPMmuckraker via email.

Orly Taitz

Taitz Alleges Judge Secretly Met With Holder -- And Cites Coffee Shop Sighting To Prove It

Justin Elliott | October 5, 2009, 10:23AM

Orly Taitz

In a 24-page filing littered with all-caps, bold, and underlined text, Birther attorney Orly Taitz is demanding that a federal judge recuse himself in a case that has morphed from a soldier's attempt to resist Barack Obama's orders to what Taitz sees as a prosecution of herself.

Taitz alleges that Judge Clay Land met with Attorney General Eric Holder, who was allegedly spotted at a small coffee shop across from Land's courtroom in Columbus, Georgia, on the day of a Birther hearing. A strange affidavit by one Robert Douglas describes the putative sighting of Holder, sans entourage, who "probably thought he would not be recognized."

Douglas writes:

Michael Duvall

FBI Probing "Hot Mike" Duvall's Sex Boasting

Zachary Roth | October 5, 2009, 9:59AM

Fmr. State Rep. Michael Duvall (R-CA)

"Hot Mike" Duvall's lascivious braggadocio wasn't just of interest to millions of blog readers. It also attracted the attention of the Feds.

The FBI is investigating the former California state lawmaker's now-legendary claim that he was having an affair with a woman later identified as a lobbyist for an energy company. "We did make contact with the two aides," a bureau spokesman confirmed to the Los Angeles Times.