William Jefferson

Jefferson Sentenced To 13 Years For Corruption

Zachary Roth | November 13, 2009, 6:08PM

Fmr. Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)

Former Louisiana congressman William Jefferson was sentenced this afternoon to 13 years in federal prison for his conviction on public corruption charges.

Prosecutors had asked for up to 33 years. Jefferson's lawyers argued for less than 10.

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Census Bureau

Investigators Probing Whether Sparkman Manipulated Death Scene For Insurance Scheme: Report

Zachary Roth | November 13, 2009, 2:46PM

Bill Sparkman

The probe into the death of Census Bureau worker Bill Sparkman continues -- and authorities may now be considering a whole new theory of the case.

Two law enforcement sources tell the AP that investigators are considering whether Sparkman committed suicide, but intentionally made it look like murder in order to allow his son to make a life insurance claim. Most life insurance policies don't cover suicides, at least within a certain time frame after the policy begins.

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Gerald Walpin

AmeriCorps Official Urged Colleague To Destroy Docs On Walpin Firing

Zachary Roth | November 13, 2009, 2:11PM

Gerald Walpin

An AmeriCorps official urged a colleague to "destroy" documents relating to the controversial firing of the agency's inspector general, according to emails obtained by a conservative news site. AmeriCorps says the request was made out of concern for the independence of the IG's office, after documents on the firing were mistakenly sent its way. But news of the episode is giving new life to a story the Obama administration had hoped was dead.

Yesterday, CNSNews.com, a conservative news site, published an email exchange it obtained through a FOIA request related to the firing this summer of Gerald Walpin as inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service. Walpin, backed by the conservative media, has claimed that he was dismissed for zealously pursuing an Obama ally for financial misconduct, and is now suing AmeriCorps over the firing. The administration has said concerns about Walpin's performance and temperament led to his removal.

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Burrowing

Obama Admin. Cracks Down On Burrowing -- Right Cries Foul

Zachary Roth | November 13, 2009, 12:33PM

In what may be another small dose of that precious change we can believe in, the Obama administration is taking steps to crack down on one of the Bushies' favored tactics for politicizing government: burrowing.

In the waning days of the Bush administration, we told you about some political appointees who had landed career jobs, with civil-service protections, at their departments -- allowing them to continue to exert influence under the new government, and making them difficult to remove. In fact, the Bushies were far from the first group to try this. The Washington Monthly's Charles Peters, who has chronicled the workings of the federal government since the 1960s, used to call it the "headless nail" phenomenon.

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Birthers

Judge Directs US Attorney To Collect $20K From Orly Taitz After Failure To Pay Fine

Justin Elliott | November 13, 2009, 9:25AM

Orly Taitz

A federal judge in Georgia has ordered the US Attorney to collect a $20,000 judgment against Orly Taitz after the Birther attorney failed to pay the fine -- which she appealed -- within 30 days.

Here's the full order from Judge Clay Land, of the US District Court in the Middle District Of Georgia:

"Orly Taitz has failed to pay the $20,000.00 sanction ordered by the Court on October 13, 2009. Accordingly, the Clerk is ordered to enter final judgment in favor of the United States of America and against Orly Taitz in the principal amount of $20,000.00. The United States Attorney is authorized and directed to collect the judgment as provided by law.
IT IS SO ORDERED, this 13th day of November, 2009. "

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Tea Party Express

Party Foul! Tea Partiers Eat Their Own In Bitter Internal Feud

Zachary Roth | November 12, 2009, 5:08PM

A crowd gathers at a tea party

The Tea Party movement is being ripped apart by bitter internal rancor, highlighted by a lawsuit against a former leader, vituperative name-calling, and charges of financial mismanagement and corruption.

As we told you this morning, board members for the Tea Party Patriots (TPP) this week filed suit against Amy Kremer, a former TPP leader who fell out with the group over her involvement with a rival Tea Party faction, the Tea Party Express. And on Tuesday, a judge granted a preliminary injunction, ordering Kremer to return control of the TPP websites to the board, and to stop representing herself as a TPP spokeswoman.

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Scott Rothstein

FBI: Accused Fraudster's Scheme Could Exceed $1 Billion

Justin Elliott | November 12, 2009, 2:47PM

Scott Rothstein

Estimates of the size of the investment scheme allegedly carried out by politically connected Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein have now soared to $1 billion, up from $500 million, which was up from $100 million. Meanwhile, Rothstein is still free and was even taped Monday having a lunchtime cocktail at Fort Lauderdale's Capital Grille.

Civil charges were brought in the case Monday by the IRS and authorities have seized his 87-foot yacht and several sports cars, but Rothstein, who was a top moneyman for Gov. Charlie Crist known for his expensive tastes, has not been charged criminally.

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Joe Klein

Moderator: Klein, Kirchick 'Went At Each Other From The Get-Go'

Zachary Roth | November 12, 2009, 12:25PM

Jaime Kirchick and Joe Klein

A raging expletive-filled shouting match between Time's Joe Klein and The New Republic's Jamie Kirchick, written up by the Washington Post, has been gripping the blogosphere.

And now we've gotten a few more choice details from the man who moderated Tuesday's panel discussion on ""The Pro-Israel Lobby and the Media," at which the war of words took place.

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Birthers

Affidavit In Birther Suit Contains Extraordinary Claims Against Orly Taitz

Justin Elliott | November 12, 2009, 11:59AM

Orly Taitz and Lucas Daniel Smith

An affidavit from conspiracy theorist Lucas Smith filed in a now-dismissed Birther lawsuit details charges that attorney Orly Taitz, among many other things, asked Smith to perjure himself. The federal judge in the case has said he was "deeply concerned" about the charges, along with similar claims from at least one other prospective witness.

Lucas Smith, a Birther activist whose past claims have been debunked by even Birther-friendly WorldNetDaily, claims Taitz wanted him to falsely say in court that an incident where he was almost hit by a car in Los Angeles amounted to an "attempt on my life" by operatives sent by President Obama.

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Amy Kremer

Former Tea Party Leader Says Ex-Comrades Are Suing Her

Zachary Roth | November 12, 2009, 11:10AM

Amy Kremer

The Tea Party movement is in danger of being ripped apart by internal rancor.

For months, the Tea Party Patriots have been embroiled in a dispute with a former leader, Amy Kremer, over her involvement with the Tea Party Express, a rival faction of Tea Partiers which the Patriots see as inauthentic and overly tied to the GOP.

And now Kremer has revealed that TPP is suing her.

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ACORN

ACORN Suing U.S. Over "Unconstitutional" Defunding Bill

Zachary Roth | November 12, 2009, 10:22AM

ACORN is suing the U.S. government over a law passed recently by Congress that bars the controversial community group from receiving federal money.

In a complaint filed this morning in U.S. District Court in New York, ACORN charges that the law is unconstitutional, because it's a bill of attainder -- that is, it targets a specific individual or group for punishment.

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Frontier Foundation

Rep. Buyer Flounders In CBS Interview About His Iffy Foundation

Justin Elliott | November 12, 2009, 8:50AM

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) on CBS Evening News, aired 11/11/09

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) sat down for an interview with CBS Evening News about his charity, but struggled to answer basic questions about the Frontier Foundation, which collects big donations from industry sources trying to influence Buyer but gives out no money for its putative mission of supporting Indiana students.

Buyer abruptly ended the interview with CBS, which aired last night, literally rushing out of his seat to make a meeting.

Among the questions he couldn't answer: why the foundation, which as recently as last month shared space with Buyer's campaign office in Monticello, Indiana, no longer has a physical address

"I was so focused on making sure that we were legal, that I probably didn't pay as close attention as I should have on, quote, appearances," the congressman said.

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Condi Rice

Rice: New Consulting Firm Will Help U.S. Companies In "Key Emerging Markets"

Zachary Roth | November 12, 2009, 8:48AM

Fmr. Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice and Fmr. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley

Condoleezza Rice responds to our report from yesterday that she's starting a strategic consulting firm with Stephen Hadley, the RiceHadley Group.

In a statement to TPMmuckraker, Rice's chief of staff, Colby Cooper, said:

Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley, along with Anja Manuel, have recently founded a small strategic advisory firm focused on helping U.S. companies doing business abroad -- especially in key emerging markets like China, India, Brazil, the Middle East and others. In addition, Dr. Rice remains on the faculty of Stanford University and the Hoover Institution.

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Dave Gaubatz

Gaubatz: When I Called For Backlash Against 'Muslim Community,' I Meant To Type 'Muslim Brotherhood'

Justin Elliott | November 11, 2009, 5:04PM

Muslim Mafia Co-Author David Gaubatz

A conservative author's call for a backlash against the "Muslim community" earlier this week was nothing more than an honest typing error, the editor of the Web site that interviewed Dave Gaubatz tells TPMmuckraker.

Gaubatz's statement -- "Now is the time for a professional and legal backlash against the Muslim community and their leaders" -- was scrubbed from the Web site of Family Security Matters after it was reported by TPMmuckraker. The phrase Muslim community was altered to read "Muslim Brotherhood."

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Condi Rice

Rice And Hadley Look Set To Launch Consulting Firm

Zachary Roth | November 11, 2009, 3:18PM

Fmr. Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice and Fmr. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley

Two top Bush administration officials whose reputations for strategic acumen were badly damaged by the disasters of the Bush years may be about to market their expertise to private-sector clients.

In September, the RiceHadley Group LLC was registered as a business in California, under a San Francisco address. According to a source, the venture is to be a "strategic consulting" firm, headed by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and will be launched imminently.

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Steve Buyer

Tonight: CBS Interviews Rep. Buyer On Iffy Foundation

Justin Elliott | November 11, 2009, 9:34AM

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN)

CBS Evening News is set to run a segment looking at the questionable foundation of Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN), and they've got a sit-down interview with the man himself.

Last night, CBS ran a promo of the "Follow the Money" segment with reporter Sharyl Attkisson interviewing a tense-looking Buyer. She asks, "What happened to the $25,000?"

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Family Security Matters

Scrubbed: Call For Backlash Against Muslims Embarrasses Even Right-Wing Think Tank

Justin Elliott | November 10, 2009, 5:39PM

Muslim Mafia Co-Author David Gaubatz

We don't know if this is reason for hope, or just low comedy. But the right-wing think tank that published conservative author Dave Gaubatz's call for a backlash against the "Muslim community" has now scrubbed the line and replaced it with a call for a backlash against the "Muslim Brotherhood."

Here's how the passage of the Fort Hood Q&A with Gaubatz, the author of Muslim Mafia, read on Monday (see a screengrab of the original here):

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Rick Perry

Perry Appointee In No Rush To Wade Back Into Willingham Case

Zachary Roth | November 10, 2009, 4:23PM

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

The Texas prosecutor appointed by Governor Rick Perry to chair a state forensics commission won't say when, if ever, his panel will hear from an arson expert who had been scheduled to testify about a flawed arson investigation that may have led to the death of an innocent man.

Asked, during a state Senate hearing, about when the Texas Forensic Science Commission would hear from nationally recognized expert Craig Beyler, John Bradley declined to give a specific answer.

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Sue Myrick

GOP Rep Won't Denounce Call For Backlash Against American Muslims

Justin Elliott | November 10, 2009, 2:51PM

Reps. John Shadegg (R-AZ), Paul Broun (R-GA) and Sue Myrick (R-NC) at an October news conference about CAIR and Muslim Mafia

Yesterday, the conservative author of the new book Muslim Mafia, the foreword of which was penned by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), explicitly called for a "professional and legal backlash against the Muslim community and their leaders" in response to the Fort Hood shootings.

So last night, we called Myrick's office to see if she had a response to Dave Gaubatz's remarks, given that his book, with her foreword, was released just last month. Since then, Myrick and three other House Republicans have cited the book as the source of their calls for a probe of Muslim intern "spies" in Congress.

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Tea Parties

Tea Party Leader Launches PAC To Back Small-Government Candidates

Zachary Roth | November 10, 2009, 1:20PM

A leading Tea Party activist is launching a political action committee to back candidates who run on a limited-government platform -- perhaps the most serious effort yet to to channel the Tea Partiers' grassroots energy toward electoral politics.

Eric Odom, a conservative online organizer who played a key role in sparking the original Tea Party movement this spring, is unveiling Liberty First PAC. The goal, said Odom in an interview with TPMmuckraker, is to raise $1 million to defeat incumbents who supported health-care reform -- which he called "very dangerous to the fabric of this country" -- and to elect a new crop of lawmakers committed to small-government principles in 2010.

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Fort Hood Shootings

To Avoid 'Adverse Events,' Hasan Wanted Muslim Soldiers To Be Eligible For CO Status

Justin Elliott | November 10, 2009, 10:04AM

Major Nidal Malik Hasan

The Washington Post's Dana Priest has obtained the slides of a June 2007 lecture given by Fort Hood shootings suspect Nidal Hasan when he was a psychiatric resident at Walter Reed.

The 50-slide PowerPoint, titled "The Koranic World View As It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military," was designed to describe "what the Koran inculcates in the minds of Muslims and the potential implications this may have for the U.S. military." Hasan's final recommendation was that Muslim soldiers should be eligible for conscientious objector status "to increase troop morale and decrease adverse events."

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Pete Hoekstra

Reyes Takes Shot At GOPer Over Criticism Of Obama On Fort Hood

Justin Elliott | November 9, 2009, 6:25PM

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) and Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)

House intelligence committee chair Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) made a thinly veiled swipe at his GOP counterpart today over comments made by Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) criticizing the Obama Administration's handling of information about the Fort Hood shootings.

As we told you earlier, Hoekstra said intel agencies including the CIA weren't being sufficiently forthcoming about information the intelligence community might possess about Nidal Malik Hasan. And he suggested there are potential issues with the "performance" of intel agencies in the case.

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Fort Hood Shootings

Who Is Nidal Malik Hasan? The Picture Becomes (Slightly) Clearer

Justin Elliott | November 9, 2009, 6:01PM

Major Nidal Malik Hasan

The tentative picture emerging of Nidal Malik Hasan is of a man who likely subscribed to radical Islamic beliefs, but who was not acting on behalf of any group in allegedly carrying out the shootings in which 13 died at Fort Hood last week.

The leaks are coming fast and furious in the investigation of the shootings, so we thought we'd put together a digest of the recent coverage.

Bear in mind that what's missing from many of these reports are named sources, and that many of the initial stories about the case were totally wrong.

Here we go:

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William Jefferson

Feds Want Jefferson To Serve Up To 33 Years

Zachary Roth | November 9, 2009, 4:05PM

Fmr. Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)

Federal prosecutors want former congressman William Jefferson to serve up to 33 years in prison.

Court documents filed by the Feds today, and reported by Roll Call, state: "The Probation Office has calculated the Sentencing Guidelines for Congressman Jefferson ... in a guideline range of 324 to 405 months or approximately 27 to 33 years of imprisonment."

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Fort Hood Shootings

Muslim Mafia Author: Now Is The Time For A 'Backlash' Against Muslims

Justin Elliott | November 9, 2009, 3:51PM

Muslim Mafia Co-Author David Gaubatz and Major Nidal Malik Hasan

A conservative author whose book was touted just last month by four Republican members of Congress is explicitly calling for a "backlash" against American Muslims in the wake of the Fort Hood shootings.

Dave Gaubatz, author of Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that's Conspiring to Islamize America, made the comment in a semi-coherent interview with the group Family Security Matters.

In assigning collective blame for the Fort Hood killings, Gaubatz said:

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Fort Hood Shootings

Rep. Hoekstra Accuses Obama Admin Of Withholding Information On Hasan -- Sort Of

Justin Elliott | November 9, 2009, 2:43PM

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) and CIA Director Leon Panetta

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) is blasting President Obama for withholding from the Congressional intelligence committees information on the Fort Hood killings suspect, while at the same time acknowledging the leaders of those panels -- including Hoekstra himself -- have indeed been briefed on Nidal Malik Hasan.

"President Obama said people should not jump to conclusions about what happened at Fort Hood, but the administration is in possession of critical information related to the attack that they are refusing to release to Congress or the American people," Hoekstra said in a statement.

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American Petroleum Institute

Greenpeace Keeps Heat On Newsweek Over Climate Change Event With Oil Lobby

Zachary Roth | November 9, 2009, 2:20PM

Jack Gerard, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute

Newsweek is continuing to draw scrutiny for an upcoming event on global warming that the magazine plans to co-host with an oil industry lobby group.

Last week, we reported that Newsweek and the American Petroleum Institute are teaming up to put on a panel discussion entitled "Climate and Energy Policy: Moving?," which will be moderated by Howard Fineman, and will feature API CEO Jack Gerard. API is a major Newsweek advertiser, and the two outfits have collaborated on several similar events -- all on the record -- in recent years.

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James Thurber

Did Thurber Ever Sign On As Bonner's Ethics Adviser?

Zachary Roth | November 9, 2009, 12:07PM

Jack Bonner, Bonner & Associates, and James Thurber, American University

Did American University professor James Thurber ever sign on to act as an independent ethics adviser for astroturf lobbyist Jack Bonner, in the wake of the scandal over those forged letters to lawmakers on climate change? The two principals can't seem to agree.

Thurber has now backed out of the gig, after an ad he ran in Roll Call praising Bonner raised questions about how independent he could truly be. But how firm was the arrangement in the first place?

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Nidal Malik Hasan

CIA Calls ABC Report That It Refused To Brief Congress On Fort Hood Suspect Bogus

Justin Elliott | November 9, 2009, 10:20AM

Major Nidal Malik Hasan

The CIA is denying an ABC News report that the agency has refused to brief Congress on any knowledge it has about Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army major suspected in the shootings at Fort Hood last week.

"This is a law enforcement investigation, in which other agencies -- not the CIA -- have the lead. Any suggestion that the CIA refused to brief Congress is flat wrong," CIA spokesman George Little tells TPMmuckraker in a statement.

ABC's Richard Esposito, Matthew Cole, and Brian Ross quoted an anonymous senior lawmaker as saying "the CIA had, so far, refused to brief the intelligence committees on what, if any, knowledge they had about Hasan's efforts."

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John Ensign

Ensign No Longer At C Street: Report

Zachary Roth | November 9, 2009, 10:04AM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) had some good times and some bad times at the Christian home on C Street that he's lived in since 1995. But now, reports the Las Vegas Sun, he's moved out.

According to the paper, Ensign was not pushed out, but rather left on his own, out of a desire to spare the house's residents any further unwanted publicity. The New York Times had reported late last month that, according two of the senator's friends, he was making plans to move out.

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Scott Rothstein

Accused FL Fraudster Breaks Silence, Quoting Twain From Undisclosed Location

Justin Elliott | November 9, 2009, 10:03AM

Scott Rothstein

"Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein told the Miami Herald Sunday in a brief interview.

Rothstein, who has been accused of orchestrating a fraud that cost investors as much as hundreds of millions of dollars, spoke to the newspaper from an undisclosed location in south Florida, his first public comments since returning from Morocco last week.

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