Sex

The Best Sex-Scandal Haikus

Zachary Roth | November 27, 2009, 12:52PM

The entries in our sex-scandal haiku contest are pouring in. Here are a few of our favorites:

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Mark Sanford

TPM Reader Challenge: The Sex-Scandal Haiku!

Zachary Roth | November 27, 2009, 11:46AM

The Los Angeles Times notes that a text sent by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) to his girlfriend is just one syllable away from being a haiku -- the Japanese poetic form that consists of five syllables in the first and third lines, and seven in the second.

Wrote Ensign to his beloved:

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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC

Backlash Grows Against NC Health Insurer's Anti-Reform Campaign

Zachary Roth | November 27, 2009, 11:04AM

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)

This post was reported by Nick Pinto, and written by Nick Pinto and Zachary Roth

A North Carolina health insurer is facing a major backlash in the wake of its campaign to enlist customers in the fight against health-care reform.

The state's Insurance Commissioner has begun an inquiry into a mailer sent recently by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina -- and first revealed last month by TPMmuckraker -- that urged customers to lobby Senator Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) to vote against the public option. As we reported Tuesday, the state's Attorney General has opened his own probe of a barrage of follow-up robo-calls generated by the insurer. And state lawmakers continue to express their own and their constituents' outrage at the effort, with one legislator telling TPMmuckraker that some recipients of the mailer sent it back to BCBS attached to a brick.

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PMA Group

The Biggest Dem Scandal You've Never Heard Of

Justin Elliott | November 27, 2009, 9:00AM

Reps. Peter Visclosky (D-IN) and John Murtha (D-PA)

Three years after Dems rode Nancy Pelosi's promise to "drain the swamp" to a congressional majority, a potentially big scandal has been simmering that threatens to cause problems for the party going into the 2010 midterms.

It's a story involving what was one of D.C.'s biggest lobbying firms (until it was raided by the Feds and closed up shop), several powerful Democratic appropriators, and the defense industry. And it appears to be considerably more serious that the allegations of financial misconduct that have dogged Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) -- allegations that have gotten the lion's share of press coverage focusing on ethical transgressions.

A federal criminal investigation has touched two House Dems, and another three, along with two Republicans, are under scrutiny by a pair of congressional ethics panels in matters related to the defunct lobbying firm, PMA Group.

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Obama Administration

'Disappointed' Siegelman: Obama Justice Dept. Virtually The Same As Bush DOJ

Justin Elliott | November 25, 2009, 10:42AM

Don Siegelman with Obama and Bush (inset)

When the Obama Administration argued in a filing earlier this month that the Supreme Court should not consider an appeal by Don Siegelman, the former Alabama governor wasn't surprised, even though the Obama filing maintained the Bush-era stance in Siegelman's controversial corruption case.

"There's really been no substantial change in the heart of the Department of Justice from the Bush-Rove Department of Justice," Siegelman tells TPMmuckraker in an interview.

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Blue Cross Blue Shield

NC Health Insurer Being Probed For Campaign Against Public Option

Nick Pinto | November 24, 2009, 6:21PM

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)

BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina is being investigated by the state's attorney general for a recent mailer and spate of robo-calls in opposition to the public option, according to a company spokesman.

In October, TPMmuckraker reported that the insurance company had sent a mailer to millions of its customers asking them to urge the state's Democratic senator, Kay Hagan, (D-NC) to oppose a public option. The insurance company also deployed a related robocall.

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American Future Fund

GOP Group Undermining Robo-Call Laws Has Ties To DCI

Zachary Roth | November 24, 2009, 5:37PM

American Future Fund (AFF), the shadowy conservative advocacy group that's working to undermine state laws against robo-calling, has ties to DCI Group, a Republican lobbying firm with a reputation for dirty tricks and shady clients. And a closer look at AFF suggests the group has been designed to carry out political attacks while escaping scrutiny from the press and public.

AFF paid $249,000 last year to McKenna & Associates for fundraising work, according to a copy of AFF's 990 form for 2008 that was obtained by TPMmuckraker. The Arlington, Virginia-based firm is run by Andrew McKenna, a GOP operative and former senior vice-president of DCI Group. McKenna did not immediately respond to TPMmuckraker's request for comment.

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Alan Mollohan

Dem Rep Controls DOJ Budget While Under DOJ Investigation

Justin Elliott | November 24, 2009, 2:44PM

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV)

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) has his hands on the reins of the Justice Department budget at the same time the Feds are investigating his personal finances and allegations he steered taxpayer dollars to non-profits Mollohan himself created.

The Washington Post today reports on the conflict, which led Mollohan to recuse himself from voting on certain DOJ budget items, including for the FBI, according to his office. He is the chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science.

But Mollohan's recusal hasn't mollified one conservative critic of the lawmaker:

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Bill Sparkman

Police: Sparkman Committed Suicide, Made It Look Like Murder For Insurance Scam

Zachary Roth | November 24, 2009, 2:19PM

Bill Sparkman

Census worker Bill Sparkman committed suicide and deliberately made it look like murder as part of an insurance scam, Kentucky state police have concluded.

State police, working with the FBI, said at a press conference moments ago that Sparkman had recently taken out two life insurance policies that would not pay out for suicide. It appears Sparkman hoped that the scheme would benefit his son, Josh Sparkman.

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Paul Bergrin

Feds: Former US Prosecutor Helped Rub Out Witnesses For Gangster Clients, Ran Drugs And Call-Girls

Zachary Roth | November 24, 2009, 12:14PM

Paul Bergrin

From federal prosecutor to accused violent gangster, pimp, and drug-dealer...That's the unusual career trajectory taken, say the Feds, by Paul Bergrin, who was indicted earlier this month in a 39-count racketeering indictment.

In a drama that could have been made for HBO, Bergrin -- a white-collar defense lawyer who once represented, pro bono, a solider accused of abusing Abu Ghraib detainees -- seems to have allowed his gangster clients to drag him into a world of violent crime. And he may have gone a lot further than Maury Levy ever did for Stringer Bell.

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John Ensign

Ethics Probers Still Haven't Talked To Hampton On Ensign Matter

Zachary Roth | November 24, 2009, 9:48AM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Last night, Nightline aired its full interview with Doug Hampton, about the amazing circumstances surrounding the affair between Hampton's wife Cindy and his former boss, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV).

Some of the best stuff trickled out early, but there are still a few good new nuggets. For instance:

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Dave Gaubatz

Muslim Mafia Scribe: How I 'Toyed' With TPMmuckraker

Justin Elliott | November 24, 2009, 9:39AM

Dave Gaubatz (inset)

Muslim Mafia author Dave Gaubatz says in a new interview that his open call for a Winnebago, a pair of motorcycles, and $25,000 to conduct counterterrorism research in North Carolina was "bait" designed to draw attention away from real field research he was conducting elsewhere.

"While Elliot [sic] and like terrorist supporters were focused on my 'alleged' research in NC, I was hundreds of miles away conducting research in other locations," Gaubatz tells FrontPageMag, a Web publication edited by David Horowitz.

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John Ensign

Hampton: To Hide Affair, Ensign Made Me And Cindy Attend 'Goodbye Party' After Firing Us

Zachary Roth | November 23, 2009, 4:41PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

More nuggets are being reported from Doug Hampton's interview with Nightline, set to air tonight, about Sen. John Ensign's affair with Hampton's wife. And they somehow make the Nevada senator look even worse than he already did, if that's possible.

Politico, which seems to have gotten a look at the full interview, reports:

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Muslim Mafia

WND Editor: Muslim Mafia Scribe Is Victim Of 'Economic Terrorism' By CAIR

Justin Elliott | November 23, 2009, 4:29PM

Muslim Mafia Co-Author David Gaubatz and Joseph Farah

The head of the company that published Muslim Mafia says that the Council on American Islamic Relations is engaging in "economic terrorism" against the book's cash-strapped author, who can't afford to fight CAIR in court.

The comments by Joseph Farah, editor and CEO of WorldNetDaily, parent company of WND Books, are buried in a profile of Martin Garbus, one of the lawyers defending Muslim Mafia author Dave Gaubatz, and his son, Chris, who went undercover as an intern at CAIR.

In response to Gaubatz's decision to accede to CAIR's demand that he return thousands of pages of documents and electronic files taken by Chris Gaubatz, Farah said:

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Mark Sanford

Gov. Sanford Faces 37 Charges Of Lawbreaking By Ethics Panel

Justin Elliott | November 23, 2009, 2:39PM

Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)

South Carolina's ethics commission is investigating 37 allegations of lawbreaking by Gov. Mark Sanford in connection with travel and use of campaign funds -- charges his lawyer described just last week as "minor, technical matters."

Sanford is accused of violating ethics laws barring officials from buying high-priced airfare -- including on trips to visit his lover in Argentina last year -- as well as using state airplanes for personal travel, The State reports.

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Jill Hotlzman

Shadowy GOP-Linked Group Plans Barrage Of 2010 Robo-Calls

Zachary Roth | November 23, 2009, 1:10PM

A shadowy conservative group with ties to the operatives behind a host of GOP dirty tricks is working to undermine state restrictions on political robo-calls, as it gears up to unleash a barrage of such calls in 2010 races.

Last month, American Future Fund Political Action (AFFPA) informed the FEC that it's planning robo-calls in congressional races. Jason Torchinsky, a lawyer for AFFPA, wrote that the group "wishes to distribute pre-recorded telephone calls ... as part of a nationwide program of political outreach." The calls, wrote Torchinsky, "will expressly advocate the election or defeat of one or more clearly identified candidates for Federal office."

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Bill Richardson

Is Bill Richardson Keeping Campaign Cash From Accused Ponzi Schemer?

Justin Elliott | November 23, 2009, 12:18PM

Hassan Nemazee and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson did not give back donations to his presidential campaign from accused fraudster Hassan Nemazee, and Richardson may have also kept $5,000 given by Nemazee to his 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

The donations to Richardson have come under increased scrutiny since Forbes reported last week that Nemazee's investment firm was gunning for a state contract at the same time Nemazee gave the money to the '06 gubernatorial campaign. Carret Asset Management, partially owned by Nemazee, won the contract in 2007 and has made nearly $2 million in fees.

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John Ensign

Coburn: I Acted As Ensign-Hampton Go-Between

Zachary Roth | November 23, 2009, 10:35AM

Yesterday on ABC News's This Week, there was an exchange between Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and host George Stephanopoulos about Coburn's role as an "intermediary" between Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) and Doug Hampton, the man with whose wife the Nevada senator had an affair. And it's hard to know what to make of it.

From the transcript:

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