Ethics

The Rangel Caribbean Junket Docs: Dig In!

Justin Elliott | February 26, 2010, 5:55PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

The House ethics panel has now released the documents in the investigation that found Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) violated House rules by taking corporate-funded junkets to the Caribbean.

We ran down the results of the investigation here. But we need your help going through the raw materials for any good nuggets. Links after the jump.

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John Sweeney

John Sweeney Jailed For Drunk Driving

Zachary Roth | February 26, 2010, 5:14PM

Former Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY)

John Sweeney will serve 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to driving drunk, reports the Albany Times-Union.

The former Republican congressman from New York was pulled over in April for doing 59 mph in a 40 mph zone, and refused to take a Breathalyzer test. He had also pleaded guilty to DWI charges in 2007, but avoided jail time.

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Jerry Nadler

Dem Rep Sends Yoo And Bybee Materials To Bar Associations For Potential Discipline

Justin Elliott | February 26, 2010, 4:55PM

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) has forwarded materials on the writing of the torture memos to state bars where John Yoo and Jay Bybee are licensed, calling on the bar association to consider possible disciplinary action, Nadler's office announced today.

The torture memo report produced by the Justice Department's ethics office concluded that Yoo, now a professor at Berkeley, and Bybee, now federal judge on the ninth circuit, committed professional misconduct in their drafting of the memos that authorized torture.

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Iraq War

Army's Iraq Handbook: Avoid War Crimes And Beware Arab Paranoia

Justin Elliott | February 26, 2010, 2:40PM

US soldiers talk to Iraqis in Abu Garab Hail

A 2003 handbook for the U.S. 1st Infantry Division in Iraq exhorts soldiers to "Do your best to prevent war crimes" and warns that "when an Arab is confronted by criticism, you can expect him to react by interpreting the facts to suit himself or flatly denying the facts."

The document, obtained and posted by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, runs nearly 100 pages outlining on the history of Iraq, the customs of Arabs, and the rules of war.

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John Yoo

Former DOJ-ers Doubtful On Missing Yoo Emails Story

Zachary Roth | February 26, 2010, 2:37PM

John Yoo

An internal Justice Department report on the Torture Memos noted that investigators were told that key emails from John Yoo had been deleted and could not be retrieved. But several former DOJ staffers expressed intense skepticism that the emails could in fact have been rendered unrecoverable -- at least without a deliberate effort to destroy them.

"It's hard for me to believe that those emails weren't kept -- unless somebody didn't want them kept," one career Justice Department lawyer, who left in 2005, told TPMmuckraker.

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John Yoo

National Archives To DOJ: About Those Missing Yoo Emails...

Zachary Roth | February 26, 2010, 12:24PM

John Yoo

The National Archives has written to the Justice Department, looking for answers on the question of John Yoo's missing emails -- and has given the department 30 days to respond.

In a letter to Jeannette Plante, the director of DOJ's Office of Records Management Policy, NARA director Paul Wester wrote:

In accordance with 36 CFR 1230.16(b), the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is writing to the Department of Justice (DOJ) with a request for a response within 30 days of the date of this letter. If DOJ determines that an unauthorized destruction has occurred, then DOJ needs to submit a report to NARA as described in 36 CFR 1230.14.

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John Yoo

Leahy Grills DOJ Official On Missing John Yoo Emails (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | February 26, 2010, 12:12PM

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Yoo

At the hearing on the Justice Department torture memos report today, Sen. Patrick Leahy demanded to know whether the DOJ would investigate the missing John Yoo emails -- and determine whether criminal charges are warranted.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler told Leahy that he would get back to the committee after looking into the technical aspects of what happened to the emails.

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Jeff Sessions

Republicans Attack Justice Department Ethics Office

Justin Elliott | February 26, 2010, 10:55AM

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

The two top Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee went after the DOJ's ethics office today, blasting the torture memo report produced by the Office of Professional Responsibility.

"The first report was filled with gaping holes, shoddy legal analysis .. and a clear desire to punish Mr. Yoo and Mr. Bybee even if the facts didn't support it," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in his opening statement.

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PMA Group

Report: Lawmakers To Be Cleared In PMA Ethics Probe

Zachary Roth | February 26, 2010, 10:39AM

There is no evidence that any members of Congress exchanged earmarks for campaign contributions with the PMA Group, the House Ethics committee has found, sources tell (sub. req.) Roll Call.

The paper reports that the committee will release a report on the matter later today, exonerating of wrongdoing seven Appropriations committee members who it had been looking into in connection with the now-defunct lobbying group.

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John Yoo

Leahy At OPR Hearing: 'Where Are Mr. Yoo's Emails?'

Justin Elliott | February 26, 2010, 10:20AM

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy just kicked off a hearing on the Justice Department torture memo report, and he immediately raised the question of John Yoo's missing emails.

"My first question will be, where are Mr. Yoo's emails?" Leahy said, promising to pose the question to Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler.

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John Yoo

DOJ Urged To Probe Deleted Yoo Emails

Zachary Roth | February 26, 2010, 9:36AM

John Yoo

The Justice Department is being urged to probe claims that emails written by John Yoo could not be provided to internal investigators because they had been deleted and were unrecoverable.

As we reported last week, the Office of Professional Responsibility noted in its report on the Torture Memos:

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Charles Rangel

Rangel: I Was Misled On Caribbean Junkets; Ethics Panel: Us Too!

Justin Elliott | February 26, 2010, 9:10AM

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)

The ethics committee's official report admonishing Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), released late last night, concludes that Rangel's staff knew that two Caribbean junkets were paid for by corporations, in violation of House rules.

In another development, the committee is referring to the Justice Department the matter of three employees of Carib News -- which sponsored the trips -- who allegedly submitted false information to the committee during pre-travel review for the trips in question.

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Charles Rangel

Ethics Panel Finds Rangel Broke House Rules

Justin Elliott | February 25, 2010, 6:30PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

The AP is reporting that the House ethics panel has found Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) accepted trips to the Caribbean "in violation of House rules that forbid hidden financing by corporations."

The ethics panel announced it was looking at the trips, sponsored by an organization called the Carib News Foundation, in June. Four other House Dems, all members of the Congressional Black Caucus, took similar trips; but the AP says the other members have been cleared.

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Daniel Stout

After Rep. Resigns In Sex Scandal, Georgia County Elects GOPer Who Had Affair With Mother-In-Law

Justin Elliott | February 25, 2010, 6:15PM

Georgia Rep. Daniel Stout (R)

Last December, Paulding County lost its representative in the Georgia House when he resigned in a high profile sex and conflict-of-interest scandal.

Glenn Richardson, the family-values Republican who represented the county and was speaker of the house, stepped down after his ex-wife publicly accused him of having "a full-out affair" with a lobbyist while he was married.

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David Paterson

Paterson Aide: State Police Lied To Me On Involvement In Domestic Violence Case

Justin Elliott | February 25, 2010, 3:44PM

NY State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt and Gov. David Paterson

Things are getting bad for New York Gov. David Paterson -- and his state police superintendent -- as more revelations surface in the wake of the big Times story today.

The latest: Paterson's deputy secretary for public safety, Denise O'Donnell, has resigned and is accusing the state police superintendent of lying lied to her about police involvement in the domestic violence case of Paterson aide David Johnson.

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Republican National Committee

Despite Criticism, RNC Sends Another Fundraising Mailer Designed To Look Like Census Document

Zachary Roth | February 25, 2010, 3:35PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

It's one thing for a political party to send out a fund-raising mailer designed to look like an official Census Bureau document, in the apparent hope of bamboozling some confused recipients into opening it. After all, who among us hasn't done that at some point?

But it takes some chutzpah to double down on the tactic, even after the Census Bureau itself, as well as members of Congress from your own party, have complained about it -- and to do it in the same year that the actual Census is being conducted.

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Michael Lohman

Ex-New Orleans Cop Pleads Guilty To Massive Cover Up In Post-Katrina Shootings

Justin Elliott | February 25, 2010, 1:07PM

The Danziger Bridge (Fmr. New Orleans Police Lt. Michael Lohman inset)

A veteran New Orleans police officer pleaded guilty yesterday to orchestrating an elaborate cover-up of a shooting in the days after Katrina in which police gunned down six unarmed city residents, killing two and seriously wounding four.

The development -- which the Times-Picayune calls a "potentially devastating blow" to other officers linked to the case -- is the first plea in a wide-ranging federal probe of several post-Katrina police shootings. The Feds are reportedly looking at possible crimes in both the shootings themselves as well as the subsequent investigations.

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Kwame Kilpatrick

Report: Kwame Kilpatrick, Father, To Be Charged In Pay-To-Play Probe

Zachary Roth | February 25, 2010, 12:54PM

Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

We knew from the release of his amorous texts that Kwame Kilpatrick, the disgraced former mayor of Detroit, isn't exactly a stand-up guy. But was he also on the take?

The Detroit News reported Monday that federal prosecutors will soon bring felony charges against Kilpatrick -- who did jail time last year after pleading guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice charges -- and his father Bernard Kilpatrick. The Feds have been probing pay-to-play allegations in Detroit city government, including claims that contractors seeking business from City Hall were told to hire Bernard Kilpatrick as a consultant.

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Marco Rubio

Is Rubio Leak Political Payback?

Zachary Roth | February 25, 2010, 11:05AM

Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL)

Leaked documents showing that Marco Rubio charged computer supplies, groceries, and products from a music equipment store and a wine store, among other items, to the Florida GOP may represent the first major bump in the road for the U.S. Senate candidate and conservative darling. But was the leak an act of political payback?

In a letter to the state party chair, Rubio accused former party chair Jim Greer -- a close ally of Rubio's rival, Gov. Charlie Crist -- of being behind the leak. "It is clear these internal documents were taken from the RPOF by former Chairman Jim Greer, or someone working for him, and were leaked to the media by the Crist Campaign," Rubio wrote, calling the leak, "an appalling act of political desperation."

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David Paterson

NYT: State Police -- And Possibly Paterson -- Intervened In Aide's Domestic Violence Case

Justin Elliott | February 25, 2010, 9:13AM

New York Gov. David Paterson and aide David Johnson

The New York state police intervened with a woman who had accused a top aide to Gov. David Paterson of assaulting her, in what she says was an attempt to harass her to drop the charges, the New York Times reports.

And Paterson himself had a brief phone conversation with the woman earlier this month, though the details of the call are in dispute. Paterson told the Times the woman "initiated" the call, whereas her lawyer says Paterson called her. The lawyer, Lawrence Saftler, says the governor told her, "If you need me, I'm here for you."

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Eric Holder

Despite Harsh Criticism Of Torture Memos Report, Holder Has 'Utmost Confidence' In DOJ Ethics Office

Justin Elliott | February 24, 2010, 6:55PM

Attorney General Eric Holder and Associate Deputy AG David Margolis

Attorney General Eric Holder has "the utmost confidence" in the Justice Department's ethics office, despite the fact that it was recently overruled by a top Holder aide in its most high-profile case in years, a DOJ spokeswoman tells TPMmuckraker.

The 290-page torture memo report produced by the Office of Professional Responsibility, which is tasked with investigating misconduct by DOJ attorneys, found that Bush-era attorneys John Yoo and Jay Bybee had committed professional misconduct in writing the legal opinions that authorized torture.

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Michael Steele

Questions Raised By Steele Campaign Payments To Law Firm

Zachary Roth | February 24, 2010, 3:50PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Michael Steele paid over $122,000 from his personal political account to a Washington law firm. The Steele camp suggests there's an innocent explanation -- but the Baltimore Sun is raising questions.

The paper reported over the weekend that Steele's Maryland state campaign committee -- which dates from his 2002 run for lieutenant governor -- paid $122,195.01 during the second half of 2009 to Bryan Cave LLP, a top Beltway law and lobbying firm. That report was based on state election filings.

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Dan Senor

Senate Run For Bush Adviser Dan Senor?

Zachary Roth | February 24, 2010, 2:20PM

Dan Senor, former chief spokesperson for the Coalition Provisional Authority

Is Dan Senor, the face of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, mulling a run for the Senate from New York?

A Manhattan voter received a phone call last night, asking his opinion about Senor and his wife, CNN anchor Campbell Brown. And one-plugged in New York Republican told TPMmuckraker he hears that Senor may be meeting with "potential money people," in advance of a possible Senate bid.

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Alan Grayson

Grayson: Even If Blackwater Saved Me From Coup, I Stand By Criticism Of Contractors

Justin Elliott | February 24, 2010, 2:15PM

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Blackwater training session

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), who found himself caught in a coup in Niger last week, was flown out of the country on an aircraft that may have been operated by a Blackwater subsidiary, Mother Jones reported today.

But in a statement to TPMmuckraker, Grayson's spokesman says the congressman -- who has been a fiery critic of the privatization of American foreign policy -- still believes the use of profit-driven contractors can be deeply problematic.

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Najibullah Zazi

GOPers Who Hit Obama On Xmas Bomber Now Mum On Zazi Guilty Plea

Justin Elliott | February 24, 2010, 11:15AM

Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)

The Republicans who most vociferously blasted the Obama Administration for putting the attempted Christmas bombing suspect through the criminal justice system have apparently been silent on another high-profile terrorism case making its way through the civilian system.

Najibullah Zazi on Monday pleaded guilty in federal court to a plot to detonate explosives in the New York subway system. The government says that Zazi, a legal resident from Afghanistan, got training in 2008 from al Qaeda in Pakistan, and was motivated by anger over civilian deaths in his home country.

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Jim Gibbons

Gov. Gibbons Caught Repeatedly Lying About Trip To D.C. With Woman (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | February 24, 2010, 9:11AM

Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV)

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons was caught by a local news team repeatedly fibbing about whether he traveled to Washington with a Reno woman who the reporters then saw getting off the same plane, and later getting into the governor's state SUV.

Kathy Karrasch, the woman with whom Gibbons traveled to Washington for the National Governors Association conference, has been publicly linked to the governor since he had to reimburse the state for over 800 text messages he sent to her over a five-week period in 2007.

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Tedd Petruna

New Docs On Disputed AirTran Flight Shows No Muslim Hijack Attempt

Justin Elliott | February 23, 2010, 6:17PM

A scene from the 1997 film Air Force One

In the end there was no amateur porn viewing. There was no shout of "infidel dog!" There were no Muslim hijackers.

FAA documents obtained by TPMmuckraker through the Freedom of Information Act thoroughly debunk NASA diver Tedd Petruna's tale of a thwarted hijacking aboard AirTran Flight 297 in Atlanta last November.

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ACORN

ACORN: We're Still Around ... But Maybe Not For Long

Zachary Roth | February 23, 2010, 2:02PM

ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis

ACORN is pushing back against reports that it's on the verge of collapse as a national organization, in the wake of last year's hidden camera scandal. But it's not making any long-term predictions about its future.

Yesterday, City Hall News of New York City reported that ACORN "has been forced to suspend most operations as of today." It also reported that the organization's New York branch had morphed into a new group, New York Communities for Change, but was still being led by many of the same people as previously. The California branch of ACORN also recently split off.

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Ryan Sorba

Gay-Bashing CPACer Has Checkered Legal History

Justin Elliott | February 23, 2010, 11:52AM

Ryan Sorba at CPAC 2010

The man who cited natural law in an off-script anti-gay rant at CPAC has had two run-ins with the real law in the past decade, including a restraining order for domestic violence, according to court records in California.

Ryan Sorba of California Young Americans for Freedom, who is a longtime anti-gay activist, in 2001 had a restraining order brought against him by a woman in a San Bernardino County domestic violence case, according to case records.

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Mark Williams

Tea Party Leader On Obama: 'Our Half White, Racist President'

Zachary Roth | February 23, 2010, 9:48AM

Mark Williams

A top Tea Party leader derided Barack Obama as "our half white, racist president" in an email to colleagues.

Mark Williams, the conservative talk radio host who has become a prominent spokesman for the Tea Party Express, sent an email in September -- obtained by TPMmuckraker -- to other leaders of the group, in which he appeared to be responding to charges of racism against himself.

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Joe Stack

Austin Attack Suspect's Daughter Retracts 'Hero' Comments

Justin Elliott | February 22, 2010, 3:38PM

The IRS Echelon 1 Building in Austin.

Joe Stack's daughter called ABC today to retract her earlier statement that her father was a hero for standing up to the government.

Stack is accused of flying his plane into an IRS building in Austin, killing one person and injuring about a dozen others.

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Jennifer Koester

The Torture Memo Author You've Never Heard Of

Zachary Roth | February 22, 2010, 11:28AM

Jennifer K. Hardy (formerly Jennifer Koester)

The Torture Memos will forever be known as the work of John Yoo, the former Office of Legal Counsel lawyer who took the lead in preparing them. But the internal Justice Department report on the memos, released Friday, reveals that a less experienced OLC attorney, working under Yoo, played a key role in the process -- in some cases writing initial drafts of the opinions before getting feedback from Yoo and others.

The name of that lawyer is redacted throughout the report. But in what appears to be an oversight in the redaction process, a footnote identifies her as Jennifer Koester. (The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the reason for the redaction, and about the oversight.)

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John Yoo

Yoo: 'Sure,' The President Could Order A Village Of Civilians Massacred

Justin Elliott | February 22, 2010, 10:10AM

In John Yoo's vision of executive power, the president can legally order a village of civilians "massacred," according to the internal Justice Department report released Friday.

But in a letter (.pdf) sent to the DOJ last October, Yoo's lawyer, Miguel Estrada, accused the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility of ripping "out of context" Yoo's statement on the massacre question.

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Joe Stack

Stack's Daughter: My Dad Was A Hero For Standing Up To The Man (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | February 22, 2010, 8:34AM

The daughter of the man who allegedly flew a plane into an IRS building in Austin, killing one person and injuring a dozen others, says her father is a hero because he stood up to the system.

"I think too many people lay around and wait for things to happen. But if nobody comes out and speaks up on behalf of injustice, then nothing will ever be accomplished," Samantha Bell told Good Morning America.

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