Texas

Conservative Bloc Prevails In Latest TX Textbooks Standards Vote

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 5:48PM

Protesters outside the State Board of Education meeting in Austin this week

Another vote, another win for the conservative majority on Texas' State Board of Education.

The 11-4 vote today on the latest draft of Texas' high school history standards comes as the story has blown up, attracting intense media coverage from national outlets including the New York Times and Fox News, which reported live from Austin all week.

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Focus On The Family

Dobson's Exit From Focus: A Family Affair?

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 3:52PM

James Dobson

There's another wrinkle in the story of James Dobson's exit from Focus on the Family: an unnamed Focus board member told the New York Times in January that because Dobson's son Ryan had a divorce several years ago, Ryan could not replace his father at the helm of the group's popular radio show.

Yesterday we told you about the possibility that Dobson and Focus, arguably most powerful Christian conservative organization in the country, had a less than amicable breakup that resulted in Dobson departing last month as host of the Focus radio program, which reaches 1.5 million listeners.

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Joe Arpaio

In Face-Saving Move, Arpaio Withdraws Lawsuit Against Supervisors

Zachary Roth | March 12, 2010, 1:54PM

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

In what looks like a last-ditch effort to save face, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has dropped the lawsuit that had accused local county supervisors and others of being part of a criminal enterprise, saying the U.S. Justice Department has agreed to look into the allegations.

At a press conference yesterday, the hardline anti-illegal-immigration sheriff and his allies -- county prosecutor Andrew Thomas, and Robert Driscoll, the former Bush DOJ lawyer hired last year by the sheriff's office -- maintained that the move represented a "victory," because all they were seeking was a full investigation of the allegations, something, they say, that the Justice Department's Public Integrity section has pledged to conduct.

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Kevin Garn

Utah House Leader Admits Naked Hot-Tubbing With 15-Year Old Girl

Zachary Roth | March 12, 2010, 12:15PM

Utah House Majority Leader Kevin Garn (R)

The Majority Leader of the Utah House took a nude hot-tub with a 15-year old employee, then paid her $150,000 and had her pledge to keep quiet, he admitted yesterday.

The incident occurred in 1985, when Kevin Garn was 30, and married. In 2002, when Garn, a Republican, was running for Congress, the woman, Cheryl Maher, began contacting reporters with the story, prompting Garn to pay her and have an attorney draft a non-disclosure agreement, reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

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Ari Fleischer

The Return Of The Bush Flacks

Zachary Roth | March 12, 2010, 10:51AM

Clockwise from top left: Bush administration spokespeople Dan Bartlett, Dan Senor, Dana Perino and Ari Fleischer

For some of the Bush administration's most energetic spinners, it looks like it's finally safe to get back into the water.

OK, in truth, some of them never really got out. But we can't help noticing that in the last few weeks, several prominent spokespeople for the last administration have been back in the media spotlight, triggering memories of those halcyon early years of the century.

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Eric Massa

Pelosi: Earlier Massa Conversation Didn't 'Come Close To Any Kind Of An Allegation' (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 10:24AM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Interviewed by Rachel Maddow last night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that what her staff was told last year about then-Rep. Eric Massa did not "even come close to any kind of an allegation."

She said the conversation, reportedly between Massa's chief of staff and a Pelosi staffer, "repeated something that had been in the newspaper the day before."

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House Ethics Committee

Reports Conflict On Whether Massa Ethics Probe Remains Open

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 9:27AM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

Is it or isn't it?

Media reports based on anonymous sources are now in conflict about whether the ethics committee is still investigating allegations involving former Rep. Eric Massa.

The ethics committee, perhaps the most opaque institution in Congress, has been mum on the question. So let's review what's been reported.

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Eric Massa

Timeline: What Were Dem Leaders Told About Massa?

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 6:25PM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), former Rep. Eric Massa and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Since the House vote today to refer to the ethics committee the question of what Democratic leaders knew about former Rep. Eric Massa before news of harassment allegations broke publicly, it's worth looking at the timeline of what we know so far.

At some point in or before October 2009, Massa took out to dinner a member of Rep. Barney Frank's committee staff, Frank said in a statement today. The staffer told another Frank staffer, who in turn told Frank's co-chief of staff, Maria Giesta.

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Aqueduct Race Track

New York Cancels Queens 'Racino' Deal With Jay-Z-Linked Group

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 5:16PM

Horses run at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens. Inset, from top: Jay-Z, Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), Pastor Floyd Flake

Less than two months after Gov. David Paterson selected a politically connected group of investors, including rapper Jay-Z, to build a casino at a Queens race track, the governor's office today canceled the deal, reportedly because the investors didn't release sufficient financial information.

The Times reports:

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Wright Andrews

Master Of Disaster: The Go-To Washington Lobbyist For Financial Predators

Zachary Roth | March 11, 2010, 3:45PM

Wright Andrews

The same Washington lobbyist who led the sub-prime mortgage industry's successful bid to shoot down government efforts to curtail risky lending is now helping pay-day lenders to water down the financial-regulatory reform bill currently before Congress.

Wright Andrews has developed a niche representing some of the least sympathetic and most predatory players in the financial industry. A veteran lawyer-lobbyist and one-time aide to Democratic senator Sam Nunn, Andrews has lobbied extensively of late for a trade association for pay-day lenders -- which offer short-term, high-interest loans to the working poor, often triggering a cycle of debt for their customers. During the last decade, Andrews ran three different trade groups for the sub-prime mortgage industry, whose home loans defaulted in massive numbers to set off the financial crisis.

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Eric Massa

Barney Frank: Massa Took My Staffer To Dinner

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 2:34PM

Representative Barney Frank (D-MA)

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has released a statement confirming that former Congressman Eric Massa took a member of his staff to dinner, following a Washington Post report on the "date."

Frank says that a member of his personal staff believed that, "although this was not an ethical violation," she thought "it should be called to the attention of former Congressman Massa's Chief of Staff, Joe Racalto, a former colleague."

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Eric Massa

Boehner Asks For Probe Of Massa Case

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 12:17PM

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

The Daily Caller reports that House Minority Leader John Boehner will offer a resolution that calls for an investigation of Democratic leaders' handling of the case of former Rep. Eric Massa.

The Caller suggests that Republicans want the ethics committee to look at how Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- whose staff was reportedly told in October that Massa lived with staffers and used sexually explicit language -- handled the Massa case.

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Focus On The Family

Did Focus On The Family Board Force Dobson Out?

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 11:58AM

James Dobson

A prominent friend and supporter of James Dobson believes Dobson was pushed aside by the new leadership of Focus on the Family, who want the powerhouse evangelical ministry to project a softer image on issues ranging from abortion to gay marriage to relations with President Obama.

Dobson founded Focus on the Family in 1977 and spent the next 25 years building it into the influential Christian conservative group it is today.

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Dan Senor

Report: Former Bush Adviser Senor 'Seriously Considering' Senate Run

Zachary Roth | March 11, 2010, 10:58AM

Dan Senor, former chief spokesperson for the Coalition Provisional Authority

There's more evidence that Dan Senor may be planning a U.S. Senate bid from New York this year.

The New York Times reports that the neoconservative and former top spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq has been urged to run by a slew of top Republicans -- including Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who chairs the NRSC, Michael Long, the influential leader of New York's Conservative Party, and Ed Cox, the chair of the state GOP -- and that Senor is "seriously considering" doing so.

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John Ensign

Emails Shed New Light On Ensign's Efforts On Hampton's Behalf

Zachary Roth | March 11, 2010, 9:42AM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

The New York Times has obtained email messages that offer new details about the efforts of the Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) to find lobbying work for a former aide, Doug Hampton, after Hampton had left the senator's office in the wake of an affair between Ensign and Hampton's wife, Cindy.

The FBI is investigating whether Ensign broke lobbying rules by trying to steer lobbying work to Hampton, and by directing his staff to maintain contact with the former aide. Ensign has said that he didn't know the work he was seeking for Hampton would involve lobbying Congress.

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Eric Massa

Report: House Ethics Panel Drops Massa Probe

Justin Elliott | March 10, 2010, 6:01PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

The House ethics committee has decided to end its investigation of former Rep. Eric Massa, which was launched less than a week ago, the Washington Post is reporting.

Massa reportedly has been accused of groping multiple staffers.

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Republican National Committee

In Rebuke To GOP, House Votes 416-0 To Ban Misleading 'Census' Mailers

Zachary Roth | March 10, 2010, 5:29PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

The House has voted 416-0 to ban misleading mailers designed to look like official communications from the Census Bureau of the kind that two national Republican groups recently sent out.

Under the bill, co-sponsored by two House Republicans as well as several Democrats, mailers marked "census" will have to state the name and address of the sender, along with an unambiguous disclaimer that it's not affiliated with the federal government. It will be taken up by the Senate soon.

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W. Allan Jones

High-Living Pay-Day Lender CEO Tied To Bid To Weaken Financial Reform

Zachary Roth | March 10, 2010, 3:55PM

W. Allan Jones

In the wake of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, a high-living, politically connected Tennessee businessman who made a fortune by lending money to the poor at sky-high interest rates has ties to a successful effort to water down financial regulatory reform.

Meet W. Allan Jones, who in 1993 founded Check Into Cash, a pay-day lending chain that says it now has 1,100 stores in 30 states. The company offers short-term loans designed to tide customers over until their next paycheck. But the interest rates can be as much as 400 percent on an annualized basis, meaning that they lead many borrowers to end up digging themselves deeper into debt.

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Eric Massa

'Massa Massage': Ex-Shipmates Details Alleged Sexual Misconduct By Massa

Justin Elliott | March 10, 2010, 3:45PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

Former Navy shipmates of ex-Rep. Eric Massa tell the Atlantic that he several times made aggressive, unwanted advances on subordinates.

A sample allegation from the story:

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Eric Massa

Ex-Volunteer: I Shared A Hotel Room With Massa -- And Nothing Happened

Justin Elliott | March 10, 2010, 2:55PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

A former campaign volunteer for Eric Massa tells TPMmuckraker that Massa asked to share his room at the 2006 YearlyKos convention in Las Vegas -- but "nothing happened that was more interesting than snoring."

"It was reasons of economy," Howard Park, an independent bookseller in Washington, tells us. Park was at the time a netroots activist who was helping Massa on his ultimately unsuccessful 2006 campaign for Congress.

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Lindsey Graham

Is Lindsey Graham Playing Both Sides On DOJ Lawyers Fracas?

Zachary Roth | March 10, 2010, 11:20AM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Is Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) playing both sides on the "controversy" over Justice Department lawyers who represented Guantanamo detainees?

Yesterday, the South Carolina senator joined a growing chorus of conservatives in slamming a recent ad by Liz Cheney's advocacy group that questioned the loyalties of seven DOJ attorneys who had previously represented Gitmo detainees. The ad, by Keep America Safe, referred to the lawyers as "the Al Qaeda Seven," and asked "Whose values do they represent?"

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Eric Massa

Report: Massa Lived With Five Staffers In Small D.C. Rowhouse

Justin Elliott | March 10, 2010, 10:35AM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

In what appears to have been a highly unorthodox living situation for a member of Congress, former Rep. Eric Massa shared a small Washington townhouse with five of his staff members, a local New York newspaper reported last year.

As the revelations about Massa's relationship with his staff continue to stream in, this detail from a "day in the life" profile in the Oct. 9, 2009, Hornell Evening Tribune is sure to raise eyebrows:

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Tea Parties

All The Tea In China: Conservative Activists Gather At Hunan Dynasty For Anti-Reform Press Conference

Zachary Roth | March 9, 2010, 6:01PM

A coalition of Tea Party groups will gather in a Chinese restaurant on Capitol Hill tonight to announce plans for one final Washington showdown over health-care reform.

The event, dubbed "Take the Town Halls to Washington," is designed to bring Tea Party activists to Capitol Hill during the month of March, in order to target 50 House Democrats who have not yet announced their vote on health-care reform, according to a press release. It's being put together by Mark Skoda, a prime organizer of last month's controversial National Tea Party Convention, where Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker, and by Michael Patrick Leahy, a Tea Party leader and GOP consultant.

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Eric Massa

Hoyer Vs. Massa: All A Misunderstanding?

Justin Elliott | March 9, 2010, 6:00PM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and former Rep. Eric Massa

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters earlier today that he never talked to former Rep. Eric Massa about any ethics allegation, after Massa accused Hoyer of lying about the matter.

"My staff talked to his staff," Hoyer said today.

But it appears that the back-and-forth between the two arose after Massa read an Associated Press article that incorrectly reported Hoyer's original statement on the issue.

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Eric Massa

WaPo: Massa Allegedly Groped Multiple Staffers

Justin Elliott | March 9, 2010, 3:07PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

The Washington Post cites three anonymous sources who say that former Rep. Eric Massa has been under investigation for allegedly groping multiple male staffers over a period of "at least a year."

And Politico is reporting that Massa also allegedly "conducted himself improperly with interns."

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Liz Cheney

Did Liz Cheney's 'Department Of Jihad' Ad Backfire?

Zachary Roth | March 9, 2010, 1:41PM

Liz Cheney

Has Liz Cheney damaged her cause, and her reputation, by running an ad that questioned the loyalties of Justice Department lawyers who defended Guantanamo detainees? After a barrage of attacks on the ad, including some from prominent conservatives, it's worth asking the question.

Last week, Keep America Safe, the pro-torture advocacy group that Cheney co-chairs with Bill Kristol, ran a web ad that labeled seven DOJ lawyers who had previously represented detainees at Gitmo -- or simply filed amicus briefs in their cases -- "the Al Qaeda Seven."

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Eric Massa

Aide: Massa Apologized To Staff For Bad Language In October

Justin Elliott | March 9, 2010, 10:45AM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

In October, former Congressman Eric Massa wrote a memo to his staff apologizing for "chronic use of inappropriate language and pledging to hold himself to a higher standard," his chief of staff tells the Elmira Star-Gazette.

Massa, a Democrat from New York, sent the memo after Chief of Staff Joe Racalto told Massa he "needed to keep himself, you know, to less colorful language," Racalto told the Star-Gazette.

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Eric Massa

Gibbs Calmly Takes Down Massa Over Allegations Of Dem Plot (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | March 9, 2010, 9:59AM

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

With former Rep. Eric Massa appearing on Glenn Beck tonight and slinging charges of a Democratic conspiracy to force him out of Congress, the White House clearly wants to get out in front of this story.

Enter Robert Gibbs.

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Base Connect

Citing TPMmuckraker Report, Cao's Campaign Suspends Work With Base Connect

Zachary Roth | March 9, 2010, 9:37AM

Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA)

The campaign of Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) has suspended its relationship with Base Connect, a Washington fundraising firm, citing TPMmuckraker's reporting on the company.

"We have frozen doing anything else with Base Connect," Bryan Wagner a top adviser to the campaign, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune yesterday. Wagner said the decision was prompted by our story from yesterday, which suggested that Cao is among the GOP candidates being taken advantage of by Base Connect. Wagner added that the decision would also apply to Base Connect's affiliated companies, at least one of which works out of the same office suite.

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Don McLeroy

Creationist-Cum-McCarthy-Booster Incumbent Rejected By Texas Republicans

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 6:38PM

Don McLeroy

The top conservative activist on the powerful Texas Board of Education, who rejects evolution and has pushed for a revisionist right-wing U.S. history curriculum, is on the way out, after a moderate candidate defeated him in a tight primary last week.

For months now, TPMmuckraker has been covering Don McLeroy as a major player in the battle over the drafting of nationally influential history textbook standards by the Texas board.

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Jill Holtzman Vogel

GOP Lawyer's Latest Gambit: Anti-HCR Bill In Virginia

Zachary Roth | March 8, 2010, 3:35PM

Virginia State Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-Winchester)

A Republican state legislator with close ties to the GOP operatives behind a slew of hardball tactics has sponsored and helped pass a bill -- almost certainly unconstitutional -- that prohibits the federal government from forcing the state's citizens to buy health insurance.

The Virginia legislature last week passed legislation, based on a model created by the American Legislative Exchange Council, that declares unconstitutional any effort to require citizens to buy health insurance -- as the health-care reform measures passed by both chambers of the U.S. Congress would do. In the state Senate, the effort was led by Sen. Jill Vogel.

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Eric Massa

Massa's 'Fracking You' Tale: The Whole Story?

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 3:31PM

Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

On his radio show yesterday, Rep. Eric Massa said he believes his remark to a staffer at a wedding party that "what I really ought to be doing is fracking you" was the incident that led to ethics allegations against him.

But the ethics committee -- whose investigation will end when Massa resigns later today -- has not commented on the nature of the allegations it is probing. And an unnamed Massa aide told Politico the congressman "has been engaged in inappropriate behavior 'for eight months.'"

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Roy Ashburn

CA GOP Legislator Roy Ashburn: 'I'm Gay'

Zachary Roth | March 8, 2010, 1:22PM

State Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-CA)

The family-values California Republican legislator who was reported to have been at a gay club on the night last week that he was arrested for drunk driving has acknowledged he is gay.

"I'm gay," State Senator Roy Ashburn told a radio host from his central California district in an interview this morning. "Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long."

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Navy

Massa Recalls Sexual Misconduct Allegation From Navy Days (AUDIO)

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 12:50PM

Sailors participate in a "crossing the line" ceremony. Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) inset.

In the same radio monologue in which he admitted telling a male staffer, "what I really ought to be doing is fracking you," Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) defiantly recounted a misconduct allegation from his past that arose after he walked in on a Navy roommate masturbating.

The incident occurred during Desert Storm when Massa, who served for 24 years in the Navy, was based on a ship in the Persian Gulf. He was assigned to watch duty, Massa said on the radio show Sunday. One day, Massa came back early to the small room he shared with another crew member.

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Eric Massa

Hoyer Dismisses Massa Accusation As 'Completely False'

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 12:41PM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

A spokeswoman for Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is dismissing charges by Rep. Eric Massa that Hoyer lied about how an allegation of harassment was brought to the House ethics panel.

On his radio show yesterday, Massa claimed that "Steny Hoyer has never said a single word to me at all, not ever, not once. Not a word. This is a lie. It's a blatant false statement."

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Ken Cuccinelli

Virginia AG To State Colleges: Scrap Protections For Gay Workers

Zachary Roth | March 8, 2010, 11:06AM

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

The administration of Virginia governor Bob McDonnell is doubling down on its anti-gay reputation, telling the state's colleges and universities to scrap policies that ban discrimination against gay employees.

In a letter to the state's institutions of higher learning, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli argues that the schools lack the legal authority to ban anti-gay discrimination, because only the state legislature can do so, the Washington Post reported over the weekend. That's a step that the GOP-controlled legislature recently declined to take.

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Health Care

Massa Blames Vast Democratic Conspiracy For Forcing Him Out (AUDIO)

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 10:02AM

Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

One of the motifs in the long radio monologue Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) delivered on Sunday is that Democratic leaders conspired to force Massa -- a no vote on health care -- out of Congress.

As TPMDC explains, Massa, who announced last week he will resign today, was a no vote on health care. His departure will mean the threshold for passing the bill would drop by one vote, to 216.

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Eric Massa

Massa To Aide: 'What I Really Ought To Be Doing Is Fracking You' (AUDIO)

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 8:43AM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY), who is resigning later today, said on his radio show Sunday that he made an "inappropriate" sexual remark to a male aide at a New Year's Eve wedding party.

It's the first time Massa has given a detailed account of the events that he says led to the allegation of sexual harassment against him. Politico has reported that the married Massa "made unwanted advances toward a junior male staffer."

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Base Connect

Notorious GOP Firm Still Fleecing Longshot Candidates

Zachary Roth | March 8, 2010, 8:19AM

Republican Congressional candidate Bill Russell and Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA)

BMW Direct, the GOP fundraising firm known for taking long-shot candidates for a ride while raking in big bucks off their campaigns, has re-emerged under a new name -- but with a similar modus operandi. And this time around, even some Republicans are crying foul, with one consultant accusing the firm of engaging in "sub-prime fundraising."

One 2010 client of BMW Direct -- now rechristened as Base Connect -- is William Russell, the retired lieutenant colonel who is running for the Pennsylvania Congressional seat of the late John Murtha. Russell's campaign raised over $895,000 in the fourth quarter of last year, according to federal disclosure records. But it paid over $719,000 of that amount -- about 80 percent -- to Base Connect, and other companies associated with it, which ran the company's direct-mail fundraising program. For the year as a whole, Russell's campaign raised over $2.8 million, but spent over $2.6 million -- much of it again going to Base Connect -- leaving it with cash on hand of just $211,000.

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