Eric Massa

Massa Aide Got $40K Days Before Boss Resigned

Zachary Roth | April 16, 2010, 6:07PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

Eric Massa used a campaign account to pay $40,000 to his then-chief-of-staff just days before resigning from Congress according to campaign finance records, Politico reports.

Joe Racalto, who received the payment, has been a key figure in the sexual assault allegations that drove Massa, a western New York Democrat, to step down last month.
Racalto reportedly confronted Massa about allegations of sexual harrassment after hearing them from junior staffers, but Massa denied doing anything improper.

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Koch Industries

Maddow On Koch 'Caught Red Handed' Backing Tea Partiers (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | April 16, 2010, 5:48PM

Rachel Maddow

TPMmuckraker's story yesterday about Koch Industries preemptively alerting the press that the mega-company does not fund tea parties -- despite the fact that it backs one of the major tea party groups -- got the Rachel Maddow treatment last night.

"So David Koch, founder of Americans for Prosperity, wants you to know that he's not at all funding the tea party movement -- except for that part where he totally funds the tea party movement," Maddow said in the segment. "But other than that, just wants to get the facts clear."

Watch:

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Blackwater

Ex-Blackwater Prez Indicted On Weapons Charges

Zachary Roth | April 16, 2010, 4:23PM

private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The former president of Blackwater has been indicted on weapons charges.

Federal prosecutors today charged Gary Jackson with conspiracy to violate firearms laws, false statements and possession of an unregistered firearm, reports the Associated Press.

Four others were also charged, including former general counsel Andrew Howell and former executive vice president Bill Mathews.

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Danziger Bridge

Fourth New Orleans Officer Charged In Coverup Of Post-Katrina Shootings

Justin Elliott | April 16, 2010, 2:35PM

The Danziger Bridge in New Orleans

A fourth New Orleans police officer was charged today in connection with the coverup of the police shootings of unarmed civilians on Danziger Bridge in New Orleans less than a week after Hurricane Katrina struck.

Officer Robert Barrios is accused of conspiring to obstruct justice with other officers who were on the scene when police killed two people and seriously wounded four others in what the Times-Picayune editorial board recently dubbed a "massacre."

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Jack Abramoff

GOP Trying To Turn Abramoff Scandal Against Dems

Zachary Roth | April 16, 2010, 2:10PM

Jack Abramoff

No one ever said that Congressional Republicans lack chutzpah. But this is rich even for them.

The GOP is trying to use the Jack Abramoff scandal -- in which a Republican lobbyist bribed staffers to Republican members of Congress and members of the Republican Bush administration -- to tar Democrats and their allies.

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Goldman Sachs

SEC Slaps Goldman With Civil Fraud Complaint

Justin Elliott | April 16, 2010, 11:10AM

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Goldman Sachs with defrauding investors by allegedly "misstating and omitting key facts" in the marketing of a financial product linked to the performance of subprime mortgages right as the housing crisis was beginning to unfold.

The complaint comes down just as the attention of Washington is turning fully to financial reform.

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Lanny Davis

Lanny Davis Launches New Lobby Shop: 'The Best Solution Is A ... Bipartisan Solution'

Zachary Roth | April 16, 2010, 11:02AM

Lanny Davis

Lanny Davis is striking out on his own -- and mounting a lonely campaign for bipartisanship as he does so.

The former Clinton White House lawyer, and tireless Hillary Clinton booster, announced this week that he'll launch his own law and lobbying shop, which will offer clients "a unique combination of traditional legal and litigation services plus media/crisis management, and legislative/public policy strategies to solve U.S. and international client problems."

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CIA Tapes

Docs Show Goss May Have Agreed With Destruction Of Interrogation Tapes

Zachary Roth | April 16, 2010, 10:13AM

Former CIA Director Porter Goss

Porter Goss, then the head of the CIA, said at the time that he agreed, after the fact, with the agency's 2005 decision to destroy videotapes showing brutal interrogations -- and even joked wryly about the issue, new documents released yesterday by the CIA suggest.

Goss told Jose Rodriguez, then the head of the CIA's clandestine service and the official who ordered the destruction of the tapes, that he "agreed" with the move, according to a CIA email message, reports the New York Times. "PG laughed and said that actually, it would be he, PG, who would take the heat."

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Bernard Kerik

Before Heading To Prison, Bernie Kerik Starts Blogspot Blog

Justin Elliott | April 16, 2010, 9:40AM

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik

Bernard Kerik, the former New York Police Commissioner, former interim interior minister of Iraq, and onetime nominee to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has started a new blog using the free Google Blogger service at bernardkerik.blogspot.com.

"It's all national security and terrorism stuff related to some of the threats we face, things that I think we should be looking at," Kerik, reached by phone Thursday at his Franklin Lakes, New Jersey home, tells TPMmuckraker of the new blog. He posted Monday on "the unfortunate reality of friendly fire" in response to the Wikileaks video of a U.S. helicopter killing a Reuters photographer in Iraq.

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Carl Paladino

NY Gov Candidate On Racist Emails: 'That Activity Is Not Carl Paladino'

Zachary Roth | April 15, 2010, 6:31PM

Carl Paladino

Carl Paladino, the Republican candidate for New York governor who was caught this week forwarding racist and pornographic emails, apologized again yesterday.

"That activity is not Carl Paladino," said the wealthy real estate developer at a town hall event on Staten Island.

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Sarah Palin

Only Dead Fish: In Handling Finances, Palin Appears To Be Looking Out For Number One

Zachary Roth | April 15, 2010, 5:56PM

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

It looks like the guiding principle behind Sarah Palin's handling of her finances is: Look out for number one.

The former TV sportscaster has been raking in the bucks since stepping down as the Alaska governor. At the same time, her political action committee hasn't exactly been spreading the wealth.

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NSA

Baltimore Sun Reporter Appears To Have Been Recipient Of Leaks From Indicted NSA Official

Justin Elliott | April 15, 2010, 3:00PM

The National Security Agency headquarters in Fort Meade, Md.

In what's almost guaranteed to be a controversial case, a former high-level National Security Agency official was charged today with crimes related to allegedly leaking classified information to an unnamed newspaper reporter, who "published a series of articles about the NSA" between February 2006 and November 2007.

So who is the reporter? Circumstantial evidence suggests that it may be Siobhan Gorman, who at the time was with the Baltimore Sun and now works for the Wall Street Journal.

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Tea Party Express

Beating Reid Has Long Been Top Priority For Tea Party Express, Memo Shows

Zachary Roth | April 15, 2010, 12:14PM

Tea Party Express strategist Sal Russo

The defeat of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was from the outset perhaps the top priority of the Tea Party Express, according to an internal memo obtained by Politico. The group's focus on unseating the Democratic Senate leader appears to bolster the charge that its priorities dovetail more closely with those of the Republican party than with the more independent Tea Party movement.

The memo (pdf) was written in April 2009 by Joe Wierzbicki of Russo, Marsh -- the California Republican consulting firm, run by veteran consultant Sal Russo, that created the PAC that runs Tea Party Express. As Politico reported, Wierzbicki proposed launching the Tea Party Express as a bus tour across the country, arguing that it would "give a boost to our PAC and position us as a growing force/leading force as the 2010 elections come into focus."

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Rod Blagojevich

Blagojevich On Senate Seat: 'I've Got The Whole Thing Wrapped Around My Arms'

Zachary Roth | April 15, 2010, 10:02AM

Former IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Here's another interesting section of the document filed by federal prosecutors yesterday in the Rod Blagojevich case:

After Barack Obama's election to the presidency, the Illinois governor was considering
how to leverage his power to appoint Obama's replacement. Blagojevich seemed to believe that if he picked Valerie Jarrett -- a close Obama adviser who now serves in the White House -- he could get the White House to name him Secretary of Health and Human Services in exchange, prosecutors allege. And, they say, he talked explicitly about such a "trade."

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Koch Industries

Koch Industries: We Don't Fund Tea Parties (Except For The Tea Parties We Fund)

Justin Elliott | April 15, 2010, 9:48AM

Koch Industries Executive Vice President David Koch and Tea Party protesters

Koch Industries, a major backer of myriad right-wing causes, issued an unsolicited statement last night in advance of Tax Day claiming it has never provided funding "specifically to support the tea parties." But when TPMmuckraker followed up, a spokeswoman acknowledged that Koch funds one of the most prominent national groups that organizes ... tea parties.

"Because you have covered tea parties in the past and we imagine you will cover tomorrow's Tax Day Tea Party in DC, we want to reiterate some important facts," wrote Melissa Cohlmia, the company's director of communication, in the email Wednesday evening.

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Rod Blagojevich

Feds: Blago Tried To Get State Job For Wife, Pooh-Poohed Concerns She Wasn't Qualified

Zachary Roth | April 14, 2010, 6:26PM

Former IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich

We haven't yet found any hidden bombshells in the lengthy document filed today by prosecutors in the Rod Blagojevich case.

But here's one excerpt that offers a pretty vivid picture of the kind of casual corruption and self-dealing that, the Feds allege, seemingly permeated almost every action that the then-governor of Illinois took -- to a level that appears to have put off even his closest advisers.

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Roy Ashburn

California Pol Gets Two Days In Jail For Gay Club Drunk Driving Incident That Made Him Famous

Justin Elliott | April 14, 2010, 6:07PM

State Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-CA)

The California family values legislator who announced he is gay after being arrested driving home drunk with a man from a Sacramento gay club has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor drunk driving charge, the AP reports.

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Keep America Safe

Angry Holder: Liz Cheney Ad Targeting Lawyers Was 'Reprehensible' (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | April 14, 2010, 5:42PM

Liz Cheney and Attorney General Eric Holder

More than a month after the flap over an ad from Liz Cheney's group attacked lawyers who represented Guantanamo detainees as terrorist sympathizers, Attorney General Eric Holder denounced the ad today as "reprehensible" and offered an impassioned defense of what the lawyers did.

In an exchange with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) flagged by Huffington Post, Holder reference the ad from Cheney's group Keep America Safe, but did not cite it by name.

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Brian "Sonny" Thomas

Local Tea Party Leader Who Suggested Shooting Hispanics Now Is Wanted By Cops -- Tweets: 'Arm Yourself'

Zachary Roth | April 14, 2010, 3:35PM

A crowd gathers at a tea party

Police are searching for a local Tea Party leader in Ohio who is wanted for violating a temporary protection order. Meanwhile, speakers at a Tea Party rally organized by the man, Brian "Sonny" Thomas, have pulled out after he suggested in a tweet that he wanted to shoot Hispanic immigrants -- then blaming it on a Bee Gees song.

Thomas is the founder and president of the Springboro Tea Party in southwest Ohio. He faces a misdemeanor charge after recently going to the home of the mother of his son, in violation of a protection order. The woman had previously told police that their son had returned from Thomas's home with bruises.

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Rod Blagojevich

Prosecutors Release Full Case Against Blago

Justin Elliott | April 14, 2010, 3:30PM

Former IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Following a judge's order in response to media requests, prosecutors in the corruption case of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich have released their full case against him.

Read it in full after the jump. See anything good in there? Leave a comment or send us an email.

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Ron Kirkland

Experts Question Independent Spending Effort By Brother Of GOP House Candidate

Justin Elliott | April 14, 2010, 2:54PM

Republican congressional candidate Ron Kirkland of Tennessee

A Republican candidate for the House in Tennessee is the beneficiary of a novel campaign fundraising setup: his own brother is running an independent expenditure effort -- not subject to giving limits -- that is raising the eyebrows of some campaign finance experts, Roll Call reports.

Robert Kirkland, the brother of Ron Kirkland, who is running in the GOP primary for an open House seat in western Tennessee, has so far spent $135,000 on Ron's candidacy effort.

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Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots

Armed Forces Tea Party Winding Down? (SEE LATE UPDATE)

Zachary Roth | April 14, 2010, 12:15PM

Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots founder Gary Stein (inset) and unaffiliated Tea Party protesters in Washington, D.C.

Is the Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots no more?

The group's organizer, Gary Stein, yesterday took down the Facebook page through which over 400 people had signed on in recent weeks. And according to the San Diego Union Tribune, Stein, an active duty Marine Corps sergeant, also canceled an interview with MSNBC.

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Terrence Lakin

Birther Army Doc Gets Help From Fmr. GOP Hill Staffer And Ex-Senator's Foundation

Justin Elliott | April 14, 2010, 11:46AM

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin and an image from the Web site of the American Patriot Foundation

The Birther Army doctor who is reportedly facing a court martial for refusing orders is getting crucial assistance from an ex-congressional staffer and Bush Administration vet with a colorful past as well as from a charitable foundation that was founded in 2003 by a Republican senator, originally to aid the families of slain soldiers.

When Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin announced in a YouTube video late last month that he would refuse to deploy to Afghanistan until President Obama produced a birth certificate, the news spread thanks to a PR operation by a virtually unknown group called the American Patriot Foundation.

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Bob McDonnell

VA Gov McDonnell: Letters To Felons On Voting Rights Sent In Error

Zachary Roth | April 14, 2010, 11:43AM

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, (third from left), Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (center), Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (third from right) and others observe a moment of silence

Was the news about Virginia governor Bob McDonnell's move to make it harder for felons to vote all just a big misunderstanding? That's what he's now claiming.

A spokesman for the governor, a Republican, told the Washington Post that letters sent to over 200 felons, telling them that they would now have to submit an essay as part of the application process -- a process that previously had been almost automatic -- were sent in error, and that the essay idea was just a "draft policy proposal."

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Carl Paladino

New York GOPer Who Forwarded Racist Emails Reports Bomb Threat From 'Black Militant Group'

Zachary Roth | April 14, 2010, 9:44AM

Carl Paladino

A "black militant" phoned the campaign headquarters of New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino and threatened to "bomb all of you," according to the campaign -- just a day after Paladino was accused of sending a slew of racist emails.

Campaign manager Michael Caputo said the caller told a campaign volunteer that he was with a "black militant group." When the volunteer asked what group, the caller hung up.

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Rick Green

Religious-Right Upstart Defeated In TX Supreme Court Runoff

Justin Elliott | April 14, 2010, 8:51AM

Rick Green

Rick Green, the former Texas legislator who had liberals worried about an extremist religious-right figure making it onto the state supreme court, was defeated in a GOP primary runoff yesterday.

Last week we told you about Green, his religious-right view of the Constitution, and his checkered ethical past (including the time he filmed an infomercial for a dietary supplement in his Capitol office).

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Bob McDonnell

VA Gov McDonnell Institutes Writing Test For Felons Seeking Voting Rights

Zachary Roth | April 13, 2010, 6:03PM

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, (third from left), Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (center), Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (third from right) and others observe a moment of silence

Virginia's slide toward extreme conservative governance under Gov. Bob McDonnell continues.

McDonnell wants to change the process by which non-violent felons apply to have their voting rights restored, the Washington Post reported over the weekend. Whereas before, applicants had had to fill out a one-page form, making the process almost automatic, they now will have to submit an essay outlining their contributions to society since their release.

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Terrence Lakin

Military: Birther Lieutenant Colonel Under Investigation After Refusing Orders (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | April 13, 2010, 5:06PM

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin (left) and an unidentified Afghan man

A decorated Army doctor who publicly announced last month that he is refusing to follow orders because he believes Barack Obama may be ineligible to be president is now under investigation after failing to report for duty at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, a military spokesman tells TPMmuckraker.

NBC is reporting, citing unnamed military officials, that the Army will court martial Lt. Col Terrence Lakin.

Lakin's case has become an instant cause célèbre for Birthers since he declared in a YouTube video and press release late last month that he would refuse orders to deploy for a second tour in Afghanistan until Obama produces his birth certificate.

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Oklahoma Militia

'Is It Scary? Sure It Is' -- Tea Partiers Want Oklahoma Militia

Zachary Roth | April 13, 2010, 3:15PM

State Sen. and gubernatorial candidate Randy Brogdon (R-OK)

Tea Party leaders in Oklahoma have been talking to Republican state legislators about introducing legislation to create a new volunteer militia, designed to protect against what they see as the federal government's infringements on state sovereignty, reports the Associated Press.

"Is it scary? It sure is," Tea Party leader Al Gerhart told the AP. "But when do the states stop rolling over for the federal government?"

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Eric Massa

WaPo: Massa Tried To Pick Up Bartender At Wake For Slain Soldier

Justin Elliott | April 13, 2010, 1:48PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

In the end, it wasn't a tickle fight that led staffers for former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) to take their concerns about the congressman's conduct to House leadership. Rather, it was an incident in which Massa tried to pick up a young bartender at the wake of a 19-year-old Marine who was killed in Afghanistan, according to an epic Washington Post investigation.

The story of Massa and the allegations of sexual misconduct against male staffers has largely gone away since he resigned from Congress just over a month ago.

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Hutaree

Undercover FBI Agent Posed As Hutaree's Bombmaker

Justin Elliott | April 13, 2010, 12:08PM

Members of the Hutaree militia: Joshua Stone, Tina Stone, David Stone, Jr. (left-right, top row); Michael Meeks, David Stone, Sr., Joshua Clough (second row); Kristopher Sickles, Jacob Ward, Thomas Piatek (bottom row).

The FBI decided to infiltrate the Hutaree Christian militia after becoming alarmed by the group allegedly detonating bombs in the woods in rural Michigan, NPR reports in a long investigation of the group.

We already knew that the FBI had an undercover agent in the group, one who even recorded its alleged leader preaching against the New World Order.

Nine members of the militia are charged in an alleged plot to kill police. One of the specific counts is attempted use of weapons of mass destruction for an alleged plan to use IEDs during a police funeral.

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Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots

Armed Forces Tea Party 'In No Way Supports A Military Uprising'

Zachary Roth | April 13, 2010, 9:51AM

Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots founder Gary Stein (inset) and unaffiliated Tea Party protesters in Washington, D.C.

The organizer of the Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots is offering reassurance that his group doesn't support a military uprising, views President Obama as the legitimate commander-in-chief, and will follow all constitutional orders.

But Gary Stein, an active duty Marine Corps sergeant, affirmed his belief in his group's right to voice its opinion.

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New Orleans

Justice Department Moves To Reform Notorious New Orleans Police Department

Justin Elliott | April 13, 2010, 9:39AM

The federal criminal investigation of the police shootings of civilians on Danziger Bridge in post-Katrina New Orleans is just part of what the Justice Department acknowledges is an intensive review of the city's notorious police department. One option under review, TPMmuckraker has learned, is filing a civil rights lawsuit against the city in a move similar to the one the Justice Department took against the Los Angeles Police Department a decade ago.

"Criminal prosecutions alone, I have learned, are not enough to change the culture of a police department," Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez told TPMmuckraker in an interview Monday.

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Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots

Tea Party Movement Spreads To Military

Zachary Roth | April 12, 2010, 6:01PM

The Tea Party movement has gained a foothold in the armed forces.

A new Tea Party group, Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots, has grown quickly since being launched last month by an active duty Marine Corps sergeant. The group, which vows to "stand up on the very soil we defended to preserve common sense conservatism and defend our Constitution that is threatened by a tyrannical government," currently has over 400 members, who have signed up through its Facebook page, though many are not active duty military. And it has close ties to the broader Tea Party movement.

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Tea Parties

Tea Party Warns Members: No Pre-Gaming!

Justin Elliott | April 12, 2010, 5:41PM

In a mass email sent out last night to the supporter list of the Columbus Tea Party and obtained by TPMmuckraker, leaders of the group issued a set of "do's and dont's" for protesters attending an April 15 Ohio State House event -- chief among them: absolutely no pre-gaming.

Specifically, the email warns those planning to attend the "Tax Day" event, "No alcohol (or other mood-enhancer) or pre-drinking."

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Hutaree

Feds: Guns, Crack, Steroids, Hitler Book Found At Hutaree Homes

Justin Elliott | April 12, 2010, 3:05PM

Kristopher Sickles

Prosecutors allege that a dizzying array of drugs, weapons and even a collection of speeches by Adolf Hitler were found at the homes of several of the alleged members of the Hutaree Christian militia.

The AP got a look at the search warrant records in the case, in which prosecutors allege that nine Hutaree members were plotting to kill police. At the trailer of Hutaree leader David Stone, three DVDs labeled "Waco," a grenade holder, over 35 guns, and materials for a "funnel shape charge" were allegedly found.

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Carl Paladino

Tea Party NY Gov Candidate's E-Mails Exposed: Racism, Porn, Bestiality

Zachary Roth | April 12, 2010, 11:39AM

Carl Paladino

An online news outlet in New York state has obtained dozens of emails, many of them racist and sexually graphic, which it reports were sent by Carl Paladino, the Tea-Party-backed Republican candidate for governor of New York, to a long list of political and business associates. One email shows a video of an African tribal dance, entitled "Obama Inauguration Rehearsal," while another depicts hardcore bestiality.

Paladino's campaign manager, Michael Caputo, would not comment on specific emails, but acknowledged to TPMmuckraker that Paladino had sent emails that were "off-color" and "politically incorrect," saying that few such emails represented the candidate's own opinion. Caputo accused Democrats of wanting to change the subject from substantive issues to "having sex with horses."

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Florida Republican Party

FL GOP's Latest Spending Scandal: Junior Staffer Allegedly Racked Up $1.3M On Party Credit Card

Ben Frumin | April 12, 2010, 11:38AM

The Florida GOP has a spending problem.

In the latest installment, a junior Florida Republican Party staffer racked up nearly $1.3 million in charges on a party American Express card over two and a half years, according to records obtained by the St. Petersburg Times and the Miami Herald.

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Hutaree

Hutaree Member To Stepmom: I Don't Need A Job -- I Already Have One Prepping For 'The War'

Justin Elliott | April 12, 2010, 9:23AM

Tina Stone and Joshua Stone

Still more details are emerging in court filings about the Hutaree Christian militia, and unlike last week's revelation that police were in a dramatic armed standoff with member Josh Stone, 21, the latest filing offers almost sitcom-like details of the inner workings of the group.

In a filing arguing against bond for Tina Stone, the woman who married alleged Hutaree leader David Stone late last year in a heavily-armed ceremony, prosecutors allege that Tina Stone and Josh Stone -- David's son from a previous relationship -- once got into an argument after Tina submitted a job application on his behalf.

The argument arose, naturally, during an alleged discussion "about building destructive devices for the Hutaree." The filing alleges:

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