Roy Ashburn

Former 'Family Values' CA Legislator Ashburn Comes Out In Favor Of Gay Rights (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | May 28, 2010, 5:58PM

State Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-CA)

Roy Ashburn, the California legislator who came out in March after years of operating as a "family values" Republican, is now speaking out in favor of gay rights.

Ashburn spoke on the state senate floor yesterday about a bill that could affect gay marriage, should it become legal in the state again.

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Nikki Haley

Haley Meets The Press: 'My Husband Is Doing Great' (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 28, 2010, 4:01PM

Nikki Haley

South Carolina gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Haley, leading in the latest poll on the GOP primary, met a scrum of reporters after her radio appearance today and fielded question after question about an alleged affair with blogger Will Folks.

It makes for some compelling video that also highlights how Haley, clearly a talented communicator, has distinguished herself in the crowded GOP field.

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Nevada

NV State Candidate Accused Of Bribing Rape Victim's Sister

Rachel Slajda | May 28, 2010, 2:02PM

State Sen. Dennis Nolan and challenger Elizabeth Halseth

In the Nevada state senate's ninth district race, the Republican primary is getting brutal, with allegations of bribery, defending child rapists and insanity.

The back story: The incumbent, state Sen. Dennis Nolan, in 2008 testified as a character witness in defense of his friend, Gordon Lawes. Lawes was on trial for raping his 16-year-old sister-in-law. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Now, Nolan's primary challenger, Elizabeth Halseth, is using that testimony against him. She ran radio ads all last week in which the victim's father accuses Nolan of "defending child rapists."

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Ken Cuccinelli

Cuccinelli: Health Care Is 'Secondary' Issue In My Health Care Lawsuit

Zachary Roth | May 28, 2010, 1:38PM

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

Presenting his lawsuit against health-care reform in apocalyptic and grandiose terms, Ken Cuccinelli has said that health-care itself is a "secondary" issue in the legal challenge. The real goal, the Virginia Attorney General acknowledges, is to limit federal power. "If we lose, it's very much the end of federalism as we've known it for over 220 years," he said.

Cuccinelli's comments came in response to the Justice Department's motion, filed earlier this week, to dismiss his lawsuit.

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Ken Cuccinelli

UVA Fighting Cuccinelli's Climate-Gate Subpoena -- Prez: Demand 'Sent A Chill' Through Academia

Zachary Roth | May 28, 2010, 11:45AM

VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

The University of Virginia will fight a demand from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that it hand over documents relating to the work of a former UVA climate scientist.

In a court filing, the university argued that Cuccinelli's subpoena for the records of government-funded work conducted by climate scientist Michael Mann goes beyond the AG's legal authority, and threatens academic freedom.

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Right-wing extremism

Planned Muslim Cultural Center Near Ground Zero Prompts Massive Right-Wing Freakout

Zachary Roth | May 28, 2010, 11:03AM

An imam at a meeting about the Muslim cultural center proposed for near Ground Zero

We told you earlier this month about Mark Williams, the top Tea Party leader who was so enraged by plans to build a Muslim community center near Ground Zero that he referred to the Islamic deity as a "monkey-god" and to Muslims as "the animals of Allah."

But it turns out that Williams isn't the only conservative driven to apoplexy by this local development project. Lately, we've seen a massive right-wing freakout over the plan for the community center. That freakout has been couched as concern about dishonoring the memory of 9/11 victims. But it's been so widespread and so vitriolic as to suggest it might just have some uglier roots.

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Nikki Haley

Haley: 'I Will Deal With This Situation Once This Election Is Over'

Justin Elliott | May 28, 2010, 9:58AM

South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and Will Folks

Appearing on South Carolina's WTMA radio this morning, gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Haley again denied the claim by blogger Will Folks that the two had an affair, and said without elaborating: "I will deal with this situation once this election is over."

Haley was asked by the extremely friendly WTMA interviewer -- who declared himself a Haley supporter and denounced Folks as a "smear merchant" -- about the phone records Folks released today that show lengthy early-morning phone calls with Haley in 2007. She noted that Folks was working for her at the time as a political consultant and said she makes calls when work needs to get done.

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Nikki Haley

Phone Records: Folks And Haley Spoke Often In Wee Hours

Justin Elliott | May 28, 2010, 8:55AM

Nikki Haley

South Carolina blogger Will Folks has released records of phone calls between himself and gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley that show many calls between the two in early morning hours in 2007, the year he says they had an affair -- but also the year he was doing political consulting work for Haley.

One August 7 call starting at 10:19 p.m. lasted three hours. On August 25, a call starting at 2:24 a.m. lasted two hours and 26 minutes. Perhaps the longest was on September 20, at 11:28 p.m., for three hours and 27 minutes. Most of the calls were shorter and during normal business hours. There are over 600 calls between the two in 2007.

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John Ensign

Mulling Re-Election Bid Despite Scandal, Ensign Gears Up Fundraising

Zachary Roth | May 27, 2010, 4:06PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

After everything that's come out about Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), it seems implausible that he could run for office again. But he may be thinking about doing just that.

The Nevada Republican has been planning fundraisers and making calls to donors, with a view to a possible re-election bid in 2012, reports the Los Angeles Times.

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Nikki Haley

Folks Fires Back At RedState's Erickson: 'I Have Never Tried To Sell This Story'

Justin Elliott | May 27, 2010, 2:39PM

Will Folks (Erick Erickson inset)

This afternoon conservative commentator Erick Erickson of RedState, a strong supporter of South Carolina gubernatorial candidate NIkki Haley, accused blogger Will Folks of receiving a payoff to push the story of an alleged affair between Folks and Haley -- a charge Folks is strenuously denying.

In a post titled "BREAKING: We Know Who Did It," which features a Drudge siren, Erickson writes: "Who paid Will Folks? He was alleged offered money. A LOT of money. In fact, RedState now confirms through a whole heap of sources that he's been trying to sell this story for a year."

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Nikki Haley

Folks Claims 'Compromising' Photo Of Him And SC Gov Hopeful Exists

Justin Elliott | May 27, 2010, 11:43AM

South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and Will Folks

Another day, another intriguing post from Will Folks that does not offer real evidence he had an affair with Nikki Haley.

In his latest on FITSNews, Folks claims that he was presented in early 2009 -- two years after the alleged affair -- with a photo of him and Haley, a state representative and gubernatorial candidate:

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Rand Paul

Rand Paul's Upstart Ophthalmology Group Leaves Little Mark

Zachary Roth | May 27, 2010, 11:26AM

KY-SEN candidate Rand Paul (R)

Rand Paul's reputation for marching to his own drummer may extend to his medical career. The GOP Senate candidate is the founder and president of a certifying board for eye doctors, which he appears to have set up as a rival to the existing certification board. But his organization has left little public record, and the legitimacy with which it's viewed remains unclear at best.

In 1999, Paul created a new non-profit organization, the National Board of Ophthalmology (NBO), headquartered at his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in order to "provide information to the public concerning physicians with exemplary qualifications in the medical specialty of ophthalmology," according to the organization's founding document, filed online with the Kentucky Secretary of State's office. Page One, a Kentucky politics blog, first noted the group's existence last month.

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PMA Group

Ethics Office Refers Earmarks-For-Contributions Evidence To DOJ

Justin Elliott | May 27, 2010, 10:28AM

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

The PMA investigation may have some life left in it yet.

Even after a House ethics committee investigation of allegations of an earmarks-for-campaign contributions scheme by the now-defunct lobby shop PMA Group found no wrongdoing back in February, the independent Office of Congressional Ethics this morning announced it is referring evidence gathered in its probe of PMA to the Justice Department.

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Nikki Haley

Haley Says She'll Address Affair Claim Soon, Folks Lawyers Up (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 27, 2010, 9:26AM

Will Folks

South Carolina gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Haley has been dodging reporters for the last couple of days, but her campaign manager promised Wednesday that Haley will address a blogger's claim of an "inappropriate physical relationship" with her at the next debate, scheduled for Tuesday.

The primary election is one week later, on June 8.

Meanwhile, blogger Will Folks has reportedly hired a former Clinton-era U.S. attorney, Pete Strom, to represent him. Strom, now in private practice in Columbia, did not immediately return a call.

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Nikki Haley

GOP Operative On Folks/Haley: 'I Don't Know If The Rumors Are True'

Justin Elliott | May 26, 2010, 6:25PM

Wes Donehue

The South Carolina Republican operative whose texts to blogger Will Folks referred to an affair between Folks and gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley said this afternoon that he did not know one way or the other if there had actually been a relationship.

"I don't know if the rumors are true," said Wes Donehue on his Web radio show Pub Politics. "I don't want to be in the situation I'm in."

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Mark Souder

Souder: Scandal, Shmandal -- I Was Gonna Resign Anyway!

Ben Frumin | May 26, 2010, 5:58PM

Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN)

Former Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) -- who resigned earlier this month over an affair with a staffer -- claimed in a local newspaper story this week that he was going to quit anyway, regardless of the scandal.

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Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal

O'Keefe Pleads Guilty In Landrieu Phone-Tampering Case, Gets Three Years Probation

Justin Elliott | May 26, 2010, 12:29PM

James O'Keefe

Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe and three compatriots today pleaded guilty to entering real property belonging to the United States under false pretenses for the January incident in which they entered Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office and claimed to be from the telephone company, the Times-Picayune reports.

O'Keefe was sentenced to three years of probation, a fine of $1,500 and 100 hours of community service. The others -- Stan Dai, Joseph Basel, and Robert Flanagan -- got the same fine, two years of probation, and 75 hours of community service.

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Nikki Haley

Haley Camp Confirms Texts To Blogger Are Real, But Still Denies Affair

Justin Elliott | May 26, 2010, 11:24AM

South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley (R)

Nikki Haley campaign manager Tim Pearson has confirmed to CNN that the texts posted by blogger Will Folks, in which the two seem to discuss how to squelch media interest in a relationship between Haley and Folks, are authentic.

But Pearson told CNN he was merely trying to beat back "false rumors" from appearing in the press. He continued:

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Bryan Fischer

Top Social Conservative: Hitler Used Gay Soldiers Because They Had 'No Limits'

Zachary Roth | May 26, 2010, 11:16AM

Bryan Fischer, issues director at American Family Association

A top official with a leading social conservative group recently laid out the view that Adolf Hitler deliberately recruited gays to be his "enforcers," because they had "no limits" to "the savagery and brutality they were willing to inflict."

During a radio broadcast, Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association explained:

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Guns

New Gun-Rights Gambit Sweeping Nation: 'Firearms Freedom'

Zachary Roth | May 26, 2010, 9:24AM

Protestors come armed at the "Restore the Constitution" gun rights rally at Gravelly Point Park on the Potomac River in Alexandria, VA. on April 19, 2010

Supporters of gun rights have hit on a new gambit that ties in perfectly with the far-right's fears during the Obama era.

Under the rationale that the federal government only has the power to regulate issues that affect inter-state commerce, they've been pushing legislation in states from Florida to Alaska that would exempt guns and ammunition made within the state from federal gun laws. The idea is "the latest crack cocaine for gun-rights advocates," says Peter Hamm of the Brady Campaign.

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Nikki Haley

Purported Haley-gate Text: 'Your The One Who Screwed Her'

Justin Elliott | May 26, 2010, 8:11AM

South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and Will Folks

South Carolina blogger and political consultant Will Folks has released a series of what he claims are text messages between himself, an AP reporter, another GOP political operative, and the campaign manager for gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley -- with whom Folks claims he had an inappropriate physical relationship.

The texts, posted on Folks site, FITSNews, are dated about 10 days ago and consist of discussions about various reporters working on a story that involves Haley and Folks, and how to kill the story. In one May 15 text, Haley campaign manager Tim Pearson tells Folks "I'm telling you man, we keep this under wraps and nh is going to win."

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Joe Sestak

Even CREW Says Sestak's Claim Of Job Offer Is No Scandal

Zachary Roth | May 25, 2010, 3:28PM

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA)

Republicans have been launching a full-court press to trumpet the claim by Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) that the White House offered him a job in exchange for dropping out of the Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate, in an effort to clear the field for its favored candidate, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA). One GOP lawmaker has called for a criminal probe, alleging possible illegal conduct. But several experts tell TPMmuckraker this is much ado about nothing.

Last month, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) urged the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to look into Sestak's claim, which Issa says amounts to an accusation of a bribe. The White House has said that nothing inappropriate happened. And on Friday, reports Politico, DOJ responded by denying the request.

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Nikki Haley

Folks Consulting Lawyer To 'Protect My Website And My Reputation'

Justin Elliott | May 25, 2010, 2:02PM

Will Folks

South Carolina blogger and political consultant Will Folks is feeling embattled one day after going public with the claim of an "inappropriate physical relationship" with gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Haley -- to the point where he is now consulting a lawyer for advice on how to "take some steps to protect the credibility of my website and my reputation," he told TPMmuckraker in a phone interview.

"I anticipated a denial from her, but I never anticipated a full fledged character assassination," said Folks.

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Minerals Management Service

Probe Finds MMS Inspectors Got Free Peach Bowl Tickets, Looked At Porn

Justin Elliott | May 25, 2010, 1:02PM

Miami's Kyle Wright during the 2005 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl game against LSU

An inspector general report on the Lake Charles, LA, office of the Minerals Management Service found that inspectors accepted a free trip to the 2005 Peach Bowl paid for by an oil company.

The report (.pdf), released today in response to the Gulf Coast oil spill but not directly connected to it, also found "numerous instances of pornography and other inappropriate material on the e-mail accounts of 13 employees, six of whom have resigned. We specifically discovered 314 instances where the seven remaining employees received or forwarded pornographic images and links to Internet websites containing pornographic videos to other federal employees and individuals outside of the office using their government e-mail accounts."

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Nikki Haley

Haley: My Enemies Are Behind Blogger's Claim Of Affair With Me

Justin Elliott | May 25, 2010, 11:21AM

South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley (R)

In a radio interview Monday, South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley accused her GOP primary opponents of being responsible for blogger and political consultant Will Folks' claim that he had an "inappropriate physical relationship" with the married Haley a few years ago.

Throughout the interview with WORD radio host Bob McLain, Haley paints Folks' claim as the work of enemies (she frequently refers to "they") including her opponents and entrenched state interests, rather than simply coming from Folks himself. She again denies any affair.

McLain asked Haley if she felt "as if a competitive campaign, somebody in an opposition camp, is behind this release on this website today?"

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Kwame Kilpatrick

Ex-Detroit Mayor Gets 18 Months To Five Years In Prison For Violating Probation

Ben Frumin | May 25, 2010, 10:48AM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Disgraced ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced today to 18 months to five years in prison for violating his probation by not disclosing assets as required under a plea deal.

Judge David Groner slammed Kilpatrick in court today, saying that "your testimony in this court amounted to perjury" and that "the initial 120 days incarceration did nothing to rehabilitate you."

"Probation is no longer an option," Groner said. "That ship has sailed."

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Tim D'Annunzio

GOPers Try To Derail Tea Party Favorite

Zachary Roth | May 25, 2010, 10:42AM

North Carolina congressional candidate Tim D'Annunzio

North Carolina Republicans are circulating court documents that suggest a far-right Tea-Party-backed congressional candidate claimed to be the Messiah, tried to raise his stepfather from the dead, believed God would drop a 1,000-mile high pyramid as the New Jerusalem on Greenland, and found the Ark of the Covenant in Arizona.

Tim D'Annunzio also has written that he wants to abolish several key government departments, including the IRS. But there's more going on here than just another wacky conservative politician. The effort by GOP leaders to stop D'Annunzio at all costs offers an intriguing test case of their ability to keep control of the party in the face of challenges from the Tea Party wing. Or as D'Annunzio himself has put it: "The power brokers in Raleigh and in Washington are willing to go to any length and use any unscrupulous tactic to try to destroy somebody. They think that they're losing their control over the Republican party."

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Nikki Haley

Report: Blogger Claiming Affair Has Years Of Text Messages With SC Gov Candidate

Justin Elliott | May 25, 2010, 9:36AM

South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and Will Folks

The website of the prominent South Carolina blogger who claims he had an "inappropriate physical relationship" with gubernatorial front-runner Nikki Haley is claiming in a new post that there are five years worth of emails, voicemails, and text messages between the two -- though the site, FITSNews, isn't saying much about what the correspondence reveals.

The blogger, Will Folks, claimed Monday he had the relationship with Haley several years ago, while she was married. Haley, a Republican state representative who has garnered national support for her campaign, promptly and "categorically" denied Folks' claim.

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Threats

FBI Files Show More Threats On Members Of Congress

Justin Elliott | May 25, 2010, 8:31AM

Politico adds several more names to the growing list of members of Congress who have recently received death threats over political positions.

FBI documents from closed cases show members of both parties -- but more Dems than Republicans -- received threats in 2009.

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Jack Abramoff

Kerik And Abramoff Doing Time Together

Justin Elliott | May 24, 2010, 6:05PM

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and Jack Abramoff

TPMmuckraker favorites Bernie Kerik, the former New York Police commissioner, and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff are now both in prison at Maryland's Cumberland Federal Correctional Institution, Politico reports. If these walls could talk ...

Jerry Kane

Man Who Killed Arkansas Police Was Failed Pitchman For Bizarre Anti-Debt Scheme (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 24, 2010, 4:03PM

Jerry Kane

Jerry Kane, the man who with his son shot and killed two police officers after being pulled over in Arkansas last week, was a largely unsuccessful traveling pitchman for an esoteric anti-government theory known as "Redemption," telling desperate homeowners facing foreclosure that they did not have to pay off their mortgages because bank loans are fundamentally illegitimate, according to JJ MacNab, a Maryland insurance analyst who tracks anti-tax and anti-debt schemes.

"He was one of the followers of the Redemption method, the idea being because the bank loaned you money from someone else's checking account, it's committing fraud. Therefore, you don't have to pay your loan," says MacNab, who first encountered Kane about four years ago when, she says, he began posting on a now-defunct Web forum called SuiJuris.net.

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Joe Arpaio

Arpaio Slams Mexican Tourism Ad That Appears To Reference Immigration Law

Zachary Roth | May 24, 2010, 2:04PM

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is up-in-arms about an unusual newspaper ad placed by the Mexican Tourist Board, which appears to reference Arizona's controversial new immigration law.

The ad, which ran Friday in the Arizona Republic, declares: "In Sonora, we are looking for people from Arizona." Below those words is a picture of a man in what looks like a military helmet, holding binoculars to his face.

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Eric Massa

Massa To Esquire: Cheney And Petraeus Discussed 'A Coup D'Etat'

Jillian Rayfield | May 24, 2010, 12:42PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

In a new Esquire profile, beleaguered former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) claims to have inside knowledge of a series of secret meetings between General David Petraeus and Dick Cheney in which the former Vice President encouraged Petraeus to run for President. If Petraeus had been successful, Massa says, it would have been "the functional equivalent of the political overthrow of the commander in chief."

The profile also paints Massa (D-NY) as a somewhat frustrated and pathetic figure, "a disgrace in moccasins," who tried to kill himself twice following allegations that he had sexually harassed staffers.

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Nikki Haley

SC Gov Candidate Denies 'Inappropriate Physical Relationship' With Prominent Blogger

Justin Elliott | May 24, 2010, 12:25PM

South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley (R)

A prominent South Carolina blogger, Will Folks of FITSNews, claimed today that several years ago he had "an inappropriate physical relationship" with South Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley -- prompting a swift denial from Haley.

Folks, a former spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford and a self-proclaimed supporter of Haley's gubernatorial campaign, said the relationship occurred before he was married. Haley, a state representative, has been married since the mid-1990s and has two children.

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Jerry Kane

Man Who Killed Arkansas Police Officers Had Anti-Government Views (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 24, 2010, 12:08PM

Jerry Kane

On Thursday, two police officers pulled over a white van in West Memphis, Arkansas, for a traffic stop, and the driver opened fire with an AK-47, killing the officers, according to police.

The driver of the van was Jerry Kane, who traveled the country giving a debt-elimination seminar and had recently spoken of killing IRS agents and being stopped at a "Nazi checkpoint" in New Mexico. Kane and his 16-year-old son were killed shortly after in a shootout with police in a Walmart parking lot. Two other police were wounded in the second shootout.

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Right-wing extremism

Far-Right Extremists Gather At 'Liberty Convention'

Zachary Roth | May 24, 2010, 12:05PM

Red Beckman

A star-studded lineup of right-wing extremists graced this weekend's "Liberty Convention" in Montana.

The event -- organized by far-right activist Mona Docteur, and her Celebrating Conservatism group -- was predicted to attract 5000 conservative foot soldiers. In fact, only around 250 showed up. But what the event lacked in numbers, it more than made up for in the anti-government animus -- and sometimes outright wackiness -- of some of its speakers. (See a flier for the event here.)

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CT-SEN

Blumenthal Apologizes For Vietnam Remarks (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | May 24, 2010, 10:06AM

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

Richard Blumenthal apologized Sunday night for falsely suggesting that he saw combat in the Vietnam War.

Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general who's running for Chris Dodd's Senate seat, served in the Marine Reserves during the war but was never sent overseas. A New York Times story published last week reported that, on several occasions, Blumenthal had suggested he was there, going so far as to say "I served in Vietnam."

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Rand Paul

Paul Slams MSNBC 'Bias' (VIDEO)

Zachary Roth | May 24, 2010, 9:51AM

KY-SEN candidate Rand Paul (R)

On the advice of Karl Rove, Rand Paul has been staying away from national interviews since his disastrous appearance on MSNBC last Wednesday, in which he suggested he opposed a key provision of the Civil Rights Act. But he hasn't shut out local media. And in an interview with a Kentucky TV station Friday, the GOP Senate candidate continued his damage control campaign.

Paul downplayed his comments to Rachel Maddow, saying they were part of "a philosophic debate about a moot point." But he also blasted MSNBC for "bias," charging that in the days after his appearance, commentators on the network had inaccurately accused him of wanting to repeal the Civil Rights Act. (On Thursday, MSNBC's Chris Matthews corrected that error.) "I need to be very careful about going on certain networks that seem to have a bias," Paul told WHS's Joe Arnold. "Because it really wasn't the interview so much that was unfair. The interview I think was very fair. But then they went on a whole day repeating something over and over again. It makes me less inclined to go on a network."

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Mark Souder

Souder: I'm Happy That Abstinence Vid With Mistress Now Defines Me (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 24, 2010, 9:02AM

Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) and Tracy Jackson (inset)

In an interview with a local Indiana newspaper, former congressman Mark Souder said he's actually gratified that the pro-abstinence video he filmed with girlfriend and staffer Tracy Jackson is what now defines him in the national media and on late-night comedy shows.

"If some people see this abstinence video, I'm living proof of what we're saying in it. If they actually listen to the words, maybe it's worth it," Souder told the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. The longtime family values Republican added: "You'll go crazy if you don't have some sense of irony."

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