Israel

The Gaza Flotilla Raid: What Happened On The Ship? (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | June 4, 2010, 6:19PM

Injured being evacuated after Israeli raid on flotilla

Monday's raid by Israeli naval commandos on a ship bearing medical, construction, and other supplies for the Gaza Strip resulted in the deaths of at least nine civilians. Many aspects of the episode -- the blockade, the run-up to the confrontation, the law governing international waters, etc. -- are being fiercely contested. But what about what actually happened when Israeli commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara?

The Gaza-bound boat was 80 miles from the Israeli coast with nearly 600 passengers on board when Israel soldiers from the naval special forces unit Shayetet 13 boarded the vessel in the dark early Monday morning.

The basic competing narratives are: the passengers mobbed the soldiers with crude but effective weapons, prompting the soldiers to fire bullets in self defense vs. the soldiers fired live weapons indiscriminately, starting from the helicopter above before they even boarded the ship.

But let's take a closer look at the various written and video accounts.

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Jake Knotts

Reporter: 'There Wasn't Outrage' After Knotts Called Haley A 'Raghead'

Ben Frumin | June 4, 2010, 5:08PM

SC state Sen. Jake Knotts (R)

Last night, South Carolina State Sen. Jake Knotts (R) called Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley a "f------ raghead," and bizarrely suggested that she's some kind of Sikh Manchurian candidate.

Corey Hutchins, a reporter for Free Times, the alt weekly in Columbia, South Carolina, has a great piece today about his interview with Knotts, which came after the state senator said during an internet radio show last night that Haley is a "raghead."

I spoke to Hutchins this afternoon, and he shared some more details on last night's event.

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Alberto Gonzales

Gonzo Asking For Donations To Cover Legal Bills, Still Looking For Book Publisher

Ben Frumin | June 4, 2010, 4:07PM

Fmr. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Main Justice in an interview yesterday that he's looking for donations to cover his extensive legal bills -- and that he still hasn't found a book publisher.

"We need to do a better effort raising additional money, and so we're going to try to do that as soon as the last investigation [ends]," the ex-attorney general said. "That investigation has been out there going on forever. I'm not sure what's going on there, but we're waiting for that to be completed."

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Nikki Haley

Jenny Sanford Comes Out In Support Of Nikki Haley

Eric Lach | June 4, 2010, 3:07PM

Jenny Sanford

Jenny Sanford, who knows a thing or two about South Carolina sex scandals, has come out in support of South Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley, who's been fighting off claims of affairs by two GOP operatives.

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Andrew Warren

Ex-CIA Agent Pleading Guilty To Sex And Drug Charges

Ben Frumin | June 4, 2010, 1:08PM

The seal of the U.S. C.I.A. inlaid in the floor of the Original Headquarters Building

Former CIA Agent Andrew Warren, who reportedly broke down in an epic unraveling in Virginia in April, will plead guilty in a case involving claims that he had sex in 2008 with a drugged woman in Algeria, where he was CIA station chief.

"Warren will plead guilty to one count of sexual abuse and one count of being in possession of a firearm while using illegal drugs," Politico reports.

The sex charge is related to the Algeria case -- while the weapons charge is related to an incident this spring when Warren allegedly exposed himself to a woman, lied about his name and social security number when confronted by police about it, and said he had a "Glock service weapon" (that he refused to show police). Weeks later, Warren was on the run, until police allegedly found him at a motel with a loaded Glock and drug paraphernalia.

Terrence Lakin

Army Dashes Birther Hopes For Obama Testimony At Court Martial

Justin Elliott | June 4, 2010, 12:41PM

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin

In a judicial smackdown reminiscent of the Orly Taitz saga, the investigating officer in the court martial of Birther Army doctor Terrence Lakin has denied Lakin's request to compel President Obama to testify, robbing the Birthers of what they hoped would be a golden opportunity to try the "eligibility" question in a high-stakes trial setting.

Lakin is being court martialed for refusing to follow orders to deploy to Afghanistan on the grounds that Obama is not eligible to be president and that therefore, in Lakin's view, all military orders are illegitimate.

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Jake Knotts

Report: Knotts Called Haley 'F---ing Raghead,' Attacked Her Religion, Family

Ben Frumin | June 4, 2010, 11:56AM

SC Gov candidate Nikki Haley (R) and SC State Sen Jake Knotts (R)

It sounds like South Carolina State. Sen. Jake Knotts' "raghead" comments last night are even worse than first reported.

Not only did he refer to Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley as a "raghead" during an internet political radio show taped in a bar -- but Knotts called her a "f---ing raghead" afterward, according to a report from the Free-Times.

"She's a f---ing raghead," Knotts reportedly said.

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Jake Knotts

SC GOPer Apologizes For Calling Obama And Haley 'Ragheads': I Was Just Joking

Ben Frumin | June 4, 2010, 10:21AM

South Carolina State Sen. Jake Knotts (R)

South Carolina State Sen. Jake Knotts (R) has apologized for referring to President Obama and Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley as "ragheads," saying that he meant the comment as a joke.

"We've already got a raghead in the White House, we don't need another raghead in the governor's mansion," Knotts said on the internet political talk show Pub Politics, according to co-host Phil Bailey.

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South Carolina

Bauer Challenges Haley To Take Polygraph On Affair Claim

Justin Elliott | June 4, 2010, 10:17AM

SC Lt. Governor Andre Bauer (R)

Witness the South Carolina governor's race degenerate into a late-era Maury Povich special: Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer has challenged state Rep. Nikki Haley to take a polygraph to prove she did not sleep with former Bauer consultant Larry Marchant.

Remember, Haley, who denies an affair with Marchant, accused Bauer at a debate this week of pushing the story in the media with just a few days before the June 8 GOP gubernatorial primary.

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South Carolina

Haley: I Will Resign If Affair Claims Are Validated (AUDIO)

Justin Elliott | June 4, 2010, 9:08AM

South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley (R)

During a radio interview Thursday afternoon Nikki Haley said she will resign if she is elected governor and the claims that she had extramarital affairs are proven to be true.

Keven Cohen of Columbia's WVOC, a mostly friendly interviewer, put the question to Haley in stark terms. Here's the exchange:

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Jim Greer

Report: Anonymous Letter Led To Jim Greer's Arrest

Eric Lach | June 3, 2010, 6:34PM

Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer

A mysterious letter mailed to a 76-year-old retiree in Fort Myers, Florida led to the eventual indictment of former Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer, according to the The Florida Independent.

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Rod Blagojevich

Blago Trial Begins (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | June 3, 2010, 3:03PM

Former IL Gov Rod Blagojevich

Former Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared "I feel great" and stopped to kiss the cheek of a supporter bearing a "Rod's not cuckoo. Rod's not guilty." sign as he entered federal court in Chicago today for the first day of his corruption trial.

The Blago charges, regular readers will remember, stem from his alleged attempt to sell an appointment to Barack Obama's Senate seat in 2008, shaking down a children's hospital, and other alleged schemes to profit from his office. He has pleaded not guilty to 24 counts of bribery, wire fraud, racketeering, and attempted extortion.

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South Carolina

Haley's Damage Control Strategy: Blame Her Enemies (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | June 3, 2010, 12:29PM

Nikki Haley

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Nikki Haley's response to claims of infidelity has not been her denials, but the gusto with which she is blaming her opponents for orchestrating the allegations.

This instinct was on display at a debate in Charleston last night when Haley directly accused Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer of dirty politics for pushing the (she says) bogus story of a 2008 one-night stand with a Bauer campaign consultant, Larry Marchant.

Haley, the frontunner in the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, has been following this tack since blogger Will Folks 10 days ago alleged an affair and Haley promptly accused her enemies of being behind the claim.

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Hutaree

New Weapons Charges Filed Against Hutaree

Ben Frumin | June 3, 2010, 10:55AM

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).

Federal prosecutors have added several more weapons charges in their case against members of the Hutaree militia.

Nine members of the Christian militia group were indicted in March on multiple charges involving an alleged plot to attack police, including seditious conspiracy and attempted use of weapons of mass destruction. All nine pleaded not guilty to the original charges.

According to the new indictment, released Wednesday, federal agents found machine guns, unregistered short-barreled rifles, other firearms, and more than 148,000 rounds of ammunition at the Michigan home of Hutaree leader David Brian Stone, which was used as a base for meetings and training. Federal agents also found "a variety of explosives and related items capable of being readily assembled to build several types of destructive devices including IEDs."

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South Carolina

Marchant On Haley: 'I Know In My Heart What Happened' (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | June 3, 2010, 10:15AM

Here's some video you don't see every day: Larry Marchant, a respectable, well-coiffed South Carolina Republican lobbyist whose clients have included major players like the state Chamber of Commerce, describing in uncomfortable detail his alleged affair with a leading female gubernatorial hopeful.

"I had an inappropriate physical relationship with Nikki Haley. What happened was, one time, one of those things. ... I spent the night with Ms. Haley, and we had sexual relations. We had sex," says the married Marchant, wearing a pinstripe power suit and pink tie, in an interview with WCBD in Charleston.

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Furkan Dogan

Reports: Young U.S. Citizen Killed By IDF In Gaza Flotilla Raid

Justin Elliott | June 3, 2010, 9:06AM

Injured being evacuated after Israeli raid on flotilla

A U.S. citizen was killed by Israeli commandos Monday during the raid of the Free Gaza flotilla, multiple media outlets are reporting.

Al Jazeera reports the man's name is Furkan Dogan, with ABC reporting he was 19 years old. Dogan was reportedly of Turkish descent and lived in Turkey.

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South Carolina

Second SC GOP Consultant Claims Affair With Nikki Haley

Justin Elliott | June 3, 2010, 8:49AM

SC GOV candidate Nikki Haley (R) and lobbyist Larry Merchant.

So much for "What happens in Salt Lake City stays in Salt Lake City" ...

A second South Carolina GOP political consultant is claiming he had an affair with gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Haley -- a one-night stand in her hotel room at a June 2008 school choice conference in Salt Lake.

Here's the twist: the consultant, Larry Marchant, worked until his resignation yesterday for Andre Bauer, the current lieutenant governor and one of Haley's opponents in the Republican gubernatorial primary, which is just five days away.

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John Ensign

Ensign Establishes Fund To Help With His Legal Bills

Eric Lach | June 2, 2010, 6:40PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Have you been itching to help Sen. John Ensign pay his legal expenses? You're in luck.

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Florida Republican Party

The Greer Charges And What They Mean For The FL Senate Race

Justin Elliott | June 2, 2010, 5:18PM

Former FL GOP Chair Jim Greer

The arrest of Jim Greer today marks the culmination of a year long scandal at the Florida Republican party that began with revelations of personal spending sprees on party credit cards and has now escalated to criminal charges of fraud and grand theft.

Greer, who spent three years as chair of the Florida GOP after being handpicked for the slot by Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007, allegedly skimmed 10% of GOP fundraising revenue for his own shell company, which had been secretly awarded a party contract by Greer. He was ousted from the party in January amid charges of financial mismanagement.

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Florida Republican Party

FLASHBACK: Greer Made Big Show Of Cutting Up His AmEx Card (It Wasn't His)

Justin Elliott | June 2, 2010, 1:35PM

Former Florida Republican Party Chair Jim Greer cutting up an AmEx card on August 22, 2009

In August 2009, with a burgeoning spending scandal already producing damaging headlines for the Florida Republican Party, state GOP chair Jim Greer appeared before a quarterly party meeting in Orlando and made a show of taking out a pair of scissors and cutting up his party-issued American Express card.

Except, we learn today in the arrest affidavit for Greer, it was not Greer's card at all -- and party staff had to scramble to stop the media from seeing the cut card.

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Florida Republican Party

Allegation: Greer Used Access To Crist To Shake Down Top GOP Fundraiser

Justin Elliott | June 2, 2010, 12:41PM

Gov. Charlie Crist (I-FL) and former Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer

TPMmuckraker is digging into the arrest affidavit for former Florida GOP chair Jim Greer and here's the first good nugget: Greer allegedly tried to strong-arm a professional fundraiser for the state GOP into giving him a percent of her earnings -- and when she refused, he cut off her access to his close ally Gov. Charlie Crist.

A veteran professional fundraiser who had worked for Crist's campaign, Meredith O'Rourke was on a $30,000-per-month contract with the state party. Greer approached her a few months after his election as chair in 2007 and "stated to her that he realized there was a lot of money to be made in political fundraising," the affidavit alleges. It continues:

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Jim Greer

Greer Charged With Fraud, Grand Theft Over 'Shell' Fundraising Company

Justin Elliott | June 2, 2010, 11:53AM

Former Florida GOP chair Jim Greer is charged with six felony counts of fraud, theft, and money laundering in connection with a company he allegedly created to take a cut of the state party's fundraising revenues, Florida authorities announced this morning.

At a news conference moments ago, Statewide Prosecutor William Shepherd charged that the money gained by the company was "used by Mr. Greer to support his own personal lifestyle."

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PACs

WaPo: Boehner's PAC Spending Money To Fund Luxury Trips

Eric Lach | June 2, 2010, 11:25AM

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

Fancy meals. Trips to luxury resorts. These are among the purchases -- classified as "necessary to raise money" -- that House Minority Leader John Boehner's PAC has spent the bulk of its money on in this election cycle, according to The Washington Post.

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Jim Greer

Former FL GOP Chair Arrested

Ben Frumin | June 2, 2010, 10:22AM

Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer

Former Florida Republican Party Chair Jim Greer was arrested this morning and charged with grand theft, attempt to defraud, and money laundering the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Greer -- a close ally of Gov. Charlie Crist -- was reported to be under criminal investigation for a contract worth around $200,000 that he awarded to himself and the state party's executive director. The Florida Republican Party revealed the news in March, saying it had uncovered the contract in the course of its annual financial audit, and referred the matter to authorities.

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Abdirahman Ali Gaal

Report: Somali Man Arrested Sunday Not Linked To Terrorism Warning

Justin Elliott | June 2, 2010, 9:48AM

An Aeromexico plane in 2009

The Somali man arrested Sunday after the Mexico City-bound Aeromexico plane he was on was diverted to Montreal is not linked to a Homeland Security terrorism warning on the US-Mexico border, Newsweek reports.

NBC had reported Monday that Abdirahman Ali Gaal, who has resident status in the U.S., was the subject of a recent Homeland Security warning to Houston authorities to look out for a member of the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab. Gaal was arrested by Canadian police Sunday after the U.S. reportedly blocked the Aeromexico flight, which took off from Paris, from entering U.S. airspace. He was reportedly on a no-fly list.

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Nikki Haley

New Haley Ad: 'I've Seen The Dark Side' Of Politics -- And By The Way, Meet My Husband (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | June 2, 2010, 8:41AM

Nikki Haley and her husband, Michael

With just six days to go before the Republican gubernatorial primary in South Carolina, front-runner Nikki Haley has released an ad that can only be interpreted as a direct response to the still unsubstantiated claim of an affair by blogger Will Folks.

"I've seen the dark side of our state's politics," the ad begins, with Haley's voice heard over ominous storm footage. It then flashes to Haley and her husband, along with their two young children, posing on the beach.

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Steve Biskupic

Bush-Era U.S. Attorney Cleared Of Allegations Of Politicized Prosecution

Justin Elliott | June 1, 2010, 6:03PM

George W. Bush and former US Attorney Steven Biskupic (inset)

The Justice Department's internal watchdog has cleared a Bush-era U.S. Attorney of wrongdoing in a years-old episode that sparked suspicions of politicized prosecution during the U.S. Attorneys firing scandal in 2007.

TPMmuckraker covered the story involving Steve Biskupic, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, back in 2007. To summarize, the case involved Biskupic's decision to prosecute a state government bureaucrat in a case that implicated Wisconsin's Democratic governor. When an appeals court slammed the prosecution's theory of the case as "preposterous," suspicions were raised, including by congressional Democrats, that Biskupic was attempting to curry favor with the Bush Administration and avoid being purged in the firings.

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2010 Elections

Gov. Sanford Sides Against Own Ex-Staffer On Haley Affair Claim

Justin Elliott | June 1, 2010, 4:08PM

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC)

Mark Sanford, who has survived a historically brazen sex scandal to remain in office as governor of South Carolina, today came out in defense of gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley -- a longtime political ally -- over the claim of an inappropriate physical relationship made by blogger and former Sanford spokesman Will Folks.

"I think that people see that stuff for what it is, which is politics as usual and in this case a particularly evil brand of politics as usual," Sanford said at a public event today, the AP reports.

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Terrorism

Obama Administration Turns Focus To Homegrown Terrorism

Justin Elliott | June 1, 2010, 3:20PM

Nidal Hasan and Faisal Shahzad

The White House last week declared a new focus on the threat of homegrown terrorism, warning that "several recent incidences of violent extremists in the United States who are committed to fighting here and abroad have underscored the threat to the United States and our interests posed by individuals radicalized at home."

That language is from the Obama Administration's new National Security Strategy, a document (.pdf) that comes out every few years (the last was in 2006) and serves as a broad statement of policy. The document continues: "Our best defenses against this threat are well informed and equipped families, local communities, and institutions."

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

BP Hires Former Dick Cheney Spox To Run PR Ops

Rachel Slajda | June 1, 2010, 11:03AM

Former Vice President Dick Cheney

BP, struggling to maintain its image while taking responsibility for the worst oil disaster in U.S. history, has hired someone new to head its American public relations operation: Anne Womack-Kolton, the former campaign press secretary for Vice President Dick Cheney.

Womack-Kolton ran Cheney's press shop during the 2004 campaign, and worked as an assistant press secretary in 2000. She was also an assistant in the White House press office.

She begins today, the BP press office tells TPM.

In the private sector, she's worked for the Brunswick Group and APCO Worldwide.

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Abdirahman Ali Gaall

Report: U.S. Bars Flight With Somali Man From Entering U.S. Airspace

Justin Elliott | June 1, 2010, 9:29AM

An Aeromexico plane in 2009

The United States barred a Mexico City-bound Aeromexico flight from entering U.S. airspace Sunday after authorities learned that a Somali man who has resident status in America -- and is also reportedly on a no-fly list -- was on board.

Abdirahman Ali Gaall did not resist when he was arrested by Canadian police after the flight, which took off in Paris, was diverted to Montreal. A spokesman for the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada told the AP that Gaal was arrested on an unspecified outstanding warrant.

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Shadow Congress

SHADOW CONGRESS: More Than 170 Former Lawmakers Ply The Corridors Of Power As Lobbyists

Justin Elliott and Zachary Roth | June 1, 2010, 8:41AM

It's not exactly breaking news that Washington is stuffed to the gills with lobbyists. One good government group recently tallied 8 lobbyists for every member of Congress during the health-care reform debate. But what doesn't get as much attention is that, over the last few decades, a vast army of what might be called uber-lobbyists has taken shape in the capital, made up of retiring lawmakers eager to cash in on K Street after a lifetime of making do with public sector salaries.

We've compiled a close-to-comprehensive list of former members of Congress currently working on behalf of private interests in Washington's influence-peddling industry. We count 172 of them -- almost one-third the number of current members of Congress.

See an interactive graphic of the Shadow Congress here.

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

In 1979, Less Complicated Oil Leak Took 10 Months To Stop

Rachel Slajda | May 31, 2010, 3:40PM

An aerial view from the Ixtoc oil spill in 1979

The BP oil spill has been called an "unprecedented disaster" by both the president and BP's top executive. But the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe has echoes of a 1979 spill, when a rig in the southern Gulf exploded after the blowout preventer failed.

Thirty-one years later, we haven't come that far technologically with how we deal with underwater oil drilling spills. The Mexican company running the Ixtoc I rig attempted a slew of now-familiar remedies --- they pumped mud into the well, capped it with a metal "sombrero," shot lead balls into the well and drilled relief wells -- but it took 10 months to stop the leak even though the drilling was taking place just 160 feet below the surface.

The Deepwater Horizon, which blew on April 20, was drilling 5,000 feet underwater.

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Obama Administration

Salazar Didn't Focus On Reforming Minerals Management Agency Before Spill

Justin Elliott | May 31, 2010, 2:24PM

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar

The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service has long been known to have an intensely intimate relationship with the extractive industries it regulates. But when President Obama, and his Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, took office in 2009, they proceeded to make some changes to ethics rules in the wake of a sex and drugs scandal in MMS' Denver office -- and that's about it.

The Times has a look at why the administration failed to order a full overhaul at MMS:

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

BP To Gov't Last Year: We Can Handle A 300,000 Barrels-Per-Day Spill Just Fine

Justin Elliott | May 31, 2010, 1:03PM

A worker cleans up a contaminated beach in Port Fourchon, Louisiana on May 24, 2010

Of all the bad predictions and downright misinformation we've seen surrounding the Gulf oil spill, this one ranks pretty high: BP actually told the government last year that it was prepared to respond to a blowout flowing at 300,000 barrels per day -- as much as 25 times the rate of the current spill.

That assertion came in an Initial Exploration Plan for the well that ultimately blew out, filed with the Minerals Management Service in 2009. BP says in the document that it "has the capability to respond, to the maximum extent practicable, to a worst-case discharge, or a substantial threat of such a discharge, resulting from the activities proposed in our Exploration Plan."

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Obama Administration

Report: Obama Admin Shifted War Crime Rules To Protect CIA Drone Operators

Justin Elliott | May 31, 2010, 9:03AM

President Barack Obama

The Obama Administration delayed and ultimately changed the language in its revision of the military commissions manual because Bush-era language left open the interpretation that CIA drone operators would be considered war criminals, according to the New York Times.

The nugget was buried in a Friday article that hasn't gotten much attention. But it's notable as a sign of how sensitive the administration is about the legality of the CIA drone program in Pakistan.

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