Brian Nieves

Victorious GOPer Allegedly Flashes Gun At Defeated Rival's Staffer Over Sex Allegations

Megan Carpentier | August 13, 2010, 5:21PM

Brian Nieves (R), State Senate Candidate in Missouri, and Shawn Bell (inset)

The closing days of a GOP primary race for state Senate between state Rep. Brian Nieves and Washington mayor Richard Stratman in Missouri got especially heated and ugly -- but accusations that Nieves committed adultery and paid alleged rapist Rod Jetton as a campaign consultant were nothing compared to what has happened since election day. Nieves, now the GOP nominee, stands accused of physically assaulting Stratman's campaign manager, Shawn Bell, threatening him with a gun, forcing him to strip and threatening the manager's boss.

Bell is seeking a restraining order; Nieves denies the allegations.

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John Ensign

Read Ensign's Legal Defense Fundraising Letter

Rachel Slajda | August 13, 2010, 5:04PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) has begun soliciting contributions for his legal defense fund.

Ensign established the fund in June and then took the unusual step of registering it as a political organization.

In the letter, he writes, "As I am sure you are aware, I admitted last year to making the worst mistake of my life."

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Bryan Fischer

Social Conservative Bryan Fischer: Paterson Wants To Impose Sharia Law On New York

Jillian Rayfield | August 13, 2010, 3:37PM

Bryan Fischer

Bryan Fischer, the "Director of Issues Analysis" for the American Family Association who said there should be "no more mosques, period," now believes that Gov. David Paterson is attempting to impose sharia law on New York.

Paterson had offered to help the Cordoba House developers get state land for their proposed Muslim community center that's become known as the "Ground Zero mosque." Fischer wrote in a blog post today that Paterson "quite deliberately offered to grant Islam a favored status under New York public policy that is denied to Christian churches."

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Alvin Greene

Alvin Greene Indicted On Obscenity Charges

Rachel Slajda | August 13, 2010, 2:22PM

Alvin Greene

South Carolina Senate candidate Alvin Greene (D) has been indicted by a grand jury on two charges relating to an incident last November in which he allegedly showed porn to a college student.

Greene was indicted on one felony count of disseminating obscenity and one misdemeanor count of "communicating an obscene message to another person without consent."

You can read the indictment here.

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Maxine Waters

Waters Stages A Defense, Weeks Before Ethics Trial

Evan McMorris-Santoro and Rachel Slajda | August 13, 2010, 1:38PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) held a long press conference in D.C. today, giving what amounted to a lengthy defense several weeks before the House ethics committee will be able to try her on three alleged violations.

Waters -- accused of improperly helping a bank, OneUnited, that her husband held stock in -- has maintained that she broke no House rules.

At today's press conference, Waters again explained her version of events: she set up a meeting between the National Bankers Association, a minority- and women-owned bank group, and Treasury officials in order to help minority-owned banks.

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Drugs

Police Dismiss Right-Winger's New 'Proof' Of Phony Mexican Drug Cartel Raid

Eric Lach | August 13, 2010, 1:20PM

Kim Dvorak, a conservative reporter in San Diego, has published a police message that she claims is evidence that a Mexican drug cartel really did invade the country in July and take control of two remote ranches near Laredo, Texas. And while local law enforcement says the message proves nothing, Dvorak's latest report does provide clues to how the whole story came to life in the first place.

Dvorak was one of the two bloggers who originally reported the story, which was denied by law enforcement, and then debunked. But Dvorak always stood by the story, and pledged to return with proof.

This week, Dvorak published her follow-up, unearthing a police document that she's holding up as confirmation of the incident.

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Terrence Lakin

Report: Birther Army Doctor Tells Prosecutor 'Don't Tase Me, Bro'

Jillian Rayfield | August 13, 2010, 12:42PM

The American Patriot Foundation, which set up a legal defense fund for birther Army doctor Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, is claiming that lead prosecutor LTC Steven Brodsky "threatened" Lakin, suggesting it would be easier to "just taser [Lakin] and throw him in the van" to avoid having him speak to the press.

In response, Lakin apparently had this message for Brodsky: "Don't tase me, bro."

That account is according to the American Patriot Foundation, and has not been independently confirmed. Calls to the APF, Brodsky and Walter Reed Army Medical Center were not returned.

Lakin faces a General Court Martial for refusing orders to deploy to Afghanistan, citing his uncertainties about President Obama's place of birth and eligibility to be Commander-in-Chief.

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Orly Taitz

Alito's Plan To Consider Birther Queen's Stay Probably Doesn't Mean He's A Secret Birther

Rachel Slajda | August 13, 2010, 11:57AM

Orly Taitz

Yesterday we told you that Justice Samuel Alito had referred birther lawyer extraordinaire Orly Taitz's request for a stay to the full Supreme Court.

Taitz, who's been fighting a $20,000 fine from a federal judge in Georgia, had applied to the Supreme Court for a stay in an apparent effort to reverse the fine. The application first went to Justice Clarence Thomas, who has jurisdiction over Georgia's circuit. When he denied it, she applied to Alito.

And then Alito referred it to the full court, which a few of our commenters took as a sign of his true sympathies. Some examples:

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Stephen Colbert

Colbert: Bryan Fischer's Right -- NYC 'Mosque' Is 'Weapon Of Mass Construction' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | August 13, 2010, 10:20AM

Stephen Colbert agreed with critics last night who say that the "Ground Zero mosque" is a "weapon of mass construction" and a "slapping eye-stab" to America. In fact, Colbert said he agrees with Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association "who blogged where angels fear to tweet," and said that there should be "no more mosques, period."

"Every permit granted to a mosque," Colbert continued, "is one denied to an American house of worship" -- "a mall."

He added that we should also ban barns since Timothy McVeigh used one of those. And since Unabomber Ted Kaczynski used a shack "let's get rid of shacks. And just to be safe, let's get rid of Shaq. After all, I think I've seen him in a turban," Colbert said, referring to the 1996 movie Kazaam.

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Offshore Drilling Head Admits Agency Got Regulations From Industry

Rachel Slajda | August 13, 2010, 9:55AM

Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling platform sinks during Gulf Oil Spill Disaster

The director of the government's newly reorganized offshore drilling agency conceded yesterday that the agency has relied too heavily on the oil and gas industry when creating regulations.

"I think there is the perception and the reality that we have been heavily reliant on the domestic oil and gas industry in setting standards," Michael Bromwich, the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said Thursday, the WSJ reports. "We're going to be exploring borrowing from alternative models."

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Orly Taitz

Alito Refers Taitz Appeal To Entire Supreme Court

Rachel Slajda | August 12, 2010, 6:36PM

Orly Taitz

Birther queen Orly Taitz has spent the better part of a year fighting a $20,000 fine slapped on her by a federal judge for filing frivilous birther lawsuits contesting President Obama's elibility to hold the office. A few weeks ago, she applied to the Supreme Court to reverse the fine.

When Justice Clarence Thomas denied her application, she vowed to apply to each of the other justices in turn. The next justice she applied to was Samuel Alito, who has now referred the matter to the to the entire court.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Air Force May Boot Aviator Who Revealed He Is Gay To Defend False Rape Claim

Megan Carpentier | August 12, 2010, 5:17PM

Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach

Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach has been fighting for the right to stay in the Air Force for more than two years following a false criminal report that led to his outing. Yesterday, following reports that the Secretary of the Air Force was about to order his discharge, his lawyers filed for a temporary restraining order to keep him in the military until the courts have their say, or the Obama Administration gets around to repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell.

So, how did a decorated combat aviator with 19 years in the Air Force end up riding a desk and hoping just to make it to his pension (for which he'd be eligible next year) instead of flying missions in one of his country's wars -- despite much-heralded changes to the military's enforcement policies?

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Gay Rights

Motion To Stay Prop 8 Ruling Denied -- But Judge Delays Lifting Stay

Rachel Slajda | August 12, 2010, 3:42PM

A federal judge in California today denied a motion to stay his ruling on Proposition 8, saying he will lift the temporary stay Aug. 18 at 5 p.m. Pacific time.

Judge Vaughn Walker ruled last week that Prop 8, which defined marriage in California as heterosexual, is unconstitutional. He issued a temporary stay -- meaning same-sex couples can't get married yet -- and today ruled that his stay will continue until next Wednesday.

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American Family Association

Top Social Conservative Doubles Down: 'Every Single Mosque' In U.S. Is Terror Threat

Jillian Rayfield | August 12, 2010, 1:19PM

Bryan Fischer of Americans United with a mosque inset.

Bryan Fischer, who wrote a blog post this week arguing that the U.S. should have "no more mosques, period," explained to TPM today that "every single mosque is a potential terror training center or recruitment center for jihad" and thus "you cannot claim first amendment protections if your religious organization is engaged in subversive activities."

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Rod Blagojevich

Blago Jury Deadlocked On Some Counts; Haven't Deliberated Yet On Others

Rachel Slajda | August 12, 2010, 1:02PM

Former IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich

The jury in Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial told the judge today that they have only come to unanimous agreement on two of the 24 charges.

As for the other 22 charges, the jury said they haven't even begun to discuss the 11 wire fraud charges. They have not been able to come to a decision on the other 11.

According to the Sun Times, Judge James Zagel is instructing the jurors to keep trying:

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Anti-government violence

Anti-Gov't Shooting Suspect Pleads Not Guilty In California

Jillian Rayfield | August 12, 2010, 12:01PM

Byron Christopher Williams

Byron Williams, the anti-government man who is accused of engaging in a shootout with police on an Oakland, California highway, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of attempted murder and unlawful possession of controlled ammunition, among other things.

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Charles Rangel

Rangel Says He Wants To Give His Critics The Finger

Rachel Slajda | August 12, 2010, 11:45AM

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), in a campaign speech today in which he (again) defended himself against charges by the House ethics committee, said a middle finger well represents how he feels about the charges, the press and, indeed, the whole process.

Last night, at Rangel's star-studded birthday party fund-raiser, former New York City Mayor David Dinkins flipped off a protester who was calling for Rangel to resign.

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David Johnson

David Johnson Charged In Domestic Assault Case That Scuttled Paterson's Reelection Bid

Megan Carpentier | August 12, 2010, 10:52AM

New York Gov. David Paterson and aide David Johnson

David Johnson, the aide to New York Governor David Paterson (D) who allegedly assaulted his girlfriend last Halloween and attempted to keep her from calling police, was booked this morning on misdemeanor assault charges related to the attack, and is expected to be formally charged and arraigned later today.

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Maxine Waters

CEO Of The Bank Waters Helped Has A Messy Past

Rachel Slajda | August 12, 2010, 10:39AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

The Washington Post has an interesting look today at Kevin L. Cohee, the CEO of OneUnited, the bank at the center of ethics allegations against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).

Waters is charged with acting improperly by helping the bank, in the midst of the financial crisis, while her husband held hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock in the bank. She denies doing anything wrong.

According to the Post, Waters had helped Cohee in the past, intervening in 2002 with the governor so Cohee could buy the bank that became OneUnited.

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Maine Patriots

Tea Partiers In Maine Kiss And Make Up (Sorta) After Strange Coup

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 12, 2010, 8:40AM

Tea Party activists in Washington, D.C.

Last week we told you about the strange reports of a coup underway at the highest levels of one of Maine's largest tea party groups. A week after concerns over Maine Patriots founder Amy Hale's leadership allegedly spilled over into a heated confrontation in a parking lot where Hale was forced to give up control of the tea party group's website, things have calmed down quite a bit. But there's still an information blackout that makes it hard to figure out who's in charge up there.

Hale has responded to critics that said her head got too big to lead the grassroots Maine Patriots, but she still won't respond to my requests for more information about the police report she filed against those she said cornered her and intimidated her into coughing up the password for the Maine Patriots website.

"While I can not talk about the actual incident in the parking lot because of the police investigation," Hale wrote in a recent email to tea partiers in Maine, "I can say that the allegations made against me are false."

Those allegations are essentially that she displayed hubris, and have been leveled at her by a group of Maine tea partiers led by fellow activist Jeff Cucci prior to the "coup." Hale also said in the letter that it's time for the Maine tea party to move on. However, it's unclear who controls the group's website these days.

"I think that it is time that we get all this behind us. We need to be fighting the real enemy; the big government that is taking away our freedoms," Hale wrote. "I hope that you will stick with Maine Patriots as we turn our eyes toward the real enemy."

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Feisal Abdul Rauf

'Ground Zero Mosque' Imam Was A Bush-Era Partner For Mideast Peace

Megan Carpentier | August 12, 2010, 8:20AM

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and Karen Hughes

Tuesday, Reps. Peter King (R-NY) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) called Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf -- best known for his work with multicultural Cordoba Initiative to build a mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan -- a "radical" and criticized the Obama Administration for including him on a Middle East speaking tour. That tour, which includes stops in Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is designed by the public diplomacy office to explain to Muslims abroad what it's like to be a Muslim in America.

Outside of how getting constantly called a radical by American politicians busy flacking the proposed "Ground Zero mosque" for political purposes might affect Rauf's view of what it's like to be a Muslim in America, there's one other big problem with King's and Ros-Lehtinen's accusation: Rauf already represented America in this way, under the Bush Administration.

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Duke Cunningham

After Four Years Behind Bars, Duke Becomes A Prison Reform Advocate

Rachel Slajda | August 11, 2010, 3:52PM

Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA)

Duke Cunningham, former congressman and current convict (and the inspiration for the Golden Dukes), is halfway through his eight year prison sentence. And he wants to make a change.

"Maybe that's why God put me here, to bring about much needed prison reform," Cunningham wrote in a letter to San Diego City Beat.

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Ben Quayle

Ben Quayle Admits Writing For Trashy Frat Boy Web Site Three Years Ago

Rachel Slajda | August 11, 2010, 3:17PM

TheDirty.com

Ben Quayle, son of the former vice president and one of several Republican candidates for retiring Rep. John Shadegg's House seat from Arizona, has admitted to writing comments on the web site Dirty Scottsdale back in 2007.

Dirty Scottsdale -- which has spread to other cities and is now TheDirty.com -- is a collection of pictures, usually of well-endowed women, that readers take while out clubbing. The pictures are followed by snarky comments from the site's users and owner. (You can look, it's safe for work.)

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American Family Association

Top Social Conservative: 'No More Mosques, Period'

Jillian Rayfield | August 11, 2010, 1:02PM

Bryan Fischer

Bryan Fischer, the "Director of Issues Analysis" for the American Family Association, wrote a blog post yesterday on the AFA's site arguing that the United States should have "no more mosques, period."

"This is for one simple reason," he writes. "Each Islamic mosque is dedicated to the overthrow of the American government."

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Jeff Greene

Jeff Greene And His Reef-Destroying, Vomit-Caked, No Good, Very Bad Yacht

Rachel Slajda | August 11, 2010, 12:24PM

The Summerwind, the yacht of US Sen. candidate Jeff Greene (D-FL)

In a campaign season swelling with populism, where candidates try to out-folk each other and prove their anti-elitist credentials, having a symbol of extreme wealth as potent as a 145-foot yacht is already a liability.

It's way more of a liability if your yacht has been involved in a number of untoward episodes over the past decade -- if, like Florida Senate candidate Jeff Greene, your yacht has destroyed part of a precious Belizean coral reef, showed up "caked in vomit" in travel-embargoed Cuba and, possibly, fueled some of Mike Tyson's less proud moments.

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Jon Stewart

Daily Show Introduces Mosque Opponents To Halal Meat Carts (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | August 11, 2010, 10:14AM

Jon Stewart was a little bit confused last night about the controversy over the so-called "Ground Zero mosque," and with people like Tennessee Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey (R), who said that Islam may be a "cult" and not a religion.

"You know," said Stewart, "I can see being confused by Scientology, or the thing Madonna does with the red bracelets, or this whole Justin Bieber craze, certain 'World of Warcraft' guilds, Harry Potter book clubs. But I think 1400 years" pretty much qualifies Islam as a religion.

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Andy Schlafly

Rachel Maddow: 'The War On Brains Is Still Being Waged Every Day' (VIDEO)

Megan Carpentier | August 11, 2010, 9:39AM

Last night, Rachel Maddow picked up on TPMmuckraker's reporting that Conservapedia founder Andy Schlafly considers Einstein's Theory of Relativity -- which encompasses the famous equation E=mc² -- part of a liberal conspiracy. As she noted, Schlafly is in good company.

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Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich's Second Wife Dishes Hard To Esquire: His Money Woes, His Philandering, His Meltdown

Megan Carpentier | August 11, 2010, 8:42AM

In 1999, after refusing to take the seat he won in the 1998 elections, Newt Gingrich left his second wife, Marianne, for a much-younger staffer with whom he'd been having an almost-ignored affair. As in his first marriage, he did so shortly after Marianne was diagnosed with a serious illness; as in his first divorce, he fought Marianne tooth and nail over any financial settlement. And then he had the Atlanta archdiocese inform Marianne that their marriage was invalid in the eyes of his fiancée's faith; 9 years later, he completed his conversion to Catholicism.

Given his popularity among Republicans, one would think there is little left to say about Gingrich's personal foibles that could hurt his political career. But sandwiched in between snippets from his campaign to return to popularity in yesterday's Esquire profile are tidbits from the still-supportive Marianne that portray Gingrich in a far-from-pleasant light -- and hints that his personal foibles took quite a toll on his political fortunes behind the scenes.

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Charles Rangel

Rangel Says He's Not Quitting

Rachel Slajda | August 10, 2010, 1:38PM

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)

In a long speech on the House floor today, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) vowed to continue fighting House ethics charges and promised he won't resign.

Rangel said he may have been "stupid" and "negligent," but he was never "corrupt."

To applause from some fellow Democrats, Rangel said he won't leave the House over the allegations. He also excoriated the ethics committee for not yet setting a date for his trial.

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David Vitter

Vitter Cleared in FEC Probe Of Donations From Barbour PAC

Megan Carpentier | August 10, 2010, 10:50AM

Senator David Vitter (R-LA)

The Federal Elections Commission yesterday ruled that there was no reason to look further into allegations that former Rep. Chip Pickering (R-MS) used Gov. Haley Barbour's (R-MS) PAC to funnel campaign contributions to Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) in order to avoid bad publicity.

Pickering, of course, last made national news when his wife sued his long-time mistress for alienation of affection in Mississippi; Vitter's reported extramarital assignations with prostitutes are well-documented.

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Conservapedia

Conservapedia: E=mc² Is A Liberal Conspiracy

Megan Carpentier | August 9, 2010, 5:01PM

Andy Schlafly and Albert Einstein

To many conservatives, almost everything is a secret liberal plot: from fluoride in the water to medicare reimbursements for end-of-life planning with your doctor to efforts to teach evolution in schools. But Conservapedia founder and Eagle Forum University instructor Andy Schlafly -- Phyllis Schlafly's son -- has found one more liberal plot: the theory of relativity.

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Military Contractors

Gates Announces Big Cuts To Contractor Funding

Rachel Slajda | August 9, 2010, 3:59PM

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in announcing new cost-saving measures for the Pentagon, said the DOD will dramatically cut funding for service support contractors, by 10 percent each year for the next three years.

He cited a "dramatic increase in the use of service support and advisory contractors" over the last 10 years -- from 26 percent of workforce spending in 2000 to 39 percent last year. And that's "not counting contractors supporting the war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan."

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Maxine Waters

More Details Emerge In Waters Ethics Investigation

Megan Carpentier | August 9, 2010, 2:34PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

At the heart of the ethics investigation into Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) -- which today yielded a Statement of Alleged Violation against Waters -- is her connection to the California-based bank OneUnited and its receipt of TARP funding in 2008. A new investigation by students at American University details the timing of those transactions, and calls into question some of the assumptions at the heart of the investigation.

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Maxine Waters

House Ethics Announces Three Charges Against Waters

Rachel Slajda | August 9, 2010, 12:20PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

The House ethics committee today announced the specific charges against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), accusing her of improperly using her office to help a bank in which her husband owned stock.

The list of charges, called a statement of alleged violation, details three rules Waters allegedly broke: one, that members must "reflect creditably on the House;" two, that members may not "receive compensation" by improperly using their Congressional influence; and three, that members should never "dispense special favors" or "accept for himself or his family favors or benefits."

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BP

BP Won't Fully Fund Escrow Account Until End Of 2013

Rachel Slajda | August 9, 2010, 11:49AM

Grand Isle, Lafourche Parish, LA

BP and the Justice Department announced today that BP has made its first contribution into the $20 billion escrow fund which will pay claims related to the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

BP's first payment was $3 billion.

In a press release, BP spelled out its payment plan: $3 billion today, $2 billion at the end of the year, and $1.25 billion per quarter from then on.

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Despite Moratorium, Drilling Contractors Keep Workers On The Payroll

Rachel Slajda | August 9, 2010, 9:22AM

An oil rig at Port Arthur, TX

Transocean, the largest offshore drilling contractor in the Gulf of Mexico, told shareholders last week that it's keeping all of its employees on the payroll pending the lifting of a deepwater drilling moratorium.

Those who oppose the moratorium -- Gulf Coast politicians, for example -- have cited the loss of jobs in arguing against the six-month ban.

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