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The Daily Muck
President Bush yesterday refused to comment on questions about the recent Israeli bombing in Syria. However, according to the Washington Post, anonymous government sources have confirmed that Israel did in fact attack a suspected nuclear site that was being created with an undetermined amount of North Korean assistance. Further, the U.S. shared intelligence on the site with Israel prior to the attack. (Washington Post)
A former financial manager of the Iraq reconstruction, Robert Raggio, is under investigation. Raggio quit his government job for the private sector, where he helped his company get a contract to fight fraud in Iraq. Turns out, it's illegal to write policy guidelines for the government while at the same time pursing a government contract that's under the purview of those guidelines. (USA TODAY)
Michael Mukasey, President Bush’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, is out to prove that he ain't no Alberto. In a move that sharply distinguishes him from his predecessor, Mukasey has vowed to
fire any Justice Department employee who shares sensitive case information with the White House without his approval. (Boston Globe)
At least one lawmaker is attacking the politicization of fear. Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) attacked Republicans and the administration alike for hyping bogus claims of impending terror this past August in order to facilitate the passing of an exceptionally broad FISA reform act, calling the move part of the "Rovian strategy of using terrorism as a wedge political issue." (Think Progress)
CREW has been busy. First, it has filed an FEC complaint against Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) for failingto disclose information about his campaign supporters, including failing to list the occupation and employer information for 40% of funds raised. In addition, the watchdog group is going after Rep. Davis Scott (D-GA) for tax evasion and using his office resources to help his campaign. (CREW, AP)
Representative Jerry Weller (R-Ill) will be announcing his retirement today. He leaves Congress just as the Washington watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, crowned him one of the 22 most
corrupt members of Congress. (Chicago Sun Times)
CQ has an excellent article on the increasing scrutiny of Representative Don Young’s (R-AK) ethics problems. Potential candidates are smelling blood in the water and lining up to take on Young in 2008. (CQ Politics.com)
An anonymous Republican Senator, identified by Think Progress as Tom Coburn (R-OK), has placed a secret hold on a law that would restore public access to presidential records. Two other senators were initially suspects but their offices have denied involvement while Coburn’s office has refused comment. The secret hold is part of an attempt to undermine the Democratic bill nullifying Bush’s executive order of 2001 that called for many executive materials to be kept secret “in perpetuity.” (Think Progress and The Dallas Morning News)
Comments (7)
Anonymous wrote on September 21, 2007 9:51 AM:"...Mukasey has vowed to
fire any Justice Department employee who shares sensitive case information with the White House without his approval..."
Didn't the President say he'd do the same in the Plame case?
john nihau wrote on September 21, 2007 10:08 AM:"anonymous government sources have confirmed that Israel did in fact attack a suspected nuclear site that was being created with an undetermined amount of North Korean assistance."
no one should believe that, given the recent history of the israeli and american governments prevarications.
the journalists who report on the issue should provide evidence tangible enough to enable readers to confirm for themselves. parroting such claims simply casts doubts on the journalists' credibility - a la judy miller.
after yellowcake, mobile labs and other deliberate falsehoods, so-called "anonymous government sources" have negative credibility. their claims need to be presumed to be lies for a reader to better approach knowledge of the truth.
drational wrote on September 21, 2007 10:13 AM:"Mukasey has vowed to
fire any Justice Department employee who shares sensitive case information with the White House without his approval."
I am not sure this is a big difference. Isn't it likely that Gonzales "gave his approval" for the whole department to talk to the WH?
Powkat wrote on September 21, 2007 11:02 AM:John N - that was my first reaction, too. I don't trust one word from this government - I want my country back!
rabdexza wrote on September 21, 2007 11:31 AM:It makes me very sad that one long term outcome of this era in history will be the term "Rovian". We need a term that will leave no doubt to the future exactly what rove is and what he did. "Rovian" is far too kind.
cal1942 wrote on September 21, 2007 1:32 PM:"...Mukasey has vowed to
fire any Justice Department employee who shares sensitive case information with the White House without his approval..."
That's no deal at all. The contacts should be severely limited as in past administrations and chiseled in stone.
At his discretion doesn't cut it.
Richstacy wrote on September 22, 2007 1:47 PM:I don't trust a word this CONGRESS says
-- I want my country back. I do believe them however when they say they want to cut and run without regard to the potentially horrendous consequences of doing so.
These would potentially include: The deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis who helped us to get red of Saddam's murderous thugs.
The establishment in parts of Iraq of permanent bases for Al Qaeda.
The fall of Musharraf in Pakistan, and the takeover there by a Taliban-like, fundamentalist, radical government with strong ties to al Qaeda. Of course this would mean that dozens of fairly sophisticated nukes would fall into the hands of these backward, intolerant nuts who are sworn to destroy Israel and the United States.
The empowerment of Iran, (which is also sworn to destroy Israel and the U.S.) -- with that nation becoming the power in much of Iraq.
I'm not saying any of these things will happen for sure but they are far more likely to happen. If we bug out, chaos is likely to follow.
None of them could happen if we maintain our presence, an give Iraq and its people a chance to be free. That will guarantee stability in the region.