AP reports:

WASHINGTON — An ex-employee at a defense contractor pleaded guilty Friday to making illegal donations to the campaign of Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., marking the latest chapter in a congressional bribery probe.

Richard Berglund, who formerly supervised the Martinsville, Va., office of MZM Inc., faces up to a year in prison for engaging in a scheme with company owner Mitchell Wade to reimburse MZM employees for campaign donations. The scheme violates the Federal Election Campaign Act.

In February, Wade pleaded guilty to bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, in exchange for help in getting $150 million in Defense Department contracts.

As long as Pat Roberts is chairman of the Senate Select Committeee on Intelligence, we may never see Phase II of the investigation into the pre-Iraq war intelligence. Spencer Ackerman, who has written extensively on the Iraq war and the pre-war intelligence fiasco for The New Republic, writes for TPMmuckraker about Pat Roberts’ disastrous tenure as the chairman of the committee, and Roberts’ fondness for running in circles:

“Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, sprinted off the blocks in early 2005. The very picture of an energetic committee chairman, he explained with a glimmer of excitement in his eye what his agenda for the next congressional session would be during a March 2005 speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center. In the cards was vigorous committee oversight during the ongoing intelligence-community restructuring, as the CIA's role diminished and a new Director of National Intelligence arrived. Not in the cards, Roberts explained only in response to a question, was the committee's long-awaited report into the Bush administration's shaping of prewar Iraq intelligence.

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What's up with the federal investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)? I chatted with Jerry Kammer, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Copley News Service, whose work scrutinized Lewis' dealings even before the probe was publicly known. He counseled patience and a long view. These things, he says, take time:

"I think when the investigators started on this stuff, they had to climb the learning curve, just like we've had to. When I wrote for The Arizona Republic, I got to know some of the people who worked on the Charles Keating task force -- he was the symbolic central figure of the S&L scandal. It took them a while to get started, but once they got a head of steam they made a lot of progress.

"I'd never looked at a lobbying disclosure form or an appropriations conference report until last summer. I'd been writing about immigration. . . I would bet that the agents they brought in on this case had a similar learning process to undergo. They'd probably never pulled any of these documents before.

"As a matter of fact, I've wondered how they train the agents for a case like this. These are complicated investigations. They have to be able to take something to a jury against a very well-paid defense lawyer. I wouldn't be surprised to see the investigation take six months or a year until we see any concrete results. And, of course, they might decide that they don't have a case.

"[Reporters] can write about behavior that we think is questionable. That's our standard. But [federal prosecutors] have to decide if that behavior violates a criminal statute. And in Washington, there are a lot of people who will tell you that the systemic scandal lies in what Congress allows to be legal.

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Who needs Jack Abramoff? His clients can fend for themselves -- or at least get a new lobbyist!

Roll Call brings word that an Indian tribe formerly repped by Abramoff is working to hold up a gaming reform measure they don't want that's being pushed by Abramoff foe John McCain:

The Choctaws, who paid Abramoff’s firms $11.7 million over a six-year stretch, have prevailed on their senior home-state Senator, Republican Thad Cochran, to put a hold on McCain’s bill. The move has helped tangle the measure in a thicket of objections from other Indian tribes and about a dozen Senators. Aiding the Choctaws in their drive is lobbyist Kevin Ring, who worked for the tribe as an associate of Abramoff’s and later refused to testify before McCain’s Indian Affairs panel as it conducted an investigation into the corruption scandal. Ring stopped working for the tribe in 2004 when it dropped its lobbyists at Greenberg Traurig amid revelations of Team Abramoff’s practices. But he was rehired last spring after joining the lobbying shop at Barnes & Thornburg. That contract also included former Abramoff associates Edward Ayoob and Neil Volz. Volz has since pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges.

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Over at National Journal, Murray Waas has been burrowing into the Justice Department probe of how its own officials handled the NSA domestic spying program. In fact, he broke the news of the foiled investigation, prompting the revelation on Tuesday that President Bush himself blocked the probe by refusing to grant security clearances to investigators from DoJ's Office of Professional Responsibility.

I talked with Waas on Wednesday to get his thoughts on the importance of the story, and how various media outlets, including the New York Times, chose to report the story:

"It's surprising the story hasn't gotten greater play. It's unprecedented for the President of the United States to himself stymie a Justice Department investigation. And it's obscure for a president to make a decision about who should get security clearances.

"When FBI agents and Justice prosecutors needed security clearances to investigate The New York Times and those who leaked the NSA story to its reporters, the clearances were granted almost immediately. The head of OPR pointed that out in a memo to the deputy attorney general.

"The OPR head pointed out that private citizens sitting on a presidential commission were also granted those clearances. They are a far greater security risk than career DoJ officials, he said.

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This looks like the real deal.

The House Government Reform Committee has been investigating the ties between Jack Abramoff and the White House since at least March. The Washington Post broke the news Saturday that Abramoff's lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig had been subpoenaed by the committee. Today Roll Call's John Bresnahan has much more (sub. req.), revealing that the investigation extends to Abramoff's earlier firm Preston Gates and also Alexander Strategy Group, the now-defunct lobby shop run by Ed Buckham, Tom DeLay's former chief of staff who was very close to Abramoff.

Very quietly, the committee, helmed by Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), has been gathering these documents since early March. They're investigating in order “to understand the nature and extent of Jack Abramoff’s interactions with public officials in the executive branch, including the White House, and the legislative branch,” according to a letter from the Committee to Greenberg Traurig's attorney. No hearings have been scheduled yet.

Here's why I'm inclined to think that this is legit. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) is the ranking member on the committee. All indications are that he's fully on board. In the past, he's never been shy about complaining publicly when he thinks an investigation is lacking.

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Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar, whose Maryland home was searched as part of the FBI's investigation of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) last August, has finally spoken.

He's innocent, he says. And his lawyer told The New York Times that “there is nothing linking the vice president with Congressman Jefferson except Mr. Jefferson’s own false, self-serving statements.”

By that, I assume the lawyer is referring to the many statements Jefferson made to the FBI's informant about getting Abubakar's help with a Nigerian business deal. Jefferson and Lori Mody, a businesswoman who wore a wire during their many conversations, discussed paying Abubakar $500,000 up front and much more after the deal went through. The $90,000 found in Jefferson's freezer was part of a bribe intended for Abubakar, according to FBI transcripts. It remains a mystery whether Jefferson decided to simply keep the bribe for himself.

Read my earlier post on Abubakar for the complete rundown.

I'm no lawyer, but I don't think this is the way the system works.

In a couple of weeks, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether Tom DeLay must remain on the ballot in Texas' 22nd District. Both parties are submitting their briefs, and there might a number of amicus briefs from third parties (like, for instance, the Texas Attorney General). But Harris County Republicans are taking a more direct approach -- they've posted a petition on their website, which they say "will be delivered directly to the 5th Circuit."

It's not clear what that means, and the party's website doesn't explain. The judges would not be able to accept a petition unless it came in the form of an amicus brief. My calls to the Party for explanation were not returned. The Harris County Republican Party seems to be the only one of the four county Republican committees in DeLay's district to take this tack.

The short petition calls the decision by Judge Sam Sparks to keep DeLay on the ballot a "travesty of justice."

James Bopp, counsel for the Texas Republicans on the case, hadn't heard of the petition before I called and wouldn't comment further. Chad Dunn, who's representing the Democrats, called it "an act of desperation."

via Brazos River

Update: An eagle-eyed TPMm reader writes in to point out that this looks like an excellent means for the party to collect voter information. So is this brilliant or bone-headed? Or both?

Prosecutors aren't stopping with one former senior staffer to Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) - a second one is scheduled to talk with them soon.

Harris, you'll remember has been caught up in the sprawling Duke Cunningham investigation -- admitted felon Mitchell Wade, who bribed Cunningham, feted Harris, showered her with campaign contributions, and Harris made an unsuccessful $10 million earmark for Wade's company.

Fred Asbell, Harris' chief of staff who quit in June, reportedly has a date with prosecutors. Ed Rollins, a former consultant to her Senate campaign, spoke to them a couple of weeks ago. He says they talked about Harris' relationship to Wade, and that "They seemed to know everything I did and more."

And here's more about Harris' denial that she's "a target," which as we pointed out yesterday, is part of our patented TPMmuckraker Political Scandal Process. From The St. Petersburg Times:

Former federal prosecutors say her vague statement doesn't necessarily mean she's in the clear.

"If she's not a target, that's nice, but that doesn't mean she's not under scrutiny," said Ed Page, a former federal prosecutor who works at the Carlton Fields law firm in Tampa. "It's sort of a play on words."

*****

Reached at his Washington home this week, Asbell refused to say whom he was or wasn't talking to but responded to Harris' statement that she was not a target. "I don't know where she is getting her information," he said.

Looks like former Majority Leader Tom DeLay's (R-TX) political action committee is going out with a bang.

For many years, DeLay used Americans for a Republican Majority to dole out millions to Republican House candidates. It shouldn't surprise that the group had a laundry list of accounting issues -- and to settle them, they'll be forced to cough up $115,000 to the FEC as the group's final act.

From Political Money Line:

The Federal Election Commission and former Rep. Tom DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC) have agreed to a conciliation agreement [.pdf] for violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act, as amended. The violations include failure to properly report its receipts, disbursements and cash on hand; failure to report outstanding debts and obligations; and failure to properly pay for shared federal and non-federal disbursements.

The committee failed to accurately report $74,295 in financial activity on 2001 and $166,340 in 2002. The committee failed to report debts and obligations to twenty-five vendors totaling $322,306. The non-federal account overpaid its share of allocable expenses by $203,483. The committee used incorrect ratios to allocate is disbursements, and the non-federal account overpaid its portion of generic voter drives by $121,456, and fundraising events by $9,414.The non-federal account overpaid $95,386 in fundraising expenses that should have been charges to the federal account.

Update: CREW calls this "one of the 50 largest fines ever obtained by the FEC in its 30-year history. "

Noted without comment:

Democrats' efforts to force former Rep. Tom DeLay to stand for re-election in Texas could backfire, Republicans say.

Friends of the former House Republican boss say Mr. DeLay -- who retired to Virginia last month after being implicated in the Jack Abramoff scandal and indicted by a Texas prosecutor -- is willing to wage a full-scale campaign for the seat if Democrats succeed in preventing the Texas Republican Party from replacing him on the November ballot.

"This whole thing could explode in the Democrats' face," says Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Texas Republican. "He has indicated that if called back into battle, he'll fight -- and I'd say his chances of keeping this seat in Republican hands are pretty good."

Rep. Bob Ney's (R-OH) latest, from the department of wishful thinking:

Ney, a committee chairman until the scandal erupted, has told several colleagues and aides that the Justice Department has a rule against indicting members within 90 days of an election, increasing his chances of victory. A Justice official said there is no such rule. Ney spokeswoman Katie Harbath said, "We don't comment on Ney's conversations with other members."

Hmm. So according to Ney's Rule, he'll be home free if he can make it to August 9th. It's July 20th now; twenty more days of peril for him, and then he's home free until November. I'd believe that too, if I were Bob Ney.

As I noted before, Ohio Republicans must be hoping that if Ney is indicted (and there's very little reason to think that he won't), it happens before August 19th, after which time it would become much more difficult for Ney to be replaced on the ballot.

Quick! Embrace Lobbying Reform!

In a good primer on corruption as an issue in the forthcoming midterm elections, The Washington Post's Jim Vandehei discloses the grand Republican strategy:

Republicans worry that more than six candidates for the House and Senate could be hurt by Justice Department investigations, the courts and revelations in the Abramoff affair....

Anticipating more bad news, House GOP leaders are privately discussing a pre-election plan to compromise with the Senate on legislation clamping down on lobbyists and member perks, according to a GOP source familiar with the effort. The source, who discussed the plan on the condition of anonymity, said that if [Rep. Bob] Ney (R-OH) or other Republicans are indicted, House leaders will drop their demands to include strict curbs on the special-interest election spending that favored Democrats in 2004 and quickly pass the lobbying bill to provide political cover to candidates.

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Boy, oh boy. Earlier this week, Sen. Mike Dewine (R-OH) drew controversy for using images of 9/11 in an attack ad, which assails Dem candidate Sherrod Brown's commitment to national security. The ad came shortly after Republicans attacked Democrats for running an ad with images of flag-draped coffins on the internet.

But that wasn't the end of it. The image of the burning twin towers in the ad was doctored. As Dewine's spokesman admitted to U.S. News and World Report, "the image of the burning towers in the ad is a still photo with computer-generated smoke added."

Luckily, Greg Sargent and the team over at Election Central captured the original ad, and from this still, it's hard to believe that this went unnoticed for so long:

Here's U.S. News' expert explaining how very fake the image is:

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Rep. John Doolittle's (R-CA) wife, who's been pocketing a 15 percent cut of contributions to his policitcal action committee for the last several years, is on pace for a banner year - if she and her husband don't get indicted first.

Roll Call's Paul Kane found (sub. req.) that "from April 1 through June 30, she collected more than $35,000 in commissions from the John T. Doolittle for Congress committee, one of her highest-grossing quarters ever, according to filings with the FEC."

Another bad turn for Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) - a federal judge has ruled (sub. req.) that prosecutors may see the documents seized by the FBI from Jefferson's congressional office in its May raid. We've posted a copy of the judge's opinion here.

As I wrote before, the race is on to see whether Jefferson will be indicted before the November election. Today's ruling makes that more likely.

That's what the judge hopes, anyway. In his ruling, he made it clear that he denied Jefferson's request to protect the documents pending his appeal because of "the public’s interest in a prompt and final outcome of the government’s investigation of serious crimes involving a sitting United States Congressman running for re-election in November."

In this unprecedented case, there are still complications ahead for prosecutors. The Justice Department has created a special "filter team" to determine whether documents seized in the raid are constitutionally protected legislative materials or whether they can be seen by prosecutors. In every case, Jefferson's lawyer will get to contest the filter team's decision.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) stars in "How To Get Rich(er) without Really Trying."

Not sure how we missed this.

Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-FL) speechwriter is the latest defection from the campaign, but couldn't resist leaving off with a bang. In an email she sent around to friends on her departure, she wrote:

Value of "George Harris Legacy Loan" to Senate campaign: $10 million

Value of "refurbishments" to Capitol Hill residence: $100,000

Value of Handing in my Resignation Letter: Priceless

She added "No, I do not have a job lined up.... But I have my dignity and a smidgen of the sanity I had when I came to work here."

via Wonkette.

Lebanon: Telephone service is spotty -- both land lines and cellular networks are on-again, off-again in war-struck areas. Some even say that cellular telephone networks are down entirely. Electricity is out in parts of Beirut and southern Lebanon, probably as a result of Israeli bombing runs which targeted civilian infrastructure, including power plants and transformers.

An estimated 25,000 Americans were in Lebanon when the bombing began, according to CNN. A couple hundred appear to have made it out -- and the State Department says it plans on evacuating "as many as" 2,400 by Thursday. The rest -- by my count, more than 23,000 -- are being told to sit tight as the Israeli bombing continues, wait by their phones for a call, and check the embassy Web site for more information. So says undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns: "We have an open line to all American citizens. We're in touch with them by Web site."

Yes, Burns assured CNN, "[The evacuation is] very well thought out."

Heckuva job, Condi?

Note to readers: Justin and I both love dogs. Especially rescue dogs.

We've gotten a couple of emails from readers on the lead item in today's Daily Muck, on the recent GAO report on waste within the Department of Homeland Security. The New York Times reported that the department had spent over $68,000 on unused dog booties - "the boots ended up in a FEMA warehouse and have not been used." The booties are used to protect rescue dogs' paws, but apparently dogs in the region are "not accustomed to wearing booties."

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Katrina Audit Shows Fraud, Abuse
$68,500 worth of unused dog booties!

"The Homeland Security Department wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars last year on iPods, dog booties, beer-making equipment and designer jackets, congressional investigators have concluded. More than 100 laptop computers and a dozen boats also bought by Homeland Security employees are missing, the investigators found. Poor training, lax oversight and rampant confusion over what employees are allowed to buy with government-issued purchase cards left Homeland Security "vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse," according to a draft report by the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative and auditing arm." (AP, NYT)

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The Orlando Sentinel reports that federal prosecutors in May requested documents from the files of Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-FL) senatorial campaign:

Justice Department officials have requested records from the Senate campaign of U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris as they continue investigating the dealings of a defense contractor involved in a wide-ranging congressional corruption case. . . .

It was not clear if federal prosecutors issued a subpoena or sent a letter to the campaign in search of information, and a Harris spokeswoman would not elaborate.

This puts Harris at Stage IV of the TPMmuckraker Political Scandal Process (TM). Stages I-III include:

- Allegations of wrongdoing appearing in media
- Hiring of expensive lawyer
- News of federal investigation appearing in media.

Stage IV is the denial that the lawmaker is, in fact, a target. (see also Tom DeLay, "I am not a target of this investigation. Abramoff has nothing to do with me.")

Harris delivered last night. Via the Sentinel:

In a news release, Harris said prosecutors told her that she was "not a target of the investigation" surrounding Mitchell Wade, a defense contractor who has pleaded guilty to bribing a California congressman and funneling $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Harris in 2004.

Ralph Reed barely finished his concession speech when press accounts began fingering Jack Abramoff for Reed's failure. Reed -- Jack's longtime political companion, who was running for Georgia Lieutenant Governor -- appears to be the first electoral casualty of the Abramoff scandal.

CQPolitics: "[I]t appears that the sweeping scandal involving convicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has claimed its first casualty at the polls this year. . . "

Wall Street Journal: "The Abramoff scandal appeared to claim its first electoral victim with the defeat of former lobbying ally and Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed in Georgia's Republican primary to pick a candidate for lieutenant governor."

AP: "Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed struggled to overcome his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in his bid Tuesday for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Georgia[.]"

Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) has nicked his primary challenger, rich-guy Ned Lamont, for owning stock in Halliburton, the giant contracting services company once headed by vice president Dick Cheney, which has been accused of overcharging the government many millions of dollars.

Over at TPMCafe, Greg Sargent captures Ned's troubles responding ("it was a pittance -- less than $50,000!"). We muckers look forward to seeing where this goes.

The news today that President Bush acted to block an internal Justice Department probe relating to the NSA's domestic spying operations is both a bigger and more complicated a story than one would think, given the space it will probably be given in tomorrow's papers. In sum, it's an example of how even arcane tools of oversight can be subverted by the Executive Office of the President.

As we know, for at least three years, the NSA's domestic spying efforts have evaded scrutiny by Congress, the secret FISA review process, and the judicial branch.

This Justice Department probe came from a curious little office in the organization called the Office of Professional Responsibility. Their job isn't to figure out if the NSA can spy on Americans. They exist to watchdog Justice officials, and make sure they're adhering to the law as they, er, make sure the rest of us adhere to the law.

On the theory that someone at Justice had reviewed and approved the NSA's domestic spying efforts, four Democratic lawmakers had written the office in January to request an investigation. Did Justice officials obey the law, when they reviewed and approved this program?

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We haven't reached into the TPM mailbag for a while -- but this note from Reader JK caught my eye, in light of today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing:

I'm extremely tired of the Republican affectation of referring to the Attorney General as "General" Ashcroft and "General" Gonzales. Republican Senators, especially on the Judiciary Committee, have frequently used this pompous and incorrect usage. Senators Hatch and Cornyn are frequent offenders.

As far as I am aware, there is no military rank or historical military connection associated with the office of Attorney General. The Attorney General is an attorney. He is not a general. The word "general" in the title "Attorney General" is an adjective, not a noun.

A quick bit of googling confirmed it: people repeatedly refer to the Attorney General as "general." But the practice isn't limited to Republicans, JK. Sure, White House spokespeople are guilty -- Dan Bartlett's done it, and Trent Duffy also.

But Democrats have, too. Here's Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) addressing a letter to "General Gonzales." And here's Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) doing the same.

So what's the right way to address the attorney general? I asked the Justice Department -- and got an authoritative reply, courtesy of Amy the Justice Intern:

The appropriate titles for the Attorney General would be either "Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales" or "Attorney General Gonzales." I have been advised that "Mr. Gonzales," or "General Gonzales," or "Gonzales" would not be the way to refer to the Attorney General.

So there it is -- no more "general" for you, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. You've had more than enough already.

How do you write the campaign slogan for this one?

Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX), whose poor West Texas district covers a wide swath of the state's maquiladora-friendly border region, apparently used $100,000 of his own campaign cash to pay lawyers to fight for Tom DeLay's discriminatory Texas redistricting plan. (That's on top of the thousands of dollars Bonilla directed towards the redistricting fight from the coffers of his supposedly pro-minority PAC.)

Bonilla's district was the only one specifically rejected as discriminatory by the U.S. Supreme Court in its recent ruling. More to the point, the Justice Department's Voting Rights Section -- which was set up to protect the voting rights of minority Americans -- earlier had unanimously rejected the entire plan as discriminatory.

But Bonilla, whose illegal district happened to ensure him comfortable margins of victory in primary and general elections, didn't care. FEC records show he paid the Los Angeles-based Latham & Watkins law firm $100,000; in February, the firm filed an amicus brief before the Supreme Court in support of DeLay's discriminatory plan.

Bonilla's office didn't return my phone call on the matter.

Don't think we've forgotten, TPMm readers. It's Ralph's big day down in Georgia, as voters line up for what many see as a referendum on the Jack Abramoff scandal (here's our brief for how he ties in). Reed is running to be the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor.

Check in here for election returns this evening - all signs are that it will be a squeaker.

Alive or dead, Uncle Sam doesn't give any free rides.

Earlier I noted that the State Department, in stark contrast to the Canadian government, is requiring U.S. citizens caught in Lebanon to pay for the cost of their evacuation. (Rep. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has since weighed in, saying that this was no time "for quibbling over payment for evacuation.")

I called up the State Department to ask about the policy. "We are not standing there with a cash box asking people to pay before they get on the boat," spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus told me. But if they don't pay (by check, no cash or credit cards accepted), or sign a form promising to pay, they don't go. It's the law: "Reasonable commercial air fare" shall be charged to all evacuees.

What if they're dead?

Same deal, she said. No freebies, even if you're not around to enjoy it.

Hironimus said that she didn't know the exact fee being charged. Evacuees are signing promissory notes. Those citizens will find out how much they owe when they get the bill in the mail.

And if a U.S. citizen is killed waiting to evacuate -- or because they stayed behind, unable to promise their government they could pay?

"We arrange with their families," Hironimus said. "We discuss their choices, but it’s paid for by the families."

In any case, the spokeswoman assured me, no one would get left behind.

President Bush personally intervened to prevent Justice Department lawyers from conducting a review of their department's involvement in the NSA domestic wiretapping program -- so says Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, according to AP:

Under sharp questioning from Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter, Gonzales said that the president would not grant the access needed to allow the probe to move forward.

“It was highly classified, very important and many other lawyers had access. Why not OPR?” asked Specter, R-Pa., referring to the Office of Professional Responsibility.

“The president of the United States makes the decision,” Gonzales told the committee hearing, during which he was strongly criticized on a range of national security issues by Specter and Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the panel’s senior Democrat.

As Paul wrote in May, the Justice OPR probe was not to examine the program itself, but to see whether Justice Department officials (including Gonzales and his predecessor, John Ashcroft) had acted properly in approving and overseeing the NSA program.

The probe was blocked with a weak bureaucratic move -- refusing to allow OPR access to its agency's own documents because they supposedly lacked the proper clearance (or any way to get it). That gambit saved Gonzales -- and, by extension, the White House -- from the risk of being told they were breaking the law.

You want to get out of the war zone that Lebanon is fast becoming? Reach for your wallet.

In a message to American citizens trapped in Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy's website reads: "The Department of State reminds American citizens that the U.S. government does not provide no-cost transportation." For those unfortunate enough to be weathering the bombing and also have empty pockets, the government offers a "repatriation loan" - citizens will get a bill once they land safely in the States.

This is in stark contrast to Canada, which advises its citizens that "All costs related to the evacuation of Canadians citizens from Lebanon will be borne by the Government of Canada."

People trapped there, of course, have little other recourse for evacuation, since the airport and major roads have been bombed.

When I called the State Department about the policy, I was promised a call back and told "You're not the first one to ask." So we expect an answer soon.

Is that the sound of the band warming up?

It looks like the Justice Department finally may have become as fascinated by Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-FL) deeds as we have been, lo these many months. Justice Department lawyers and FBI agents have recently interviewed Ed Rollins, Harris' former Senate campaign manager, about her dealings with admitted briber Mitchell Wade and his company, MZM, the Orlando Sentinel confirms today.

It has been hard to imagine that the feds weren't interested in Harris, given what was already in the public record about her activities (in no small part thanks to Rollins): how she took thousands of dollars in bundled donations from Wade, ate thousand-dollar meals with the guy, and tried to insert earmarks to benefit his company.

The news of Rollins' tete-a-tete with the feds is the strongest indication to date that Harris is likely facing a very unpleasant federal probe. Thank goodness she's already picked out her super-expensive D.C. insider lawyer.

Capitol Salute Host: "I Made a Mistake" Including Duke
Two days before his U.S. Capitol Historical Society was slated to recognize 37 departed members of Congress, the group's president bowed to criticism and agreed to remove imprisoned former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's (R-CA) name from the program.

“I agree with the critics. The critics are right,” Ron Sarasin told Copley News Service's Joe Cantlupe. ". . . I made a mistake."

“I shouldn't have included Cunningham's name, so his name will be stricken from the list,” Sarasin said, giving a full-throated apology. “It should have been clear to me. I caused the problem and I will apologize for it.”

Despite controversy over the inclusion of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who has been indicted and faces federal investigations and legal battles, Sarasin says he plans to keep his name in the program. (SDUT)

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Last week, the Senate Majority Project dredged up the fact that Allen Raymond, whose consulting firm was hired to jam New Hampshire Democratic phone banks on Election Day in 2002, appeared to still be in the teleservices business.

But Raymond, who's been out of jail for only about five weeks, told me that he's "effectively out of politics" and says he's moved on to a career in real estate investment.

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I think you can call this the "look Ma, no hands" school of politics.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) looks set to hold on to his House seat this November, despite being dogged by a brewing political scandal. Not only that, he's going to do it without ever hiring a campaign manager, setting up a Web site, or renting campaign headquarters. He has done very little campaigning.

That's power, dear reader.

Should he begin to fight, he's got a $1.6 million war chest to fund it -- if it isn't drained by the mounting legal fees of being a subject of a federal probe.

Of course, the Dems are hardly fighting him for the seat -- they've put up a challenger who boasts a total budget of under $5,000.

Federal investigators are talking with superlobbyist Bill Lowery's ex-wife Melinda, it was noted this weekend at TPM. And it looks to me like she knows stuff. Interesting stuff.

Investigators have met twice with the woman who was married until 2003 to Lowery, whose connections, money and influence tie him to the Duke Cunningham scandal and spell trouble for Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), as the federal investigation into his activities continues.

I admit, to my dismay, that the former Ms. Lowery has not yet returned phone messages I have left for her. But that tidbit over the weekend piqued my curiosity. So I trotted down to the District Courthouse and pulled the divorce file marked "Lowery v. Lowery."

The details are not pretty, of course. If divorces are ranked for nastiness on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd put this at an 8. I'll spare you the wildest details -- the emotional outbursts in court, the mold problems, the lie detector test -- and note only one snippet that caught my attention, buried in a pretrial document filed by Bill Lowery's legal team:

"In early January 2000. . . Ms. Lowery attempted to blackmail Mr. Lowery to end the marriage" by threatening to release a letter that would be "damaging [to] his social, political and professional relationships. . . .

"She threatened to send out one of two versions of a letter (one nastier than the other) to 200 of Mr. Lowery's social, business (including clients) and political friends and associates 'explaining' her reasons for leaving the marriage."

Hm. I wonder if she's still got that letter -- the "nasty" version. More to the point: I wonder if federal investigators got their mitts on it?

The Indians made me do it.

On the eve of a tense primary election, that's Ralph Reed's defense against corruption accusations that threaten to capsize his candidacy for Georgia lieutenant governor.

Reed is suffering some punishing body blows from his opponent for his schemes to use money from Indian casinos to pay for Christian anti-gambling efforts -- by funneling the cash through shell companies to disguise its true source.

The charges have been around for months, of course -- accompanied by ample evidence that Reed played a key role in concocting the schemes and putting them into practice. To date he has dodged the allegations by first claiming ignorance of the clients, and then woodenly chiming that "Had I known then what I know now, I would not have undertaken the work."

But yesterday, he changed his tune -- and blamed the Indians. During a debate with his primary opponent Saturday, Reed claimed:

I would have been happy if they [Abramoff's tribal clients] paid me directly. They were the ones who made the decision that I would be paid through nonprofits.

Quick reality check: It has been long-established that Abramoff's casino-owning tribal clients hired Reed to whip up religious anti-gambling fervor and use it to squash any neighboring competition. In order to obscure the fact that Abramoff's casino money was funding Reed's anti-gambling campaigns, the money was funneled through various entities (shell companies and non-profits) before making its way to Reed. Read all the nitty-gritty here.

McCain's Senate investigation found that the funneling had been Reed's idea, because that is what the tribal representatives told investigators.

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Well, well, well. Last week I pointed out that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) seemed remarkably quiet after a federal judge ruled that the FBI's raid of Rep. William Jefferson's (D-LA) congressional office was constitutional.

That was in stark contrast to the duo's hard-line stance shortly after the raid, when they demanded that the FBI "immediately return" the documents to Jefferson. They were fighting to ensure the separation of powers, to uphold the constitution -- they were going to fight this thing to the end!

Now Roll Call reports (sub. req.) that the House leadership, having lost the first round in the courts, probably won't even be appealing the judge's decision. It seems that neither figure is willing to stick their neck out alone to defend Jefferson, fearing it could tar them as pro-corruption. Also, since those heady times in May when Hastert and Pelosi bonded over their outrage, a number of lawmakers have privately complained to the leadership that this is not a battle that is best fought publicly.

If they decide not to appeal, the paper notes, the leadership could recruit surrogates -- "prominent former lawmakers" and "legal experts" -- to take up their cause in the courts.

There will be at least two more weeks for Nick Lampson, the Democratic candidate for Tom DeLay's seat, to enjoy campaigning without an opponent.

The GOP nomination will remain in limbo until early August, which is when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on whether DeLay will be forced to stay on the ballot, according to Roll Call (sub. req.). If he and the Texas Republicans lose, then he'll be forced to decide whether to get back in the race or allow Lampson to run for the seat without a GOP opponent.

In the meantime, the clock is ticking...

Leaders Agree: Convicted Lawmakers Shouldn't Be Honored
The House Democratic and Republican leadership have found another issue they agree on: former congressmen convicted of abusing their office shouldn't be saluted for their service to the nation.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is refusing to take part in an event Wednesday night that will include a tribute to former Reps. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.), saying the two men 'have dishonored the House' and 'are unfit to to be honored for their service.'

When told of Pelosi’s objections to having Cunningham’s name mentioned during the event, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) agreed, saying through a spokesman that 'it would be inappropriate to have a convicted felon on the honor roll.'

The head of the group hosting the event, the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, said that he was willing to "skip any mention" of Cunningham during the event. But he would not refrain from honoring DeLay, who to date has not been convicted. (Roll Call) (sub. req'd)

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For two months, nary a detail has escaped our notice about the heightening investigation into House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA).

None of it has escaped Lewis, either, apparently.

The king of the earmark process gave a whopping $200,000 to Robert Bonner and the rest of his defense team at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher as a retainer, new FEC filings show. That single expense comprised the vast majority of his campaign's spending for the past three months, which totalled just over $213,000.

Lewis is protecting himself against a widespread federal anti-corruption probe touched off by the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal. Lewis has been identified as a target in press accounts, and the investigation touches two of his current and former staffers, Jeffrey Shockey and Letitia White, who became lobbyists after working for Lewis.

While Lewis' campaign cash flowed to his defense team, the contributions have slowed to a trickle: just months from the election, his committee reported receiving $53,200 in contributions over the past twelve weeks. (Over $40,000 came from major corporations and interest groups.)

The negative cash flow can't be good news for the Lewis for Congress Committee -- but the group does enjoy deep pockets, with nearly $1.5 million in reserve.

Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) -- who, when pollsters last checked, was trailing her Democratic challenger for Senate by 33 points -- has withdrawn $100,000 from her campaign war chest for a personal expense. (Remember, she pledged to put her entire life's worth into that war chest, in order to win the race. Of course, to date she's only put in $3.5 million.)

Why would she remove funds she desperately needs to fund a campaign that's showing every recognized sign of tanking (as well as some new ones we've never seen before)?

To remodel her Washington, D.C. home.

Is it a gesture of how sure she is of winning? Is that why she's made it a de facto campaign expense, using money from her campaign instead of the millions of personal wealth she's held in reserve?

What's this?

The House Government Reform Committee has subpoenaed the former law firm of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff for records of any contacts he or members of his lobbying team had with the Bush White House.

Chairman Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) authorized a subpoena weeks ago to Greenberg Traurig, according to several of the law firm's former clients who have been notified that it is turning over billing records, e-mails, phone logs and other material that reflects efforts to lobby the White House.

Representatives of four of Abramoff's former tribal clients said they have been notified by Greenberg Traurig that the firm is turning over records. In some cases, there were scores of phone calls or other contacts with the White House....

The subpoena -- read to The Washington Post by a former client who received a copy from Greenberg Traurig -- seeks all firm billing records "referring or relating to matters involving Jack Abramoff or any person working with Jack Abramoff," as well as all records reflecting any contacts those lobbyists had with the White House. The subpoena seeks records from Jan. 1, 1998, to the present, though Abramoff did not begin work at Greenberg Traurig until early 2001.