
To state Sen. Wendy Davis, the firebombing of her Fort Worth district office on Tuesday was a clear sign that something is wrong in Texas.
Targeted by a man who authorities said talked of space aliens and had a history of psychiatric problems, the Democrat ripped into her fellow lawmakers on Wednesday for providing so little funding for mental health care throughout the state.
"These decisions have consequences," Davis said in an interview with TPM. "Many people are able to look at them just as dollars on a budget line and they forget that there are real people that are affected by them."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Republicans in Utah have opened up the next front in a battle against public unions being waged in statehouses throughout the nation.
A bill introduced last week in the Utah legislature would ban government employees from collectively bargaining on any issue except for wages and health benefits. The proposal would bar unions from having a say in things like training, equipment and disciplinary procedures.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)The House Ethics Committee attorneys accused of bungling the case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) three months ago were still on the House payroll as of Jan. 31, as TPM reported late last week, and there are new questions about how they are managing to stick around.
House Ethics Committee rules clearly require the panel to approve all staffers at the beginning of each Congress.
"All staff members shall be appointed by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Committee," the rules state.
The vote shall occur at the first Committee of each Congress, according to the rules, and "as necessary" during the Congress.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)A woman who embezzled $6 million from the insurance company where she worked, spent $175,000 on political campaigns and blamed it all on her split personalities has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Prosecutors say that Phyllis Stevens, who is 59, siphoned money off Des Moines-based Aviva USA for years by creating fake insurance agents and paying them huge commissions, which were wired into a bank account that Stevens and her wife, Marla, held in another state.
The Stevenses donated some $175,000 to state and federal candidates in 2006 and 2008, They chose mostly Democrats, including former Rep. Betsey Markey (D-CO) and Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) and Democratic groups, like MoveOn and the Democratic Party of Iowa, but also gave to some Republican women.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Following in the House's footsteps, the Senate is trying to block the Obama administration from bringing any Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States, even for trial.
The Senate Appropriations Committee released the text of a 2,000-page omnibus spending bill yesterday, a bill that would fund the government through next September. Like the House's spending bill, the Senate's includes a provision that would ban any funds from being used for the transfer of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other Guantanamo Bay detainees to the U.S.
As TPM reported Monday, the House bill was written solely by Democrats -- meaning Democrats put the detainee transfer ban in. Attorney General Eric Holder wrote to the Senate's majority and minority leaders after that vote, pleading with them to keep such a provision out of the Senate's version.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)The Obama administration has loudly opposed a provision of the omnibus spending bill, passed last week by the House, that would ban the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to U.S. soil, even for trial.
"This provision goes well beyond existing law and would unwisely restrict the ability of the Executive branch to prosecute alleged terrorists in Federal courts or military commissions in the United States," Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a letter to Senate leadership, calling the provision "dangerous" and asking that it be stripped before the Senate votes on the bill this week.
"We strongly oppose this provision. Congress should not limit the tools available to the executive branch in bringing terrorists to justice and advancing our national security interests," White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said just before the bill passed.
So you would think, then, that this was perhaps a provision snuck into the must-pass government funding bill by Republicans intent on derailing Holder's plan to try self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in civilian criminal court.
You'd be wrong.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Robert Decheine, chief of staff to Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), was arrested in Gaithersburg, Md. last Friday on charges of soliciting sex from a minor. Decheine, who had been with the Democrat's office since 2003, was fired immediately after the congressman consulted the House Counsel about his arrest, Rothman spokesman Aaron Keyak told The Hill in a statement.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)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:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)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."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) wants the House ethics committee to set a date for her trial -- and to set one before November's midterm elections.
In a letter sent yesterday, Waters demanded that the committee release their allegations against her and that the adjudicatory hearing, or trial, be held as soon as possible, and before Election Day.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)The House ethics committee announced today that it will charge Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) with ethics violations.
The panel did not name the charges. They'll be announced at the first public meeting of an adjudicatory subcommittee, which was formed to determine whether Waters did in fact break any House rules.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Hiram Monserrate, a Democrat who was kicked out of the New York State Senate in February for a domestic violence conviction, got enough signatures to get on the ballot for a state assembly seat.
Monserrate gathered 823 signatures. He'll be on the ballot against Francisco Moya, running for the seat that was vacated by the man who took Monserrate's seat when he was expelled.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)The House ethics panel's investigatory subcommittee says that they recommended to the full committed that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) be reprimanded for his 13 alleged violations.
Rep. Gene Green (D-TX), who led the investigation, told reporters today that his committee recommended Rangel be reprimanded instead of the more serious penalties of censure or expulsion.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)As state officials in Michigan review a proposed Tea Party's petition to appear on the November ballot, evidence is mounting that the party is a front for Democratic supporters hoping to rescue embattled Democrats this fall.
Earlier this week, the party submitted the names of 23 candidates it wants to place on ballots across the state this fall. Though several are for statewide offices, most are running in districts where Republicans are threatening incumbent Democrats. The Detroit Free Press reports today that a local Democratic party official had a role in helping some of the candidates become members of the Tea Party. Combine that with previous reporting showing the nearly 60,000 signatures the party gathered to earn a place on the ballot having been collected by a Democratic firm called Progressive Campaigns, Inc., and you've got a recipe for some serious skepticism about the party's legitimacy.
Democratic party figures in Michigan continue to deny any connection with the Tea Party, just as tea party movement figures in the state continue to claim the party is in no way connected with them, either.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Democrats are increasingly nervous that Rep. Charlie Rangel's ethics investigation will bleed over into the November elections as Rangel negotiates behind the scenes for a last-minute settlement.
The Associated Press is reporting that Rangel (D-NY) former chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, is trying to settle his case in advance of Thursday's open hearing. That would mean he would have to agree he committed some ethical misconduct, the AP reported with citations to "people familiar with the situation."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)In the end, America's loudest disgraced ex-governor stayed silent. The defense rested its case in Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial today, without putting a single witness on the stand.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Today featured the prosecution's cross-examination of Rod Blagojevich's brother Robert -- and ended with the ex-governor's lawyers saying their client may not take the stand after all. After all this build up, could Blago sit silently through his trial? What happened?
Blagojevich's lawyers say they don't think the prosecutors have proven their case. But The Chicago Sun-Times suggests keeping Rod off the stand may have something to do with Robert's performance during cross examination. "In just the first 10 minutes of cross-examination Monday, Robert Blagojevich, who had overseen the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund, found himself contradicting his own statements and having to explain a secretly recorded and previously unheard conversation." Today's Moment of Blago comes from Robert, and via the Sun-Times.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's defense in his corruption trial began today. A central part of his lawyers' argument is expected to be that Blago is a naive man who got bad advice. Blagojevich himself has spent months in the media spotlight projecting an image -- deliberately or not -- as a smiling oaf. The defense thinks the jury will buy this story. We think it's ripe for comic moments.
In that spirit, we bring you the first installment of Today's Moment of Blago:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)The Federal Elections Commission has fined Vice President Joe Biden $219,000 for accepting illegal donations and failing to disclose payments and debts.
According to an FEC audit, Biden's 2008 presidential campaign didn't return $106,000 in campaign donations that went over the individual limit of $2,300. There were also $85,000 in "stale checks" -- checks the campaign wrote to vendors and contributors which were never cashed.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's defense in his corruption trial will begin Monday, after the prosecution wrapped up their case this week more than a month ahead of schedule.
Blago's lawyers may have a tough time winning over the jurors, who have heard weeks of the infamous wiretappings ("fucking golden," anyone?) and Blago's delusions of grandeur. According to the Chicago Tribune, Blago's top lawyer told the judge this week that he won't dispute many of the charges; instead, he's trying to prove that Blagojevich "had no criminal intent in the things that he said and the things that he did." He's painting him, as he did in his opening statement, as a naive man who trusted the wrong people. The defense has also argued that Blago got bad legal advice.
Hassan Nemazee, a former fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, was sentenced today to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty in March to bilking banks out of $292 million.
Nemazee pleaded guilty to three counts of bank fraud and one count of wire fraud. Prosecutors said Nemazee operated a type of Ponzi scheme in which he borrowed large amounts from three banks using fake collateral, and then paid off the debt with more loans.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, under fire for undisclosed loans from friends reportedly used to renovate his house, will now face an Office of Congressional Ethics investigation as well.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint against Meeks with the Office of Congressional Ethics today based on the NY Daily News reports that Meeks failed to disclose the personal loans and his participation on two non-profit boards.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)The House Ethics Committee, in its probe of sexual harassment allegations made against former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY), has interviewed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Politico reports, likely about how much House leaders knew about the allegations and how they responded.
Politico also reports that the committee will release its report on the investigation soon.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Prosecutors in the Rod Blagojevich trial have released some classic audio of a recorded conversation between the former Illinois governor and Doug Scofield, a political advisor and former deputy governor, from the day after Barack Obama won the Presidential election.
In a candid conversation, Blagojevich and Scofield discussed the governor's strategy for filling the vacant Senate seat, and the governor utters the now-infamous phrase: "I've got this thing and it's fucking golden."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)The Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to take a new look at the controversial conviction of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman in the wake of its ruling last week narrowing the scope of a key public corruption statute that was used in the Siegelman case.
Siegelman was convicted in 2006 on charges of bribery and honest services fraud, the statute that was limited by the court last week. Siegelman was found to have given former HealthSouth executive Richard Scrushy a seat on a state board regulating hospitals in exchange for $500,000 in donations to a state lottery campaign.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)The corruption trial against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has been chugging along, with the highlight this week being testimony from Blago's former chief of staff about Rahm Emanuel and President Obama's Senate seat.
Blagojevich's former COS, John Harris, testified that Emanuel sent him a list of people Obama would find acceptable to replace him in the Senate, according to news accounts from the Chicago Tribune and Sun. Blago reportedly called the list "B.S."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Reports in the L.A. Times and the L.A. Weekly show that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has accepted free tickets to around 80 events over the past five years, worth an estimated $50,000 at least.
Villaraigosa has reportedly accepted free tickets to concerts, award shows and sports games without reporting the vast majority of them. The L.A. Weekly estimated -- using a list of events on the mayor's public schedule -- that the tickets total between $50,000 and $100,000, depending on how many tickets he got for each event.
According to the Weekly, the mayor's office kept no documentation of how much the tickets were worth, how many he got for each event, who they came from or how much he received in related freebies like food and drink.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)The Gore pushback begins?
After the revelation yesterday that a Portland, Oregon, massage therapist accused Al Gore of sexual assault for a 2006 incident, Gore's spokeswoman issued "no comment"s across the board -- including to TPM. But given the woman's extremely detailed account of what she alleges happened -- and the fact that police did not dispute that Gore was in the hotel in question on the night in question, it seemed unlikely that Gore would not respond.
Now, buried in Howard Kurtz's Washington Post media column today, we have a response -- of sorts. Check out this paragraph:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) did not report on his personal financial disclosures over $50,000 in loans from a New York businessman that he used to pay for a large home in the Jamaica section of Queens, the Daily News reports.
Meeks, who has been on TPMmuckraker's radar recently because of a federal probe into his Hurricane Katrina charity, told the News that the loans, for $40,000 in 2007, and $15,000 in 2008, were not reported because of an "oversight."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)As the Rod Blagojevich trial wears on, defense attorneys are attempting to tie the shady dealings that took place during the former Illinois governor's tenure to donations made to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)The first tapes made from wiretaps on the phones of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his associates were played yesterday in Blago's corruption trial in Chicago federal court.
The tapes paint the former governor as desperate for campaign funds.
In one tape, Blagojevich can be heard telling his brother, Rob, to hit up everyone he can for donations, hoping to reach a $4 million campaign goal.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Oh, what could have been.
During former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial yesterday, his former chief of staff testified that in 2003, Blago's closest advisers had their eyes set on higher office for Blago -- the highest office, in fact -- thinking a presidential run for the gov might be possible in 2008.
The former COS, Lon Monk, said that two members of Blago's inner circle, Tony Rezko and Chris Kelly, wanted to make sure the new governor wasn't worried about his finances.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Still more bad news for Dems in South Carolina: it turns out that Alvin Greene, the no-name candidate who somehow sailed to victory Tuesday to challenge Republican Sen. Jim DeMint in the fall, was charged late last year with showing obscene pictures to a college student, the AP reports.
Greene, an unemployed veteran and political newcomer, posted bond after his arrest in November; the charges are pending.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) corruption trial began today, after a year and a half of the impeached governor and erstwhile Celebrity Apprentice star vowing that the evidence would prove his innocence. In his opening statement this afternoon, Blagojevich's lawyer argued that Blago is a naive politician who trusted the wrong people, calling his client "insecure" and "broke."
Blago's lawyer, Sam Adam Jr., told the jury today that Blago was a victim of men like Tony Rezko and others. He's naive, Adam said, and so insecure that "he shakes constantly" and "his own lawyers won't take his phone calls."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Fourteen-term incumbent and longtime TPMmuckraker character Alan Mollohan lost his congressional re-election bid last night.
Rep. Mollohan (D-WV) lost to a more conservative Democrat in a year where incumbents seem particularly vulnerable. Mollohan's opponent repeatedly slammed him over a recently concluded ethics investigation into the congressman's financial disclosures and earmarks. No charges were filed, and the case was recently closed.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)In a blog post yesterday on the climate of threats surrounding health care reform, an editor and radio host employed by the Pajamas Media conservative blog outlet called for a return to the "fine tradition" of tar and feathering, and potentially even more extreme acts of violence.
In the post, titled "Put the Fear of Something Into Them," Pajamas' Denver Editor Stephen Green riffed on the recent threats and attacks on Democrats and concluded:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Smashed windows. Threats of violence. A slashed gas line. Reports of vandalism and threats against Democrats have been stacking up over the past few days.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer today estimated that 10 members had been threatened over the health care vote.
So just how bad is it out there?
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)
