TPMMuckraker John McCain
John McCain
Report: McCain Inserted Provision To Put Terror Suspects Into Military Custody
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) inserted a little-noticed provision into the National Defense Authorization Act that would put all terror suspects into immediate military custody, the National Journal reports.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Counterterrorism, Domestic Terrorism, Eric Holder, FBI, John McCain, Military Commissions, Terror Plot, Terror Raids, Terrorism, Terrorist Watchlists
Paul Babeu
Pinal County, Arizona's Paul Babeu Named Sheriff Of The Year
Sheriff Paul Babeu
The Arizona sheriff who has claimed "our own government has become our enemy" and starred in a campaign ad for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been awarded the 2011 Ferris E. Lucas Award for Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriffs' Association. The group, which calls itself the largest association of law enforcement professionals in the U.S., credits Sheriff Paul Babeu, of Pinal County, Arizona with becoming "one of the most progressive Sheriffs in the country."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Arizona, John McCain, National Sheriff's Association, Paul Babeu
Don't Ask Don't Tell
McCain Flips Again: 'I'll Do Everything I Can' To Make DADT Repeal Work
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who over the past year made himself into the Senate's most rabid opponent of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, has softened his tone and now says he'll do anything he can to help repeal go smoothly.
"I think I have to do everything I can to make sure that the [impact on the] morale, retention, recruitment and battle effectiveness of the military is minimized as much as possible," McCain said on Fox Business, according to The Hill.
"It is a law and I have to do whatever I can to help the men and women who are serving, particularly in combat, cope with this new situation," he said. "I will do everything I can to make it work."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Don't Ask Don't Tell, John McCain, U.S. Military
Family Research Council
FRC Claims McCain Will Keep Leading Pro-DADT Fight, McCain Says Not So Much
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
The Family Research Council and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) both spent a lot of energy this year fighting the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But that doesn't mean they'll be working together to un-repeal it.
FRC claimed in a blog post yesterday that McCain (R-AZ) will continue to lead the fight.
"We'll be spending the next couple of weeks reassessing the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' debate. In fact, I've already been in conversations with Hill leaders about holding hearings in the New Year, as well as statutory and legislative oversight steps that can be taken to turn back aspects of the repeal and slow down--if not stop--the rest," the post reads.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Family Research Council, John McCain
Stephen Colbert
Colbert: It's Way Too Soon To Repeal DADT (VIDEO)
Stephen Colbert
Like Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Stephen Colbert is a staunch proponent of the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, saying it "is a testament to the American tolerance of all people we never find out are gay."
"In fact," Colbert added, "I bet I'm tolerating unknown gays in my audience right now. Let's see, if you're gay, don't tell me. It could be all of them ... yet I'm fine with not knowing that.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Don't Ask Don't Tell, John McCain, Stephen Colbert
Don't Ask Don't Tell
McConnell: McCain Is Right On DADT (VIDEO)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will follow Sen. John McCain's lead on Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal, he said this weekend on "Meet The Press."
McCain, the ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, spent much of last week's repeal hearings railing against a Pentagon report that the policy can be repealed with minimal damage.
McCain has vowed to block the bill from coming to the floor until more hearings are held.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Don't Ask Don't Tell, John McCain, Mitch McConnell
Don't Ask Don't Tell
McCain On DADT Repeal: 'I Will Not Agree To Have This Bill Go Forward'
Sen. John McCan (R-AZ)
At the end of the today's hearings on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) announced that he will still block the National Defense Authorization Act if it includes a repeal of the policy.
"I will not agree to have this bill go forward," he said. "Because our economy is in the tank."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gay Rights, John McCain, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Don't Ask Don't Tell
Jon Stewart Rips John McCain Over Don't Ask, Don't Tell (VIDEO)
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart last night lampooned Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) continued stalwart opposition to repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, even after the Pentagon released its review indicating that a repeal of the ban on openly gay men and women would have little to no effect on military readiness.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Don't Ask Don't Tell, John McCain, Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
Don't Ask Don't Tell
Excuses, Excuses: Why Top GOPers Say They Can't Vote For DADT Repeal
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen, Department of Defense General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson, and U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham
In his opening statement at a Don't Ask, Don't Tell hearing today, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen systematically blew apart the classic attacks on repeal.
"Repeal of the law will not prove an unacceptable risk to military readiness. Unit cohesion will not suffer," Mullen said. "And families will not encourage their loved ones to leave the service in droves."
"And I find the argument that war is not the time to change to be antithetical with our own experience since 2001," he said. "War does not stifle change; it demands it."
He destroyed Sen. John McCain's suggestion that the opinions of the service chiefs were more important than those of Mullen. McCain had said Mullen "is not directly in charge of the troops."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Jeff Sessions, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Mike Mullen, Robert Gates, Saxby Chambliss
John McCain
The DADT Review Has Apparently Not Changed McCain's Mind
Sen. John McCan (R-AZ)
At today's hearing on the Pentagon's Don't Ask, Don't Tell review, Sen. John McCain made it clear that the Pentagon's review of the policy has not changed his mind.
McCain, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, started saying last Sunday that the review itself wasn't done correctly, nine months after it was announced and two days before he would see the report.
Now that he's seen the report -- which concludes that repealing DADT would not harm the military's effectiveness or unit cohesion -- McCain has apparently not changed his mind.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Don't Ask Don't Tell, John McCain, Mike Mullen, Robert Gates
Don't Ask Don't Tell
Eyes On The Clock For DADT Repeal Advocates After Pentagon Report
A crowd protests "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" outside the White House
The release of the Pentagon's Don't Ask, Don't Tell review yesterday brought a collective sigh of relief from the gay advocacy and progressive organizations lobbying for the policy's repeal. Now, they say, they can zero in on the senators who told them this summer that they couldn't vote for repeal until the review was done.
"It's probably one of the best tools repeal advocates can us in the Senate lame duck session," Aubrey Sarvis, the head of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said yesterday.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Don't Ask Don't Tell, John McCain, Lame duck, Log Cabin Republicans, Robert Gates
Don't Ask Don't Tell
Responding To Pressure, Pentagon Will Release DADT Report One Day Early
Sec. of Defense Robert Gates
Responding to pressure from pro-repeal senators and gay groups, the Pentagon is releasing its study on how to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell before its Dec. 1 deadline -- one day before.
The Washington Post reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered the report be released on Nov. 30.
"He wants to ensure members of the Armed Services Committee are able to read and consider the complex, lengthy report before holding hearings with its authors and the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said in a statement.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Carl Levin, Don't Ask Don't Tell, John McCain, Robert Gates
Don't Ask Don't Tell
Gates Calls For DADT Repeal In Lame Duck As Levin And McCain Discuss Stripping It
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Australia on Sunday that he would like to see Don't Ask, Don't Tell repealed in the lame duck session of Congress.
Asked if he saw any prospect for repeal of the policy in the lame duck, Gates replied, "I would like to see the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but I'm not sure what the prospects for that are and we'll just have to see."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Carl Levin, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gay Rights, John McCain, Robert Gates
Bobby Thompson
Accomplice Of 'Bobby Thompson' Arraigned In Alleged Charity Scam
"Bobby Thompson" and George W. Bush
The Ohio Attorney General's office announced today that Blanca Contreras, an associate of the alleged charity scammer and GOP donor known as "Bobby Thompson," had been arraigned after being extradited from North Carolina. She pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering, money laundering, and aggravated theft. Bond was set at $2 million.
Contreras served as the acting treasurer for U.S. Navy Veterans Association, a fraudulent charity that Thompson allegedly operated from 2003 to 2010.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Blanca Contreras, Bob McDonnell, Bobby Thompson, George Bush, John Boehner, John McCain, Ken Cuccinelli, Michelle Bachmann, Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Navy Veterans Association
Bobby Thompson
Charity Scammer Allegedly Used Fake Names To Donate $$ To GOP Candidates
"Bobby Thompson" and George W. Bush
"Bobby Thompson" isn't the only fake identity associated with the charity scammer / GOP donor who was indicted last week in Ohio. Thompson -- whose true identity is unknown -- also made up a dozen fake names, then allegedly took out money orders in those names so he could make donations to political candidates.
According to the Ohio attorney general's office, Thompson wrote at least 11 money orders using the names of people who apparently don't exist, along with addresses associated with his fake charity, U.S. Navy Veterans Association. He used the fake names to give $376 to Florida attorney general Bill McCollum in 2006, $2,260 to Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign in 2008 and $500 to Marty Seifert, a former Minnesota state house representative who unsuccessfully ran for governor this year.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Bill McCollum, Bobby Thompson, George Bush, John Boehner, John McCain, Ken Cuccinelli, Michelle Bachmann, NRSC, Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Navy Veterans Association
Don't Ask Don't Tell
Senate Blocks DADT Repeal
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
The Senate today blocked the start of debate on the National Defense Authorization Act, with Republicans objecting to a provision that would repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The vote was 56 to 43, with 60 votes needed to break the filibuster.
Two Democratic senators, Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, both from Arkansas, voted with Republicans to block the bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid also voted no, a procedural move so he can bring the cloture motion back to the floor later.
DADT was one of several sticking points of the defense authorization bill, which must pass in order to fund the military.
Republican senators, including Sens. John McCain (AZ) and Susan Collins (ME), argued that passing repeal now would undermine the Defense Department's review of the policy, which won't be completed until December.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gay Rights, Harry Reid, John McCain, Lady Gaga, Susan Collins
John McCain
McCain's 'Danged Fence' Sheriff: The Government Is Our Enemy
Sheriff Paul Babeau and Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
Paul Babeu, the cue-ball-headed sheriff of Pinal County, Ariz., told CNS News yesterday that, when it comes to immigration, the federal government has become the enemy.
"Our own government has become our enemy," he said, "and is taking us to court at a time when we need help."
Topics: 2010 Elections, Arizona, Immigration, John McCain
Arizona
Jon Stewart On AZ Training Video: So...'Mexicans Are F*cked' (VIDEO)
As we reported last week, Arizona released a training video for law enforcement officials training them how not to be accused of racial profiling while implementing the state's new immigration law. After watching the video, Jon Stewart concluded last night: "Mexicans are f*cked."
He was also confused by one speaker in the video, who said that "no officer should ever say, 'Show me your papers.' That's just rude."
Stewart asked: "What is that guy, the Emily Post of the open range? Racial profiling is rude. Tasering Mexicans, why it's just not done! And remember officers, always serve subpoenas from the left. Take documentation from the right."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Arizona, Fox News, Immigration, John McCain, Jon Stewart, Law Enforcement
Bailout
Bailout: Best Program Evaaah?
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
As unpopular government initiatives go, the financial bailout would seem to rank somewhere up there between Prohibition and the Stamp Act.
In the political sphere -- and not just in far-right circles -- it's something close to a consensus view that the bailout was a corrupt giveaway of taxpayers dollars to Wall Street that will leave us deep in the red for decades. As Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) put it after TARP passed: "Only two things are certain: the bill will provide hundreds of billions of dollars to investors who made bad decisions and Wall Street executives; and our children and grandchildren will now face a national debt that is hundreds of billions of dollars higher." Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) was just ousted by state Republicans, who cited his vote for the TARP and derisively nicknamed him "Bailout Bob." And Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has taken to claiming, implausibly, that he only supported the bailout because he was misled about the fact that it was targeted at the financial sector (seriously).
Topics: Bailout, Bob Bennett, Federal Reserve, Financial Crisis, Financial Reform, John McCain, TARP , Tim Geithner, Treasury Department, Wall Street
Peter King
Rep. Peter King Uses Times Square Bomber To Go Back On The Attack
Rep. Peter King (R-NY)
Another attempted terror attack, another chance for Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) to try to gain a political advantage.
In recent years, the New York Republican has gained a reputation for demagoguing every terror incident by hyping the threat of radical Islam and suggesting that Democrats' policies are putting Americans' lives at risk. And now he's back at it.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: FBI, Faisal Shahzad, Islamic Terrorism, John McCain, Peter King, Terrorism, Times Square, Times Square Bomb
Common Sense Issues
Push Poll Group Returns: Says Senator Supports 'Health Care For Homosexuals'
Republican senate candidate Mike Lee of Utah
They're baaaaaack!
Long-time readers may remember Common Sense Issues, a group that gained brief notoriety during the 2008 GOP presidential primary for launching a massive barrage of push poll calls in support of Mike Huckabee. One typical call claimed that John McCain supported "experiments on unborn babies."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Bob Bennett, Common Sense Issues, Health Care, John McCain, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Mike Lee
Joe Arpaio
Defying Feds, Arpaio Says He'll Step Up Immigration Enforcement
Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Sheriff Joe Arpaio is doubling down on his defiance of the Feds.
In November, the Department of Homeland Security stripped 100 Maricopa County deputies of their ability to make immigration arrests, amid a slew of complaints that the controversial sheriff was using racial profiling techniques to round up suspected illegal immigrants.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Department of Homeland Security, Immigration, J.D. Hayworth, Joe Arpaio, John McCain, Justice Department
Norm Coleman
American Action Network: Coleman Et Al. To Launch Right-Wing 'Action Tank'
Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), American Action CEO
Several top Republicans are launching what they call a "think-and-do tank" that will focus on conservative economics and business issues and will openly advocate for political candidates, the New York Times is reporting.
At the forefront of the new American Action Network are former senator Norm Coleman and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who was a policy adviser for John McCain and a frequent face of the McCain presidential campaign on television.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: American Action Network, Center for American Progress, John McCain, Norm Coleman
Northwest Flight 253
McCain Again Cites Bogus Abdulmutallab 'One-Way' Ticket Meme (VIDEO)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
A couple of weeks ago, Sen. John McCain got into a heated exchange with an Obama counterterrorism official who corrected the senator's false statement that the accused Christmas bomber traveled to Detroit on a one-way ticket.
Well apparently McCain, the third-ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, didn't learn his lesson. Last night on Fox he once again claimed that the "fact" that Umar Abdulmutallab was traveling on a one-way ticket should have been a red flag.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: Greta Van Susteren, Homeland Security, Homeland Security Committee, John McCain, Northwest Flight 253, One-Way Ticket, Round-Trip Ticket, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Northwest Flight 253
McCain Gets Schooled On Bogus Abdulmutallab 'One-Way Ticket' Meme (VIDEO)
The one-way ticket meme lives!
Quizzing an administration official at the Homeland Security Committee Flight 253 hearing today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pointed to a missed red flag: the fact that accused Christmas bomber Umar Abdulmutallab bought a one-way ticket with cash to travel from Lagos, Nigeria, to Detroit.
The only problem with that, of course, is that it's simply not true. As TPMmuckraker has documented, Abdulmutallab flew to Detroit on a round-trip ticket purchased in Ghana, according to the Nigerian government.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Topics: John McCain, Michael Leiter, Northwest Flight 253, One-Way Ticket, Round-Trip Ticket, Senate Homeland Security Committee, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Campaign Finance
Supreme Court Ruling Could Reshape Campaign Finance Laws
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)
The Supreme Court could rule this morning on a case that may radically reshape our campaign-finance laws, opening the door for unrestricted amounts of corporate money to flow into American politics.
In a nutshell: The FEC ruled that the conservative group Citizens United (CU) was prohibited by the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law from airing a negative movie about Hillary Clinton. CU received corporate donations and the movie advocated the defeat of a political candidate within 60 days of an election. CU is arguing that the FEC ruling violated its freedom of speech, and that the relevant provision of McCain-Feingold is unconstitutional.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Campaign Donations, Campaign Finance, FEC, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Russ Feingold
Ken Starr
Strange Bedfellows: To Weaken Campaign-Finance Law, Starr's Group Defends Edwards Backer
Ken Starr
A heavy-hitting group of conservative lawyers led by Ken Starr and Ed Meese is jumping to the defense of a Democratic trial lawyer and major John Edwards backer.
No, Starr, Meese et al. haven't suddenly undergone a political conversion. Instead, they see a chance to undermine campaign-finance laws they never supported in the first place.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: Bill Clinton, Campaign Finance, Ed Meese, FEC, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, Ken Starr, Russ Feingold
Charlie Crist
Mo Money Mo Problems: Rothstein Is Latest Crist Fundraiser Under Cloud
Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL), Scott Rothstein, Alan Mendelsohn, and Harry Sargeant
Something is rotten in the state of Florida?
With the accusations this week that Scott Rothstein, fast-living Fort Lauderdale attorney and friend and donor to Gov. Charlie Crist, orchestrated a massive fraud out of his law firm, there are now three Crist moneymen caught up in alleged criminal or extremely shady activity.
Crist, whose career has been fueled by his skill as a fundraiser, finds himself entangled with the trio of scandals just as his U.S. Senate primary campaign against conservative Marco Rubio is attracting national attention. And there's already talk down in Florida that the Crist-linked scandals may become a factor in the primary contest.
So what's it all about? Let's go to the tape.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Topics: Alan Mendelsohn, Charlie Crist, Harry Sargeant, John McCain, Roger Stone, Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, Scott Rothstein
Justice Department
Justice To Probe Decision To Drop "New Black Panther" Voter Intimidation Case
The Justice Department's internal ethics unit has opened an investigation into the decision to drop a voter intimidation complaint against members of the New Black Panther Party, the Washington Times reported yesterday.
In a letter sent late last month, Mary Patrice Brown, who runs DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility, told Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) that OPR had "initiated an inquiry into the matter."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Barack Obama, DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility, George Bush, John McCain, Justice Department, Racism, Voting
John McCain
Karen Hughes: Don't Blame Me For Torture
You've got to hand it to Karen Hughes. She fights for what she believes in.
The former top Bush adviser talked torture in a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)Topics: George Bush, John McCain, Torture
Torture
Trio Of Senators Ask Obama Not To Prosecute Bush Attorneys
Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman have sent a letter to President Obama urging him not to prosecute Bush Justice Department officials who wrote legal rationales for torture. "[T]he Department of Justice is currently conducting an internal ethics review of the OLC memos," the trio write, "but that is a quite a different matter from making legal advice with which we may disagree into a crime."
This has been a common refrain from these three for some time, but this letter belies the facts that the use of torture predated the memos that were written to retroactively justify it, and that the Attorney General has independent authority to investigate and, possibly, prosecute their authors. I've pasted the full text of the letter below the fold.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Topics: Joe Lieberman, John McCain, Torture
John McCain
Sergeant Who Smeared Fellow Soldier, New Republic Writer Executed Four Iraqi Men
A senior enlisted U.S. Army soldier--Master Sergeant John Hatley--was convicted two days ago by a military jury in Germany of executing four handcuffed, blindfolded Iraqi men by shooting them in the backs of their heads.
That's a newsworthy (and, of course, gruesome) story in and of itself, but there's a story behind the story.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (55)Topics: Iraq, John McCain
Mack Whittle
Whittle Was On McCain's South Carolina Finance Team
Mack Whittle was a member of John McCain's South Carolina finance team for the Arizona senator's recent presidential bid, and was on the finance committee for South Carolina senator (and McCain pal) Lindsey Graham's 2002 Senate campaign. Whittle also raised money for George Bush's run in 2000.
That's according to a press release sent out by McCain's campaign in March 2007, and reported by the States News Service (via Nexis). It lists 40 members of the finance team, including:
Mack Whittle of Greenville, CEO of the South Financial Group. Bush Fundraiser 2000. Graham for Senate Finance Committee 2002.
Whittle also serves on the board of the University of South Carolina, according to published reports.
And according to the transcript (via Nexis) of an October 22 conference call with reporters, Whittle will remain on South Financial's board. On the call, Whittle said: "I have a three-year term on the board, and I just plan on continuing to serve out that term."
Whittle retired late last moth with an $18 million severance package. South Financial recently received $347 million in bailout money.
Late Update: In 2003, Bush also appointed Whittle a member of the Advisory Committee on the Arts, says this White House press release.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Topics: Bailout, George Bush, John McCain, Mack Whittle
voter fraud
Fox Desperately Stokes Fears of Flawed Election
Check out FoxNews.com's frantic effort to lay the groundwork for the claim that Obama's expected win is illegitimate, the product of a chaotic and fraud-prone election system and voter intimidation carried out by violent African-Americans.
At one polling site in Vermont, voters could maybe even look over and see each other's ballots! The election is ruined!
Not to pooh-pooh the importance of a secret ballot, but this is really grasping at straws.
In a way, you can't blame Fox. In stoking fears of an illegitimate election, it's only following John McCain's lead.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)Topics: Election 2008, Fox News, John McCain, Voting, voter fraud
John McCain
Election Expert: McCain's VA Suit On Military Ballots May Be Barred
Earlier tonight we told you about a lawsuit filed by the McCain campaign that seeks to ensure that military ballots not received until after the election are counted in Virginia. Election law expert Rick Hasen writes on his blog that he's now had a chance to look more closely at the suit, and here's his take:
I think there's a strong argument that because of the long delay the suit could well be barred by laches.More fundamentally, the suit under UOCAVA may be barred for the same reason the Ohio mismatch case failed at the Supreme Court-- there's no private right of action: 42 USC Sec. 1973ff-4 Enforcement: The Attorney General may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court for such declaratory or injunctive relief as may be necessary to carry out this subchapter." The McCain campaign likely doesn't have standing to bring this suit; only DOJ does (and don't count them out!).
So it's by no means clear that the suit will even be heard on its merits. But we're likely to hear more on this...
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: John McCain, Voting
Voting
McCain Camp Sues Virginia Over Military Ballots
Here's a possible last-minute effort by the McCain camp to throw a wrench into the vote counting in a key swing state.
The Associated Press reports:
John McCain's campaign sued Virginia's electoral board today, hours before the election, seeking to force the state to count late-arriving overseas military ballots.The lawsuit asks a federal judge to order the State Board of Elections to count any overseas absentee ballots sent by November 4 and received by local election officials as late as November 14.
McCain claims the rights of military voters are protected by the federal Uniform and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Rights Act of 1986.
The campaign's complaint says that Virginia military voters posted overseas who support the Republican nominee will be denied their right to vote unless the court grants the order.
The report adds that no hearing was scheduled by this afternoon.
Under normal procedures, military ballots would likely only be counted if their number exceeded the total margin of victory of one candidate, meaning they could affect the result. So the suit may be designed to ensure that Virginia can't be officially called for Obama early in the evening, which could depress Republican turnout in other parts of the country.
Late Update: Rick Hasen, an election law expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, tells TPMmuckraker that the suit is likely an effort to ensure that military ballots that arrived after election day -- which will likely favor McCain -- will be counted. That was an issue during the Florida recount of 2000, in which the courts ultimately ruled that such ballots could be counted. (Hasen cautioned that he hadn't yet had a chance to look closely at the suit.)
And on his blog, he asks a good question: "Why did this suit have to wait until the eve of the election?"
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Election 2008, John McCain, Voting
ACORN
McCain Camp Can't Give Example Of Registration Fraud Leading To Voter Fraud
A member of John McCain's "Honest and Open Election Committee" has admitted that he can't give a single example of voter registration fraud leading to actual voter fraud.
In an interview with Pro Publica, which was also published on Politico.com, Ronald Michaelson, a veteran elections administrator, acknowledged:
"Do we have a documented instance of voting fraud that resulted from a phony registration form? No, I can't cite one, chapter and verse."
The Honest and Open Election Committee was set up by the McCain camp to provide a veneer of expertise and non-partisanship to the campaign's efforts to stoke fears about voter fraud. In a September conference call, one of the committee chair's, ex-Missouri senator John Danforth, highlighted reports of faulty registration forms in Michigan, Colorado, and other states, and tried to link ACORN to Barack Obama.
Michaelson also admitted, in Pro Publica's words, that "an election-rigging scheme starting with phony application forms would not make much sense." But he argued that the mere perception of fraud can do damage to the integrity of the election.
Of course, the McCain campaign and other Republicans have been the foremost creators of that perception. Earlier this month in a presidential debate, McCain warned darkly that ACORN -- the community organizing group that Republicans have tried to turn into a voter-fraud boogeyman -- "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."
Pro Publica adds that a McCain campaign spokesman couldn't do much better than Michaelson:
Asked for specifics about the dangers of fake registration, Ben Porritt, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, provided links to 13 news clips and a 2003 Missouri state auditor's report. Eleven of the cases did not involve registration fraud. Two recounted how felons appeared to have cast illegal votes under their own names. The lone example of a forged registration leading to an illegitimate vote comes from The Wall Street Journal's John Fund, who in April 2006 wrote that a community organizer had improperly registered a noncitizen, and then "someone eventually voted in [the noncitizen's] name."PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)
Topics: ACORN, Barack Obama, John McCain, Voting, voter fraud
Barack Obama
The Anatomy of a Smear
Here's how the right's big eleventh-hour smear on Obama was carried out.
First the Murdoch-owned Times of London reported Thursday that Obama's aunt, Zeituni Onyango, is living in a Boston public-housing complex. It's unclear how the paper learned of the woman's presence in the U.S.
From there, the story quickly got taken up by the right-wing echo chamber. Fox News (also Murdoch-owned, of course), Drudge, the Boston Herald, and various conservative blogs -- as well as some mainstream outlets -- began breathlessly hyping the story.
But the Times had been unable to tie up one key detail. It reported:
The Times could not determine their immigration status and an official at Boston City Hall said that Ms Onyango was a resident of Flaherty Way but not registered to vote on the electoral roll. However, that Ms Onyango made a contribution to the Obama campaign would indicate that she is a US citizen.
But that was easily taken care of. The Associated Press was the first to confirm, in a story posted this morning, that Onyango is here illegally after her request for asylum was rejected by an immigration judge four years ago.
But note the way in which AP seems to have obtained the information. High up in the story, it reports:
Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one a federal law enforcement official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.
In other words, it looks like someone in the Bush administration leaked the information, with the goal of throwing a last-minute wrench into Obama's campaign. And someone else confirmed it, with similar motives.
On the record, of course, the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, is telling reporters it can't comment on any individual person's immigration status. It would appear to be a violation of department procedures, at the least, to leak such information.
We've seen this same tactic used recently by the Bush administration. Earlier this month, law enforcement sources leaked the news, also to the AP, that the FBI has begun a nationwide investigation into ACORN. Again, the obvious purpose of the leak was political -- to bolster a Republican campaign to stoke fears about voter fraud, in an effort to de-legitimize an Obama win. The Justice Department still has not confirmed the existence of the investigation.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (138)Topics: Barack Obama, Department of Homeland Security, John McCain
Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens' First Day As a Convicted Felon
Yesterday, in an unanimous decision, the jury in the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens found the seven-term senator guilty on seven count of false statements. The verdict made Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, a convicted felon and one of only five in all of history to be convicted of a crime, and the first since 1981.
This morning, presidential hopeful and fellow Senator John McCain called for Stevens, embroiled in a close election of his own, to step down.
Fox News caught up with the Senator leaving his office today to return home to Alaska to campaign, and it appeared that becoming a convicted felon hadn't chastened Stevens legendary ornery attitude. At the end of the interview, Trish Turner, the Fox News Senate producer asked the senator, "What is the formula for winning," to which he replied, "Not answering you right now." Take a look.
Also release this morning were scanned versions of all of the notes passed between the jury and Judge Emmet Sullivan, which we've collected here along with the historical official verdict.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: Alaska, John McCain, Ted Stevens
Voting
What's Behind the Feds' ACORN Probe?
It's worth noting, in response to the news that the FBI has launched an investigation into whether ACORN was involved in a nationwide voter-registration fraud scheme, that the launch of the probe comes at a time national Republicans at several different levels have sought to make an issue out of ACORN -- in some cases calling for just such an investigation.
Last week, John McCain told a Florida crowd:
"There are serious allegations of voter fraud in the battleground states across America. They must be investigated." The GOP standard-bearer has continued to sound the alarm over ACORN since then, and brought it up at last night's debate.
GOP House leader John Boehner last week called in a statement for ACORN to be de-funded -- it is currently eligible for federal housing funds -- and charged that over the years, ACORN "has committed fraud on our system of elections, making American voters question the fairness and accuracy of the exercise of their most fundamental right under the Constitution."
Last week the RNC held at least five separate conference calls with reporters to stoke fears of voter fraud connected to ACORN.
And numerous state- and local-level Republicans have also in the last few weeks called publicly for authorities to look into ACORN.
There's something else that's worth keeping in mind as we learn more about what's behind the current investigation.
At a summer 2007 hearing on the U.S. attorney firings, Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) questioned then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about changes made to DOJ's election crimes manual.
As TPMmuckraker reported at the time:
The new version (pdf), which replaced the 1995 manual, lowers the bar in terms of voter fraud prosecutions -- no longer cautioning against pursuing isolated, individual cases of fraud and softening language that had all but prohibited pursuing such cases before an election. "Two and possibly three of the fired U.S. attorneys were fired because they didn't bring those small cases that might affect an election," [Feinstein] observed. "Something's rotten in Denmark."
The recent inspector general's report on the U.S. attorney firings concluded that the failure to pursue voter fraud allegations as aggressively as the Bush administration wanted was a factor in several of the the firings.
We laid out the details to the changes in the manual at the time of Feinstein's questioning.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)Topics: ACORN, John Boehner, John McCain, U.S. Attorneys, Voting, voter fraud
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