FEC

Watchdogs: Campaign Finance Agency Is AWOL

Susan Crabtree | February 17, 2011, 8:28AM

A coalition of watchdog groups are calling for congressional hearings into what they regard as systematic failings of the Federal Election Commission, the agency charged with enforcing campaign finance law.

In a letter to the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate oversight committees, the coalition urges the panels to hold hearings on the FEC's "frequent refusal to enforce the campaign finance laws passed by Congress."

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Topics: Campaign Contributions, Campaign Donations, Campaign Finance, Campaign Legal Center , Darrell Issa, Democracy 21, FEC, Hans von Spakovsky, House Oversight, House Oversight and Government Reform, Joe Lieberman, Senate Homeland Security Committee

Fort Hood

Lieberman Claims White House Won't Say 'Islamic Extremists'

Melissa Jeltsen | February 15, 2011, 1:24PM

What message should we take away from the Fort Hood massacre, where 13 people were allegedly murdered by radicalized Muslim army psychiatrist Nadal Hasan? According to Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), the takeaway is that the U.S. should to stop beating around the bush and call America's enemies what they supposedly are: "Islamic extremists."

Lieberman convened the hearing ostensibly to discuss the recently-released report that criticized the federal government for failing to prevent the massacre by not taking appropriate action to remove Hasan from the military. But it quickly turned into a denunciation of the language the Administration supposedly uses to discuss violent acts.

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Topics: Domestic Terrorism, Fort Hood, Joe Lieberman, Nidal Malik Hasan, Senate Homeland Security Committee, Susan Collins, Texas

Northwest Flight 253

McCain Gets Schooled On Bogus Abdulmutallab 'One-Way Ticket' Meme (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | January 20, 2010, 12:09PM

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.

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Topics: John McCain, Michael Leiter, Northwest Flight 253, One-Way Ticket, Round-Trip Ticket, Senate Homeland Security Committee, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Northwest Flight 253

Three Senate Panels Kick Off Flight 253 Hearings Today

Justin Elliott | January 20, 2010, 9:13AM

As three separate Senate committees today hold hearings on the failed Christmas attack over Detroit, watch for Republicans to take the opportunity to ramp up their criticism of the Obama Administration.

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Topics: Dennis Blair, Janet Napolitano, Michael Leiter, Northwest Flight 253, Pete Sessions, Senate Commerce Committee, Senate Homeland Security Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee, Terror Plot, Terrorism, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab