“‘We will name names,’ Lowell said by telephone at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck. ‘That is not a good thing for law enforcement.‘” In troubling news for the Justice Department’s corruption probe, a federal judge refuses to postpone Abramoff’ s sentencing, despite pleas from both sides to do so. “Huck said the government can always request a reduction in Abramoff’s sentence later and that he probably would allow both Abramoff and Kidan to remain free for a reasonable amount of time after they are sentenced.”
Category: The Dubya Era
Snatching Defeat…
“You know what I think? I don’t think we have a message.” With the administration faltering weekly, multiple investigations into GOP corruption coming to a head, and several congressional Republicans calling it quits (including longtime House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas), the Post surveys the varying Democratic strategies to win back Congress in 2006. Frankly, folks, it doesn’t look good, even given the great hand we’ve been dealt of late. As you might expect from Will Rogers’ famous dictum, no two people mentioned in this article — Reid, Pelosi, Dean, Emanuel, Schumer, Vilsack — seem to be on the same page.
Night (and Day) Watch.
“I am only a chicken farmer in Pakistan.” With the recent release of detainee names, the NYT looks more closely at exactly who’s being held at Guantanamo Bay, including several folks, it seems, who were guilty of the heinous crime of wearing the wrong timepiece, a “Casio model F-91W watch. According to evidentiary summaries in those cases, such watches have ‘been used in bombings linked to Al Qaeda.’“
Burning Bush.
Thanks to the ugly public machinations of Casino Jack and Boss DeLay, GOP courting of the “September 12” vote stalls out. “‘September 12 Republicans’ were Jewish Democrats and independents who would switch their allegiance because of their concern over national security and their appreciation of President Bush’s stalwart support of Israel.“
Blue in the Face.
Given Dubya’s recent dismal poll position, the NYT‘s David Kirkpatrick assesses the prospects of the Bush second-term agenda in the wake of his incipient lame-duckness.
Sugar Land Sours on DeLay?
With three opponents all bucking to take him into a runoff situation, Boss DeLay faces a tougher GOP primary than usual in his home district this Tuesday. (In a January poll, 68% of primary voters remained undecided.) And, even if he emerges from the primary dust-up relatively unscathed, DeLay will then face a credible and well-financed Democratic opponent in former Rep. Nick Lampson, who, in the same poll, led the Hammer by eight points. “It will not help DeLay that his district is more Democratic, ironically by his own making…Always a strong candidate in his own races, DeLay surrendered GOP voters in the realignment to bolster some other Republican districts. Now, after contending with indictment and departure from the House leadership, he could be facing the loss of the very seat he used to rise to power.” Update: Or not. Boss DeLay coasts to victory over his three primary challengers with 62% of the vote.
Duke of Deceit.
As Randy “Duke” Cunningham faces sentencing today, federal investigators take a closer look at his connections to the Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), “the Pentagon’s newest and fastest-growing intelligence agency.” “In pre-sentencing documents filed this week, prosecutors said that in fiscal 2003 legislation, Cunningham set aside, or earmarked, $6.3 million for work to be done ‘to benefit’ CIFA shortly after the agency was created. The contract went to MZM Inc., a company run by Mitchell J. Wade, who recently pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe Cunningham.” Update: 8 years, 4 months.
Not exactly the comfy chair.
“‘These allegations…describe disgusting treatment, that if proven, is treatment that is cruel, profoundly disturbing and violative of’ U.S. and foreign treaties banning torture, [U.S. District Judge Gladys] Kessler told the government’s lawyers.” So what happened to “we don’t torture?” Lawyers for the administration fight allegations of abuse at Gitmo (involving force-feeding and a restraint chair) — not by saying it didn’t happen — but by arguing instead that the recent McCain bill doesn’t apply there. “‘Unfortunately, I think the government’s right; it’s a correct reading of the law,’ said Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. ‘The law says you can’t torture detainees at Guantanamo, but it also says you can’t enforce that law in the courts.'”
Briefing Encounter.
“‘This makes it perfectly clear once again that this disaster was not out of the blue or unforeseeable,’ said Sen. David Vitter (R-La.)…’It was not only predictable, it was actually predicted. That’s what makes the failures in response — at the local, state and federal level — all the more outrageous.'” A newly released video shows a typically incurious Dubya being warned — before Katrina hit — that the New Orleans levees might break. Of course, we already knew Dubya lied about the levees, but, still, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Office Spaced / Abramoff the Table?
The Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, which has recently been looking into lobbying reform, votes 11-5 on an amendment by George Voinovich (R-OH) to prevent the creation of an independent ethics office. (Three Dems joined the Republicans, minus Chair Susan Collins, to kill the plan.) While Voinovich claims an independent office would be redundant given the Senate Ethics Committee (which he chairs), watchdog groups such as Public Citizen are livid, and John McCain has already suggested he’ll likely renew the idea on the Senate floor.
Still, reformers face a serious challenge in the growing audacity of the GOP, who are banking on the Casino Jack story not catching fire outside the Beltway: “[A]s the legislation has evolved and Abramoff has faded from the headlines, calls for bans have grown scarce, and expanded disclosure has become the centerpiece of the efforts underway.” Nevertheless, the Republicans are playing with fire: The ballad of Casino Jack plays on, as attested by prosecutors recently subpoenaing travel agency records of a 2000 DeLay-Abramoff boondoggle to Britain.