Scooter Libby resigned immediately upon learning about his indictment, creating an opening for a powerful job in Dick Cheney’s office. Who Cheney tapped would offer us some indication about how he plans to proceed in the wake of this of this scandal. By naming David Addington as his new chief of staff, Cheney is speaking […]
After the first indictment against the Bush White House came down on Friday, there have been three national polls. None of them offer the Bush gang much in the way of encouragement. A new SurveyUSA poll asked about Scooter Libby’s perjury and his motivation for lying. A plurality said they believe “Libby lied to the […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * In Florida, Rep. Katherine Harris (R) is having considerable trouble rallying support for her Senate campaign fro national establishment Republicans. Harris, who announced her campaign after Karl Rove asked her not to, […]
It hasn’t come up in a while, but whatever happened to the discussion about SF 312? As you may recall, anyone who works for a presidential administration and needs clearance to receive classified materials has to sign something called Standard Form 312, which is a nondisclosure agreement for federal officials. In the context of Karl […]
It’s become something of a political parlor game the last few days. Everyone wants to know whether Karl Rove is in the clear and has dodged an indictment or if he’s still very much in Patrick Fitzgerald’s crosshairs. As recently as yesterday, the LA Times reported that Rove has maintained his “uncanny pattern of surviving […]
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned Virginia’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, Jerry Kilgore, had put together a new TV ad effectively accusing his Dem opponent, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine, of being soft on Hitler as part of a general smear against Kaine’s opposition to the death penalty. A Washington Post editorial described it as “a […]
Back in February, we learned about Wal-Mart agreeing to pay a fine as part of a federal investigation into a series of child-labor law violations. It was a ridiculously good deal for the corporate behemoth — Wal-Mart had allegedly run afoul of 24 violations in several states, including having minors operating dangerous heavy machinery The […]
It’s probably the Alito nomination, but Matt Cooper’s comments on Good Morning America about the Plame leak sound pretty significant (via C&L and Kleiman). One of the reporters at the center of the investigation into the leak of the identity of an undercover CIA officer, says he first learned the agent’s name from President Bush’s […]
While Harriet Miers’ nomination was falling apart, Arlen Specter seemed annoyed. He was clearly irritated by Miers’ inability to deal with his question about privacy rights; he didn’t like the fact that the White House gave James Dobson more information than it did the Senate; and Specter just didn’t seem happy in general with Miers’ […]
Last week, just as the White House press corps was near-desperate for Plame-related information, Scott McClellan announced there would be no full-length briefing on Friday. Fortunately, reporters made up for lost time yesterday afternoon. If the White House hoped the Alito nomination would help distract attention away from its criminal scandal, Bush aides must have […]