For Justice Department officials, testifying before Congress should be fairly easy, even when it comes to a scandal like the prosecutor purge. A witness has plenty of time to prepare, go over his or her notes, and review relevant documents. In fact, committees let witnesses know in advance lawmakers’ areas of interest, so they’ll be […]
Ideally, every presidential debate would be filled with substantive, policy-oriented questions about the most pressing issues of the day. There is, of course, a downside to this: candidates are prepped with rehearsed and predictable soundbites to these questions, and for the most part, in a primary debate they’ll all say the same thing. To actually […]
James Comey was deputy attorney general from 2003 until August 2005, and is one of the few Bush administration officials who still maintains credibility and stature within the political establishment. So when Comey appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to testify on the prosecutor purge scandal, his perspective mattered. And as the LA Times put […]
After any debate, the first and most natural question is “who won?” Last night, the winner was obvious: Ronald Reagan. Look, I know Reagan is the only president of the 20th century that Republicans really like. And I know that the debate was being held at the Reagan Library in California. But over the course […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * The House passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act this afternoon, 237 to 180. Dems picked up 25 Republican votes to pass the measure, which has already drawn a veto threat from the White House. * Brad Plumer and the Progress Report both did a fine job […]
Following up on an item from yesterday, the White House excoriated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for engaging with Syrian officials a month ago, which is why today’s meeting between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem was so interesting. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held talks Thursday with Syrian Foreign Minister […]
This story doesn’t appear to be generating much attention, but it might be one of the day’s most intriguing political items. The inspector general who uncovered cases of waste, fraud and abuse in the U.S.-led reconstruction effort in Iraq is under investigation by a presidential panel, according to the White House. Stuart W. Bowen Jr., […]
Seventeen days ago, The Politico ran a blog item about John Edwards getting a $400 haircut. As you no doubt recall, it made the rounds extraordinarily quickly, even generating a question at last week’s debate. By and large, there’s not much more to say about it; the “news” angle has been relegated to the late-night […]
I suspect it’s difficult for supporters of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to come up with a rationale for their position. They probably realize they can’t come right out and say, “I don’t like gay people,” or “Dobson told me I have to take this position,” so they’re left with varying degrees of incoherence. Take John […]
When the going gets tough, the tough leave town for a couple of months. (thanks to S.W. for the tip) Lawmakers divided over whether to keep U.S. troops in Iraq are finding common ground on at least one topic: They are furious that Iraqi politicians are considering a lengthy break this summer. “If they go […]