Today’s edition of quick hits. * TPMM: “Monica Goodling admitted ‘crossing the line’ earlier in her testimony with regard to hiring assistant U.S. attorneys based on their political affiliations. That’s against the law. Assistant U.S. attorneys are the prosecutors in the U.S. attorney offices across the country that actually prosecute the cases. But how many […]
Ready to laugh out loud? The Bush gang — you know, the flailing failures operating the executive branch like the Keystone Kops — believe Bush’s presidency is back on track. Apparently, a widely panned immigration bill is, in the minds of those in the West Wing, what got the White House over the hump. Relieved […]
TP ran a copy of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy’s (D-Vt.) statement in response to Monica Goodling’s testimony today. It’s actually kind of funny. “It is curious that yet another senior Justice Department official claims to have limited involvement in compiling the list that led to the firings of several well-performing federal prosecutors. What […]
Now, which White House scandal is Susan Ralston attached to again? There are so many it’s sometimes difficult to keep up. Oh right, the Abramoff scandal. A former top aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove told Congress she will invoke her right against self-incrimination unless granted immunity to answer investigators’ questions about lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s […]
Following up on the last item for a moment, top White House aide Dan Bartlett was asked by the Washington Post why the president continues to stand up Alberto Gonzales, even in light of bipartisan disgust for his tenure. The response was unusually inane, even by the standards of the Bush gang. “This has been […]
Dan Bartlett, a top Bush aide (Counselor to the President), sat down with the WaPo’s Dan Balz and Chris Cillizza, and the video of their interview is online and worth watching, if for no other reason that to marvel at Bartlett’s hackish spinning. There were a handful of interesting comments, but here’s one about the […]
We’re already a couple of hours into the House Judiciary Committee hearing featuring testimony from Monica Goodling, the Justice Department’s former White House liaison, who’s there with an immunity agreement. For those die-hard purge-o-philes, you can watch the hearing online here or here, as well catch Christy Hardin Smith’s live-blogging at FDL. How’s it going […]
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: * The AP explains today that former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) “already is” running for president, he just hasn’t said so yet: “Thompson is hiring staff, speaking to conservative groups, writing online columns […]
The White House seems to be pushing this story pretty hard. I’m not sure why. Seeking to rally support for the war, President Bush released intelligence asserting that Osama bin Laden in 2005 ordered creation of a terrorist unit to hit targets outside Iraq, including the United States. The information, which Bush was to cite […]
At first blush, this almost seems comical, but it’s actually quite scary. Law enforcement officials yesterday arrested a Liberty University student for having several homemade bombs in his car — which he planned to use at Jerry Falwell’s funeral. The student, 19-year-old Mark D. Uhl of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities that he was making […]