A number of readers have written in with this link to a Raw Story teaser about a piece on the Niger forgeries set to run in tomorrow's Sunday Times of London.
It reads ...
The LONDON SUNDAY TIMES' Michael Smith -- who first broke the infamous Downing Street Memo -- will identify who is believed to have forged the documents that formed the basis for President George W. Bush's infamous 16 words this evening, RAW STORY has learned. Smith will explain the chain of events in painstaking detail.According to Nato sources who spoke under condition of anonymity with the SUNDAY TIMES, an Italian investigation has fingered two employees of an embassy in Italy with forging the documents.
Speculation has been ripe over who forged the documents -- and the SUNDAY TIMES piece is unlikely to stem furor and speculation in the United States over the documents that helped bring the United States to war with Iraq.
Look closely. If this is an accurate representation of what the story will contain, it is about an Italian government investigation. That's all you need to know.
The Italian intelligence services were centrally involved in the clandestine distribution of the forgeries and in all likelihood the creation of the forgeries themselves. Everything the Italian government has done since then has been to impede any outside investigation into their role.
There's simply no reason to credit anything an Italian government investigation of this matter reveals. If anything, its findings are probably a good bet to be the exact opposite of what is in fact the case. And the timing of such a release is no doubt in response to indications that at least two US news organizations will release new, damaging revelations about their role in the not-too-distant future.
--Josh Marshall
Is more of Iraqi reconstruction being funded off the books?
A bit more on the State Department's scouring the federal employees roster for folks willing to go to Iraq. I'm told, and it's not surprising, that the well of State Department employees willing to go for service in Iraq is pretty much dry. Apart from the inherent risks, apparently there have been other management/asignmnet issues that have led to difficulties in recruitment.
However, I've heard that at least in one agency, the agencies are expected to pick up the tab not only for the salaries of their employees that go to Iraq but also for the various hazard and bonus pay that goes along with the gig.
At least as it's been described to me the process is different from the normal 'detailee' process in which an employee can be temporarily loaned to the White House, the Hill, or other part of the government.
Can anyone tell me more about this or share more details they might know about how this is working in their agency or department?
And as a semi-unrelated question: why does the biggest demand appear to be for public affairs specialists?
--Josh Marshall
The email sent out to Department of Energy employees about opportunities opening up in Iraq ...
In response to the President's directive to provide support for the reconstruction and stabilization efforts in Iraq, the Secretary of State has requested that DOE assist in finding a qualified Petroleum Industry Expert and Public Affairs Specialists willing to work at the U.S. embassy in Iraq. The job descriptions are below.The Petroleum Industry Expert will assist the Ministry of Oil to help strengthen management and transparency, including monitoring contracting activities. The candidate should possess a strong background in the petroleum sector, from production to marketing. This detail will be for 1 year.
The Public Affairs - Global Outreach Team Member positions (8-12) are open to all Government public affairs professionals. Selectees will generally serve on a 3-month rotational basis, although some members may be detailed or assigned to Baghdad for a full year. (Candidates should identify what duration they are interested in, subject to their manager's approval.) These positions supervise all media aspects of news conferences, press events, media day trips, and media interaction with all high level US visitors; work with Iraqi Government officials at the local level to develop, plan, and implement media events showcasing progress in various regions in Iraq; and develop relationships with the American press corps, International press, Regional Arabic press, US and Coalition Military Forces, and Iraqi press to help facilitate media coverage of events throughout Iraq.
The positions are duty stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. Both offices and living quarters are in the International (Green) Zone, secured by U.S. military personnel and Department of State Diplomatic Security, although there is apt to be travel outside the International Zone under the protection of security forces.
Interested Federal employees must obtain concurrence from their Resource Manager in Headquarters or head of their field element. DOE Federal employees will be on a non-reimbursable detail to the State Department.
These vacancy announcements will remain open until filled. The hiring/deployment process is quite lengthy and includes attendance at a 7-day class on security and cultural issues in Arlington, VA prior to departing the U.S. and a medical clearance.
Benefits:
DOE Federal employees working in Iraq may be eligible for the following benefits.
Overtime pay
Pay for work at night
Pay for work on Sunday
Pay for work on a holiday
Danger pay
Foreign post (hardship) differential
Regional rest breaks
Home visits
Consultation trips (to Washington, DC to debrief DOE
and State)
Per Diem
Medical services
Travel expensesAdditional information on benefits to DOE Federal employees on detail to Iraq can be found at Appendix M of the DOE Handbook on Overseas Assignments, which is available at: http://humancapital.doe.gov/pers/overseas.htm, or at http://chris.inel.doe/payroll.
DOE Contacts
If you have questions regarding the duties of the positions, working conditions in Iraq, or the energy situation in Iraq, please contact ********.
Resumes should be sent to **********. If you have questions regarding your application or benefits issues, please contact ********.
If you're new to this story see these earlier posts about emails sent out to employees of the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Commerce.
--Josh Marshall
Which is it on Rep. Mollohan (D-WV)?
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that "federal prosecutors have opened an investigation of Mr. Mollohan's finances and whether they were properly disclosed" in response to a complaint filed by the right-wing National Legal and Policy Center.
TPMmuckraker.com's Paul Kiel called the US Attorney's office in DC, the spokeswoman confirmed that there was an investigation but declined to give details.
But an article in Saturday's Times says simply that the US Attorney's office is " reviewing the [NLPC] complaint."
The AP says that the US Attorney's office refused all comment.
Bloomberg didn't get its call returned.
Given the politics involved, the difference between reviewing a complaint and launching an investigation based on a complaint is a big one.
It was on the basis of reports that an investigation has been launched that CREW called on Mollohan to temporarily step down from his post as the senior Democrat on the House ethics committee.
Which is it?
--Josh Marshall
Via this blog I found this post on the New Orleans Times-Picayune blog ...
Former FEMA director Michael Brown might be joining St. Bernard Parish as a paid consultant.Brown, who resigned his FEMA post last September in the wake of stinging criticism of the agency's response to Hurricane Katrina, is expected to visit the parish next week. During his visit, Brown and parish officials will discuss the possibility of the parish contracting with Brown as a guide to help it navigate the bureaucracy of federal storm aid.
Brown now has a consulting business.
St. Bernard Parish President Henry "Junior'' Rodriguez said prices have not been discussed to this point, nor have any contracts been entered. Rodriguez and three council members met Brown recently during a trip to Washington, D.C.
Updated Scott Fitzgerald: Second acts are for losers.
--Josh Marshall
Barone: K Street Project a step forward for good government; DeLay betrayed by unscrupulous underlings.
--Josh Marshall
In a late update to the post below about the HUD Iraq email, I noted that a similar email had gone out to employees in the Department of Commerce. The Commerce email mentioned two positions opening up.
The first was for a "trade development specialist." The second was ...
Public Affairs - Global Outreach (GO) TeamCommerce Employee detailed to Department of State's Iraq Reconstruction Management Office
Report to U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Officer
Open to Commerce Permanent Career and Political Public Affairs Professionals
Multiple positions available - 3 to 12 month assignments
Language: not required
Position Description: GO Team members generally will serve in Iraq on a three-month rotational basis; some members may be detailed or assigned to Baghdad for a full year. Supervises all media aspects of news conferences, press events, media day trips and media interaction with all high level U.S. visitors including Congressional Delegations. Coordinates media day trips highlighting reconstruction projects and progress in governance at the provincial level. Works with Iraqi Government officials at the local level to develop, plan and implement media events showcasing progress in various regions of Iraq. Develops relationships with American press corps, International press, Regional Arabic press, US and Coalition Military Forces, and the Iraqi press to help facilitate media coverage of events throughout Iraq.
GO Teams will consist of 8-12 persons whose focus is building a sustained capability to facilitate media coverage throughout Iraq, building upon the success of three previous iterations of Public Diplomacy "Surge Teams." Go Teams will supplement US Embassy Baghdad's Public Affairs Office, work in conjunction with MNF-I public affairs officers, and support public affairs outreach activities of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and Regional Embassy Offices (REOs) located outside of Baghdad.
Passed along without comment.
--Josh Marshall
From an email that went out this morning to HUD employees ...
HUD employees interested in helping the Iraqi people to govern themselves and rebuild their economy may soon have an opportunity. The State Department is seeking motivated, permanent Federal employees from around the government to serve our nation at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad for one-year terms.HUD is planning a presentation by State Department representatives for later this month, which will provide details on positions available, benefits of serving, and what life is like today in Iraq. HUD will also present an Iraq Service Recognition Package that will list additional compensation benefits.
If you have an interest in learning more about this opportunity and commitment, please notify *******.
This is a unique opportunity to serve our country and to help shape a free, more secure and prosperous Iraq. There are few such opportunities in life to make a lasting impact and contribution to history. We encourage you to consider this exciting opportunity.
Late this afternoon, I called up HUD spokesman Jerry Brown to find out more.
When I asked if this is the first time such an email for Iraq volunteers had been sent out or whether they were annual, he said "Sure, any time there's been a disaster." He went on to mention Katrina, flooding in the Dakotas, etc.
When I reiterated that I meant specifically a request for HUD volunteers to serve in Iraq, he said that this was the first time such a request had been sent out to HUD employees.
(ed.note: The contact information in the second to last graf was deleted by TPM. We contacted the person in question, who referred us to Mr. Brown.)
Late Update: Folks in the Department of Commerce seem to have received a similar email.
--Josh Marshall
Sorry, David, you got spun.
Yesterday, we flagged what David Gregory said on Hardball.
Now we've got the transcript in which Gregory repeats the endlessly refuted GOP canard that Joe Wilson said Dick Cheney 'ordered' the trip to Niger ...
The point here is that Wilson alleges that the trip was set up essentially by the vice-president, that Cheney knew that he was going and knew of his findings. So the vice-president did have a personal interest in saying, Whoa, that was not the case. And in fact, that was not the case, that the vice-president ordered him to go or arranged the trip. And there`s a big controversy about whether he was ultimately briefed on the results.
If you're not familiar with the backstory, here's a detailed de-bamboozlement.
The short version is that Republicans came up with a fake version of what Wilson said so that they could refute it. Classic strawman argument.
--Josh Marshall
Rep. Frelinghuysen's (R-NJ) letter defending the DeLay Rule back in the day.
--Josh Marshall
In the context of McClellan's endless lies about what happened in the lead-up the Iraq war, is it time to have an actual investigation into that? Not one controlled by a senator (Sen. Roberts, R-KS) getting daily guidance from the White House. Not one by a presidential commission placed in the impossible role of investigating the president. But a real, independent investigation.
--Josh Marshall
Sitting here watching the McClellan early afternoon briefing. Here's another question. The White House argument is that President made a decision that such-and-such information needed to be heard by the American people. McClellan just said it was "provided to the American people." But he didn't provide it to the American people. He provided it to Judy Miller. Legal or not, it was by definition a 'leak' since it was revealed anonymously to a single reporter. How does that wash? What is the rationale?
Also, remember how the administration earlier refused to declassify parts of the NIE that cast doubts on the president's assertions about Iraqi WMD.
This from former Sen. Graham's oped from the Post back in November ...
There were troubling aspects to this 90-page document. While slanted toward the conclusion that Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction stored or produced at 550 sites, it contained vigorous dissents on key parts of the information, especially by the departments of State and Energy. Particular skepticism was raised about aluminum tubes that were offered as evidence Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear program. As to Hussein's will to use whatever weapons he might have, the estimate indicated he would not do so unless he was first attacked.Under questioning, Tenet added that the information in the NIE had not been independently verified by an operative responsible to the United States. In fact, no such person was inside Iraq. Most of the alleged intelligence came from Iraqi exiles or third countries, all of which had an interest in the United States' removing Hussein, by force if necessary.
The American people needed to know these reservations, and I requested that an unclassified, public version of the NIE be prepared. On Oct. 4, Tenet presented a 25-page document titled "Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs." It represented an unqualified case that Hussein possessed them, avoided a discussion of whether he had the will to use them and omitted the dissenting opinions contained in the classified version. Its conclusions, such as "If Baghdad acquired sufficient weapons-grade fissile material from abroad, it could make a nuclear weapon within a year," underscored the White House's claim that exactly such material was being provided from Africa to Iraq.
Shorter Bush: Classification is a tool of my political strategy.
--Josh Marshall
McClellan (live now on CNN): Bush's leaks of classified information in national interest, non-Bush leaks hurt America.
--Josh Marshall
It's not too soon to start calling this for what it is: the Bush administration's creeping monarchism.
The Times has a piece today on some critical testimony Attorney General Al Gonzales delivered yesterday on Capitol Hill. The president, he suggested, probably does have the authority to conduct warrantless domestic wiretaps.
This comes on the heels of the president's view, summarized in today's Post by an unnamed senior administration official, that "Bush sees a distinction between leaks and what he is alleged to have done. The official said Bush authorized the release of the classified information to assure the public of his rationale for war as it was coming under increasing scrutiny."
We've already discussed the fact that the president has the authority to declassify anything, albeit through certain guidelines and procedures he appears not to have followed in this case. The fact that he seems to have done so with the Libby leaks for clearly political and thus inappropriate reasons doesn't make it illegal in itself. And I think the claim that the president didn't follow the appropriate procedures in 'declassifying' in this case would be too fine a distinction for a court to want to touch. (For an alternative view, see Juliette Kayyem's discussion of this. She says it may well be illegal.)
Setting all that aside, what is most revealing is the attitude suggested by the White House official rather than just the net outcome. Beyond the legal particulars, the president's attitude seems to be that the law just doesn't apply to him -- and that's not surprising since we see so many other instances of that perspective in practice.
Peel back all the individual arguments from Al Gonzales and the president and whomever else they put forward, the underlying idea is not so much that the president is above the law as that he is the law. He embodies it, you might say, even embodies the state itself. And thus what he does can't be illegal. What he does is simply the state cogitating and defending itself.
This is a vision that simply incompatible with any idea of separation of powers because in this view the president's prerogative always trumps the other two branches. And that makes it a grave danger to our constitutional system itself.
--Josh Marshall
Preach, crook! Preach!
From this morning's Hill e-newsletter: "DeLay said Thursday that announcing his resignation has been liberating. Quoting Martin Luther King. Jr., DeLay said, 'Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last.'"
--Josh Marshall
Here's this morning's gaggle where Scott McClellan got his first crack at dodging and bamboozling about the president's new policy of presidential leaks not being leaks. We don't have a 'below the fold' feature here at TPM. So I posted it over at TPMmuckraker.com.
--Josh Marshall
The Onion, though you wouldn't know it: "In the wake of several major lobbying scandals, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics announced Tuesday that it will hold a special series of intensive sessions inside its recently completed 200-room Ethics Mansion."
--Josh Marshall
Bush: When I do it, it's not a leak.
From the Post ...
A senior administration official, speaking on background because White House policy prohibits comment on an active investigation, said Bush sees a distinction between leaks and what he is alleged to have done. The official said Bush authorized the release of the classified information to assure the public of his rationale for war as it was coming under increasing scrutiny.
Okay, then.
--Josh Marshall
Here's a question. If I understand this right, Scooter Libby has sworn under oath that Vice President Cheney told him that President Bush had authorized him to disclose classified information.
Let's set aside the whole question of whether the president can do that or whether there's a specific procedure he has to follow. Just set that issue aside.
If it isn't true that Vice President Cheney told him that, then Vice President Cheney must know that Libby has again perjured himself. I would think the Vice President has an affirmative duty to come forward and say that Libby's testimony is false.
I just overheard Jeff Toobin on CNN saying that the White House will probably be able to squelch this story simply by 'no commenting' it. But can we not fairly draw the inference from Cheney's silence that he did in fact tell Libby this?
By a slightly looser logic -- and one in which sworn testimony doesn't come into play in the same fashion -- doesn't President Bush's silence tell us that Cheney was telling the truth?
--Josh Marshall
TPM Reader NH tells us that on Hardball earlier this hour David Gregory repeated the canard that Joe Wilson claimed that Dick Cheney had "ordered" him to go to Niger or personally authorized the trip.
Anyone else catch that? Do we have to help David out?
--Josh Marshall
Waxman wants answers from President Bush on his new declassification in the greater interests of George W. Bush's reelection policy.
--Josh Marshall
The first pictures of the DeLay goons sent to disrupt Nick Lampson's press conference.
--Josh Marshall
Here's a key question that comes up in regards to the president's alleged ability to make a classified leak not a classified leak just by virtue of giving it the thumbs up.
Various officials in the government have the ability to declassify different categories of documents or information. Often, it's the head of the department or agency under whose purview the information falls.
The president has the authority to declassify everything.
That makes sense since everyone in the executive branch, either directly or indirectly, works for the president.
But look more closely at the power that the President, through Scooter Libby, appears to be alleging.
Even with the president, there are procedures he needs to go through. He probably needs to make a finding and I would assume sign some document. Set that aside though. What we appear to have here in the Libby case is a one-off declassification. The president didn't really declassify anything. He authorized Libby to show classified material to Judy Miller or whomever else.
Here's the way to find out. After the president authorized Libby, did anyone else in the government know that the Iraq NIE was no longer classified? Was there any change in the NIE's official status?
Late Update: Okay, Paul Kiel found the part of the new court papers that answers part of the question. This was a declassification that only President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Scooter Libby were allowed to know about.
--Josh Marshall
This is pretty hilarious. California's 50th district is just getting over a dozen or so years of being represented by a crook, Duke Cunningham. And Republicans are apparently afraid Francine Busby, the lone Democrat in the race to replace him, could win the seat outright in the upcoming special election. So the NRCC, the GOP House committee, just dumped a heap of ad money into the race.
The best they could come up with apparently is that Busby got a $500 contributon for retired Sen. Dennis DeConcini. This from the Union-Tribune ...
It singles out a contribution from former Sen. Dennis DeConcini, an Arizona Democrat and one of the so-called Keating Five senators. He was politically tarnished by, but not disciplined for, his involvement with a failed savings and loan in the late 1980s. Though the ad doesn't say so, DeConcini contributed $500 to Busby.“If Francine Busby is making ethics a centerpiece of her campaign while taking campaign contributions from corrupt ex-members of Congress, she's a hypocrite and voters have a right to know that,” said Jonathan Coleggio, press secretary for the Republican committee.
Wasn't John McCain a member of the Keating Five too? Just wondering.
These guys are such liars it's hard to figure how they can even see straight.
Remember, while he was waiting to be prison, Duke wrote a $2000 check to the NRCC. About a month before he copped his plea, he gave them $11,684. NRCC spokesman Carl Forti says they see no reason to give it back.
Duke gave more than half a million more to the NRCC. But that was before it was public knowledge that he was a felon. So I guess that doesn't count.
I guess they're using Duke's money for the Busby bamboozlement ads.
--Josh Marshall
Well, Tom DeLay may leaving the House. But that didn't stop a bunch of his goons from disrupting Nick Lampson's press conference this morning. It's mentioned here in the Houston Chronicle and in somewhat more detail in this blog.
--Josh Marshall
Okay, now it's official. The White House's line is that if the president leaks classified information or tells someone to leak classified information, then it's automatically declassified. No harm, no foul.
--Josh Marshall
We're hearing a lot about Rep. Curt Weldon's (R-PA) ugly decision to politicize his opponent's decision to have his daughter's brain tumor treated at a hospital outside of Pennsylvania.
Seems like a good time to discuss Weldon's daughter -- and how she made a million bucks with a 'lobbying' firm that only really seemed to lobby her dad on behalf of foreign clients.
--Josh Marshall
Okay, here's a question that seems ripe for collaborative journalism. We now have reports from Scooter Libby's sworn testimony that President Bush personally authorized Libby to release classified portions of the Iraq National Intelligence Estimate.
Now, President Bush has routinely denounced leaks of classified information -- despite his administration's rather well-known record of being responsible for those leaks.
So, here's the question. Can anyone find an instance of President Bush denouncing this particular leak -- that of the Iraq NIE?
If can you, let us know. There's a TPMmuckraker.com t-shirt in it for the lucky researcher.
--Josh Marshall
This is fun. A few weeks ago TPMmuckraker.com's Paul Kiel broke the news that John McCain's new 'senior advisor' Terry Nelson was in on the 2002 New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal.
Now, PoliticsNH.com just published this New Hampshire Democratic party press release alerting folks to the fact that McCain's going to New Hampshire tomorrow.
The state Dems want McCain to fire Nelson before he steps foot in the state.
But I've got a different take on this. I'm one of those people who always think we should see the opportunities in situation and not just focus on the negative. So, I'd say McCain should keep Nelson on staff and finally help us get the low-down on just how the phone-jamming episode went down. Who at the RNC knew about it? Who at the White House knew about it?
McCain said he would look into Nelson's involvement a few weeks ago. So he must have the whole story.
While he's at it he can ask Nelson about his role in the Tom DeLay money-laundering case too.
This way McCain can be a 'reformer with results' too.
--Josh Marshall
DeLay says "maybe" he'll just drop the pretense and become a lobbyist. That and other news of the day in today's Daily Muck.
--Josh Marshall
Just out from the New York Sun ...
A former White House aide under indictment for obstructing a leak probe, I. Lewis Libby, testified to a grand jury that he gave information from a closely-guarded "National Intelligence Estimate" on Iraq to a New York Times reporter in 2003 with the specific permission of President Bush, according to a new court filing from the special prosecutor in the case.The court papers from the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, do not suggest that Mr. Bush violated any law or rule. However, the new disclosure could be awkward for the president because it places him, for the first time, directly in a chain of events that led to a meeting where prosecutors contend the identity of a CIA employee, Valerie Plame, was provided to a reporter.
Read the rest here.
--Josh Marshall
Yep, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) is as rancid and despicable as they come. See the details.
--Josh Marshall
Has new media finally arrived?
Not sure about that, but this one really got a chuckle out of everyone at TPM world headquarters.
This is a clip from the front page of the CNN website. Can anyone identify that odd logo on the upper right hand portion of Brian Doyle's mug shot?
Guess they went to the source?
Late Update: TPMmuckraker.com, which published the picture, actually already has a motto/tagline. But now we're consdering changing it to "TPMmuckraker.com -- Where CNN Goes to Get the News!"
Catchy?
Even Later Update: Okay, CNN has now gotten a clean mug shot, shorn of the TPM Media logo, up on their front page. But, psst, don't tell anyone but you can still see our logo on the story page.
Going as Late as We Need to Go Update: It all actually reminds me a bit of Bert's work with bin Laden.
--Josh Marshall
Tom DeLay: "This is incredible arrogance that sometimes hits these members of Congress, but especially Cynthia McKinney"
--Josh Marshall
Okay, I think outgoing Capitol Police Chief Terrence Gainer is the voice of reason on this Cynthia McKinney issue.
Said Gainer, who used to be the assistant chief of police (can't remember his exact title) in DC: "He reached out and grabbed her and she turned around and hit him. Even the high and the haughty should be able to stop and say, 'I'm a congressman' and then everybody moves on."
I said before that I think that putting out an arrest warrant for this is a bad idea. Simple discretion, counsels against it. I guess I can't blame Republicans for trying to politicize it since the only other thing for them to talk about is that a bunch of them are going to prison and they've been led by a crook for the better part of a decade.
But if he called out to her, she should have stopped and identified herself. If he grabbed her arm, same thing. This isn't a cause celebre anyone should want to embrace. At best it was an unfortunate misunderstanding and a heat of the moment reaction. But it should never have happened. She should wear the pin and stop if a capitol cop doesn't recognize her.
--Josh Marshall
Hmmm. This guy may have a point. Is it a 'riot' or a 'protest' depending on the ethnicity of the rioters, ahem, protestors?
The best catch may be this lede from the NYT ...
A routine traffic stop of a 75-year-old Hasidic driver in Brooklyn escalated into a protest last night by hundreds of Orthodox Jews, who surrounded a police station house, chanted "No justice no peace," lighted bonfires and set a police car afire. The driver and two other men were arrested, but no serious injuries were reported.
"Escalated into a protest"? That combination of diction and grammar seems a tad strained, doesn't it?
Sorta like, 'What started as a minor infection spiralled into a full-blown inconvenience.'
And once you set a police car on fire, isn't that a riot?
Thoughts?
--Josh Marshall
TPM Reader PJ has a question: "House Republicans are pushing a resolution to praise the Capital police who arrested Rep. Cynthia McKinney -- I wonder if they will be as quick to praise the cops who busted Doyle?"
--Josh Marshall
The friendly face of the Department of Homeland Security.
TPMmuckraker.com's got the Brian Doyle mugshot.
--Josh Marshall
AP on McCain:
Sen. John McCain threatened on Tuesday to cut short a speech to union leaders who booed his immigration views and later challenged his statements on organized labor and the Iraq war."If you like, I will leave," McCain told the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Department, pivoting briefly from the lectern. He returned to the microphone after the crowd quieted.
"OK, then please give me the courtesy I would give you."
Testy.
--Josh Marshall
From the Post ...
DeLay was determined to hang on to his seat at least through the primary, said Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. That was because he considered his three Republican challengers gadflies and traitors and he was determined to try to block them from succeeding him....
An additional impetus for putting off the resignation until now was suggested by John Feehery, a former aide to DeLay and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). "He needed to raise money for the defense fund. That was the bottom line," Feehery said. "He wanted to make sure he could take care of himself in the court of law." Under federal campaign rules, any reelection money a lawmaker raises can be used to pay legal fees stemming from official duties.
So the GOP candidate will be selected by party chairs. And a main reason for DeLay to stay in the race this long was to raise legal fees under the guise of raising money to run a political campaign.
--Josh Marshall
New territory for the Grand Old Docket. ...
A deputy press secretary with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday night and charged with trying to ``seduce'' a 14-year-old Polk County girl over the Internet, sheriff's officials said.Brian J. Doyle, 55, didn't know he was communicating with an undercover Polk County sheriff's detective, officials said.
Tampa Trib reports it this way ...
A Department of Homeland Security press secretary was arrested this evening on charges that he was using a computer to seduce a child.Brian Doyle, 50, was arrested at 7:45 p.m. in his Silver Springs, Maryland home on 23 charges related to the use of a computer to seduce a child and transmitting harmful materials to a minor after a joint investigation by the Polk County Sheriff's office, Florida State Attorney Jerry Hill's office and the Department of Homeland Security.
When we hear more ...
Late Update: What's weird -- well, one 
of the things that's weird -- about this story is that it only appears to have been reported by two news outlets, both in Florida. And both in the last hour. Had it only been one I would have held off linking. But it's been reported both by the Lakeland Ledger and the Tampa Tribune in separately reported, separately bylined stories. So I don't think there's any chance that this is just a prank or a misidentification. I still find it more than passing strange that there's no more pick-up.
Even Later Update: Yep, it's everywhere now. We just picked it up early.
--Josh Marshall
Hmmm. Just watched Candy Crowley doing her sum-upper on Tom DeLay. And to hear her tell it, the K Streeters just came to Tom after he got all the power. They just sort of importuned him, almost took advantage of him. Maybe she hasn't heard of the K Street Project.
--Josh Marshall
Rep. Chris "the Count" Chocola (R-IN) asks Democratic challengers if they'll help him stop Moveon from running ads about him.
--Josh Marshall
Ahhh, a wonderful DeLay Rule moment from yesteryear. Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said, yes, he voted for the DeLay Rule.
But he did it for National Security.
If the Hammer goes to the Slammer, I guess, the terrorists will have won ...
--Josh Marshall
Join us while we game out how Tom DeLay plans to use the state legislature to take revenge on Travis County DA Ronnie Earle.
--Josh Marshall
We're trying to keep up with every latest development on the DeLay story over at TPMmuckraker.com. So if you see some breaking news or some portion of an article with a detail no one has picked up on, stop by TPMmuckraker and send us a tip on the Muckraker tipline.
--Josh Marshall
I know Mike Allen, the author of today's Time interview/article with DeLay. So I'm sure this was no more than an error made under tight deadline pressure. But, still, it's important to set the record straight.
Mike writes ...
DeLay was forced to vacate his post as majority leader because of a House Republican rule (known as "the DeLay rule," because it was enacted amid concern about his legal situation) that requires a leader under indictment to step down.
This stands what happened on its head.
The "DeLay Rule" was the new caucus rule House Republicans passed in November 2004 to allow DeLay to remain Majority Leader even after he was indicted. In other words, the existing rule mandated that any member of the leadership had to step down if indicted. DeLay was the first guy who the rule was actually going to hit. So he had the caucus change the rule for him.
Eventually, they were forced to overturn their own rule change because of an overwhelming public backlash against their cravenness and lack of principle.
--Josh Marshall
Can DeLay change his residency from Texas to Virginia while he's currently out on bond and set to stand trial in Texas? Apparently so.
--Josh Marshall
Here's how Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) defended defending DeLay back in November 2004. It's the letter he sent to constituents to explain why he voted for the DeLay Rule to allow DeLay to remain in power even after being indicted.
I'm curious what he says about it now.
--Josh Marshall
Interesting. Already seeing lots of Republicans putting out the talking point that DeLay's departure ends or sharply diminishes 
the salience of the corruption issue in this year's midterm -- and plenty in the media are picking it up and running with it.
Now how exactly, the resignation and probable indictment of the architect of the DC GOP political machine helps the GOP is an open question. But as we've been saying, they can't shed him so quickly. Over at TPMmuckraker.com, we're going to be posting links to which members of the House GOP caucus voted for the DeLay Rule. We're also going to be posting constituent letters various members of Congress wrote supporting the DeLay Rule and seeing whether they still stick by what they said.
Just to refresh everyone's memory. What was the DeLay Rule?
Sensing he was soon to be indicted by a District Attorney in Texas, DeLay got the House Republican Caucus to change its bylaws to allow him to stay in office even after he'd been indicted. Most of them happily complied. We'll get you that list.
Relatedly, there's the purge of the Ethics Committee and the change in the ethics rules (both to protect DeLay). Where does your Republican member of Congress stand on those questions now?
Don't know? Why not give them a call?
Did they support the purge of the ethics committee in January 2005?
Did they vote for the DeLay Rule in November 2004? Need more details on the whats and whys of the DeLay Rule? Here's an article from The Hill's Jonathan Kaplan published the morning before the vote. He gives the basic run-down. Here's the list of TPM posts on the topic. So you can see what happened after that.
We've got a list of what they told their constituents then. What are they saying now?
Join in. You can play from home.
--Josh Marshall
You gotta love the headline on MSNBC. DeLay's bowing out because the reelection campaign would be too 'nasty'. Who knew he was such a shrinking violet.
--Josh Marshall
The full DeLay run down. That and other news of the day in today's Daily Muck.
--Josh Marshall
So DeLay is out. But it's DeLay's House. DeLay's Republican DC machine. They built and fortified it with the money he brought in. The great majority of them voted for the "DeLay Rule" custom tailored for Majority Leader DeLay to avoid stepping down even after indictment. The current Republican membership of the House ethics committee was hand-picked to provide protection for DeLay and the old membership was purged. He's their guy. Their rule rests on his machine. They can run but they can't hide.
Here's the letter Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) sent out to constituents defending the DeLay Rule. Remember, on DeLay's say-so, he was interim Majority Leader for about three hours.
We've got a library of the letters Republican Reps sent out to their constituents little more than a year ago defending the DeLay Rule and DeLay's right to be free from "manipulation, disruption and political intimidation" from "partisan or self-serving district attorneys."
That was Denny Hastert's line too. The DeLay Rule was necessary because the old system "left elected officials vulnerable to politically motivated attacks by partisan attorney's hoping to remove them from their positions of leadership."
Reps. Beauprez, Cole, Frelinghuysen, Bilrakis and others. We've got their letters and many more.
They were all spouting the same line. DeLay owned them all. They did his bidding. Next.
--Josh Marshall
Okay, this is very negative reinforcement for this new thing I'm trying: flipping off all the computers and gizmos to spend evenings -- sans connectivity -- with my wife. I try it tonight. And now I come back to the electronic world to find that Tom DeLay has finally given up the political ghost and I wasn't there to see it. Delay won't seek reelection and according to Time will resign from Congress in the near future.
I haven't seen anything but the headlines yet. But I think the story here is clear. Prosecutors knocking down one pin at a time. Paul Kiel and I were talking about this before I left the office early this evening: Rudy, to Buckham, to DeLay. They're each going to down. And the road map was clear -- though largely implicit -- in the Rudy plea documents.
DeLay's lawyers must have sat him down over the last 72 hours and explained to him that he needs to focus on not spending most of the rest of his life in prison.
More soon.
--Josh Marshall
The jackals really are out for Cynthia McKinney. But, man, does she give them a lot to work with. A TV station in Atlanta is now reporting that McKinney spent around a $1000 worth of taxpayer money to fly Isaac Hayes to Georgia to help dedicate her new district office in Atlanta. This, as one would expect, is not allowed under congressional rules.
Perhaps there's a South Park angle too. But who knows?
--Josh Marshall
A few days ago I was flipping through a copy of The New Yorker and found Steve Coll's Talk of the Town piece on the Pentagon's own classified history of the Iraq war. Parts of report are included in Cobra II, a new book by Michael Gordon and retired Lt. Gen. Bernard Trainer. And certain declassified sections are available at the Foreign Affairs website.
"Reading them," writes Coll, "it is easy to imagine why the Administration might resist publication of the full study. The extracts describe how the Iraq invasion, more than any other war in American history, was a construct of delusion. Frustratingly, however, we now understand much more about the textures of fantasy in Saddam's palaces in early 2003 than we do about the self-delusions then prevalent in the West Wing."
There are a number of ways I could come at writing this post -- on the qualities of Coll's comment, which is taut, concise and devastating, or the contents, to the extent we know them, of the report itself or the various remaining myths it explodes.
But the heart of Coll's brief comment, or at least what it told me, is the veritable cloud of unknowing, the organized campaign of public denial that still holds the ground in discussions of our war in Iraq -- despite the fact that public support for the war, its rationales and conduct, have fallen dramatically.
The president, his key advisors and their public defenders keep looking over the horizon to history's more positive verdict on their gamble. But there's little reason -- either from what we know of this war or the evolving view of past wars -- to think this adventure will be remembered as anything but a disaster.
And yet, only last month the country was knocked off the rails into a dingbat debate about whether things were actually bad in Iraq or whether the media was just telling America things were going badly and hiding all the good news. We actually had that debate -- not more than two weeks ago. It's like the AIDS patient who desperately needs treatment but falls under the spell of some charlatan who gets him wondering whether AIDS actually really exists.
Only we're a whole country with no real excuse.
I'll let others speak for themselves. But this is why I devoted such time to skewering that clown Howard Kaloogian for his bogus picture of how well things are going in Iraq. Someone who so clearly cares more about his political party and its sacred cows than his country -- and that's the only explanation for spouting such lies -- scarcely deserves a place in public life, let alone Congress.
Read Coll's short note. It won't take you more than a few minutes. Even though public opinion has turned fairly decisively against the war, our whole public life today -- not just related to this war, but centered on it -- is awash in a sea of disinformation, official lies and denial. Indeed, lies and bad-faith obfuscation still set the terms of the public debate. We've barely scraped the surface in understanding how we got into this war -- largely because there's been no serious or independent investigation. And the dominant voices in the media are still willing to indulge the voices of liars on a par with those who are at least trying to grapple with what's happening.
--Josh Marshall
Okay, it doesn't have anything to do, at least not that we know of, with Rep. Jim Ryun's sweetheart real estate deal. But the contractor he hired to snazz the house up after he bought it from Ed Buckham's front group got arrested last year for "illegal construction."
(ed.note: Thanks to TPM Reader JD for the tip.)
--Josh Marshall
A bit more follow up on this issue of this year's Social Security actuarial report. Atrios got hold of this portion of the Social Security Act which mandates that the annual report be released no later than April 1st of each year. It's only April 3rd so it's not that late -- black letter law notwithstanding. But Matt Yglesias called Treasury Department public affairs and was told not only that it isn't out yet but that there's not even any timeline or projected date when it will be released.
This administration doesn't play fast and loose with the law on Social Security for nothing. Something's up.
--Josh Marshall
When you start investigating a politician's apparently fishy dealings, there's always a chance said politician will come forward with an explanation that really does clear the whole thing up and show there's no cause for suspicion.
Seems like Paul Kiel's continuing reporting on Rep. Jim Ryun's fishy house purchase isn't going to fall into that category.
Late last week Ryun came out with a statement and some contracting paperwork that purported to show that the house wasn't bought for as much as $100,000 under the market price. But there appears to be no documentation of his key claims and what the paperwork actually does seem to show is that Ryun saved so much money with the bargain-basement sale price that he had enough money left over to fancy the place