The Political Chase

More DeLay Abramoff Links

Bush had a bad week last week, Tom DeLay (R-TX) takes turns with the president.

Investigators have unearthed e-mails showing Rep. Tom DeLay’s office tried to help lobbyist Jack Abramoff get a high-level Bush administration meeting for Indian clients, an effort that succeeded after the tribes began making a quarter-million dollars in donations.

Tribal money went both to a group founded by Interior Secretary Gale Norton, the Cabinet secretary Abramoff was trying to meet, as well as to DeLay’s personal charity.

DeLay Loses a Battle

Sometimes the nail bends when hammering.  AP reports Tom DeLay (R-TX) was set back on which judge will preside over his trial.

Two days after Rep. Tom DeLay won a fight to get a new judge in his case, prosecutors Thursday succeeded in ousting the Republican responsible for selecting the new judge.

Administrative Judge B.B. Schraub withdrew after District Attorney Ronnie Earle filed a request to have him removed.

Schraub said he will ask the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court - a Republican - to name a judge to preside over DeLay’s conspiracy and money laundering trial.

Sen. Reid Launches Another Letter

The Democrats are turning the heat up on Vice President Dick Cheney. Following is a letter sent from Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) to the Veep.

A PDF file will be in the document library soon.

November 3, 2005

Honorable Richard B. Cheney
Vice President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. Vice President:

We are dismayed that you have chosen to ignore bi-partisan calls for a thorough house cleaning after the recent indictments and resignation of your Chief of Staff, and instead promoted two staffers who have themselves been connected with the Plame affair.

Seasoned government veterans and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have urged you and President Bush to swiftly bring in a fresh new team of advisors who would be above reproach and could bring new energy to helping solve the many problems that now plague your Administration and the nation.

According to recent press reports, both of the staffers you promoted, David Addington and John Hannah, have been connected to the leak investigation and perhaps even referenced in the Libby indictment itself. While neither of them has been accused of criminal wrongdoing, and we do not do so in this letter, these two men did apparently have some involvement in a troubling attempt by your Administration to smear one of your critics and his wife in a way unbecoming the White House.

These promotions signaled it would be business as usual, just when you should have signaled a fresh start and new leadership in your office. Instead of cleaning house, you simply rearranged some of the furniture.

To date, the White House has expressed no concern, no regret, no apology, and no explanation for what happened in the Valerie Plame case. While some of this can be attributed to an ongoing investigation, the White House should not simply use the criminal investigation as an excuse to delay much-needed changes it can make on its own.

When President Bush ran in 2000, he pledged to the American people that “We must always ask ourselves not only what is legal, but what is right.” The events that led to exposing covert agent Valerie Plame were not right. If this Administration intends to live up to its campaign pledge, rearranging a few staffers will not be enough. Real change is needed, and we urge you to begin right away.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Harry Reid – Democratic Leader
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin – Assistant Democratic Leader
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow

Michael Brown Emails During Katrina

Rep. Charlie Melancon (3rd District - LA) made emails available today to/from Michael Brown during Hurricane Katrina.

CNN’s description:

As Hurricane Katrina ripped into the Gulf Coast, the government’s emergency management chief was making flippant remarks about his responsibilities, e-mails show. “Can I quit now? Can I come home?” former Federal Emergency Management Director Michael Brown wrote on the morning of the hurricane to the agency’s deputy director of public affairs.

The emails have been added to the document library. Click here to download. Note: the emails are not in chronological order.

International reports

See what some in the international community are saying about the indictment and surrounding issues.

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European Union Heating Up

George Bush is not going to have just Congress meddling in his corrupt, scandalous administration, the whole world is going to investigate.  The European Union is progressing, the Human Rights Watch allegedly has evidence and the Red Cross is demanding answers.

The European Union and the continent’s top human rights group said Thursday they will investigate allegations the CIA set up secret jails in eastern Europe and elsewhere to interrogate terror suspects, and the Red Cross demanded access to any prisoners.

Human Rights Watch said it has evidence, based on flight logs, that indicate the CIA transported suspects captured in Afghanistan to Poland and Romania. But the two countries - and others in the former Soviet bloc - denied the allegations. U.S. officials have refused to confirm or deny the claims.

Such prisons, European officials say, would violate the continent’s human rights principles. At work may be a complex web of global politics, in which eastern European countries face choices between the views of the European Union and their interest in close ties with the United States.

Getting to the facts

Larry Johnson at TPM Cafe has a good piece on the credibility of Joseph Wilson and the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on Iraq.

Profile of David Addington

This is a bit late, but you may want to read Murray Waas’ piece in the National Journal.

In addition to being longtime friends and colleagues, Cheney, Addington and Libby share a fundamental philosophy on the issue of executive power and have sought to implement it in asserting Cheney’s power as vice president.

All three strongly believe that the presidency was severely weakened by Vietnam, Watergate, and other events, and that the Congress, the courts, and the media have encroached on and diminished executive branch powers and prerogatives.

Essential to reasserting presidential power, they have argued, is the necessity of setting strict limits on the release of executive branch information to Congress and the public, particularly in the area of foreign policy. Addington has been the administration’s point man in this effort.

The article provides a good background on Addington, his involvement in the "inner circle" and highlights Cheney selecting someone associated with a group of individuals now under a microscope.

Black Sites Investigation

Maybe situations like this are why George Bush withdrew support from the International Criminal Court.

The European Commission said today it will investigate reports that the CIA set up secret jails in eastern Europe.

Alito - Political Candidate or Nominee?

Is Sam Alito running for political office or is he a nominee to the Supreme Court? Given the volume of ad campaigns, one might get confused that he’s running for President.

It seems like almost every Web page I go to has the above banner, which is from judgealito.com.

Judges are elected in Texas, not at the Federal level and there’s a reason for that.

–’nuff said.

International Criminal Court

Have you ever reflected on why George Bush withdrew support from the International Criminal Court?

Site Availability

Squarespace, the provider for this site, is having problems maintaining server availability. The outages are intermittent and usually short in duration.  The problem is related to Java and Squarespace is working with the vendor to resolve the outages.  Hopefully, they will have this corrected soon.

My apologies for the inconveniences. 

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Rhetoric from Libby’s Lawyer

For someone who makes a profound statement to the press about not wanting a trial by media, he sure did get a good start using the media.

Libby was represented by Ted Wells and William Jeffress Jr., two of the nation’s most prominent white-collar criminal defense attorneys. Wells, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York, recently represented the tobacco industry in a marathon racketeering case against American tobacco companies; Jeffress, a partner at Baker Botts’ D.C. office, represented Mary Matalin, a former adviser to Cheney, in her appearance in the grand jury investigation.

Libby "has declared to the world that he is innocent," Wells said outside the courthouse following the arraignment. "He has declared that he intends to fight the charges. He has declared that he wants to clear his good name … and he wants a jury trial. We do not intend to try this case in the press. Mr. Libby intends to clear his good name by using the judicial process."

Libby Pleads Not Guilty

Libby Pleads Not Guilty to Charges in Leak Case

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Reid and Pelosi letter to Bush

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote President Bush yesterday strongly requesting the termination of Karl Rove. Additionally, they requested an apology from President Bush to the American people and that he provide details about all White House officials’, including VP Cheney, involvement in the Plame-Wilson matter as evidenced in Scooter Libby’s indictment.

The letter is in the document library and is available to download.