Wonkette

Despite denials from the Department of Justice, ABC News is standing by its story that House Speaker Dennis Hastert is “in the mix” of the FBI investigation into congressional corruption. ABC quotes anonymous “law enforcement sources,” including a “senior official” who told ABC, “You guys wrote the story very carefully, but they are not reading it very carefully.”

Who is ABC’s source? This person is in law enforcement, but apparently not at the DoJ proper (in which case he would probably be referred to as a “Justice Department official”).

After the jump, some ruminations from us.

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Yesterday we gave you two blind items for your consideration. Here’s the first (originally from Page Six):

WHICH Democratic party moneybags is getting divorced because he diddled with a candidate’s daughter? To cap it off, his wife, the mother of his children then had a go with her personal trainer (a woman)…

In the comments, the dominant response was George Zimmer, the founder and CEO of Men’s Wearhouse. By email, this additional response: “Terry McAuliffe with one of the Kerry daughters…. Or better yet, McAuliffe with one of the Bush twins. I would prefer the latter.”

And then the second item:

The daughter of a potential 2008 candidate was having a very spirited going-away party at the Tortilla Coast on Thursday night. Apparently she’s leaving Washington to work for her dad back at home. Quite a few staffers from various congressional offices were on hand, as well as close friends, roommates, and God only knows how many male admirers. Word is that in her new position she’ll be raising money for ‘08.

We received one, highly detailed response, which included some additional information about the alleged candidate in question. Check it out, after the jump.

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We seem to have cornered the market in blind items about misbehaving daughters of prominent politicians. First we asked you about a cokehead daughter, and then about one who had an affair with a fundraising powerhouse. And now, we bring you this little item (courtesy of a tipster): MORE »

Sure, they’re scandal-ridden, their credibility in tatters. But the Page Six people still come up with scrumptious blind items: MORE »

* Under the Dome: Justice Antonin Scalia drunk Corona and mingled with actress Doris Roberts at the Bloomberg party before looking “uncomfortable” with Ludacris. . . Meanwhile, Ludacris doesn’t care about Steve Scully. . . Anna Kournikova and Drew Lachey were among the no-shows. [The Hill]
* Heard on the Hill: “A longtime aide to a senior Democratic Senator” stole George Clooney’s place card. . . Cartoonist/author Anthony Haden-Guest fell asleep during Stephen Colbert’s routine. . . Court TV is opening a D.C. bureau. [Roll Call]
* Reliable Source: Bush’s low approval rating equal good business for impersonator Steve Bridges: “If they’re too high, people get nervous: ‘Is it okay to make fun of the president?’”. . . Bloomberg reporter Janine Zacharia scores a private lunch with Condoleezza Rice and Tiki Barber at the State Department. [WP]
* Page Six: Blind item asks, “Which Democratic party moneybags is getting divorced because he diddled with a candidate’s daughter? To cap it off, his wife, the mother of his children then had a go with her personal trainer (a woman).” [NYP]
* Rush & Molloy: Ken Mehlman: “I’m not gay. But those stories did a number on my dating life for six months.” [NYDN]

* The tasteful classic rock hits finally stopped playing, and when they did, Scotty was the one without the chair. We heard later that maybe he never even had a chance. MORE »

Thanks for all your guesses in response to yesterday’s blind item about a southern Republican congressman who has found himself in a bit of trouble. We won’t pass on the correctness or incorrectness of your guesses; we’ll just pass them along, with minimal comment.

Here was one of the better responses:

Oh God, oh God, oh God! Please, please, please let it be Jeff Sessions! And please let his mistress be John Cornyn!

Sorry to disappoint you, dear reader. But it can’t be Jeff Sessions, since he’s a senator rather than a representative. Points for creativity, though!

More guesses, after the jump.

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Since y’all had so much fun with our last Capitol Hill blind item, here’s another: MORE »

We previously asked you about a blind item, from Payola Six, concerning the cocaine-using daughter “of a high-powered politician.” In your guesses, some of you suggested Chelsea Clinton. We dismissed such speculation: “Chelsea Clinton was jokingly named (jokingly, since she’s probably too much of a goody-goody to do coke).” MORE »

* It turns out that a court does resemble a circus, at least when Jessica Cutler is there, along with a former paramour as plaintiff and an alleged former paramour as defense counsel. Well, not anymore, as defense counsel had to “pull out.” MORE »