Our dear friends in the Senate Finance Committee have voted down the Schumer/Cantwell “less cool but still cool” public option amendment as well, 13-10 (Dems voting no: Baucus, Conrad, Lincoln), so there will officially (we think?) not be a public option in the Senate Finance Committee bill. SURPRISE. MORE »

Mike McHaney was ordered held without bond following a brief hearing Wednesday afternoon in federal court. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit and blue jacket, McHaney responded “Yes, sir,” when questioned by Magistrate Judge John Facciola. MORE »

As Mike McHaney heads to his court hearing today, friends and acquaintances of the disgraced staffer for Sen. Maria Cantwell are coming forward to speak about his history of odd behavior. By now we’ve heard a few more things. According to those who know him, he got his start in politics doing advance work for Bill Clinton’s campaign (his parents, who live in Little Rock, Arkansas, are allegedly friends with the Clintons). Two people that have worked with McHaney have contacted Wonkette, and have allowed us to tell their stories on the condition we not use their names. The first source worked with McHaney on several campaigns. “I knew him well and was around him a lot. He was very shady.”

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Former Senate staffer Mike McHaney, who’a arrest Wonkette reported yesterday, belonged to an informal gay social group known as the Axis of Fun. The group, a source tells us, is not very well-liked. “They think they are the big shots within the gay community around DC and play kickball together and canoodle around Rehobeth.” MORE »

Sen. Maria Cantwell staffer Mike McHaney, who Wonkette reported yesterday was arrested for soliciting sex with an underage boy, appeared in federal court Saturday and is being held without bail pending a court hearing. Before joining Cantwell’s office, McHaney worked for Sen. John Kerry’s 2004 presidential bid and as was an aide to Rep. Dick Gephardt. According to McHaney’s Facebook page (login needed), he is originally from Little Rock, Arkansas and his interests include cooking, going out, drinking, politics, techno and trance. Court documents after the jump.

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Sen. Maria Cantwell’s chief of staff, Michael Meehan, has issued a statement regarding Mike McHaney’s Friday arrest for soliciting sex with an underage boy, previously reported by Wonkette: “Late Friday afternoon the FBI informed our office that a Senate employee was arrested. The employee was immediately fired. Our office has and will continue to fully cooperate with the ongoing federal criminal investigation. Senator Cantwell has zero tolerance for crimes against children,” Meehan said. Court documents after the jump.

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The FBI arrested Sen. Maria Cantwell’s staffer Mike McHaney Friday after he arranged to meet and have sex with underage boy. According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., brought to our attention by The Smoking Gun, McHaney was online Friday afternoon when a witness working with investigators asked if McHaney was interested in engaging in anal sex with a 13-year-old boy. “I’ll be there,” McHaney responded. McHaney was later arrested at a predetermined location where he had arranged to meet the witness. Until his arrest Friday, McHaney had worked for Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell. As of Monday night, calls to Sen. Cantwell’s office were not returned. Court documents after the jump.

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This week, Russell Crowe, Maria Cantwell, Ezra Klein, Megan McArdle, Tom Delay and Pete Hegseth were all spotted being various degrees of famous at various places by our spies and operatives. Voyeuristic fun, as always, is after the jump.

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* Disapproval of Bush could drive a rejection of Republican candidates in November. GOP pollster: “Democrats will have an easier time of getting out their vote because of their intense disapproval of the president. That means we Republicans are going to have to bring our ‘A’ turnout game in November.” [WP]
* Rumsfeld’s “grip on the Defense Department is slipping as some uniformed officers increasingly chart their own course.” [W$J]
* Republicans back Rumsfeld on Sunday talk shows. [NYT, USAT]
* 48 American troops have died in Iraq so far this month. [USAT]
* If Roe were overturned, 22 states are likely to “impose significant new restrictions on abortion.” [USAT]
* Josh Bolten officially takes office today; he gave Andy Card an Egg McMuffin on his way out. [USAT]
* Time magazine names Sens. Thad Cochran, Kent Conrad, Dick Durbin, Ted Kennedy, Jon Kyl, Carl Levin, Richard Lugar, John McCain, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter as the nation’s best; Sens. Daniel Akaka, Wayne Allard, Jim Bunning, Conrad Burns, and Mark Dayton considered the worst. [Time]
* Immigration rallies “have also energized those who support a crackdown on illegal immigration.” [NYT]
* Can Rep. Tom DeLay be a lobbyist next? [WP]
* Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) brings sadness to Washington state in an effort to take down Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). [WP]
* Supreme Court justices spark laughter just from speaking funny. [USAT]