Wonkette

The Times urges us all not to be fooled. Mukasey may seem moderate but he loves the Patriot Act, detaining Muslims, and Claus von Bulow. And he’s backing Rudy for Prez. So before you get all happy with Mr. Nice New Attorney General ‘Won’t Thow Me in GItmo Forever’ keep in mind that he will still be Mr. Attorney General ‘Tapping All My Phones Without a Warrant.’ MORE »

A federal judge has overturned a bunch of the Patriot Act illegal eavesdropping stuff because it’s all unconstitutional and we still have a constitution, somewhere around here. [MSNBC/AP]

On April 27, 2005, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the Senate intelligence committee that there hadn’t been a single case of the FBI violating civil liberties since the establishment of the Patriot Act. Naturally, this means that there had been at last six reports of “legal or procedural violations” that Gonzales had personally received. MORE »

While Democrats and Republicans on the Hill continue their “Yeah but now I’m against it” routine, Texas Congressman Ron Paul doesn’t have to issue any apologies. He was always against the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and he’s running for president. MORE »

* House Republicans set vote on Dubai port deal for next week despite White House resistance. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio): “This has become a very hot political potato.” [WP, NYT]
* Military spending for Iraq and Afghanistan will reach $117.6b this fiscal year. [W$J]
* Harold Ickes, with George Soros, are sidestepping the DNC to create a massive nationwide voter list. Ickes: “The Republicans have developed a cadre of people who appreciate databases and know how to use them, and we are way behind the march.” [WP]
* Congress renews Patriot Act by vote of 280 to 138. [WP, NYT]
* Senate Select Committee on Intelligence rejects Democratic calls for inquiry of NSA eavesdropping; White House agrees to new oversight rules. [WP, NYT, W$J]
* The CIA is not interested in cooperating with the Libby investigation by providing classified documents. [WP, NYT]
* Sen. Clinton moves to tie up money and talent for ‘08 race. [NYT]
* Cato Institutes vents beef with Bush. [WP]
* Rep. DeLay wins Republican primary in Texas. [AP]

* Video shows Bush was warned about the potential for a levee breach, despite denials after the fact: “Was the president misinformed, misspoken or misleading?” [WP, USAT]
* Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco hesitantly told Bush that the levees were safe on the morning of Aug. 29th. [AP]
* U.S. and India announce deal for nuclear cooperation, for energy and weapons; “new plan would allow India enough fissile material for as many as 50 weapons a year.” [WP, NYT, W$J]
* Senate passes renewal of the Patriot Act by vote of 89 to 10. [NYT]
* 54% disapprove of Bush’s handling of the war on terrorism and 64% say the country is on the wrong track, according to LAT-Bloomberg poll; findings echo new Gallup poll. [LAT, Bloomberg, USAT]
* Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee,vows to stop Dubai port deal. [WP, W$J]

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* Republicans are breaking with Bush over homeland security issues, once thought to be his chief selling point. Senior White House official: “We’ve got a period of time when the news that’s dominating the headlines is not good and some Republicans are going to feel free to distance themselves from the president, but at the end of the day, I don’t think the breach is deep or lasting because this is the president’s strong suit. I think it’s about this moment in time. I don’t think it’s fundamental.” [WP, NYT, WT]
* Gonzales implies that warrant-less eavesdropping is more widespread than Bush suggested. [WP]
* Supreme Court justices “seemed aware of stepping into an epic soap opera” starring Anna Nicole Smith; Chief Justice John Roberts mentions the “substantial amount of assets” involved. [WP, USAT]
* Administration officials “could find no shelter” from questions about Dubai port deal. [WP]
* Bush stands by port deal on principle. [WP, NYT]

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* Administration requests $72.4b for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan plus $19.8b for the Gulf Coast. [NYT, W$J, WT]
* Senate, under pressure from the administration, will not investigate NSA eavesdropping; House inquiry moves forward. [WP, NYT, LAT]
* Bush has no problem with handling of Cheney’s hunting accident: “This is a man who likes the outdoors, and he likes to hunt. . . I’m satisfied with the explanation he gave.” [NYT, USAT]
* Texas police close their investigation of hunting accident without making criminal charges. [WP]
* Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) denies wrongdoing in new lobbying scandal but asks for ethics investigation. [WP, NYT, USAT]
* Is Cheney more of a liability for Republicans than an asset? [W$J]

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• White House will not release documents that warned about Katrina and officials will not be provided for sworn congressional testimony. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.): “There has been a near total lack of cooperation that has made it impossible, in my opinion, for us to do the thorough investigation that we have a responsibility to do.” [NYT]
• Some Democratic strategists are concerned that criticisms of NSA eavesdropping will backfire in the midterm elections. Said one, “If Democrats want to be the party of people who think [the government] is too tough and the Republicans are the party of people who are tough, I don’t see how that helps us.” [LAT]
• Confirmation of Samuel Alito is seen as inevitable after Judiciary Committee votes along party lines; Democrats will use floor debate time to discuss domestic spying. [WP, NYT, USAT, LAT]
• Bush will propose making certain out-of pocket medical costs tax deductible. [WP, USAT]
• White House rejects plan to buy homes in Louisiana. [USAT]
• House and Senate negotiations over the Patriot Act are stalled over privacy concerns. [WP]
• Gonzales joins administration chorus in defending eavesdropping. [WP, NYT]
• Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) wins support of Reps. Charles Bass and Jeff Flake in race for majority leader. [NYT]
• Bush will visit India and Pakistan in March. [WP]

• Jack Abramoff pleads guilty as part of plea deal; inquiry reaches 60 lawmakers. Justice Department official: “The corruption scheme with Mr. Abramoff is very extensive. We’re going to follow this wherever it goes.” [WP, NYT, LAT, WSJ, USAT, WT]
• Secret eavesdropping by the NSA occurred before White House approval; data was shared with the FBI. [NYT, WP]
• Republican lawmakers seek cover from Abramoff scandal; officials are “waiting for the other shoe to drop.” [WP, NYT, WP, USAT]
• Republican strategy of “turning the K Street lobbying corridor into a cog of the GOP political machine” backfires. [LAT]
• Abramoff secretly collected over $20m; he has agreed to return $25m. [NYT, LAT]

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• After successfully shifting its rhetorical strategy on Iraq, the Bush administration rethinks its plans for the second term; Dan Bartlett and Nicolle Wallace pressed for Bush to admit mistakes. Former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.): “I don’t think they realized that Iraq is the totality of their legacy until fairly recently. There is not much of a market for other issues.” Grover Norquist: “The lesson from this year is you cannot do anything dramatic unless you have 60 votes.” [WP]
• Jack Abramoff, “an ingenious dealmaker who hatched interlocking schemes that exploited the machinery of government and trampled the norms of doing business in Washington,” is at the center of “what could become the biggest congressional corruption scandal in generations.” Former Rep. Mickey Edwards (R-Okla.): “This is at a scale that is really shocking. There is a certain kind of arrogance that in the past you might not have had. They were so supremely confident that there didn’t seem to be any kind of moral compass here.” [WP]
• Department of Homeland Security is crippled by mismanagement and financial problems, audit finds. Inspector general’s report: “The circumstances created by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita provide an unprecedented opportunity for fraud, waste and abuse.” [WP]
• Officials deny that secret radiation detection specifically targeted Muslims. [WP]
• Iraqi election results are called “credible and good” by top official at the United Nations. [WP, NYT]
• Bush’s “authority to conduct the war on terrorism as he sees fit” is at the core of the debate over eavesdropping and the Patriot Act. [USAT]
• The relationship of Bush and Cheney is “closer than it has ever been,” says senior administration official. [WT]

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We first came to know Representative James Sensenbrenner during those halcyon days of the Clinton impeachment hearings. The legendary House Managers were captivating the world with their combovers and their tenuous grasp of legal specifics, and Sensenbrenner was the group’s Brick Tamland character — loud and loyal, never permitted to get too close to anyone’s pet bunny. Now, as a result of a series of badly played bets and poorly executed dares, Sensenbrenner is somehow the chair of the House Judiciary Committee. MORE »

• Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) says Congress rejected White House request for the authority to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens: “I can state categorically that the subject of warrantless wiretaps of American citizens never came up. I did not and never would have supported giving authority to the president for such wiretaps. I am also confident that the 98 senators who voted in favor of authorization of force against al Qaeda did not believe that they were also voting for warrantless domestic surveillance.” [WP, WP]
• Congress has turned on Bush. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): “What you have seen is a Congress, which has been AWOL through intimidation or lack of unity, get off the sidelines and jump in with both feet.” [WP, LAT]
• Republican lawmakers “largely have themselves to blame for the muddled and haphazard finale of the Congressional session.” [NYT]
• House and Senate extend the Patriot Act for five weeks, pushing fight into the new year. [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Bush approves reduction of U.S. combat forces in Iraq; troop level could fall to 130,000. [WP, USAT]
• John Yoo, “a mere deputy assistant attorney general in the legal counsel office,” was the main author of controversial legal policies; viewed as an aggressive force among conservative legal scholars. Yoo: “If you’re being criticized for what you did and you believe that what you did was right, you shouldn’t take it lying down. You should go out and defend yourself.” [NYT]
• Michael Brown warned Tom Ridge in 2003 that the bureaucracy of the DHS would strangle FEMA’s effectiveness: “People became distracted from the mission, because we spent so much time and energy fighting for resources and working on reorganization. It just disintegrated our capacity.” [WP, WT]

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