Meet our newest correspondent, the very talented Seth Hettena, author of Feasting on the Spoils. For his first story, he writes about hookers, Hawaii and hot tubs. Oh, and how Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham and defense contractor Brent Wilkes really, really like them. MORE »

• Primary results “yielded no significant surprises”; Republican Brian Bilbray beats Democrat Francine Busby in race for Rep. Randy Cunningham’s seat. [WP, LAT]
• Cheney brokers deal to keep telephone company executives from testifying about NSA database. [USAT]
• Some Republican Senators think the recent focus on “ideologically charged topics” like gay marriage could backfire; voters have more pressing concerns. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.): “I know in many meetings of our colleagues when the issue of marriage comes up, heads drop. It is just an issue that people just feel uncomfortable talking about. It’s something that maybe in some respects they feel like, why do we even have to? Why is this even an issue?” [NYT]
• Use of “taxpayer-funded databases” provides an advantage to incumbents who can “cultivate constituents more attentively than ever.” Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.): “As incumbents, we have unlimited access to the most up-to-date technology in the world.” [WP]
• FBI sought proof that Rep. William Jefferson may have tried to bribe the vice president of Nigeria. [NYT, LAT]
• Judiciary Panel members are riled by a Justice Department official’s refusal to say “whether the Bush administration has ever considered prosecuting journalists for publishing leaked national security information.” [WP]
• Tom DeLay says “panic, depression and woe-is-me-ism” risks losing the election for the GOP. [USAT, USAT]

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• Bush renews call to ban gay marriage; social conservatives cheer the “litmus test” as critics contend the move is mainly political. James Dobson: “It is true what this vote will do will be to help the voters identify who is and is not supportive of the family, and I think those that are not are going to have to answer for it.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
• This week’s Senate agenda, from the ban on gay marriage to a repeal of the estate tax, is “all about” motivating conservative voters. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) on the marriage amendment: “I am confident that the American people will see this for what it is: a mean-spirited attempt to score political points in an election year.” [WP, W$J]
• Intense campaigning is already underway for the midterm election, “reflecting a consensus in both parties that Republicans could lose control of the House and perhaps the Senate”; Republicans have spent at least $4.5M on today’s special election for Randy Cunningham’s seat. [NYT, W$J]
• Congress and the courts “are beginning to push back against what has been the greatest expansion of presidential powers in a generation or more.” [USAT]
• Bill Clinton hopes to raise over $20M for midterm campaigns. [NYT]

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• Senate approves fences and barriers for the southern border as well as restrictions for the guest-worker program. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.): “Good fences make good neighbors. Fences don’t make bad neighbors.” [WP, NYT, WSJ]
• New details about Gen. Michael Hayden’s “highly classified world” are “forcing lawmakers to reexamine a man many of them have known for years”; last-minute briefings to lawmakers on the Intelligence Committees “have smoothed what might have been a contentious path toward confirmation” and a declassified list shows select members were briefed 30 times on surveillance programs since 9/11. [WP, NYT, NYT, USAT, USAT, WSJ]
• Tuesday’s election results may preview a “brewing unrest that could threaten incumbents of both parties in the November elections”; a “broader disaffection” is noted. [WP, NYT]
• Bush echoes past campaign themes in speech at RNC fundraiser: “We are the party of the future, and our candidates will be running against the party of the past — a party that offers no new ideas like the Republican Party, a party that can only offer opposition.” [NYT]
• Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) says Bush is not appropriately funding the National Guard order: “A lot are going to be sitting in cars that don’t run and planes that don’t take off.” [USAT]
• House ethics committee opens investigations of Reps. Robert Ney (R-Ohio), William Jefferson (D-La.), and Randy Cunningham (R-Calif.). [WP, NYT]
• Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are bidding for a multibillion-dollar contract to provide border security. [NYT]

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• Bush, seeking a “rational middle ground” on immigration to rescue his second term, announces the deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops to the southern border; Karl Rove indicates that Bush supports the Senate’s immigration plan. Bush: “We do not yet have full control of the border, and I am determined to change that.” [WP, NYT, USAT, WSJ]
• Immigration issue could go from “opportunity to expand the Republican Party” to a “historic liability”; Bush sought to “define the middle ground in a debate where consensus has been difficult.” 74% of Americans, in poll conducted before the presidential address, supported the use of Guard troops on the border. [WP]
• BellSouth denies “any link” with the NSA for the logging of phone calls; USA Today stands by its story. [USAT, NYT, WSJ]
• Pentagon releases the full list of those detained at Guantanamo Bay after the Associated Press files a FOIA request. [AP]
• Rove is optimistic for the GOP’s chances in November: “Look, we’re in a sour time. I readily admit it. I mean, being in the middle of a war where people turn on their television sets and see brave men and women dying is not something that makes people happy and optimistic and upbeat. But I’m absolutely confident [that] we’re going to be just fine in the fall elections.” [WP]
• Emergency spending bill has yet to be slimmed to Bush’s specifications. [WP]

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* Administration official confirms that Bush ordered the declassification of select prewar intelligence in response to public skepticism; Bush “may have played only a peripheral role in the release of the classified material and was uninformed about the specifics –like the effort to dispatch [Scooter Libby] to discuss the [National Intelligence Estimate] with reporters.” [NYT]
* Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) calls for “detailed explanation” of “what Vice President Cheney did, what the president said to him, and an explanation from the president as to what he said so that it can be evaluated.” [WP, USAT]
* 500,000 march in Dallas to support immigrants’ rights; protests planned today in over 100 cities. [NYT, USAT]
* House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is not satisfied with Bush’s immigration plan: “I’m for securing the borders and enforcing the laws. Until we do that, if you try to create a guest-worker program, all you’re doing is inviting more illegal immigration.” [WP]
* Christian Coalition, weighed down by “trail of debt” that tops $2m, has lost credibility and influence. [WP]
* Tomorrow’s special election to replace Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-Calif.) is seen as a “bellwether for races across the nation”; a win by Democrat Francine Busby “would be the political equivalent of a tectonic shift,” says expert. [WP]
* 200 gay families plan on attending White House Easter Egg Roll. Laura Bush’s press secretary states the rules: “No more than two adults per group, and at least one child under the age of 8.” [NYT]
* McCain is now in the “heart of the Bush dynasty.” [USAT]
* Three-star Marine Corps general calls for Rumsfeld to resign: “I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat –Al Qaeda.” [NYT]

* Reliable Source: Isaac Mizrahi is designing the uniforms for the Smithsonian’s art conservators. . . Iranian rug, given to former Rep. Randy Cunningham as a bribe, auctions for $10,000. [WP]
* Inside the Beltway: Clinton’s birthplace in Hope, Arkansas will be named a national historic landmark. . . Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-Texas) needed an emergency appendectomy. [WT]
* Rush & Molloy: Democratic fundraisers are “testing the waters” for Al Gore. [NYDN]

* Immigration seen as breakout issue for ‘08; Bush “has lost control of his own party on the issue.” Flack for Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.): “The short-term politics of this are pretty clear. The long-term politics are pretty clear. And they’re both at odds.” [WP, NYT]
* Democrats bet ‘06 has the “perfect conditions” for female candidates; perhaps an indicator for Hillary in ‘08. [NYT]
* Congressional investigation on prewar intelligence is due next week; report unlikely to answer “whether political appointees at the Pentagon deliberately distorted intelligence and subverted analysis by the Central Intelligence Agency to gin up support for the invasion.” [W$J]
* American Muslims “are voting, running for office and getting more involved in civic and political life at every level.” [USAT]
* Push for the legalization of same-sex marriage heats up at the state-level. [USAT]
* Government raises $94,625 from auctioning goods that were given to former Rep. Randy Cunningham. [NYT]

* Attention focuses on the future of Rove, Card; outside names are floated as possible additions to the White House senior staff. [NYT]
* Supreme Court clarifies police powers to enter private homes; both partners must agree to search unless warrant is presented. The case shows “the strains behind the surface placidity and collegiality of the young Roberts court.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
* Today makes Bush the “longest-sitting president since Thomas Jefferson not to exercise his veto.” [USAT, USAT]
* Iraq war veteran edges out victory in Cook County, Illinois congressional race; results delayed due to problems with electronic voting machines. [WP]
* DeLay’s attorneys ask judges to make quick decisions to avoid interference with the midterm election. [WP, USAT]
* Former Rep. Randy Cunningham’s bribed goods will be auctioned today. [WP]
* Democratic comeback strategies hit the bookshelves. [WSJ]

* 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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• Samuel Alito speaks publicly for the first time: “Good judges are always open to the possibility of changing their minds based on the next brief that they read, or the next argument that’s made by an attorney who’s appearing before them, or a comment that is made by a colleague during the conference on the case.” [WP, NYT, WSJ, USAT, WT, LAT]
• 58% of Americans believe there is “widespread corruption in Washington,” according to fresh WP-ABC News poll; strong majorities approve of sweeping reforms of the lobbying industry. 53% in USAT-CNN poll believe the Abramoff scandal is major. [WP, USAT]
• Reps. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and John Boehner (R-Ohio) are the last contenders standing in the race for House majority leader; race seen as “wide open.” [WP, NYT, WT, LAT]
• FISA judges have rare private meeting at the Justice Department to discuss the eavesdropping program. [NYT]
• Confirmation hearings illustrate “a clear disconnect between the zeal of activists and the detachment of the general public.” Pollster: “You’re going to have to really get some significant news out of these hearings to move the needle in a negative way.” [WP, NYT]
• Alito’s views on the legal footing of NSA eavesdropping will be key component of the hearings. [NYT]
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Alito: “He was nervous. He was more human than Roberts.” [NYT, WP]

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