The Daily Muck

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Following yesterday’s stunning revelation by the Washington Post that 26 US attorneys had been considered for dismissals, professionals all around the country are trying to figure out what the Justice Department felt they were doing wrong. Local papers in Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Kentucky and Georgia ask their own attorneys. The consensus? Says stunned USA Dunn Lampton (MS): “I don’t have a clue.”

Despite constant reassurances that he would not take advantage of the former Patriot Act that allowed interim US Attorneys to serve indefinitely, Gonzales has let former Rove-protégé Tim Griffin serve a full month past his interim term limit.

The Daily Page reports that US Attorney Steve Biskupic (WI) tried to “squeeze” Georgia Thompson to find about possible criminal activity from her employer Gov. Jim Doyle (D). Thompson’s guilty verdict was recently overturned in a dramatic reversal by the appellate court.

Following on the gripping testimony of former DAG Jim Comey, Time Magazine asks about the legality of Gonzales’ late night visit to his predecessor.

War and Piece looks at the official rhetoric to determine if Jim Comey’s testimony has brought to light yet another clandestine domestic spying program.

Wolfowitz resigns.

The House passed yesterday a measure that would require the secretary of defense to begin plans to transfer all detainees from Guantanamo. The amendment passed by 12 votes; McClatchy has the story.

A Navy lawyer has been found guilty of sneaking vital information out of Guantanamo Bay to a human rights attorney.

Padilla’s fingerprints matched at least seven of the 45 prints found on an application to join Al Qaeda, according to a fingerprint specialist who testified yesterday. However, the specialist claimed that the government never delivered the additional samples from Padilla that are used in evaluation of major cases.

A civil rights group is suing the Justice Department and the National Security Agency for allegedly spying on lawyers who represented Guantanamo detainees.

A bipartisan group of senators have joined the 20-month fight to make public the CIA’s internal report on the attacks of 9/11.

In the Department of Education, a political appointee’s bonuses –which total $250,000 over four years- has left Democratic lawmakers suspicious.

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) is accused of threatening to cut off further spending projects from Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), who recently sought to expose a $23 million earmark of Murtha’s. It is against House rules to threaten earmarks or tax provisions, and Rogers, who has brought the accusation, is seeking a sanctioned reprimand.

In the last two years, members of Congress have spent over $5 million of their campaign funds in legal fees concerning ethics violations and criminal investigations.

The AP reports that two senators have called for the withdrawal of Michael Baroody’s nomination to run the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Baroody is set to receive $150,000 on his way out of his current job, where he pursued a number of industry-friendly activities.

Watchdogs are worried as the number of questionable, though legal, land deals involving legislators is on the rise.

At Salon, Peter Moore (with the help of a tech-savvy eight-year-old) finds a hidden history of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

Update: Dunn Lampton and the Clarion Ledger were originally listed as Florida-based, rather than Mississippi.