The Daily Muck

Representatives Henry Waxman and Dennis Kucinich have asked Hunt Oil, a Texas company whose CEO has close ties to President Bush, to turn over all Iraq-related communication with the U.S. government. Hunt’s recent oil deal with the Kurds (which al-Maliki’s oil minister has called “illegal”) has raised suspicion in Washington about whether Hunt acted on inside information. Kucinich is also concerned that the president’s friend, Ray Hunt, “may have undermined; U.S. national policy of working toward the passage of an oil revenue sharing plan.” (Dallas Morning News)

Michael Mukassey is the $28 million dollar man. Since the U.S. Marshals Service began protecting him in the early 1990s, the cost to taxpayers has been $10,000 a day. Marshals Service employees have filed a grievance that complains about being overworked and being used for personal service such as carrying groceries and golf clubs, and taking out the trash. (Washington Post)

Poor telecoms. The three major telecommunications companies have refused to disclose what their role was (or even if they had a role) in the government’s warrantless wiretapping program. The justification is that the companies don’t want to step into a battle between surveillance by the executive branch and Congressional oversight. Meanwhile, the firms are facing a barrage of lawsuits, and the government isn’t worry about providing much assistance beyond retroactive immunity. (NY Times)

Fare thee well, J. Scott Jennings. The former Rove adviser is moving on to greener pastures: Peritus Public Relations in Louisville, Kentucky. (Politico)

The State Department is weighing in on the state of corruption in Iraq, and all it took was a House resolution condemning the Department’s obscuring of the Maliki government’s corruption. Turns out State is quite aware of the corruption problems in Iraq, calling the issue “real, endemic and pernicious.” Of course, that doesn’t mean the State Department intends to hand over any documents to Rep. Waxman’s committee investigating the subject…. (Washington Post)

Campaign figures for last quarter have been released, giving for the first time a measure of the impact of Norman Hsu’s arrest. Hillary Clinton returned over $800,000 in campaign funds to 249 donors last quarter because of the donors’ relationship with Hsu. (LA Times)

A study by Syracuse University has found a 14% drop in federal corruption probes since the Bush administration took office. There has also been a 27% drop in white collar crime prosecutions. (Think Progress)

Given the state of corruption in the Iraqi reconstruction process, it might be useful to hear from U.S. workers on the front lines. However, few protections exist for whistleblowers employed with private contracting firms . Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Susan Collins (R-ME) hope to change this with legislation that allows whistleblowers to seek some support from the Department of the Defense. Henry Waxman has his own Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. The president has promised to veto Waxman’s bill. (Mother Jones)