The Daily Muck

Just in case you missed this yesterday, Newsweek dishes on campaign secrets, reporting that hackers broke into both campaigns’ computer systems in mid-summer and that VP candidate Sarah Palin actually spent more than $150,000 of campaign funds on clothing. Meanwhile uptight DC insiders were titillated — I mean, scandalized — by the thought of Sarah Palin greeting McCain aides Mark Salter and Steve Schmidt in a towel. (Newsweek)

Despite a trial that lasted more than a month, dredged up details of drug abuse, massage chairs, and marital dynamics, and ended in a guilty verdict, one in three Alaska voters said in exit polls that the corruption of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) was not a factor in their decision. Loyalty to “Uncle Ted”–and perhaps to his mastery of the pork barrel system–may have trumped fear of felons, giving the 84 year-old a narrow lead against his Democratic challenger, Mark Begich. (AP)

High-profile Democrats and Republicans — including minority leader Mitch McConnell — have said Stevens can expect expulsion from the Senate if he returns. But now, with Stevens’ re-election looking likely, McConnell has hedged, suggesting that the Senate will wait to take action until the case finishes working its way through the courts. (ProPublica)

Donald Howard, who administered federal oil and natural gas leases, yesterday pleaded guilty to accepting gifts from a contractor and lying about them. Howard, the third employee of the Minerals Management Service to be charged this year, had expensed more than $2,000 of travel to an oil contracter. (Washington Post)

Old habits die hard. In the latest revelation of corporate excess, executives at Fannie Mae spent more than $6,000 on a golf trip several weeks after the government seized the mortgage giant to save it from financial collapse. (AP)

Mortgage companies, like Lehman Brothers, played a far larger role in fueling the sub-prime mortgage crisis than they have acknowledged, reports the Village Voice, which documents the company’s sketchy past and its connection to subsidiary Aurora Loan Services, which has aggressively foreclosed on homes. In other news, Lehman announced that it will “terminate” its imperious CEO Dick Fuld without a bonus by the end of the year. (Village Voice/NYTimes)

A California detention center held a U.S. citizen for two months, refusing to believe his birth certificate was real, before a U.S. judge freed the man, Jose Ledesma, this week. (AP)

A British court yesterday found a top interpreter for British forces in Afghanistan guilty of spying for Iran. Determination on two other charges will resume today. (BBC)