Plame to testify before House committee
“Former CIA officer Valerie Plame, who was exposed after her husband, former diplomat Joe Wilson, criticized President Bush’s prewar intelligence, will testify next week before a House committee probing how the White House dealt with her identity. But it is unclear whether Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who was invited by Chairman Henry Waxman to appear before his committee, will accept the invitation.” (MSNBC)
Frequent Errors In FBI’s Secret Records Requests
“A Justice Department investigation has found pervasive errors in the FBI’s use of its power to secretly demand telephone, e-mail and financial records in national security cases, officials with access to the report said yesterday. The inspector general’s audit found 22 possible breaches of internal FBI and Justice Department regulations — some of which were potential violations of law — in a sampling of 293 “national security letters.” The letters were used by the FBI to obtain the personal records of U.S. residents or visitors between 2003 and 2005. The FBI identified 26 potential violations in other cases.” (Washington Post)
Ethics complaint filed against Sen. Bayh
“A conservative group filed an ethics complaint against U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh on Thursday, saying the Democrat failed to report his position with a family foundation on his Senate financial disclosure forms for three separate years. Judicial Watch, which describes itself as a conservative nonpartisan organization investigating government corruption, filed the complaint with the Senate Committee on Ethics.” (AP)
Gingrich Had Affair During Clinton Probe
“Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.” (AP)
House May Revise Ethics Rules to Address Private Jet Issue
“Bowing to weeks of GOP complaints over an obscure technical problem in the chamberâs new ethics rules, the House Democratic leadership is considering reopening portions of the guidelines â a move Republicans hope will provide enough cover to take aim at earmark reform and other measures the minority claims were poorly written.” (Roll Call, sub. req.)
Parties Spent More Than a Billion on 2006 Congressional Campaigns
“The national, state and local party organizations of the Republican and Democratic parties spent a combined total of about $1.1 billion on elections for federal office in the 2005-06 election cycle, according to data released Wednesday by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Of the total, Republican Party committees spent $608.2 million, or 56 percent, and Democratic Party committees laid out $472.4 million, or 44 percent. The numbers refer to âhard moneyâ receipts, or those monies that are limited by the federal campaign finance law. A 2002 revision of that lawâ the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act â barred the national party committees from raising unlimited âsoft moneyâ dollars upon which they had come to rely heavily.” (CQ Politics)
New owner of Wilkes’ office told to pay up
“The former headquarters of defunct Poway defense contractor ADCS Inc. will be auctioned at the end of this month unless the new owner starts paying the building’s overdue bills. ⦠ADCS founder Brent Wilkes â who was indicted last month on charges of bribery, money laundering and fraud related to the corruption case of former Rep. Randy âDukeâ Cunningham â has not paid taxes on the building for more than two years. He had stopped making mortgage payments by last fall.” (San Diego Union Tribune)
