Dawn Gibbons, the first lady of Nevada, has accused Republican Governor Jim Gibbons of infidelity with two women, including a former Playboy model, in divorce papers filed recently. Mrs. Gibbons also claims that the Governor sent 860 improper text messages to an aide, Kathy Karrasch, from a state cell phone. Gibbons repaid the state $130 for the text messages but says that they were not “love notes” and that he was consulting with Karrasch on state business. In court documents, Mrs. Gibbons said that this claim “is false, and is laughable.” Gibbons has been accused of improper relations with women in the past, including Chrissy Mazzeo, a former cocktail waitress who is suing Gibbons for allegedly assaulting her in a Las Vegas parking lot. (LA Times)
Stopped by state troopers for a roadside sobriety test Sunday, former New York state Republican congressmen John Sweeney refused, telling the officers he would not pass and that he was in “big trouble.” According to the police report, Sweeney who told officers he had drunk three glasses of wine at his sister’s home, also refused to take a chemical DWI test when he reached the Police Department. This is the second possible DWI incident in 17 months for Sweeney, who was once Rensselaer County’s STOP-DWI coordinator before he lost his re-election bid to Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand in 2006. Because this is Sweeney’s second DWI in such a short time, it is being treated as a felony. (timesunion.com)
A group of 17 Chinese Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay without charges for seven years asked the Supreme Court Monday to release them within the United States. The Uighurs are contesting a federal appeals court conclusion that they had no constitutional right to be released immediately, arguing that the ruling contradicts last year’s Supreme Court decision to allow Guantanamo Bay detainees to contest their detention in U.S. courts. In October, a federal appeals judge ruled that the Uighurs should be released into the U.S. because they were no longer considered “enemy combatants” and no other country was willing to accept them. (USA Today)
Washington D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles advised officials from the fire department and the Office of the Chief Technology Officer not to testify before investigations into their agencies, effectively shutting down two probes into wrongdoing in the city. Nickles said that testimony by employees of the CTO Office could interfere with another grand jury investigation into the alleged fraud of two employees of the Office of the CTO. President Obama recently named Vivek Kundra, the former head of the Office of the CTO, as Federal Chief Information Officer, but the probe is not focused on him. (Washington Post)
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and his wife Abigail may have wrongfully received $575 in tax breaks on their $1.6 million home in Georgetown, tax records released last week show.* Washington D.C. law allows homeowners to deduct taxes on primary residences located within the District, a law that the Blunts took advantage of on multiple occasions last year. The Blunts, who both claim their home in Missouri as their primary residence, are working with D.C. officials to resolve the problem, which might include the payment of back taxes, a spokesman said. Though tax records show Abigail Blunt to be the house’s sole owner, both Blunts are listed on the deed. (KansasCity.com)
The government of Austria said Monday at a meeting of top European officials that it will not take Guantanamo Bay detainees once they are released from the U.S. military prison. Among other concerns, Interior Minister Maria Fekter cited the security risk associated with releasing Gitmo detainees within the European Union, where they could travel freely between 23 member countries. Fekter also asked “If the detainees are no longer dangerous, why don’t they stay in the U.S.?” The announcement was a response to President Obama’s request this week that European nations agree to take Guantanamo detainees once they are released. (Associated Press)
* This sentence has been corrected from an earlier version.
