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ABA Faults Bush for Ignoring Parts of Bills
“The American Bar Association said Sunday that President Bush was flouting the Constitution and undermining the rule of law by claiming the power to disregard selected provisions of bills that he signed. In a comprehensive report, a bipartisan 11-member panel of the bar association said Mr. Bush had used such “signing statements” far more than his predecessors, raising constitutional objections to more than 800 provisions in more than 100 laws on the ground that they infringed on his prerogatives [Apparently, this is a higher tally than all previous presidents combined.]. These broad assertions of presidential power amount to a “line-item veto” and improperly deprive Congress of the opportunity to override the veto, the panel said.” (NYT)

More, from The Washington Post‘s write-up:

If the president has constitutional problems with a bill, the task force said, he should convey those concerns to Congress before it reaches his desk. The panel said signing statements should not be a substitute for vetoing bills the president considers unconstitutional.

“The President’s constitutional duty is to enforce laws he has signed into being unless and until they are held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court or a subordinate tribunal,” panel members wrote. “The Constitution is not what the President says it is.”

The ABA recommends that Congress pass legislation permitting court review of the statements.

Leak Probe Progressing
“The FBI is close to finishing a series of interviews with the top Congressional leaders and other key Members in both chambers as part of its wide-ranging criminal probe of alleged leaks of the previously classified domestic surveillance program. The agents and Justice Department officials are investigating whether any of the 15 current and former Members briefed earlier this decade about the National Security Agency spying program were a source for a New York Times report about the issue last December.” (Roll Call – sub. req.)

Arrested Bush Dissenters Eye Courts
“In the months before the 2004 election, dozens of people across the nation were banished from or arrested at Bush political rallies, some for heckling the president, others simply for holding signs or wearing clothing that expressed opposition to the war and administration policies. Similar things have happened at official, taxpayer-funded, presidential visits, before and after the election. Some targeted by security have been escorted from events, while others have been arrested and charged with misdemeanors that were later dropped by local prosecutors. Now, in federal courthouses from Charleston, W.Va., to Denver, federal officials and state and local authorities are being forced to defend themselves against lawsuits challenging the arrests and security policies.” (AP)

Hastert: House May Challenge FBI Congressional Office Search
“House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Sunday he may challenge a judge’s order allowing FBI agents to examine documents seized at a Louisiana congressman’s Capitol Hill office in a bribery probe.” (AP)

Study: Duke Cunningham Made Use of ‘Black’ Budgets
“An independent investigation has found that imprisoned former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham took advantage of secrecy and badgered congressional aides to help slip items into classified bills that would benefit him and his associates.” (AP)

Will the Corruption Issue Go National?
“This will be the first election after a long and ripe season of Washington scandal. Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his partners illegally exploited their ties to senior Republican lawmakers in the capital’s most noxious influence-peddling scheme in a generation. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), once the most powerful man in the House, resigned as majority leader and later left Congress after being indicted on charges of improper fundraising.” (WaPo)

Group: U.S. Commanders Encouraged Abuse after Abu Ghraib Report
“The group Human Rights Watch said in a report released Sunday that U.S. military commanders encouraged abusive interrogations of detainees in Iraq, even after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal called attention to the issue in 2004.” (AP)

Sources: Negroponte Blocks CIA Analysis of Iraq “Civil War”
“I’ve learned from two sources that some senior figures at the CIA, along with a number of Iraq analysts, have been pushing to produce a new NIE. They’ve been stonewalled, however, by John Negroponte, the administration’s Director of National Intelligence, who knows that any honest take on the situation would produce an NIE even more pessimistic than the 2004 version. That could create problems on the Hill and, if it is leaked as the last one was, with the public as well.” (Harper’s)

Ex-Lobbyists Say Justice Dept. Urged Their Firing
“Two former pro-Israel lobbyists allege that Justice Department prosecutors pressured their employer, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), to fire them and stop paying their legal fees to make it more difficult for them to defend themselves in a criminal investigation.” (WaPo)

Sen. Arlen Specter Sees Pluses in His Spying Bill
“In an interview Friday, [Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA)] said he had one goal in negotiating with the White House: getting some form of judicial review for the NSA program, which administration officials had so far bypassed. He acknowledged that the bill he was championing would not force the president to submit the National Security Agency surveillance program to review by the FISA court, a special intelligence tribunal established by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. But, Specter said, he had gained Bush’s personal promise that the president would submit it if the bill passes in its current form.” (LA Times)

Report Raps Pentagon for Equipment Sales
“Undercover government investigators purchased sensitive surplus military equipment such as launcher mounts for shoulder-fired missiles and guided missile radar test sets from a Defense Department contractor. Much of the equipment could be useful to terrorists, according to a draft report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.” (AP)

Two N.J. Casinos Sued GOP CT Sen Candidate Over Debts
“When [GOP challenger for Joe Lieberman’s Senate seat] Alan Schlesinger gave a fake name while playing blackjack at Foxwoods in the early 1990s, he had already been sued over a gambling debt by one Atlantic City casino and was on the way to racking up an even bigger debt that led to a second lawsuit.” (Hartford Courant, Political Wire)

Nigerian Entangled In Jefferson Investigation
“[Rep. William] Jefferson (D-LA), who was a member of a House Ways and Means trade subcommittee, got to know [Nigerian VP Akitu] Abubakar after the Nigerian was elected vice president in 1999. Later, Jefferson turned to Abubakar for help in winning a lucrative Nigerian telecommunications contract for a high-tech firm in Kentucky that was paying Jefferson bribes, according to an FBI affidavit. Jefferson told a business associate in a secretly taped conversation that Abubakar was “corrupt” and needed a hefty bribe and a cut of the profits in return for his help — allegations Abubakar has strongly denied.” (WaPo)

Lobby Bill Hopes Continue to Flicker
“House Republicans return for their final week of work before the August recess with the issue of lobbying reform still lurking on their to-do list. But despite a near-constant flurry of conversations across the Capitol, it is unclear whether GOP negotiators are close enough to resolving the standoff over campaign finance language to votes on a conference report this week.” (Roll Call – sub. req.)

Interior Report: Indian Trust Officials Violated Ethics Rules in Contract Awards
“In a blistering report, the Interior Department’s top investigator says that senior officials who manage $3.2 billion in Indian trust funds pressured subordinates to award lucrative contracts to executives with whom the officials enjoyed close social ties.” (US News)

What Next for Ralph Reed?
“Now, a dozen years after Time proclaimed him “The Right Hand of God,” some are preparing Ralph Reed’s political obituary, wondering what he will do after his rejection by the evangelical churchgoers whose support formed the foundation of his reputation as a political activist and his personal fortune as a political consultant.” (NYT, Time)

Ex-Pentagon Officials Accused of Fraud
“Two former Pentagon officials, including an acting secretary of the Navy, have been accused of scheming with a banned American contractor to get lucrative rebuilding contracts in Iraq, The Associated Press has learned. The contracting firm, Custer Battles LLC, was suspended two years ago by the military for submitting millions of dollars in fake invoices.” (AP)

I.R.S. to Cut Tax Auditors
“The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their children and others.” (NYT, Political Animal)

E-mails Detail Ex-Diplomat’s Ties to Taiwanese Spy
“A former top U.S. diplomat and a Taiwanese spy interspersed breezy, snarky commentary about former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and soul-baring confessionals during discussions on international relations, court documents show.” (AP)

Health Secretary Is Questioned on Use of Family Foundation
“Members of Congress expressed concern on Friday about an arrangement under which Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, took more than $1 million in tax deductions for property contributed to a family foundation that gave only small amounts to charity in its first four years.” (NYT)

CA Rep Jerry Lewis’ Campaign Bought Bank Stock
” Inland Rep. Jerry Lewis’ campaign committee bought $25,000 worth of stock in a Riverside bank the same day last year that he and his wife personally invested in the new business, campaign finance records show. A campaign committee can legally make stock purchases, but some campaign finance experts say it leaves the door open to potential conflicts of interest. ” (PE)

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