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Convicted Former White House Official Steps Up Fundraising Efforts
Days after a jury found him guilty on four felony counts, David Safavian sent a mass email to friends and supporters. He described himself as “numb — sort of an emotional paralysis,” according to Roll Call, which obtained a copy of the note.

But he fought through that paralysis to write his pitch: I’m hanging in there, my family is great, and by the way I’m starting a legal defense fund. He went with a very soft appeal, leading with several paragraphs about the support he’s received from his family and friends, a bit about his daughter, a couple grafs on his legal options. . . and finally, the ask:

What do I do now? I know I need to work on the legal defense fund, and am thinking about whether there is a story to tell here. But beyond that, I’m not quite sure. I’m praying for clarity and strength as Jennifer and I begin this next phase of our life together.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. And thank you for what you have done so far. I’m truly grateful.

David

Keep those cards and letters coming, folks. (Roll Call)

Specter to Grill Officials on Bush Ignoring Laws
“The Bush administration will have to explain why it thinks it can ignore or overrule laws passed by Congress in a hearing next week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said on Wednesday. Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said he hoped to force the Bush administration to reduce its use of “signing statements” — memos that reserve the right to ignore laws if the president thinks they impinge on his authority.” (AP)

Data Brokers Testify before Congress
“Some lawmakers gasped and others shook their heads in amazement during testimony from James Rapp, a former data broker run out of the business years ago by Colorado police…. Rapp described what steps he would use, for example, to locate and steal the credit-card records of Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., saying he would first trick a utility operator to reveal her home address. He also boasted that he could uncover the bank password of Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., in one hour.” (AP)

Santorum, Hoekstra Cite Weapons Found in Iraq
They found the WMD! “‘We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons,’ Santorum said.” Only: “The lawmakers pointed to an unclassified summary from a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center regarding 500 chemical munitions shells that had been buried near the Iranian border, and then long forgotten, by Iraqi troops during their eight-year war with Iran, which ended in 1988.” Sad. (WaPo, ThinkProgress)

Hearing Targets DHS Funding Cuts to D.C., NYC
“The department has said it does not plan to change the allocations — and Congress can’t force it to. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said he may propose legislation that would force Homeland Security to send more money to New York City and Washington, D.C., cities he said “symbolize the very essence of the threat” against the USA since the 9/11 attacks.” (USA Today, The Hill)

What’s the Logic?
Some members of Congress are requiring would-be emailers to complete a simple “logic puzzle” before being allowed to send a note through their official Web site. But several advocacy groups are complaining, saying the puzzles — several of which are actually basic arithmetic problems — went beyond their stated purpose of preventing spam and actually prevented logic-challenged constituents from having their voices heard. (Roll Call)

Hiring Scandals Shine Light on Some States
Here’s a survey of the cronyism in three states: Maryland, Illinois, and, of course, Kentucky. (AP)

Blunt And Fletcher: Two GOP Peas In A Corruption Pod
“Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-Ky.) is something of a role model for Governor Blunt. In fact, last month, the two sat together on Millionaire’s Row at the Kentucky Derby. Both have terrible poll numbers. Both have been embroiled in ethics scandals and have seen staffers come under scrutiny for misdeeds while acting on their bosses behalf. And both are terribly thin-skinned.” (Fired Up!)

Hacker Enters Agriculture Dept. Computers
“A hacker broke into the Agriculture Department’s computer system and may have obtained names,
Social Security numbers and photos of 26,000 Washington-area employees and contractors, the department said Wednesday.” (AP)

Member Mistaken, Cop Unhurt
Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL) was stopped entering the Cannon House Office Building on Wednesday morning to attend the weekly Democratic Caucus meeting. She wasn’t wearing her lapel pin. When an officer — also a black woman — stopped Brown and asked for identification, the lawmaker replied, “If you don’t recognize me, call your supervisor.” No punches were thrown. (Roll Call)

GOP Consultant Accused of Child Molesting Takes Stand Today
Carey Lee Cramer, who gained national notoriety with an anti-Al Gore commercial in 2000, is facing several counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. (McAllen (TX) Monitor)

Lawmakers Look at Probe Into UM’s Space Center
How money went loop-to-loop from Sen. Conrad Burns’s (R-MT) earmark to Leo Giacometto, a lobbyist and his former chief of staff. (AP)

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