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A scandal may be brewing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as a debate grows over whether the agency was correct to deny 650,000 applications for housing after Hurricane Ike. FEMA claims that 90 percent of claimants don’t understand the organization’s mission and the limited scope of the help it can provide. Critics allege that FEMA inspectors are unqualified, poorly trained, and motivated by a flat payment for each inspection they make, giving them an incentive to work quickly. Inspectors are responsible for surveying damage to houses caused by Ike; quick inspections are sometimes unable to properly assess damages. (Associated Press)

Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell (D) will testify Monday in the trial of state Sen. Vincent Fumo (D) who allegedly defrauded the state Senate and two non-profits out of $3.5 million. Rendell, the star witness for the defense in the trial, is expected to vouch for Fumo’s work ethic and the long hours he put in as a state lawmaker, according to defense lawyers. (Associated Press)

Prosecutors filed new charges against former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s chief fundraiser. Prosecutors allege in the new indictment that Christopher Kelly used $1.1 million in fraudulently obtained proceeds to pay personal debt expenses, including $383,000 in gambling debts. Kelly is already facing 11 counts of mail fraud and six counts of money laundering related to a bid-rigging scheme for an $8.5 million dollar contract at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. (Associated Press)

Newly-elected GOP chairman Michael Steele defended payments made to a firm owned by his sister during his 2006 Senate campaign, saying that if he hadn’t made the payments both he and his sister would be in violation of federal campaign finance laws. Steele denies claims made by his former finance chairman that the payments were inappropriate and made after the company went out of business. Alan Fabian, the former chair, made the statements to prosecutors in an unsuccessful effort to lighten his sentence in an unrelated fraud case. (Associated Press)

President Obama’s selection for Deputy Attorney General is a supporter of whistleblowers. David Ogden said in Senate confirmation hearings last Thursday that he believes people must feel comfortable coming forward with complaints and may work with Attorney General Eric Holder to “fashion an appropriate process” to encourage whistleblowing and make sure that people who come forward are protected from negative repercussions. (Federation of American Scientists)

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