Scientists at the Food and Drug Administration have taken the unusual step of writing a letter to the Obama transition team to complain about misconduct at the agency. The group of nine scientists claim that agency managers have used intimidation to hasten approval for medical devices that are not necessarily safe or effective. (Associated Press)
Senate Democrats are set to push for greater regulation over coal dumps after a Tennessee facility ruptured in December. It has recently come to light that thousands of facilities across the nation are under no regulation whatsoever. Accidents have serious environmental consequences and cleanups are very expensive. (Associated Press)
The new Congress has acted quickly to preserve certain Bush administration records, asking a federal judge to force documents pertaining to U.S. attorney firings to stay at the White House. Should the White House turn the documents over to the National Archives, they could take longer to retrieve for the ongoing investigation into the firings. Subpoenas have been issued for the documents. (Associated Press)
Former Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) will not ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to throw out his conviction for disorderly conduct stemming from an incident in the men’s bathroom at the Minneapolis airport. Yesterday was the deadline for asking the high court to review the case. Craig’s lawyer told the press that it was unlikely the court would accept the petition, so they dropped it. (Associated Press)
Attorneys for former Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) have filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for Virginia asking for a trial date that will allow the possibility for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Should the Supreme Court take the case, Jefferson’s trial would likely not begin until June. Jefferson was caught with $90,000 in his freezer in August 2005 and faces a 16-count indictment for seeking bribes related to an African business deal. (Times-Picayune)
An aide to Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) has disclosed more than $13,000 in travel costs racked up over the course of last year’s vice presidential campaign. The costs were incurred while Palin was conducting state business during the campaign and will be written off as gifts from the McCain campaign, which never billed the state. (Anchorage Daily News)
