The Daily MuckAnother day, another land deal. In the late 1990s, John McCain tried to get the U.S. Forest Service to exchange part of the Tonto National Forest for land partly owned by a billionaire McCain contributor connected to Charles Keating. McCain was spurred to action by a developer, who wanted to turn the 2,154-acre Spur Cross Ranch — desert home to Hopi Indian artifacts and special cacti — into a golf course. (McClatchy)
Little — if anything — is known about a mysterious GOP donor, Shi Sheng Hao, who has given over a quarter million dollars to John McCain’s campaign and the RNC. Hao’s residence, occupation and current whereabouts are all unknown. But here’s what we do know: he declared bankruptcy in 1995, registered to vote after his massive donations began, doesn’t live at any of his listed addresses, and eight associates and relatives of Hao have given $130,000 to the RNC since last year. Curiouser and curiouser. . . (Chicago Tribune)
A military judge yesterday threw out the confession of Mohammed Jawad, a young Afghani accused of wounding two U.S. soldiers and their interpreter, saying it was obtained through torture. Jawad’s case is already shaky, and prompted the resignation of a military prosecutor last month. (Reuters)
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) received a loan of $200,000 from a real estate contractor, then urged Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to allow that developer to convert the Chicago West Side into a residential and commercial zone. The connection was unearthed during the federal investigation of the city’s zoning practices. (Chicago Tribune)
Who gets the bailout money? The Treasury Dept. will let taxpayers know two days after payment has been approved. ProPublica has a running tally of the companies here. (ProPublica)
The guilty verdict in the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) has returned more questions than answers. Will he get off the hook with his call for an investigation of prosecution misconduct? Will he resign? (Add Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to the list of former pals who say he should.) Will he receive a presidential pardon? And speaking of pardons, what about those other Republican felons who could use Bush’s magic wand? (Daily News Miner/Washington Post/Roll Call)
Another tough break for those trying to suppress voting in Ohio. Not only will the homeless be allowed to vote by listing park benches and other locations as their addresses, but provisional ballots will not be marked invalid due to poll worker errors. (AP)
Defense lawyers can now visit Guantanamo Bay’s Camp 7, a formerly forbidden part of the facility that houses 16 high-profile detainees. (Washington Post)
In other news, prosecutors forged ahead with their case against Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, who they say recruited members for al-Qaeda, despite his boycott of the trial. (USA Today)
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), chair of the House Oversight Committee, yesterday demanded details on executive pay and bonuses for nine companies receiving money under the bailout plan. But we can’t chalk the outrage entirely up to schadenfreude — in 2007, the mustachioed guardian of financial responsibility declared himself worth $786,027 to $2,040,000. (Financial Times/Open Secrets)
Sometimes the watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, just wants a pat on the head. In a letter dated yesterday, the organization faults the FEC for not mentioning them when it fined Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) for campaign disclosure violations last week. (Press Release)
