The Daily Muck

The government’s largest terrorist financing case ended yesterday in a mistrial. The prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation was supposed to be a high profile win for the Justice Department. The case has been controversial since allegations surfaced that a “summary of wiretapped conversations attributed inflammatory anti-Jewish statements to members of the charity that were not found in the actual transcripts of the conversations.” (US News & World Report)

Is Blackwater heading south? To the border, that is. Blackwater is planning on building a massive 824-acre military training site just eight miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. According to Salon, Blackwater executives have “lobbied the U.S. government since at least 2005 to help train and even deploy manpower for patrolling America’s borders.” (Salon)

A NASA spokesman said that denying the Associated Press’s request to see a database on safety lapses in U.S. aviation on the grounds that it might scare the public “was probably not the best thing to do.” NASA will review the AP’s request, submitted 14 months ago, and will release a final report after they analyze all the data. (The Washington Post)

Mitt Romney’s make-over is proving expensive. Harper’s Magazine is reporting that Romney “has employed more than a hundred different consultants, making combined payments to them of at least $11 million—roughly three times the amount spent by John McCain or Rudy Giuliani.” But even with all this money for branding, or perhaps because of it, “the image of slickness is heightened by Romney’s appearance and persona” and “the problem of phoniness can never be far from the brain.” (Harpers)

Senator Sanders (I-VT) will vote against Mukasey’s confirmation as Attorney General. As Sanders explains, “we need an attorney general who does not believe the president has unlimited power,” and “we need an attorney general who understands that torture is not what this country is about, and we need an attorney general who clearly understands the separation of powers inherent in our Constitution.” (AP)

Larry Craig is dipping into his campaign funds to pay legal bills from his expensive bathroom rest stop. Since bathroom behavior doesn’t quite fit in to the general category of legislative duties, this use of campaign cash might raise issues with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) if they determine these expenditures to be “personal use.” (Politico)

Lobbyists are working hard at “workarounds.” An example: new laws prohibit lawmakers from taking trips with lobbyists, but lobbyists are looking for ways to partner with non-profits so that these entities may provide lawmakers with free travel. (Washington Post)