The Daily Muck

The Inspector General of the Department of Justice issued a blistering report showing that turncoat Robert Hanssen eluded detection for decades not because he was a master spy, but because of the FBI’s woefully inadequate internal monitoring procedures. (USA Today)

No more Enrons(at least none that get caught). That seems to be the message coming out of Congress with a host of new legislation that, according to Bloomberg News, will limit investigators’ ability to go after white-collar criminals. “Pre-Enron, U.S. attorneys never brought these cases, and after this bill is passed, they will quit bringing them again,” says one former SEC auditor. (Bloomberg)

Oscar S. Wyatt, the eighty-three year old Texas oilman accused of bribing Saddam Hussein’s government and subverting the U.N.’s oil-for-food aid program in Iraq, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court. He must surrender more than $11 million in assets and faces 18 to 24 months in prison. (AP)

Yesterday a district court judge knocked down a 2001 White House order that allowed the current and former presidents discretion over the release of non-sensitive documents from past administrations. The judge called the order “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law.” Of course, Justice Roberts might not feel the same way. (AP, OMBWatch)

Despite all the hype and talk about earmark reform, there are some lawmakers who just don’t want to talk about how they are spending taxpayers’ money. In California alone, half of the Congressional representatives denied a request from the LA Daily News to provide information on their earmarks. So of course, the newspaper did what any respectable paper would do: printed the names of those who refused to disclose and wrote a snarky article about them. Let the public shaming begin. (LA Daily News)

Pesky oversight. The Department of Homeland Security is delaying the launch of its domestic spy satellites, because apparently some members of Congress worry that the program not have enough checks in it to protect American civil liberties. (AP)

The Hill has provided a list of watchdog groups who want to see a separate vote for each of the FEC nominees. There is precedent for such an action; Tom Delay separated out FEC nominees back in 2000. Why break up the vote? Anything to avoid elections run by the Count. (The Hill)

Representative William Jefferson (D-LA) is attempting a variety of legal maneuvers to escape the inevitable. In addition to seeking a change of venue in his trial from the Eastern District of Virginia to the District of Columbia (Jefferson believes that federal prosecutors are attempting to “obtain a jury pool with fewer African-Americans”), he is also seeking to suppress statements and evidence obtained by the FBI during the search of is New Orleans home. (Politico)