DeLay says “maybe” he’ll just drop the pretense and become a lobbyist. That and other news of the day in today’s Daily Muck.

More Cheney-authorized leaks of classified material.

This is fun. A few weeks ago TPMmuckraker.com’s Paul Kiel broke the news that John McCain’s new ‘senior advisor’ Terry Nelson was in on the 2002 New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal.

Now, PoliticsNH.com just published this New Hampshire Democratic party press release alerting folks to the fact that McCain’s going to New Hampshire tomorrow.

The state Dems want McCain to fire Nelson before he steps foot in the state.

But I’ve got a different take on this. I’m one of those people who always think we should see the opportunities in situation and not just focus on the negative. So, I’d say McCain should keep Nelson on staff and finally help us get the low-down on just how the phone-jamming episode went down. Who at the RNC knew about it? Who at the White House knew about it?

McCain said he would look into Nelson’s involvement a few weeks ago. So he must have the whole story.

While he’s at it he can ask Nelson about his role in the Tom DeLay money-laundering case too.

This way McCain can be a ‘reformer with results’ too.

Okay, here’s a question that seems ripe for collaborative journalism. We now have reports from Scooter Libby’s sworn testimony that President Bush personally authorized Libby to release classified portions of the Iraq National Intelligence Estimate.

Now, President Bush has routinely denounced leaks of classified information — despite his administration’s rather well-known record of being responsible for those leaks.

So, here’s the question. Can anyone find an instance of President Bush denouncing this particular leak — that of the Iraq NIE?

If can you, let us know. There’s a TPMmuckraker.com t-shirt in it for the lucky researcher.

We’re hearing a lot about Rep. Curt Weldon’s (R-PA) ugly decision to politicize his opponent’s decision to have his daughter’s brain tumor treated at a hospital outside of Pennsylvania.

Seems like a good time to discuss Weldon’s daughter — and how she made a million bucks with a ‘lobbying’ firm that only really seemed to lobby her dad on behalf of foreign clients.

Okay, now it’s official. The White House’s line is that if the president leaks classified information or tells someone to leak classified information, then it’s automatically declassified. No harm, no foul.

Well, Tom DeLay may leaving the House. But that didn’t stop a bunch of his goons from disrupting Nick Lampson’s press conference this morning. It’s mentioned here in the Houston Chronicle and in somewhat more detail in this blog.

This is pretty hilarious. California’s 50th district is just getting over a dozen or so years of being represented by a crook, Duke Cunningham. And Republicans are apparently afraid Francine Busby, the lone Democrat in the race to replace him, could win the seat outright in the upcoming special election. So the NRCC, the GOP House committee, just dumped a heap of ad money into the race.

The best they could come up with apparently is that Busby got a $500 contributon for retired Sen. Dennis DeConcini. This from the Union-Tribune …

It singles out a contribution from former Sen. Dennis DeConcini, an Arizona Democrat and one of the so-called Keating Five senators. He was politically tarnished by, but not disciplined for, his involvement with a failed savings and loan in the late 1980s. Though the ad doesn’t say so, DeConcini contributed $500 to Busby.

“If Francine Busby is making ethics a centerpiece of her campaign while taking campaign contributions from corrupt ex-members of Congress, she’s a hypocrite and voters have a right to know that,” said Jonathan Coleggio, press secretary for the Republican committee.

Wasn’t John McCain a member of the Keating Five too? Just wondering.

These guys are such liars it’s hard to figure how they can even see straight.

Remember, while he was waiting to be prison, Duke wrote a $2000 check to the NRCC. About a month before he copped his plea, he gave them $11,684. NRCC spokesman Carl Forti says they see no reason to give it back.

Duke gave more than half a million more to the NRCC. But that was before it was public knowledge that he was a felon. So I guess that doesn’t count.

I guess they’re using Duke’s money for the Busby bamboozlement ads.

Here’s a key question that comes up in regards to the president’s alleged ability to make a classified leak not a classified leak just by virtue of giving it the thumbs up.

Various officials in the government have the ability to declassify different categories of documents or information. Often, it’s the head of the department or agency under whose purview the information falls.

The president has the authority to declassify everything.

That makes sense since everyone in the executive branch, either directly or indirectly, works for the president.

But look more closely at the power that the President, through Scooter Libby, appears to be alleging.

Even with the president, there are procedures he needs to go through. He probably needs to make a finding and I would assume sign some document. Set that aside though. What we appear to have here in the Libby case is a one-off declassification. The president didn’t really declassify anything. He authorized Libby to show classified material to Judy Miller or whomever else.

Here’s the way to find out. After the president authorized Libby, did anyone else in the government know that the Iraq NIE was no longer classified? Was there any change in the NIE’s official status?

Late Update: Okay, Paul Kiel found the part of the new court papers that answers part of the question. This was a declassification that only President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Scooter Libby were allowed to know about.

The first pictures of the DeLay goons sent to disrupt Nick Lampson’s press conference.