From the AP:

On the wall of Hsiao Yen Wang’s apartment, a cramped, 17th-floor public housing unit on the city’s Lower East Side, are photographs of her husband, David Guo, a cook who specializes in Fujian cuisine.

One photo stands out: Guo shaking Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s hand, a memento from a $1,000-a-person fundraiser for the New York senator held in New York’s Chinatown last April.

Last week, Wang got another memento – a calling card from a Justice Department criminal investigator. The investigator asked Wang if she was coerced into giving money to the campaign and whether she knew of anybody else who may have been forced to contribute.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Wang said she and her husband had given willingly and that she knew of no coercion. A Justice Department spokeswoman would not comment on the inquiries.

The highlights of the President’s speech on GWOT today at the Heritage Foundation:

Is Rudy’s argument against government-supported health care so weak that he must constantly fudge health statistics?

Lieberman calls on Judiciary Committee to confirm Mukasey.

More soon . . .

Late Update: Here’s some video of Lieberman calling for Mukasey’s confirmation. —gs

Last night I promised further explanation of how the Mukasey confirmation vote is likely to go down in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Paul Kiel provides the details.

Basically it comes down to this. There are a few different ways the nomination could get to the Senate floor even if the Judiciary Committee votes against recommending Mukasey for confirmation. But a spokesperson for committee chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) tells us to expect a straight “yes-no” vote in committee.

So as of this moment, it comes down to Leahy, Kohl, Feinstein, Feingold, Schumer, and Cardin–the six Judiciary Committee Dems who have yet to announce their intentions. That’s assuming no Republicans on the committee break ranks, which appears unlikely.

“Republican Stategist” Rachel Marsden: “One man’s torture is another man’s CIA-sponsored swim lesson.”

We know that ‘strategist’ is Washingtonese for ‘looking for work’, right? Just checking.

Late Update: Hmmm. Seems Marsden has a record of false accusations and charges of stalking and criminal harassment. Actually, in May, after appearing on Fox News at FNC’s Manhattan HQ, she had to be dragged out of the building by Fox security for “bizarre and erratic” behavior. Now, consider that one for a second. Just how bizarre and erratic does a Fox pundit have to be? Right?

CNN sure knows how to pick’em.

In today’s White House press briefing, Dana Perino fields questions on the Mukasey confirmation process . . . the shortage of FSOs in Iraq . . . UFOs . . . and Rummy’s “snowflake” about Muslims’ aversion to “physical labor”:

Finally! A pundit asks the key question about Rudy’s dissembling, his character and the media.

Late Update: Is Krugman criticizing the editors of his own paper as soft on Rudy?

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) is expected to announce his vote on the confirmation of Michael Mukasey in a press conference at 3 ET this afternoon at his office in Vermont. If Leahy comes out in favor of Mukasey, confirmation is practically assured.