By this point, the case of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is a sprawling and murky one. The FBI and a good deal of reporters have been looking into Salomon Melgen, the doctor, businessman and political donor who is closely connected to the senator. But back before things got to this level, there was a tipster who went by the name Peter Williams pointing the FBI and others in Menendez and Melgen’s direction. Now, Williams is nowhere to be found, and some are questioning the credibility of his claims. TPM’s Eric Lach looks into the history of the this mysterious tipster.
Ex-Rep. Joe Walsh emails TPM explaining his plans to sue the Chicago Sun-Times over child support article.
Tea Party Patriots are mulling backing Iowa Rep. Steve King’s expected Senate bid, the guy Rove & Co have made the poster boy for the kind of Tea Party bid they mean to shut down.
Senate passes Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, 78-22.
All 22 votes against the Violence Against Women act reauthorization act were Republican and men.
Reid says he won’t honor any ‘holds’ on Hagel’s nomination for Secretary of Defense.
If you’re watching the live feed of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Hagel vote right now, I get the sense that Sen. Vitter (R-LA) was pushing Sen. Levin (D-MI) to an extremely uncharacteristic STFU moment.
The National Rifle Association distanced itself Tuesday from a comment made by a lobbyist for one of its “chartered organizations” in Wisconsin, who said recently that gun rights proponents need only to wait out the “Connecticut Effect” before passing laws loosening restrictions on guns.
More here.
Ted Cruz — coming after questioning whether Hagel has received money from “extreme” or “radical” groups or foreign governments — suggests that if Hagel is confirmed the chances of war with Iran become “substantially more likely.
This is, shall we say, a bit rich since more or less 100% of the opposition to Hagel’s nomination is based on the belief that he’ll make war with Iran less likely.