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Attorney General Michael Mukasey is limiting White House access to information about Department of Justice investigations to only those cases “where it is important for the performance of the president’s duties” and crucial “from a law enforcement perspective.” Gonzales’ protocols authorized more than 40 Justice Department officials and 400 White House officials to keep tabs on investigations. During the Clinton administration, only seven White House and Justice officials were permitted to receive such information. (McClatchy)

The Justice Department refused to send any representation to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security hearing yesterday on the brutal gang rape of KBR/Halliburton employee, Jamie Leigh Jones, in the Green Zone more than two years ago. Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) (Jones’ Representative who received a call from the victim’s father when she was still locked inside of a shipping container) told the committee, “what Jamie will tell you paints a picture of lawlessness – where criminals go unpunished and victims are vilified. For American civilian contractors, Iraq is reminiscent of the Old Western days and no one seems to be in charge.” (ABC’s “The Blotter,” The Gavel)

The chief of the State Department’s embassy-building program (Charles Williams) will be retiring before the completion of the $730 million embassy in Baghdad. This is not his first disgraceful and early departure. Williams “resigned from two other high-profile jobs — head of the $4 billion New York City School Construction Authority and then chief operating officer of the D.C. public schools. In New York, an “audit found that he had given misleading information on the progress of projects he was overseeing” and in D.C. “an audit said he authorized shoddy contracting procedures and left the school system vulnerable to waste and fraud.” (Washington Post)

Lawyers for representative William Jefferson (D-LA) are hoping to exclude evidence from the pending corruption and bribery trial. Among the damaging evidence they want suppressed is Jefferson’s statement to federal agents before they began searching his property. Though the agents will testify that Jefferson acted like a gentleman, when they showed him a videotape in which he accepted $100,000 bribe, Jefferson stated, “What a shame, what a shame.” (The Hill)

In an effort to “break[] the appearance of the good ol’ boy network,” a House task force is moving forward with plans to create an independent Office of Congressional Ethics. Responses have been mixed among watchdog groups over whether such an office will be strong enough. (Washington Post)

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) said his oversight committee will investigate a decision made by the Environmental Protection Agency to deny California a waiver that would allow them to implement regulations to slash greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. “EPA’s decision ignores the law, science, and commonsense,” Waxman said, suspecting politics was at the source of the decision. (LA Times, Think Progress)

A United States marine is being investigated in by the military for the death of an Iraqi policeman after what appears to have been a knife fight between the men at a base jointly staffed by American and Iraqi forces in Anbar Province. The incident is an embarrassment for the military because it has lauded Anbar as a model for Sunni tribes and American soldiers cooperating to fight fundamentalist groups. (New York Times)

The former CEO of Fannie Mae says the Bush administration helped orchestrate an accounting scandal that cost him his job and that he needs White House documents to defend himself in a shareholder lawsuit. Franklin Raines argued in court documents that the Bush administration felt the government-chartered agency had too much power in the mortgage industry and that the White House’s efforts to weaken Fannie Mae triggered the $6 billion accounting scandal at the company. (AP)

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