The House ethics committee will expand its investigation of New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel to include questions about his decision to support a controversial tax shelter. The loophole was supported by a company that donated $1 million to a project championed by the congressman. Rangel, the chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, already faces questions from the committee for failing to report income on a Caribbean villa and dodgy real estate dealings in New York. The latest allegations were reported by the New York Times in November. (AP)
Troubled insurance giant American International Group, the recipient of more than $150 billion in federal bailout funds, proposed “retention payments” to 38 top executives –whose salaries already range from $160,000 to $1 million — of up to $4 million, the company confessed Friday in a letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). AIG, the company that made headlines earlier this fall for a $443,344 trip to the St. Regis resort and a $343,000 hush-hush retreat to Arizona, has lost $37.6 billion this year, and owes more than $10 million, reports the Wall Street Journal. The government owns nearly 80 percent of the firm. (Bloomberg/Wall Street Journal)
The Minnesota Court of Appeals denied the appeal by Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) to withdraw his guilty plea in a sex sting case. Craig, who is accused of soliciting sex from an undercover officer in the bathroom of the Minneapolis airport, pleaded guilty in 2007 without consulting a lawyer. He attempted to retract the claim after his arrest became public, saying his plea had simply been meant to dispose quickly of the issue. Craig will retire from the Senate in January. (CNN)
The retrial of Jack Abramoff golf buddy David Safavian — once the chief of staff of the General Services Administration — opened Tuesday. Safavian,the only person to fight the corruption charges in court, was convicted in 2006, but got the guity verdict thrown out this summer. Many of the allegations concern a 2002 trip Safavian took — but evidently did not entirely pay for — with Abramoff and former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) to a fancy golf club in Scotland. (Washington Post)
The Justice Department is refusing to share internal documents about Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency programs with the incoming Obama administration, according to a senior DOJ official. Fred Fielding, the current White House counsel, is expected to meet with Gregory Caig, Obama’s pick for the post about the issue. (Legal Times)
An oversight panel will release Wednesday a 30-page report critical of the Treasury’s handling of the bailout and pushing for more action on the part of the Bush administration. The panel, which includes Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren and Texas GOP Rep. Jeb Hensarling — who voted against the report — will testify at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee today. (Wall Street Journal)
The Obama transition team will post documents presented to them by outside groups on their web site in an effort to improve transparency, transition chief John Podesta wrote in a memo Friday. Only meetings with three or more outside people qualify. (Washington Post)
Alaska GOP Rep. Don Young, reportedly under federal investigation for accepting illegal campaign donations, could lose his seat as the senior minority member on the Natural Resources Committee. Minority leader John Boehner (R-OH) told the longtime lawmaker he would not receive the party’s support for the position at a meeting Tuesday. (Roll Call)
Guantanamo Bay detainees could see changes in the rules governing the conduct of their trials. Recent internal communication from the Defense Department attest to a debate over certain privileges and obligations of the defendant, including government access to health records and the right to appear at their own trials. (Time)
