Cheney’s Son-in-Law Hindering DHS Oversight Effort
“The Department of Homeland Security refuses to cooperate on oversight activities, according to testimony offered today by GAO Comptroller General David Walker and Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner. The investigators highlighted the role of Philip Perry â Chief Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security and Vice President Cheneyâs son-in-law â as the major stumbling block in their investigations.” (Think Progress)
Continue below for the rest of the day’s muck…
Libby Update
Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald plans on calling NBC News reporter Tim Russert to the stand today in the perjury trial of former Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Libby’s attorneys, meanwhile, seem to be backtracking off of their original plan to call Libby and Cheney to the stand. Libby’s recorded grand jury testimony continues to be interesting: His explanation for his faulty memory regarding when he learned of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame is rather convoluted, and he states that the Plame leak was orchestrated by he, Bush, and Cheney. (AP/LA Times)
Bremer Grilled Over Iraq Accounting
Former Coalition Provisional Authority chief Paul Bremer appeared before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday, where he defended the methods by which the CPA distributed cash to Iraqis shortly after the occupation. Nearly $12 billion in cash was flown into Baghdad early in the war, prompting Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), the committee’s chairman, to ask, “Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone?” (The Washington Post)
General Admits Equipment Shortfall
Marine Gen. Peter Pace appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday and said that the escalation of U.S. troops in Iraq will bring with it equipment shortages, and that there won’t be sufficient supplies in place until July. (UPI)
Bush Planning on More Gitmo Challenges
An item in President Bush’s budget proposal indicates he is set to hire nearly two dozen more Justice Department lawyers to work on cases in which Guantanamo detainees challenge their imprisonment. (The Blotter)
EPA Chief Grilled by Dems
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson appeared before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday, where he denied accusations that the EPA has recently rolled back environmental safeguards. (AP)
Investigated GOP Rep was Investigated Before
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into some real estate transactions conducted by Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.), and this isn’t the first time he’s found himself in this situation. In 1992, the California Fair Political Practices Commission levied a fine against a business associate of Miller’s as a result of a deal in which Miller acquired 52 acres of land. (The Hill)
How to Earmark Without Earmarking
“Even though most of the appropriations bills for fiscal 2007 got stripped of practically all Congressionally mandated ‘earmarks,’ Members â and the lobbyists who push for funding of specific projects â have turned their attention to the executive branch agencies doling out chunks of money that otherwise would have gone for earmarks.” (Subs. Req.) (Roll Call)
FEMA MIA for Some Florida Residents
Floridians trying to recover after last week’s tornado have had uneven experiences with FEMA’s response. For some, the agency set up in their neighborhood, giving them instant access to its resources; others haven’t yet encountered anyone from FEMA. (The Tampa Tribune)
