At PA Religious Group, HHS Grants Go In, Campaign Help Comes Out
Here’s a neat trick, courtesy Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA): earmark $250,000 over three years to your favorite quasi-religious abstinence charity; come election time, they can work your get-out-the-vote efforts. God helps those who help themselves. (Philly Daily News)
Cambone Orders Review of MZM’s Pentagon Contracts
The Pentagon is conducting an internal review of how Mitchell Wade’s MZM got contracts to work in its top-secret domestic counterintelligence office, CIFA. In citing parts of the MZM story we broke, the story doesn’t name us, giving credit to TPMmuckraker.com only as “other Web logs.” So we’ll just credit this story to (other newspaper)
Cunningham: “The Final Indignity”
Step back and give ’em room, the New York Times is getting all poetic over the Duke Stir, of all people: “In a final indignity after a stunning fall, pieces of the ruined life of former Representative Randy Cunningham were auctioned off in a government warehouse here on Thursday morning.”
I don’t know how familiar the Times is with federal prison — where “the big chinchilla” is spending the next eight years or so — but I don’t think this auction will be his final indignity.
Others are a little less verbose, noting mostly that Duke’s haul brought in around $95,000, which we covered yesterday. (NYTimes, USA Today, SD Union-Tribune, North County Times)
Nuclear Lobbyist Spun the Revolving Door
Alex Flint is a prime example of the Hill – K Street sprint. Hill – K Street – Hill – K Street. Ready?
He went from being an aide to Sen. Pete Dominici (R-N.M.) to being a private lobbyist for energy companies, then back to the Senate – as majority staff director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. There, “he was a key player in legislation that provided billions in subsidies to the nuclear industry.” He recently left that job to become the chief lobbyist for “the industry’s largest trade group, the Nuclear Energy Institute.” Wow. (MSNBC)
“Reform”
The Christian Science Monitor points out that the reluctance to pass legislation with any teeth on the Hill could come back to bite lawmakers. One can hope. (CSM)
Sweeney All of a Sudden a Target
The AP reports that Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY) is suffering attacks from Democrats, who want to know why the Justice Department recently examined Sweeney’s records. Seems like I read something about that somewhere… (AP)
Oh, yeah, it was here. Or as this article coyly puts it, “several political bloggers suggested the Justice Department review might center around commissions Sweeney’s wife collects for raising campaign contributions for the congressman.” Come on, give us a little credit here. We work hard. (Post Star)
Safavian Hearing
David Safavian, the first Administration official to be charged in the Abramoff scandal, has a court hearing tomorrow for a ruling on his pretrial motions. The trial is scheduled for April 18th. (MSNBC)
Burns in Trouble
CQ reports that Sen. Conrad Burns’ (R-MT) new challenger in the primary means real trouble for his reelection chances. (CQ)
Fox News Seeks Balance in Lobbying
Fox News began a story on lobbying with this line:
What do Tom Daschle, John Ashcroft, Fred Thompson, J.C. Watts, Zell Miller and Dick Gephardt have in common these days?
They are all former members of Congress â and they are all registered lobbyists.
Daschle and Gephardt are, of course, not lobbyists. And the only other “Democrat” is Zell Miller. So much for balance. (Thinkprogress)
MZM Contracts with the White House
Laura Rozen thinks she’s figured out why MZM got an inexplicable contract with the Minerals Management Service. Hint: it had nothing to do with minerals. (W&P)
Dirk Kempthorne’s Coziness with Interior’s Industry’s
Kempthorne has long relied on the kindness of the industries he would regulate as Interior Secretary. (CRP)
Dirty Cunningham Contractor’s Protege
Laura Rozen also posts on the tangled web from which Brent Wilkes, Duke Cunningham’s other defense contractor, sprung. (W&P)
Covered Yesterday
An item by item rundown of Duke’s auction…(link)
James Tobin, phone jamming orchestrator, in close touch with White House…(link)
The prosecutors are continuing to build their case against Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)…(link)
TPM Reader writes from the field about Duke’s auction…(link)
The Texas K Street Project…(link)
Markets Say DeLay will get off, but GOP will lose the House…(link)
Bush’s Uncle – under Feds’ scrutiny, cleans up on sale of contractor…(link)
Barbara Bush Funnels Money to Son Via Katrina Fund…(link, TPM)
Iraq – the great rip-off continues…(link)
