CHENEY TOLD LIBBY TO "GET ALL THE FACTS OUT" ON WILSON: Vice President Cheney was personally angered by a former U.S. ambassador's newspaper column attacking a key rationale for the war in Iraq and repeatedly directed I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, then his chief of staff, to "get all the facts out" related to the critique, according to excerpts from Libby's 2004 grand jury testimony released late yesterday by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald. Libby also told the grand jury that Cheney raised as an issue that the former ambassador's wife worked at the CIA and that she allegedly played a role in sending him to investigate the Iraqi government's interest in acquiring nuclear weapons materials... In the court filing that included the formerly secret testimony, Fitzgerald did not assert that Cheney instructed Libby to tell reporters the name and role of Valerie Plame. Washington Post: Libby Told Grand Jury Cheney Spoke of Plame

FITZ MAY CALL CHENEY AS A WITNESS: A court filing on Wednesday by the special counsel in the C.I.A. leak case suggested that Vice President Dick Cheney would testify as a government witness in the trial of his former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr. The legal brief did not say with certainty that Mr. Cheney would be called as a witness. But the latest filing, like earlier court papers, underscored the prosecutor's contention that the vice president's role was critical to understanding Mr. Libby's wrongdoing. But the new filing was the first to indicate that Mr. Cheney himself might be called as a government witness. New York Times: Counsel Says He May Use Cheney in Libby Trial

DID SOMEONE ON THE HILL LEAK NSA WIRETAPS INFO? The FBI is seeking interviews with top House Members from both parties to determine whether they leaked details of the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program to The New York Times, further fanning the flames of an already tense relationship between Capitol Hill and the Bush administration. Those being targeted for interviews include GOP and Democratic leaders, as well as the chairmen and ranking member of the Intelligence committee. Altogether, 15 senior Members and Senators were briefed about the existence of the NSA program before the Times first disclosed it in a Dec. 16 article, according to briefing records released last week by John Negroponte, director of the Office of National Intelligence. Roll Call: Hill Targeted on Leaks

VETERANS CHIEF WASN'T NOTIFIED OF DATA THEFT FOR 13 DAYS: Jim Nicholson, the secretary of veterans affairs, expressed outrage Wednesday over being kept in the dark about the theft of computer data on 26.5 million veterans as he himself came under heavy criticism from Capitol Hill. Mr. Nicholson issued a statement vowing "a very extensive review of individuals up and down the chain of command" and urging the inspector general's office at the Department of Veterans Affairs to expedite an investigation of the affair. An administration official who has followed the episode said Mr. Nicholson was not told about the missing data until the night of May 16, or 13 days after the disks containing the data were stolen in a burglary at the home of a department employee. New York Times: Veterans Chief Voices Anger on Data Theft

SOME LAWMAKERS AT RISK AFTER THEFT: The VA has said that the stolen disk mostly contains data from veterans discharged after 1975, which could expose up to 29 sitting members of Congress to identity theft. Yet there are approximately 25 million living veterans, less than the number of individuals with identities potentially compromised by the breach, and the full extent of the breach remains unclear. The Hill: Lawmakers among 27M hit by theft

FINAL SENATE VOTE ON IMMIGRATION: The Senate moved to the verge of passing landmark immigration legislation yesterday, scheduling a final vote for today on a bill that would tighten the borders while allowing millions of illegal immigrants to stay in the country and permitting new guest workers to come and go. But the very mixture of get-tough and be-kind measures that have made Senate approval possible could prove the biggest obstacle to reaching an accord with the House, where conservatives are determined to secure the borders before tackling other matters. Senate leaders said their coalition is fragile, and it may be hard pressed to survive changes that House members signal they will demand this summer. Washington Post: Fragile Senate Coalition Set To Pass Bill on Immigration

BIG WEDGE FOR THE GOP: Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, South Carolina's senators, are both conservatives who champion limited government and expanded individual opportunity. In accord on most issues, they strongly disagree on one: immigration...The DeMint-Graham divide illustrates a schism among usual allies that is vastly complicating Bush's efforts to secure passage of immigration legislation. Normally the president charges into a legislative fight with most Republicans united behind him. Now, everywhere he looks in the ranks, there are deep divisions. Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh advocates a crackdown, while the Wall Street Journal editorial page espouses the legalization route. Richard Land, a leader of the 16-million- member Southern Baptist Convention, supports Bush's policy; another top religious activist, Gary Bauer, president of American Values, an Arlington, Virginia-based group that promotes traditional marriage, is critical of Bush's plan. Bloomberg News: Bush's Immigration Proposal Drives Wedge Between Usual Allies

IS HASTERT UNDER INVESTIGATION OR NOT? Despite a flat denial from the Department of Justice, federal law enforcement sources [Thursday] said ABC News accurately reported that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is "in the mix" in the FBI investigation of corruption in Congress. Speaker Hastert said tonight the story was "absolutely untrue" and has demanded ABC News retract its story. Law enforcement sources told ABC News that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff has provided information to the FBI about Hastert and a number of other members of Congress that have broadened the scope of the investigation... ABC's law enforcement sources said the Justice Department denial was meant only to deny that Hastert was a formal "target" or "subject" of the investigation. "Whether they like it or not, members of Congress, including Hastert, are under investigation," one federal official said tonight. ABC News' "The Blotter": ABC News Update on Hastert Story

BIPARTISAN CALLS FOR RETURN OF ITEMS SEIZED IN JEFFERSON RAID: House leaders from both parties escalated a confrontation with the Bush administration Wednesday, demanding the return of all materials seized in an unprecedented FBI raid on the office of a congressman under investigation for bribery. And the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), announced he would hold hearings next week on what he called serious constitutional questions concerning the search of the Capitol Hill office of Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.). Jefferson, who is under investigation in a federal bribery and influence-peddling case, filed a motion in U.S. District Court demanding the return of material confiscated during the 18-hour weekend search. Los Angeles Times: House Leaders Want Return of Items Seized in FBI Search

WILL "PROTECT THEIR OWN" MENTALITY BACKFIRE? Some lawmakers are warning of a voter backlash against members of Congress "trying to protect their own" if party leaders keep escalating a constitutional dispute over the FBI's raid of a representative's office. Yet not long after House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded on Wednesday the bureau return documents it took, White House aides were in talks with Hastert's staff about the possible transfer of the material, perhaps to the House ethics committee, according to several Republican officials. The goals of any transfer, they said, would be to deny the documents both to prosecutors and to Rep. Willliam Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat ensnared in a bribery investigation, until the legal issues surrounding the weekend search of his office are resolved. AP via Yahoo! News: Some lawmakers wary of fight over FBI raid

FIRST ABRAMOFF-RELATED CORRUPTION TRIAL UNDERWAY: Prosecutors accused David H. Safavian, the federal government's former top procurement official, of lying repeatedly to investigators as the first trial related to the political corruption scandal of lobbyist Jack Abramoff got underway yesterday. Safavian is accused of concealing the truth and obstructing federal inquiries about his relationship with Abramoff and also about a golfing trip the two men took in 2002 to Scotland and London. Prosecutors signaled that they plan to rely heavily on hundreds of e-mails between Safavian and Abramoff to show that Abramoff was seeking two government properties over which Safavian had influence while offering Safavian favors, including the overseas trip. Washington Post: Safavian Lied About Dealings With Abramoff, Prosecutor Says

RECRUITING KEY FOR NOVEMBER: Long before anyone casts a vote, recruiting can determine the fate of a party. The goal is a strong candidate in every winnable race, but recruiters often fall short. For example, Republicans dominate Florida government but were unable to find a strong challenger for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. And Democrats have House candidates that analyst Amy Walter of the non-partisan Cook Political Report calls "not top tier" in some districts where close splits in the 2004 presidential vote suggest GOP incumbents might be vulnerable. The competition is intense. Recruiters often target the same people - Republicans and Democrats tried at various points for ex-Redskins quarterback Heath Shuler, now running as a Democrat for a House seat in North Carolina. And there's no single formula for persuading someone to run. "It's an individual decision," says Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., chairman of the GOP House campaign committee. "The big mistake is if you act as if there's only one tool in the toolbox," adds Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Reynolds' Democratic counterpart. USA Today: Party recruiters lead charge for '06 vote

McCAIN RETURNS $20K IN DONATIONS: The much-hyped detente between Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and big Texas donors to President Bush ran into an embarrassing snag last month, prompting the Senator to return $20,000 in donations from the Wyly family after realizing they were being investigated by federal tax authorities. McCain, whose active courtship of Bush's financial network has been widely promoted by his political aides, gave back the checks from Sam and Charles Wyly Jr. and other relatives after his political action committee's "vetting system" turned up multiple probes into the Wylys regarding their offshore holdings on the Isle of Man. "There's a government probe into some tax shelters they have," said Craig Goldman, the executive director of Straight Talk America, McCain's leadership PAC, explaining the refunded donations. Roll Call: McCain Woos Donors, Then Returns Checks

ROMNEY'S IRAQ SURPRISE: Traveling under tight security, Governor Mitt Romney yesterday wrapped up an unannounced, one-day trip to Iraq to visit troops from Massachusetts, and warned against a ``cut and run" pullout from the war-torn country. Romney, traveling with two other governors, will conduct a round of talks with national leaders in Afghanistan today and meet US troops, as part of a Department of Defense-sponsored visit to the two countries at the center of US military activity in the region. The Massachusetts governor, who is exploring a bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, yesterday said he supported President Bush's strategy to maintain a strong US presence in Iraq. Boston Globe: Romney makes surprise stop in Baghdad

RUDY NOT ASKED TO ATTEND NY GOP CONVENTION: New York's best-known Republican - potential presidential contender Rudy Giuliani - will skip next week's state GOP nominating convention because of what party officials claim was a "scheduling" conflict, The Post has learned. Giuliani was only indirectly invited to the major GOP event by a party functionary - who contacted the former mayor's advance man - and was never directly asked to attend by either state GOP chairman Stephen Minarik or by Gov. Pataki, his potential rival in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, it was learned. "It doesn't sound like Pataki was especially interested in having him there," said a longtime GOP activist familiar with the situation. New York Post: Rudy is Shutout of Party

BLOOMBERG "LOOKING QUITE THE DEM": The mayor, a life-long Democrat who took the Republican line to run for office in 2001, endorsed Gov. Pataki at his new party's convention in New York 2002, and served as host for the Republican National Convention in 2004. But since his reelection campaign, he has taken a high profile on typically Democratic issues, backing abortion rights, gun control and immigration rights. Polls suggest that the next governor will be a Democrat, Eliot Spitzer, who has compared himself to Bloomberg. "If Spitzer is holding anywhere near the lead he's holding now, [Bloomberg] is likely to endorse him," said Doug Muzzio, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College. New York Daily News: Mayor looking quite the Dem these days