"DESTROYED OR WITHHELD EVIDENCE" IN HADITHA PROBE: A high-level military investigation into the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha last November has uncovered instances in which American marines involved in the episode appear to have destroyed or withheld evidence, according to two Defense Department officials briefed on the case. The investigation found that an official company logbook of the unit involved had been tampered with and that an incriminating video taken by an aerial drone the day of the killings was not given to investigators until Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the second-ranking commander in Iraq, intervened, the officials said. Those findings, contained in a long report that was completed last month but not made public, go beyond what has been previously reported about the case.
New York Times: Inquiry Suggests Marines Excised Files on Killings "SECURITY MOMS" NOW SUPPORTING DEMS: Married women with children, the "security moms" whose concerns about terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, are taking flight from GOP politicians this year in ways that appear likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections, according to polls and interviews. This critical group of swing voters -- who are an especially significant factor in many of the most competitive suburban districts on which control of Congress will hinge -- is more inclined to vote Democratic than at any point since Sept. 11, 2001, according to data compiled for The Washington Post by the Pew Research Center... The study, which examined the views of married women with children from April through this week, found that they support Democrats for Congress by a 12-point margin, 50 percent to 38 percent. That is nearly a mirror-image reversal from a similar period in 2002, when this group backed Republicans 53 percent to 36 percent.
Washington Post: Republicans Losing The 'Security Moms' DETROIT JUDGE ORDERS HALT TO WIRETAPS; CALLS PROGRAM UNCONSTITUTIONAL: A federal judge in Detroit ruled yesterday that the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program is unconstitutional, delivering the first decision that the Bush administration's effort to monitor communications without court oversight runs afoul of the Bill of Rights and federal law. U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ordered a halt to the wiretap program, secretly authorized by President Bush in 2001, but both sides in the lawsuit agreed to delay that action until a Sept. 7 hearing. Legal scholars said Taylor's decision is likely to receive heavy scrutiny from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit when the Justice Department appeals, and some criticized her ruling as poorly reasoned.
Washington Post: Judge Rules Against Wiretaps BUSH SIGNS "BROAD OVERHAUL" OF PENSION RULES: President Bush signed a broad overhaul of pension and savings rules Thursday, giving millions of people a better chance of getting the retirement benefits they have earned. The law, passed with fanfare by Congress two weeks ago, gives companies seven years to shore up funding of their traditional pensions, also known as defined benefit plans. Special rules for seriously underfunded companies require them to catch up faster. The 30,000 such plans run by employers are estimated to be underfunded by $450 billion. "Americans who spent a lifetime working hard should be confident that their pensions will be there when they retire," Bush said.
AP via Yahoo! News: Bush signs sweeping pension bill reform FBI'S $170 MILLION LEMON: It was late 2003, and a contractor, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), had spent months writing 730,000 lines of computer code for the Virtual Case File (VCF), a networked system for tracking criminal cases that was designed to replace the bureau's antiquated paper files and, finally, shove J. Edgar Hoover's FBI into the 21st century... It appeared to work beautifully. Until Azmi, now the FBI's technology chief, asked about the error rate. Software problem reports, or SPRs, numbered in the hundreds, Azmi recalled in an interview. The problems were multiplying as engineers continued to run tests. Scores of basic functions had yet to be analyzed. "A month before delivery, you don't have SPRs," Azmi said. "You're making things pretty... You're changing colors." Within a few days, Azmi said, he warned FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III that the $170 million system was in serious trouble. A year later, it was dead.
Washington Post: The FBI's Upgrade That Wasn't DEMS TO FINALIZE PRIMARY CALENDAR: Democrats are laying aside the debate over issues and philosophy and turning to something more prosaic - rejiggering the political calendar - as a way to boost the party's White House prospects in 2008. Barring a last-minute shift, Democratic leaders meeting here are expected to add Nevada and South Carolina to the states that hold early primaries, alongside perennials Iowa and New Hampshire. The move is the main business at the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting, which opened Thursday in Chicago. It would be the most significant change in the presidential nominating process in years, and hasten the front-loading that has already transformed the contest from a months-long slog into a sprint lasting just a few weeks.
Los Angeles Times: Democrats May Make January Presidential Primary Month GOP PICKS HOUSTON CITY COUNCILWOMAN TO RUN IN TX-22: Republican Party precinct chairs endorsed Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs on Thursday night as the write-in candidate for the congressional district vacated by Tom DeLay. "Hopefully now we will have some clarity as to who our one candidate will be," said state GOP chair Tina Benkiser, who called the meeting. "Certainly if we have one Republican candidate on the ballot we'll get behind and start making the calls and walking the precincts and licking the envelopes and running a hard grass-roots campaign." The precinct chairs, who met behind closed doors, chose Sekula-Gibbs over a handful of opponents, including Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace and former state Republican Party executive committee member Tim Turner.
Houston Chronicle: Sekula-Gibbs picked as write-in candidate 8 FILE TO RUN IN "RAPID-FIRE RACE" TO REPLACE NEY: State Sen. Joy Padgett could have plenty of competition in the rapid-fire race to replace Rep. Bob Ney as the Republican candidate for an eastern Ohio congressional district. Padgett, who announced her candidacy as Ney quit the race amid scandal and sagging poll numbers, was one of eight people to file petitions yesterday for the Sept. 14 special election. Two others currently serve as elected officials: Dover Mayor Richard P. Homrighausen and Holmes County Commissioner Ray L. Feikert. The eight filed petitions by the 4 p.m. deadline with the board of elections in Tuscarawas County, the most populous county in the district. The board will tally valid signatures today; any candidate with at least 50 qualifies for the ballot.
Columbus Dispatch: 8 file to run for Ney's seat EDWARDS BECOMES "FIRST PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL TO CAMPAIGN FOR" LAMONT: John Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice-presidential candidate, rallied supporters of Ned Lamont, the party's Senate nominee from Connecticut, on Thursday, saying Democrats needed to fight Republican "fearmongering" to regain control in Washington. Mr. Edwards, who is considering a bid for the White House in 2008, became the first presidential hopeful to campaign for Mr. Lamont, who defeated Senator Joseph I. Lieberman last week in the Democratic primary here. Mr. Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, said Mr. Lieberman should be "honoring the decision" of Connecticut voters by bowing out of the race.
New York Times: Edwards, at Lamont Rally, Says Democrats Must Beat G.O.P. 'Fearmongering' BROWNBACK TO DECIDE ON '08 BY THE END OF '06: U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback joined the parade of prospective 2008 presidential candidates at the Iowa State Fair this week, saying he would make a decision about his White House plans before the end of the year. Brownback, a Kansas Republican, said Thursday that he will decide to run if his message fits with what he sees as the political mood of the country... Unlike a handful of other Republicans, Brownback has not put staff on the ground in Iowa. Brownback has been to Iowa several times since the 2004 election. He is among four Republican presidential prospects who have made plans to visit the Iowa State Fair this week.
Des Moines Register: Brownback will decide on '08 run this year FIGHT BREAKS OUT BETWEEN CAMPAIGNS IN MD'S 4TH: What was supposed to be a war of words ended in a scuffle between supporters of Rep. Albert Wynn and his challenger, Donna Edwards, Wednesday evening. Video taken by a worker for Edwards' congressional campaign showed the aftermath of the incident at a candidates' forum at Prince George's Community College. The tape shows a gash on the forehead of a volunteer for the Edwards campaign, News4 reported. "It was getting to turn into a riot real quick, because more people, as we pulled them apart, more and more of the two sides were going," said George McDermott, who is also a candidate for the 4th Congressional District seat. Three men were taken into custody by members of the college police force. A representative from the school said that one person was cited for disorderly conduct. The skirmish reportedly involved placement of campaign signs outside the building where the forum took place, News4 reported.
NBC4: Fight Breaks Out Outside Candidate Forum HUDSON APOLOGIZES FOR BLACK SWIMMERS REMARK: A video clip in which Republican Tramm Hudson makes negative comments about the swimming abilities of black people spread across the Internet on Thursday, drawing an apology from his campaign and a mix of reactions from challengers and local black leaders. The 27-second clip, first posted on the conservative Web site redstate.com, shows a portion of a speech the 13th District congressional candidate gave at a Christian Coalition forum in February. In the segment, Hudson, a former Army commander, recalls leading his infantry company across a river during a training exercise. "A large number were black," Hudson said. "I grew up in Alabama. I understand, uh, I know from experience, that blacks are not the greatest swimmers or may not even know how to swim."
Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Hudson's comments ignite fire on Net SCHWARZENEGGER ACCUSED OF FLIP-FLOPPING: Schwarzenegger's new strategy [efforts to recast himself as a political moderate in order to curry favor among Democrats and independent voters], which has boosted him in the polls, has also attracted criticism from both ends of the political spectrum that the governor has reversed position on key issues -- like education spending, the environment, health care reform and immigration -- for political advantage. A close review, however, shows the governor's record is far more mixed: some positions have clearly changed, others have merely evolved, and some have remained consistent but the rhetoric surrounding the subject has changed. Still, even the perception that a candidate has flip-flopped on issues is a big danger and something Schwarzenegger will be looking to quell this weekend among party loyalists and later as he tries to appeal to Democrats and independents.
San Francisco Chronicle: 'Moderate' governor irks some in GOP ALSO... Los Angeles Times: Schwarzenegger Hears Rumbles From the Right
