Tuesday, March 20, 2007
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... "Gonzo's a goner?" (New York Daily News headline) The first batch of the 3,000 pages released Monday night to Congress shed light on the highly controversial process that led to the firings and the tangled, shifting explanations for the dismissals, which have created a political firestorm on Capitol Hill. Full story at CNN.com President's Schedule: The president will make remarks on energy initiatives at Ford at 2:25 pm ET. Also on the Political Radar: ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) "TENSIONS AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF THE AGENCY": Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales was "extremely upset" that his deputy told Congress last month that a federal prosecutor had been fired for no reason, according to e-mail released Monday by the Justice Department. Mr. Gonzales believed that the prosecutor, H. E. Cummins III, the United States attorney for Arkansas, was dismissed for performance reasons, the e-mail suggested. But his deputy, Paul J. McNulty, testified that Mr. Cummins had been replaced to create a vacancy for J. Timothy Griffin, a political ally of the White House political adviser Karl Rove. The e-mail messages, among more than 3,000 released by the Justice Department, reflect the tensions at the highest levels of the agency as officials tried to contain the political brushfire set off by the dismissals of eight federal prosecutors last year. New York Times: New E-Mail Gives Details on Attorney Dismissals FITZ HAD "NOT DISTINGUISHED" HIMSELF, SAID DOJ CHART: U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald was ranked among prosecutors who had "not distinguished themselves" on a Justice Department chart sent to the White House in March 2005, when he was in the midst of leading the CIA leak investigation that resulted in the perjury conviction of a vice presidential aide, administration officials said yesterday. The ranking placed Fitzgerald below "strong U.S. Attorneys... who exhibited loyalty" to the administration but above "weak U.S. Attorneys who... chafed against Administration initiatives, etc.," according to Justice documents. The chart was the first step in an effort to identify U.S. attorneys who should be removed. Two prosecutors who received the same ranking as Fitzgerald were later fired, documents show. Washington Post: Fitzgerald Ranked During Leak Case FOR IRAQ FUNDING BILL, "VOTES DO NOT COME CHEAP": House Democratic leaders are offering billions in federal funds for lawmakers' pet projects large and small to secure enough votes this week to pass an Iraq funding bill that would end the war next year. So far, the projects -- which range from the reconstruction of New Orleans levees to the building of peanut storehouses in Georgia -- have had little impact on the tally. For a funding bill that establishes tough new readiness standards for deploying combat forces and sets an Aug. 31, 2008, deadline to bring the troops home, votes do not come cheap. But at least a few Republicans and conservative Democrats who otherwise would vote "no" remain undecided, as they ponder whether they can leave on the table millions of dollars for constituents by opposing the $124 billion war funding bill due for a vote on Thursday. Washington Post: War Bill Includes Tempting Projects WH EFFORT TO "IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH DETROIT'S BIG THREE": President Bush today will tour two factories where Detroit automakers churn out gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, as he expands his energy-saving message from a focus on alternative fuels to an emphasis on vehicles, as well. After the tours here, Bush will again urge Congress to quickly adopt new costly fuel economy standards as part of a strategy to end the nation's dependence on foreign oil. His renewed call comes after prominent House Democrats said last week that a climate change bill that raises fuel economy standards is not likely until 2008 at the earliest. Bush's visit to the Kansas City area plants -- the first of his presidency to domestic auto factories -- will also kick off an effort to improve relations with Detroit's Big Three automakers after a rocky year. Detroit News: Bush 'reaching out' to Big Three ACCUSATIONS OF "CENSORSHIP, SMEAR TACTICS, AND McCARTHYISM" AT CLIMATE CHANGE HEARING: Government scientists, armed with copies of heavily edited reports, charged Monday that the Bush administration and its political appointees had soft-pedaled their findings on climate change. The accusations led Democrats and Republicans at the congressional hearing to accuse each other of censorship, smear tactics and McCarthyism. To underscore their charges of the administration's oil-friendly stance, Democrats grilled an oil lobbyist who was hired by the White House to review government climate change documents and who made hundreds of edits that the lawmakers said minimized the impact of global warming. "You were a spin doctor," Rep. John A. Yarmuth (D-Ky) told the lobbyist. Republicans targeted a NASA director who testified about administration pressure, accusing him of political bias, of politicizing his work and of ignoring uncertainties in climate change science. Los Angeles Times: Congressional hearing heats up over changes to climate reports SCOTUS TAKES ON FREE SPEECH CASE: In a feisty session over a student's "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner, former independent counsel Kenneth Starr urged the Supreme Court Monday to let public schools ban signs, buttons or other messages that undercut their anti-drug policy. As scores of curious students milled in and around the columned building, Starr argued that a principal in Juneau, Alaska, did not violate Joseph Frederick's speech rights when she tore down the banner he had unfurled at an Olympic Torch Relay parade in 2002. The principal, Deborah Morse, said the "bong" phrase referred to marijuana and suspended him for 10 days. Frederick, a senior at the time, said his words were merely nonsense meant to draw television cameras as students watched the parade. USA Today: Justices debate 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' case SPECTER, 77, WILL SEEK ANOTHER SENATE TERM IN 2010: U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, already Pennsylvania's longest-serving senator, wants to hold his post for at least another decade. The 77-year-old Republican confirmed yesterday that he will run for re-election in 2010, when he turns 80. "There are a lot of important things to be done," he said as he dashed from the Senate floor to attend an event on biomedical research. "I'm full of energy, and my wife doesn't want me home for breakfast, lunch and dinner." One of the Keystone State's most seasoned political veterans, Mr. Specter hopes to recapture his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he recently oversaw the confirmation of two additions to the Supreme Court -- Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Specter says he'll run in 2010 at age of 80 PA'S KANJORSKI HAS BYPASS SURGERY: U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski is recovering from a surgery he underwent on Monday to bypass blockages in three blood vessels to his heart, according to a news release. There were no complications, according to the surgeon who performed the operation, and Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, is expected to make a full recovery from the previously scheduled surgery, the release stated. The surgery wasn't the result of a heart attack, according to the release. He is expected to spend about a week recovering at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, the release stated, and should return to work by mid-April. "Congressman Kanjorski is recovering well," Dr. Lawrence Cohn said in the release. "We have every expectation that he will recover fully and will have improved cardiac performance." Wilkes Barre Times-Leader: Kanjorski has heart surgery GOP CANDIDATES MEET "INTENSIVE QUESTIONING" ON IMMIGRATION: Immigration, an issue that has divided Republicans in Washington, is reverberating across the party's presidential campaign field, causing particular complications for Senator John McCain of Arizona. The topic came up repeatedly in recent campaign swings through Iowa by Mr. McCain and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, another Republican who, like Mr. McCain, supports giving some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, a position that puts them at odds with many other conservatives. Both candidates faced intensive questioning from voters on the issue, which has become more prominent in the state as immigrants are playing a larger and increasingly visible role in the economy and society. New York Times: G.O.P. Candidates Confront Immigration Politics WILL SC SPURN NATIVE SON EDWARDS? The temptation of the Democrats' high-powered candidates may be too much for the South Carolina voters who helped John Edwards to his only presidential primary win in 2004. With its status as one of the four early voting states in the 2008 nomination race, South Carolina could again provide a much needed boost to Edwards' campaign. But state Democrats are attracted to rivals Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, with Edwards struggling to hold onto his previous support. Some voters say Edwards, the native son from Seneca, S.C., had his chance and they're looking for someone new. AP via Yahoo! News: Edwards struggles to hold South Carolina WHO MADE THE 1984 AD? Just who is ParkRidge47 - the mystery figure who introduced an Internet political attack ad that has stirred the press and political junkies tuned into the early presidential campaign - and what does the videomaker have against Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton? The political question of the week is the identity of the anonymous person who reworked the classic 1984 ad introducing the Apple Macintosh computers to the world into a biting attack piece against Clinton - and posted it on the popular YouTube Web site. The video portrays "Hillary 1984" as an ominous Big Brother figure while portraying her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, as the symbol of a new generation. Obama's campaign maintains it had nothing to do with the video. San Francisco Chronicle: Who is the person behind the Clinton attack ad? UNRETURNED CALLS MAY HAVE COST OBAMA MILLIONS: Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) presidential campaign may have missed out on millions of dollars by failing to return the calls of a small group of highly influential donors and operatives in New Jersey. The high-rollers, having waited in vain for more than a month for Obama's campaign to get back in contact, signed up to support Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). The gaffe highlights Clinton's organizational advantage over her chief rival for the Democratic nomination. It also shows how Obama's focus on the Internet and running an outsider's campaign may undermine his ability to cultivate traditional political allies. The coterie of Garden State Democrats supporting Clinton, which calls itself "The Group," plans to hold three fundraisers in April and May and to raise about $2 million for her campaign before the Feb. 5 state primary, said its leaders. The Hill: When Obama failed to call, N.J. donors went to Clinton MORE GORE WAISTLINE-WATCHING: XM Satellite Radio's Bob Edwards has a theory on former Vice President Al Gore's chances of entering the presidential race: It's inversely proportional to his waistline. At a speech last week before the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, the former NPR host said, "Gore was a bit heavy when I talked to him, and it's long been said of Gore that you know he's running if he loses weight. People who've seen him since my interview tell me he's lost some weight." Edwards said if he had gotten a majority of votes but didn't get to take office, "I would so be running again." DC Examiner: Bob Edwards: Watch Gore's waist |
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The CNN Political Ticker provides the latest political news.To sign up for our twice daily Ticker emails, visit CNN.com member services page. If you do not have a CNN.com account, you can register here. If you have any feedback, suggestions or news tips, drop us a line here. NEW IN THE TICKER
• Obama denies involvement in Clinton ad spoof• Clinton: 'Patience has worn thin' • Salt Lake City Mayor calls for Bush's impeachment • McCain 'won't back down' from support of Iraq war • Hoyer touts House Democrats' Iraq bill • Thompson planning campaign kick-off • Justices hear 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' case • Too cute to be president? • McCain calls for better care for veterans • Giuliani recruits GOP communication veterans SUBSCRIBE
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