Despite Downturn, Senate Leaders Made Money in '07

June 17, 2008 4:01 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

While last year's sagging economy hit the financial fortunes of millions of Americans -- and most lawmakers -- two Senate leaders did pretty well for themselves, according to a new analysis.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., saw his wealth grow by as much as $1.2 million last year, according to a review of lawmakers' new financial disclosure reports by the Hill newspaper.  And Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., saw his assets increase by at least $600,000, according to the paper.

Aside from their $183,500 salary, the two men reported little other income outside of the increase of their investments. Reid received a four-acre property in Searchlight, Nev. from a friend's widow valued at $14,000; McConnell received a crystal sculpture award worth $500 from the American Ireland Fund.

Reid's investments include interests in several mining claims and properties, the paper reported, and has invested in energy and healthcare index funds.  Much of McConnell's wealth is spread across more than two dozen investment funds held by himself and his wife, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

By contrast, the paper found, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her husband lost between $880,000 and $7.4 million last year; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., whose reported his worth to be between $334,000-$760,000, lost as much as $35,000.  House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, broke even, reporting assets worth between $2.2 million and $7.9 million.

June 17, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (6)

For Convention, GOPers Have More Money than Time

June 16, 2008 3:10 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

Republican boosters may be reaching for their pocketbooks to support their party's 2008 convention -- but they aren't giving their time.

While the host committee for the Republican convention in Minneapolis has raised over $31 million to cover the cost of the event, they are reportedly struggling to recruit 10,000 volunteers to work as airport greeters, direction givers and other essential posts.

The committee has only recruited 4,000 of the 10,000 volunteers they need, according to an article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Meanwhile, the host committee for the Democratic convention in Denver is said to be swamped with volunteers -- nearly 26,000 have signed up so far, although the committee only needs 10,000.

If only they wanted to give money: the Denver committee so far has struggled to top $25 million, leading it to abruptly cancel a planned media walk-through of the convention site to plan coverage logistics. The money troubles have also led the group to nix 24 welcoming parties, according to the Associated Press.

June 16, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (2)

WSJ: US Attorney Scandal Advances

June 16, 2008 11:42 AM

Justin Rood Reports:

Federal prosecutors are reportedly pursuing their first criminal indictment in the U.S. Attorneys scandal.

The subject, according to the Wall Street Journal: Bradley Schlozman, for a time the U.S. Attorney for Kansas City, who resigned from his the Justice Department in disgrace last August after his role in politicizing the Justice Department was discovered.  Schlozman, who most recently had served as the head of the department's Civil Rights Division, eventually admitted to Congress that he boasted to his Justice colleagues about his efforts to hire Republicans -- "good Americans," as he reportedly called his conservative hires.

The Journal reports that prosecutors investigating the scandal have filed a referral to a grand jury that "relates to allegations of political meddling," and focuses on "possible perjury" by Schlozman.  It does not mean that criminal charges will be filed, only that prosecutors believe there may be grounds to do so.

Schlozman, now reportedly working as a lawyer in private practice in Kansas City, declined to comment to the Journal.

June 16, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (3)

NV Scandal Gov. Wins Mansion, Silence

June 09, 2008 5:18 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

Nevada’s scandal-tarred governor has suspended his effort to divorce his wife, after she and her lawyer made veiled suggestions that his effort could force secrets from his past to spill into public view.

"You'd have to be a dummy to realize that there aren't implications beyond the divorce itself for her and for him," the attorney for Dawn Gibbons, wife of GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons, told the New York Times late last month.

Gov. Gibbons has reportedly come under federal investigation for bribery and corruption allegations from his time as a U.S. congressman. He was accused of sexually assaulting a cocktail waitress in the days before the 2006 gubernatorial election; and his wife has accused him of having a long-running affair with a podiatrist’s wife.  Gibbons has denied all the allegations.

According to a copy of the agreement released to the media Monday afternoon, the couple has agreed to suspend legal divorce proceedings in favor of working privately to resolve the matter.  "No court documents will be filed" and "there will be no further public comment from either side" while the two "attempt to resolve issues related to the divorce action," the agreement said.

The governor will live in the Nevada governor’s mansion, and his wife will live in the guest house. The two "will share the Public Areas of the Mansion for their respective Public Duties," the document said. They will coordinate via their staff, according to the agreement.

June 9, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (3)

Ring around the Lawmaker

June 03, 2008 2:26 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

News that an ex-Hill staffer had pled guilty in the Abramoff scandal – and implicated his ex-lawmaker boss – made little more than a ripple when it was announced yesterday.  It’s not hard to see why: A nobody fingering a has-been doesn’t make much of a headline.

But few bothered to identify a shadowy figure in the documents, the unnamed and apparently as-yet-unindicted-co-conspirator "Lobbyist C" who, some Abramoff-watchers say privately, may be the link to a real story.

As the Associated Press eventually noted, Mr. C is likely Kevin Ring, a former Hill aide who went to work for Jack Abramoff in 2001.  And strange as it may seem, ex-staffer Ring may be a more enticing target for prosecutors than the ex-congressman in the plea documents, Republican Ernest Istook of Oklahoma.

Why? Because Ring, already reported to be under investigation by the Abramoff prosecutors, is considered to have been Abramoff's liaison to Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., Ring's old boss. And Doolittle is a fellow those prosecutors have been trying to get at for a long, long time.

Indeed, Doolittle appears to have become something of a great white whale to prosecutors working the Abramoff scandal.  In the past year and a half they have raided his home and his wife's office, subpoenaed mountains of documents, interviewed as many as a half-dozen of the lawmaker's former aides, even reportedly offered Doolittle a plea deal. (He reportedly turned it down; both Doolittle and his wife Julie have maintained their innocence).

Reviewing press accounts, Doolittle appears to have accepted many more gifts and contributions than Istook did from Abramoff, his team and his clients. And he reportedly took more actions favorable to Abramoff than Istook.  Also, Doolittle is still in office. For prosecutors in the Public Integrity Section, convicting an active lawmaker is more professionally rewarding than putting a retiree behind bars.

Ring has not commented on the plea entered yesterday by John Albaugh, and what it means for him. Istook said yesterday that he is cooperating with the FBI, which has assured him he is "not a target" of the investigation. Doolittle’s office referred calls to his personal attorney, who did not immediately respond to a voice mail message.

As a postscript: The watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense today dug up several earmarks in a 2004 bill shepherded by Istook which funnelled millions to Team Abramoff clients.  Those are hardly helpful to Istook, but they may raise questions for Doolittle, also: a handful of those earmarks went to a California town located in Doolittle’s district -- represented by Kevin Ring.

This post has been revised.

June 3, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (5)

Duke Briber to Stay in Prison

June 03, 2008 10:46 AM

Justin Rood Reports:

Hopes for a bonded release from federal prison have faded for a key figure in the Duke Cunningham fiasco.

Brent Wilkes began serving a 12-year sentence in February for crimes stemming from his involvement in the congressional bribery scandal. Alleging he was "bamboozled" in his first trial, his lawyers have pushed for a second shot.  In March, an appeals court ruling opened the door to the possibility.

Wilkes has tried to scrape together roughly $1.3 million a judge said he would accept to secure a $2 million bond for release from prison.  When that effort faltered, his lawyer asked the judge to reduce the necessary amount to a more manageable $500,000.

Monday, Judge Larry Burns said no deal -- it's $1.3 million or nothing.  Burns apparently doesn't have a very high regard for Wilkes: he reportedly said he believes Wilkes is a potential bail-jumper who lied under oath and has submitted misleading information to the court after he was convicted.

June 3, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (1)

New Iraq Contracts Belie Quick U.S. Departure

June 02, 2008 10:59 AM

Justin Rood Reports:

Even as presidential candidates debate how quickly to withdraw American forces from Iraq, the U.S. government bureaucracy appears to be preparing for a longer slog there.

Contracting documents show the Pentagon and State Department are looking to hire "mentors" for Iraqi government officials, security personnel to protect Iraqi judges, linguists, and food service for a new U.S.-run prison, according to the Washington Post's Walter Pincus.

The contracts run for a year, and offer up to four subsequent "option years," if the U.S. government decides to use the services that long.  The documents illustrate how deeply involved the American government has become in bolstering Iraqi civil society -- and underscore "the difficulty the next president will face in pulling personnel out of the country," Pincus writes.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the odds-favored Democratic presidential nominee, has said he would withdraw the majority of U.S. forces within 16 months of assuming office. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., his challenger, has said she would bring the first troops back from Iraq within 60 days of her inauguration, and direct her top military officials to "draw up a clear, viable plan" to bring the others home.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has said he expects most U.S. troops could leave Iraq by 2013.

June 2, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (5)