Ethics: Less Than No Confidence

ETHICS — REPORT OUTLINES SPECIFIC WAYS ADMINISTRATION MAY HAVE BROKEN LAW IN U.S. ATTORNEY SCANDAL: In preparation for a vote today on contempt of Congress citations for White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has prepared a 52-page memo “that for the first time alleges specific ways that several administration officials may have broken the law during the multiple firings of U.S. attorneys.” “The report says that Congress’s seven-month investigation into the firings raises ‘serious concerns’ that senior White House and Justice Department aides involved in the removal of nine U.S. attorneys last year may have obstructed justice and violated federal statutes.” It also lays out Congress’s case for overriding “an effort by the White House to shield officials and documents from the congressional inquiry through a claim of executive privilege.” Last week, the White House cited a 1984 legal opinion written by former administration solicitor general Ted Olson, claiming “the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege.” The report contends that the opinion “does not apply here” because President Bush “has not furnished a signed statement or ‘privilege logs’ specifying the documents being withheld. In addition, the memo says, ‘there is not the slightest indication’ the 1984 opinion would apply to a former executive branch official, such as Miers.”

ADMINISTRATION — BUSH ISN’T ‘BIG ON YOUTUBE DEBATES’: Monday’s CNN Democratic presidential debate allowed ordinary citizens around the country to be heard. By uploading a 30-second video to YouTube, “voters could directly question a presidential candidate during the debate.” Thirty-nine videos were chosen from the 2,989 submitted. CNN will hold a similar debate for the Republican candidates on Sept. 17. Carol Darr of George Washington University said that for the first time, “the filter that mainstream establishment media plays in presidential races — ‘we ask the questions, we are the exalted panel’ — that was broken down.” Yesterday morning in a press briefing aboard Air Force One, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Tony Snow whether the President’s remarks later in the day about terrorism would address some of the criticisms from the Democratic presidential debate. When Snow said they wouldn’t, the reporter asked, “Did he watch the debate?” Snow responded, “I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s big on YouTube debates.” It’s not surprising that President Bush would dislike open, democratic debates. The Bush administration has banned Democrats from events in order to fabricate a sympathetic, supportive audience. During the 2004 campaign, “attendees to Bush rallies were turned away for wearing pro-John Kerry T-shirts and stickers.” They also were often encouraged to take pledges of support for the President and answer questions about their loyalty to Bush in order to attend. Perhaps Bush isn’t “big on YouTube debates” because they aren’t conducive to “catapulting the propaganda.”

ETHICS — SCANDAL-CLAD REP. YOUNG FACES FEDERAL INVESTIGATION FOR POLITICAL FAVORS: Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is now under federal investigation by the Justice Department for alleged political favors for a company in Alaska, the Wall Street Journal reports today. “Federal investigators are examining whether Rep. Young…accepted bribes, illegal gratuities or unreported gifts from VECO Corp., Alaska’s largest oil-field engineering firm.” “While the investigation into Sen. Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) ties to Veco, including the remodeling of his Girdwood home, has been widely reported, this is the first time Young has been implicated in the scandal.” “For a decade, former VECO Chief Executive Bill Allen has held fund-raisers for Mr. Young in Anchorage every August, known as ‘The Pig Roast,’ participants said.” Public records show that between 1996 and 2000, VECO employees and the company’s political action committee gave at least at least $157,000 to Young. The congressman’s history of abuse of power is well-documented. Recently, he collaborated in a pork project with several Alaska congressmen to earmark a “Bridge to Nowhere” for personal profiteering and has long-standing ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Young also confessed to “taking more than $5,500 in illegal campaign contributions from a seafood trade association since 2001,” but he refuses to return all the donations. 

Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby, the commander at Fort Lewis in Washington state, is expected to decide today whether to go through with plans to hold memorial services for U.S. troops killed in Iraq once every month, instead of after each death. Military families and others have protested the proposal.

“A federal judge in California ruled Tuesday against the federal government’s attempts to stop investigations in five states of President Bush’s domestic spying program.” The judge ruled that “neither the Supremacy Clause nor the foreign affairs power of the government prevented a state from asking about phone records.”

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), who championed the confirmation John Roberts and Samuel Alito, plans to review the Supreme Court justices’ Senate testimony to “determine if their reversal of several long-standing opinions conflicts with promises they made to senators to win confirmation.”

“The Agriculture Department sent $1.1 billion in farm payments to more than 170,000 dead people over a seven-year period,” according to a new Government Accountability Office Report. Forty percent of those payments “went to those who had been dead more than three years.” 

Since Congress imposed strict new documentation rules, Medicaid rolls declined in many states. But “most of the drop-off appears to be among people eligible for coverage — not illegal immigrants.” The “law that took effect July 1 requires states to obtain evidence of citizenship and nationality when determining whether people are eligible for Medicaid.”

“More than a quarter of the computer equipment at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington could not be found by investigators, government auditors reported. Three other agency facilities — in San Diego, Indianapolis and the agency’s headquarters — could not find up to 11 percent of their equipment.”

“In an unusually heated face-to-face meeting, a U.S. ambassador accused Iran on Tuesday of increasing arms shipments for militias who are fomenting violence in Iraq.” Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said, “I would not describe this as a shouting match throughout, but we were real clear.”

“Days after the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s chief spokesman said concerns about formaldehyde would not stop it from selling or donating surplus disaster trailers, the agency said Tuesday that it is reviewing the policy.”

And finally: On Monday, Rep. Gary Miller’s (R-CA) outfit received disapproving looks from his colleagues. According to Roll Call, Miller sported “a look better suited to a backyard cookout than the House chamber: a loose-fitting Hawaiian shirt, linen pants and slippers.” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), the presiding officer at the time, said, “The chair must remind Members that the proper standard of dress in the chamber is business attire, which includes both coat and tie for gentlemen.”