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2006 ELECTION News:

20080829

Sarah Palin

Ted Stevens

Political

2006 Election

2008 Election

Alaska

"Palin Ad Starring Ted Stevens Already Scrubbed From Palin's Campaign Website." ... "This morning, an ad from [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin's 2006 [Election for Alaska's Governor] gubernatorial campaign featuring an endorsement from scandal-plagued Alaska [Republican] Senator Ted Stevens was available on Palin's campaign Web site." ... "...but now the Stevens ad has already been scrubbed." ... "Luckily, the ad featuring Stevens and Palin is still available for your viewing pleasure!" -By Greg Sargent

-TPMElectionCentral .TalkingPointsMemo

WATCH: "Stevens Endorses Palin for Governor."

20080818

John McCain

Ralph Reed

Jack Abramoff

Money

Religion

Georgia

2006 Election

2008 Election

"Protesters mark McCain’s visit to Atlanta for fund-raiser." ... "More than 50 protesters marched in front of the Marriott Marquis [in Georgia's capital Atlanta] on Monday, shouting “Bush, McCain, same thing!”" ... "Across Peachtree Center Avenue, Georgia Democratic Party chairwoman Jane Kidd and state [Georgia Democratic state Senator] Sen. David Adelman (D-Atlanta) held a news conference to add a more official voice of protest." ... "Kidd blasted McCain for only coming to the state to raise money and not to meet with regular voters." ... "“Instead of listening to Georgians, John McCain chose to talk with people who have given him thousands of dollars,” she said." ... "That includes Ralph Reed, said Adelman." ... "Reed is the former head of the Christian Coalition who in 2006 [election] lost a bid for the Georgia GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] nomination as lieutenant governor after he was implicated, but not charged, in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal in Washington." ... "Reed e-mailed supporters and friends to urge them to give to the [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain campaign. Reed also instructed potential donors to send contributions directly to him. Reed told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he sent the e-mail at the request of the campaign and was given boilerplate language to use. He said he has no role in the campaign or in this event, something the McCain campaign confirmed." ... "But Reed’s involvement in raising money has been a source of ridicule and scorn from Democrats." ... "Reed, Adelman said, “has sold his influence with Christian conservative voters to the highest bidder.”" -By Aaron Gould Sheinin

-AJC

20080409

Connecticut - Hack - Political - US Attorney - Censorship - 2006 Election - Web - E-Mails - Federal - Attorney - US - Iraq - Military - "FBI probe: Lieberman campaign to blame for crashing own Web site." ... "A federal investigation has concluded that U.S. [United States Connecticut Independent Democrat Senator] Sen. Joseph Lieberman's 2006 re-election campaign was to blame for the crash of its Web site the day before Connecticut's heated Aug. [August] 8 Democratic primary." ... "The FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] office in New Haven [Connecticut] found no evidence supporting the Lieberman campaign's allegations that supporters of primary challenger Ned Lamont of Greenwich [Connecticut] were to blame for the Web site crash." ... "Lieberman, who was fighting for his political life against the anti-Iraq war candidate [Ned] Lamont, implied that joe2006.com was hacked by Lamont supporters." ... ""The server that hosted the joe2006.com Web site failed because it was overutilized and misconfigured. There was no evidence of (an) attack," according to the e-mail." ... "The e-mail, dated Oct. [October] 25, 2006, was included in a technical packet of information recently sent to The Advocate in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act filed in late 2006 with the offices of state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor." ... "The Advocate filed the requests after Blumenthal and O'Connor closed the case but declined to divulge details. They stated only that they found no evidence that Lamont supporters were to blame." ... "Visitors who tried to access Lieberman's site at the time received a message calling on Lamont to "make an unqualified statement denouncing this kind of dirty campaign trick and to demand whoever is responsible to cease and desist immediately."" ... "Blumenthal denied The Advocate's FOI [Freedom of Information] request on the grounds it was a federal matter, and it took more than a year for the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to respond." ... "According to the FBI memo, the site crashed because Lieberman officials continually exceeded a configured limit of 100 e-mails per hour the night before the primary." -By Brian Lockhart -StamfordAdvocate.com

20080328

Gordon England

Secret

Military

Law

Terrorism

Politics

2008 Election

2006 Election

Osama bin Laden

War Crimes

Guantánamo

Cuba

Intelligence

Torture

Prison

Michael V Hayden

"Navy Lawyer: Gitmo trials pegged to political campaign." ... "The Navy lawyer for Osama bin Laden's driver argues in a Guantánamo [Guantánamo Bay, Cuba] military commissions motion that senior Pentagon officials are orchestrating war crimes prosecutions for the 2008 [Election] campaign." ... "The brief filed Thursday by Navy [Lieutenant Commander] Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer directly challenged the integrity of [Republican] President Bush's war court." ... "Notably, it describes a [September] Sept. 29, 2006, meeting at the Pentagon in which Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, a veteran [Republican President Bush] White House appointee, asked lawyers to consider Sept. 11, 2001, prosecutions in light of the campaign [2006 Election ]." ... "''We need to think about charging some of the high-value detainees because there could be strategic political value to charging some of these detainees before the election,'' England is quoted as saying." ... "The brief quotes England as a stipulation of fact and cites other examples of alleged political interference, which Mizer argues makes it impossible for Salim Hamdan, 37, to have a fair trial." ... "It asks the judge, Navy [Captain] Capt. Keith Allred, to dismiss the case against Hamdan as an alleged 9/11 co-conspirator on the grounds that Bush administration leadership exercises ``unlawful command influence.''" ... "As described the Hamdan brief, the England meeting came three weeks after President Bush disclosed in a live address that he had ordered the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] to transfer ''high-value detainees'' from years of secret custody to Guantánamo for trial." ... "Bush also disclosed that the CIA used ''an alternative set of procedures'' to interrogate the men into confessing -- since revealed by the CIA director, Air Force [General] Gen. Michael V. Hayden, to include waterboarding." -By Carol Rosenberg

-MiamiHerald

20080225

John McCain - Jack Abramoff - Bob Riley - Tom DeLay - Bob Ney - Money - Politics - Investigation - Law - EMail - Alabama - Louisiana - Mississippi - Arizona - Texas - Ohio - History - 2002 Election - 2006 Election - 2008 Election - "McCain Withheld Controversial Abramoff Email." ... "In the 2006 Senate report concerning [Republican Lobbyist Jack] Abramoff's activities, which [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain spearheaded, the Arizona Republican conspicuously left out information detailing how Alabama [Republican Governor] Gov. Bob Riley was targeted by Abramoff's influence peddling scheme. Riley, a Republican, won election in November 2002, and was reelected in 2006." ... "In a December 2002 email [PDF] obtained by the Huffington Post -- which McCain and his staff had access to prior to the issuance of his report -- Abramoff explains to an aide what he would like to see Riley do in return for the "help" he received from Abramoff's tribal clients." ... "An official with the Mississippi Choctaws "definitely wants Riley to shut down the Poarch Creek operation," Abramoff wrote, "including his announcing that anyone caught gambling there can't qualify for a state contract or something like that."" ... "The note showed not only the reach of Abramoff, but raised questions about Riley's victory in what was the closest gubernatorial election in Alabama history." ... "And yet, despite the implications of the information, McCain and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee sat on the controversial portion of the email. According to an official familiar with the investigation, McCain also subsequently refused to make the email public after the report was released." ... "There was a brief footnote in the report that quoted William Worfel, former vice chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, saying that Abramoff told the chief of a Mississippi tribe to spend $13 million "to get the governor of Alabama elected to keep gaming out of Alabama so it wouldn't hurt ... his market in Mississippi."" ... "But Riley's name and the details of what was being asked of him were not mentioned once in the 373-page document." ... "Indeed, as the Associated Press noted in 2006, McCain stayed deliberately agnostic as to Riley's involvement." ... ""Although Sen. McCain has long bragged of his role in the Abramoff investigation, he let [former Texas Republican Representative] Tom DeLay and the other members of Congress who were doing Abramoff's bidding completely off the hook. The sole exception was [former Ohio Republican Representative] Rep. Bob Ney, who served time in prison," Melanie Sloan, Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics In Washington told the Huffington Post recently. "Sen. McCain knew what his colleagues were up to, he chose to take the easier path and give them a free pass."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

20080224

Don Siegelman - Karl Rove - Criminal - US Attorneys - Law - Politics - Secret - Spying - Intelligence - 2002 Election - 2006 Election - Prison - "Did Ex-Alabama Governor [Don Siegelman] Get A Raw Deal? 60 Minutes Reports On Bribery Conviction Of [former Alabama Democratic Governor] Don Siegelman In A Case Criticized by Democrats And Republicans." [WATCH: "The Prosecution of Siegelman." via 60 Minutes] ... "Is Don Siegelman in prison because he’s a criminal or because he belonged to the wrong political party in Alabama? Siegelman is the former governor of Alabama, and he was the most successful Democrat in that Republican state. But while he was governor, the U.S. Justice Department launched multiple investigations that went on year after year until, finally, a jury convicted Siegelman of bribery." ... "Now, many Democrats and Republicans have become suspicious of the Justice Department’s motivations. As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, 52 former state attorneys-general have asked Congress to investigate whether the prosecution of Siegelman was pursued not because of a crime but because of politics." ... "“I haven't seen a case with this many red flags on it that pointed towards a real injustice being done,” says Grant Woods, the former Republican attorney general of Arizona." ... "“I personally believe that what happened here is that they targeted Don Siegelman because they could not beat him fair and square. This was a Republican state and he was the one Democrat they could never get rid of,” Woods says." ...

[DON SIEGELMAN, former Alabama Governor]

TV: [

WATCH: "The Prosecution of Siegelman." via 60 Minutes]

"Now a Republican lawyer from Alabama, Jill Simpson, has come forward to claim that the Siegelman prosecution was part of a five-year secret campaign to ruin the governor. Simpson told 60 Minutes she did what’s called “opposition research” for the Republican party. She says during a meeting in 2001, Karl Rove, [Republican] President Bush’s senior political advisor, asked her to try to catch Siegelman cheating on his wife." ... "She says she spied on Siegelman for months but saw nothing. Even though she was working as a Republican campaign operative, Simpson says she wanted to talk to 60 Minutes because Siegelman’s prison sentence bothers her conscience." ... "One of Rove’s close Alabama associates was Republican consultant Bill Canary. Simpson says she was on a conference call in 2002 when Canary told her she didn’t have to do more intelligence work because, as Canary allegedly said, “My girls” can take care of Siegelman. Simpson says she asked “Who are your girls?”" ... "“And he says, ‘Oh, my wife, Leura. You know, she's the Middle District United States Attorney.’ And he said, ‘And then Alice Martin. She is the Northern District Attorney, and I've helped with her campaign,’” Simpson says." ... "“Federal prosecutors?” Pelley asks." ... "“Yes, Sir,” she says." ... "His [Bill Canary's] wife Leura Canary and Alice Martin are top federal prosecutors in the state. Both were appointed by [Republican] President Bush, and their offices investigated Siegelman. Details of some of those investigations leaked to the press. And Siegelman lost his 2002 re-election campaign narrowly to Republican Bob Riley." ... "Two years later, as Siegelman geared up to run again, the Justice Department took one of its Siegelman investigations to trial-an indictment involving an alleged Medicaid scam." ... "“He’s indicted. He goes to trial. That's a pretty big deal to have your former governor on trial. Everybody's there. The government gives their opening argument. The judge says, ‘I want to see you in chambers because this case, there's no case here,’" Grant Woods says." ... "Woods says the judge threw the case out, without a witness testifying. “The case is so lame that he throws it out,” he says." ... "Vindicated, Siegelman focused on winning the 2006 election. And that’s when Jill Simpson says she heard the Justice Department was going to try again. She says she heard it from a former classmate and work associate Rob Riley, the son of the new Republican governor." ... "“Rob said that they had gotten wind that Don was going to run again,” she says." ... "“And Rob Riley said what about that?” Pelley asks." ... "“They just couldn't have that happen,” Simpson says." ... "Asked how they were going to prevent that from happening, she says, “Well, they had to re-indict him, is what Rob said.”" ... "Simpson told this same story, under oath, to Congressional investigators in a closed session. Rob Riley told 60 Minutes he never talked to Jill Simpson about this." ... "Four months after Simpson says they spoke, Siegelman was indicted on new charges." ... "The prosecution was handled by the office of U.S. Attorney Leura Canary, whose husband Bill Canary had run the campaign of Siegelman’s opponent, [Republican Governor] Gov. Riley." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Scott Pelley

-60 Minutes -CBSNews

20080129

Jack Abramoff - Randy Cunningham - Money - Government - Lawmakers - History - 2006 Election - California - Maryland - "Question of Timing on Bush’s Push on Earmarks." ... "[Republican] President Bush has never shown much distaste for Congressional pork." ... "In the last seven years he has signed spending bills containing about 55,000 earmarks worth more than $100 billion for projects like a new lane for a local road, a new facade for a town landmark or a weapons contract for a company that happened to be a big donor to an influential lawmaker." ... "Such projects tucked into the endnotes of complex spending bills at the request of individual lawmakers with almost no oversight have contributed to a mounting pileup of waste and corruption, including sending the [Republican] lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the former [California Republican] congressman Randy Cunningham, a California Republican, to jail." ... "Mr. Bush was notably silent on the subject until after his fellow Republicans lost control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections." ... "“When the president and the Republican Congress had the power to address this, they did nothing,” [Maryland Democratic Representative Chris] Mr. Van Hollen said." -By David D. Kirkpatrick -NYTimes

20080122

Alberto Gonzales - Pete Domenici - Heather Wilson - Criminal - US Attorneys - Politics - Hatch Act - Federal - Law - Civil Rights - 2006 Election - 2008 Election - New Mexico - Minnesota - "Attorneys probe deepens." ... "The federal investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys could jolt the political landscape ahead of the November [2008] elections, according to several people close to the inquiry." ... "Washington’s attention has been diverted from the scandal since the August resignation of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general, and has focused instead on Democrats’ efforts to hold White House officials in contempt for ignoring congressional subpoenas to testify on Capitol Hill about the firings." ... "But recent behind-the-scenes activity in several investigations suggests that the issue that roiled Congress in 2007 could re-emerge in the heat of the [2008] election year. Two inquiries by the House and Senate ethics committees are examining whether several congressional Republicans, including one running for the Senate this year, improperly interfered with investigations." ... "As potent as the congressional probes might be, they appear to be far narrower than a sprawling inquiry launched by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)." ... "Investigators from these offices have been questioning whether senior officials lied to Congress, violated the criminal provisions in the Hatch Act, tampered with witnesses preparing to testify to Congress, obstructed justice, took improper political considerations into account during the hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys and created widespread problems in the department’s Civil Rights Division, according to several people familiar with the investigation." ... "The internal Justice Department probe cannot bring charges but can refer findings to a U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia or a special prosecutor, who could then pursue a criminal investigation." ... "[Former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David] Iglesias’s case is in the crosshairs of all three investigations. Testifying before Congress, he alleged last year that Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) pressured him to accelerate an investigation of a Democratic politician in New Mexico ahead of Wilson’s tight [2006] reelection bid. Iglesias said he did not plan to bring charges before the November elections, and was fired in December 2006." ... "In a sign that the investigation has widened beyond the nine fired attorneys, Justice last summer interviewed Thomas Heffelfinger, U.S. attorney in Minnesota, who resigned before it was revealed that he was targeted for dismissal." -By Manu Raju -TheHill.com

20071128

Noteworthy - Scott Bloch - Karl Rove - Military - Government - Computer - Intelligence - Company - Hacking - 2006 Election - Politics - Employee - Justice - Investigation - Kan - "Head of Rove Inquiry in Hot Seat Himself: Bloch Used Private Company, Geeks on Call, to Delete Files On His Office Computer." ... "The head of the federal agency investigating [Republican President Bush's former aide] Karl Rove's White House political operation is facing allegations that he improperly deleted computer files during another probe, using a private computer-help company, Geeks on Call." ... "TScott Bloch runs the Office of Special Counsel, an agency charged with protecting government whistleblowers and enforcing a ban on federal employees engaging in partisan political activity. Mr. Bloch's agency is looking into whether Mr. Rove and other White House officials used government agencies to help re-elect Republicans in 2006." ... "TAt the same time, Mr. Bloch has himself been under investigation since 2005. At the direction of the White House, the federal Office of Personnel Management's inspector general is looking into claims that Mr. Bloch improperly retaliated against employees and dismissed whistleblower cases without adequate examination." ... "TRecently, investigators learned that Mr. Bloch erased all the files on his office personal computer late last year. They are now trying to determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said." ... "In an interview, the 49-year-old former labor-law litigator from Lawrence, Kan., confirmed that he contacted Geeks on Call but said he was trying to eradicate a virus that had seized control of his computer." ... "Mr. Bloch believes the White House may have a conflict of interest in pressing the inquiry into his conduct while his office investigates the White House political operation." ... "Depending on circumstances, erasing files or destroying evidence in a federal investigation can be considered obstruction of justice." ... "Mr. Bloch had his computer's hard disk completely cleansed using a "seven-level" wipe: a thorough scrubbing that conforms to Defense Department data-security standards. The process makes it nearly impossible for forensics experts to restore the data later. He also directed Geeks on Call to erase laptop computers that had been used by his two top political deputies, who had recently left the agency." -By John R. Wilke -WSJ.com

20070914

Pete Kott - Ben Stevens - Ted Stevens - Secret - Alaska - VECO - Oil - Money - Crime - Politics - 2006 Election - "Witness in Alaska says he had oil company contacts: Ex-CEO who pleaded guilty says he talked with top unit officials" ... "Veco Corp.'s former chief executive told a federal jury Thursday that he was in regular contact with officials at ConocoPhillips and BP's Alaska divisions while bribing state lawmakers there to limit the state's oil production tax." ... "Bill Allen, ex-CEO of Veco, the [Alaska] Anchorage-based oil-services contractor, made the claim at the bribery and fraud trial of former Alaska state [Alaska state Republican Representative] Rep. Pete Kott. Allen told jurors in Anchorage federal court that he paid Kott about $8,000 to help fund the lawmaker's 2006 re-election campaign in exchange for his vote and influence with other representatives during a legislative debate over state oil taxes. Kott denied the charges." ... "Allen said he wanted to keep oil taxes low for his oil producer clients, whom he called "the three big boys" in secretly recorded conversations, and encouraged them to build a multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48 states. The clients were ConocoPhillips, BP and Exxon Mobil, he said." ... "On Thursday Allen claimed to have paid phony consulting fees to [Alaska state Republican Senator] Ben Stevens. Ben and [his father, Alaska Republican Senator] Ted Stevens have denied any wrongdoing and haven't been charged with a crime." -By Tony Hopfinger -Bloomberg via -Chron

20070908

Mitt Romney - Robert Lichfield - Political - Money - Child - Behavior - Schools - Utah - Massachusetts - Maine - 2006 Election - 2008 Election - "Businessman quits as fundraiser for Romney: Robert Lichfield of Utah is linked to the largest contribution in the 2006 Maine governor's race." ... "Robert Lichfield, a controversial Utah businessman linked to an organization facing civil allegations of child abuse and also connected to the largest contribution in the 2006 [election] Maine governor's race, has resigned from a fundraising position with [2008 election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney's presidential campaign." ... "Lichfield is named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed by more than 100 families alleging that their teenaged children were mistreated at "behavior modification" centers associated with the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, an organization that Lichfield founded." ... "Until he resigned from the Romney campaign, Lichfield was co- chairman of its Utah finance committee." ... "Lichfield's role with the former Massachusettts governor's campaign has come under scrutiny since the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram reported in May on both the civil lawsuit and Lichfield's connection to contributions totaling $250,000 to a political action committee established in Maine by the Republican Governors Association. " -By Kevin Wack -MaineToday.com

20070819

Karl Rove - Christopher Shays - Government - Money - Political - Media - Marketing - Employees - Hatch Act - Law - 2004 Election - 2006 Election - Connecticut - "How Rove Directed Federal Assets for GOP Gains: [Republican President] Bush Adviser's Effort to Promote the President and His Allies Was Unprecedented in Its Reach." ... "Thirteen months before President Bush was reelected [in the 2004 election], chief strategist Karl Rove summoned political appointees from around the government to the Old Executive Office Building. The subject of the Oct. 1, 2003, meeting was "asset deployment," and the message was clear:" ... "The staging of official announcements, high-visibility trips and declarations of federal grants had to be carefully coordinated with the White House political affairs office to ensure the maximum promotion of Bush's reelection agenda and the Republicans in Congress who supported him, according to documents and some of those involved in the effort." ... ""The White House determines which members need visits," said an internal e-mail about the previously undisclosed Rove "deployment" team, "and where we need to be strategically placing our assets."" ... "Under Rove's direction, this highly coordinated effort to leverage the government for political marketing started as soon as Bush took office in 2001 and continued through last year's congressional elections [2006 election], when it played out in its most quintessential form in the coastal Connecticut district of [Republican Representative] Rep. Christopher Shays, an endangered Republican incumbent. Seven times, senior administration officials visited Shays's district in the six months before the election -- once for an announcement as minor as a single $23 government weather alert radio presented to an elementary school. On Election Day, Shays was the only Republican House member in New England to survive the Democratic victory." ... "The U.S. Office of Special Counsel and the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee are investigating whether any of the meetings violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from using federal resources for election activities." (1, 2, 3) -By John Solomon, Alec MacGillis and Sarah Cohen -WashingtonPost

20070817

Karl Rove - Political - Government - Money - Law - 2002 Election - 2004 Election - 2006 Election - "Commerce, Treasury funds helped boost GOP campaigns." ... "Top Commerce and Treasury Departments officials appeared with Republican candidates and doled out millions in federal money in battleground congressional districts and states after receiving White House political briefings detailing GOP election strategy." ... "Political appointees in the Treasury Department received at least 10 political briefings from July 2001 to August 2006, officials familiar with the meetings said. Their counterparts at the Commerce Department received at least four briefings — all in the election years of 2002, 2004 and 2006." ... "The House Oversight Committee is investigating whether the White House's political briefings to at least 15 agencies, including to the Justice Department, the General Services Administration and the State Department, violated a ban on the use of government resources for campaign activities." ... "Under the Hatch Act, Cabinet members are permitted to attend political briefings and appear with members of Congress. But Cabinet members and other political appointees aren't permitted to spend taxpayer money with the aim of benefiting candidates." ... "The briefings are part of the legacy of [Republican President Bush's] White House political adviser Karl Rove, who announced this week that he's stepping down at the end of the month to spend more time with his family." -By Marisa Taylor and Kevin G. Hall -McClatchyDC.com

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20070815

US - Iraq - Military - 2006 Election - "Rumsfeld resigned before election, letter shows." ... "Donald Rumsfeld, architect of the unpopular Iraq war, resigned as [Republican President Bush's] defense secretary before last year's November [2006] election but his decision was not announced until after the voting, according to his resignation letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday." ... "The letter was dated November 6, the day before voters, angered by Iraq, went to the polls and swept President George W. Bush's Republicans from power in Congress. According to a stamp on the letter, Bush saw it on election day." ... "Just days before the election, Bush told reporters he would like Rumsfeld to stay on for the rest of his presidency but later admitted he intentionally misled them." -By Kristin Roberts -Reuters via -Yahoo

20070804

Alberto R Gonzales - Karl Rove - Sara M Taylor - Political - Federal - Employees - Media - Markets - California - 2004 Election - 2006 Election - 2008 Election - "Gonzales Now Says Top Aides Got Political Briefings." ... "Justice Department officials attended at least a dozen political briefings at the [Republican President Bush] White House since 2001, including some meetings led by Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, and others that were focused on election trends prior to the 2006 [election] midterm contest, according to documents released yesterday." ... "Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that he did not believe that senior Justice Department officials had attended such briefings. But he clarified his testimony yesterday in a letter to Congress, emphasizing that the briefings were not held at the agency's offices." ... "Internal guidelines forbid partisan meetings at the Justice Department and sharply restrict the ability of employees to participate directly in election campaigns or other political activities, a Justice official said yesterday." ... "[California Democratic Representative Henry] Waxman is investigating whether the meetings violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity on federal government property." ... "Top ambassadors in early January learned from Rove and [Sara M.] Taylor the top 36 targets among House Democratic incumbents in the 2008 [election] races, while State Department employees at a White House meeting in 2001 learned what the most critical media markets were for Bush's reelection in 2004 [election]." -By Dan Eggen and Paul Kane -WashingtonPost

20070724

US - Foreign - Karl Rove- Sara M Taylor - Government - 2008 Election - 2006 Election - 2004 Election - 2002 Election - Lawmakers - Media - Markets - "Diplomats Received Political Briefings: [Republican President] Bush Aides Listed Election Targets." ... "White House aides have conducted at least half a dozen political briefings for the Bush administration's top diplomats, including a PowerPoint presentation for ambassadors with senior adviser Karl Rove that named Democratic incumbents targeted for defeat in 2008 [election] and a "general political briefing" at the Peace Corps headquarters after the 2002 midterm elections." ... "The documents show for the first time how the White House sought to ensure that even its appointees involved in foreign policy were kept attuned to the administration's election goals." ... "In one instance, State Department aides attended a White House meeting at which political officials examined the 55 most critical House races for 2002 [election] and the media markets most critical to battleground states for President Bush's reelection fight in 2004, according to documents the department provided to the Senate committee." ... "On Jan. 4, just after the 2006 elections tossed the Republicans out of congressional power, Rove met at the White House with six U.S. ambassadors to key European missions and the consul general to Bermuda while the diplomats were in Washington for a State Department conference." ... "According to a department letter to the Senate panel, Rove explained the White House views on the electoral disaster while Sara M. Taylor, then the director of White House political affairs, showed a PowerPoint presentation that pinned most of the electoral blame on "corrupt" GOP lawmakers and "complacent incumbents." One chart in Taylor's presentation highlighted the GOP's top 36 targets among House Democrats for the 2008 election." (1, 2) -By Paul Kane -WashingtonPost

20070717

Karl Rove - Sara Taylor - North Carolina - Political - Sheriffs - Government - Drug - Media - 2006 Election - "Drug czar's visit questioned." ... "A visit from the White House drug czar to western North Carolina last year has raised questions in a congressional investigation into the politicization of the national drug policy office." ... "Drug czar John Walters met with [North Carolina Represenative] Republican Reps. Patrick McHenry and [North Carolina Republican Represenative] Charles Taylor in their home districts in August." ... "The meetings, each with local sheriffs, were held behind closed doors but highlighted in local newspapers at the time." ... "According to a memo and e-mails obtained by a House oversight committee, the visits appeared to be part of a larger program to have officials from the Office of National Drug Control Policy visit districts of vulnerable GOP [Republican] members of Congress [before the 2006 election]." ... "The memo, authored in part by White House political affairs director Sara Taylor, describes 31 suggested or completed visits by Walters to Republican districts around the country." ... "In a follow-up e-mail, a White House official passed along praise from Karl Rove, [Republican] President Bush's top political advisor, for the work of Walters and his deputies." -By Barb Barrett -NewsObserver.com

20070612

Lurita Doan - Scott Jennings - Government - Politics - 2006 Election - 2008 Election - "White House urged to punish GSA chief to 'fullest extent'." ... "[Republican President Bush appointee] General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan should "be disciplined to the fullest extent" for violating the law that limits political activity in [federal government] agencies, the head of the independent agency investigating the matter said in a letter to President Bush Friday." ... "The four-page letter [pdf], released by the Office of Special Counsel late Monday, stated that Doan also should be punished for failing to cooperate fully and honestly with OSC's investigation." ... "Special Counsel Scott Bloch said in the letter that the investigation concluded Doan violated the Hatch Act's prohibition against using her authority to interfere with or affect an election through her role in a Jan. 26 meeting at GSA headquarters. After a presentation by White House official Scott Jennings, Doan allegedly asked a question about helping Republican candidates [for the 2008 election], though accounts of her exact wording vary." ... "The letter does not address whether the presentation itself, which included a 28-slide PowerPoint presentation that analyzed the results of the 2006 midterm election, was a violation. OSC is investigating this issue separately." -By Daniel Pulliam -GovExec.com

20070604

Bradley Schlozman - Government - US Attorney - Politics - 2006 Election - Missouri - Civil Rights - "Justice official is said to have favored GOP loyalists." ... "In March 2006, [Bradley] Schlozman was given an interim appointment as the U.S. attorney in Kansas City [Missouri], replacing [then U.S. Attorney Todd] Graves." ... "Less than a week before the November [2006] election, Schlozman obtained indictments of four members of the liberal activist group Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, for allegedly submitting fraudulent voter registrations. The Justice Department election manual says prosecutors should refrain generally from bringing cases just before elections, out of concern that the charges could affect voting." ... "ACORN itself had brought the case to the attention of authorities after discovering that some of its employees were making up names of registrants as part of a voter-registration drive." ... "Schlozman's office, apparently in a hurry to file the case, got one of the names on the indictments wrong." ... ""It seems to me that the only way that could have happened was if the subject of the investigation had not been interviewed. It seems to me they were in such a rush to indict these people that they didn't bother to interview them first," said Robert Kengle, another former Justice voting rights official." ... "Missouri Republicans seized on the charges in the final days of the campaign. Nevertheless, Missouri voters narrowly elected Democrat Claire McCaskill over Republican incumbent Jim Talent, a victory that sank GOP hopes of maintaining control of Congress." ... "In April, the suit was dismissed by a federal judge, who ruled that the government failed to produce any evidence of fraud or that any Missouri resident had been denied the right to vote because of the alleged registration deficiencies." -By Richard B. Schmitt -LAtimes

20070524

Lurita Alexis Doan - J Scott Jennings - Karl Rove - 2006 Election - 2008 Election - Political - Government - Employee - "GSA Chief Violated Hatch Act, Special Counsel's Report Alleges." ... "The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has found that General Services Administration chief Lurita Alexis Doan violated the federal Hatch Act when she allegedly asked GSA political appointees during a January briefing how they could "help our candidates" win the next [2008] election, according to a report by the office." ... "The Hatch Act restricts executive branch employees from using their position for political purposes. The special counsel's office, which investigates alleged violations of the law, said it would recommend that President Bush take disciplinary action against Doan, including possible removal from office." ... ""Her actions, to be certain, constitute an obvious misuse of her official authority and were made for the purpose of affecting the result of an election," investigators said in a copy of the 19-page report obtained by The Washington Post. "One can imagine no greater violation of the Hatch Act than to invoke the machinery of an agency, with all its contracts and buildings, in the service of a partisan campaign to retake Congress and the Governors' mansions."" ... "The special counsel's investigation was spurred by allegations that Doan solicited agency employees "to participate in political activities during a meeting held at GSA headquarters on January 26," the report said. The meeting, a "brown bag" luncheon, featured a presentation by J. Scott Jennings, deputy director of political affairs in Karl Rove's office at the White House." ... "Jennings gave a PowerPoint presentation of polling data about the 2006 midterm elections. In a slide called "2008 House Targets: Top 20," the presentation named 20 Democrats on whom Republicans intended to focus in 2008. Another slide, called "2008 House GOP Defense," listed GOP candidates to be protected." (1, 2) -By Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Scott Higham -WashingtonPost

20070510

Karl Rove - Alberto Gonzales - Kyle Sampson