GEORGIA News:

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - 2008 Election - Lawmakers - Illinois - New York - South Carolina - Mississippi - Georgia - Virginia - North Carolina - Tennessee - Alabama - North Dakota - South Dakota - Kentucky - West Virginia - "Eyeing Obama coattails." ... "Democratic lawmakers are becoming persuaded that [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.[Democratic-Illinois]) would have a more positive impact on other Democrats on the November ballot than [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.[Democratic-New York])." ... "Obama’s advantage over Clinton would be most pronounced in the Southern and Western states President Bush carried in 2000 and 2004, say lawmakers interviewed by The Hill. In total, 32 members of Congress from these “red states” have endorsed Obama. Twenty-two lawmakers from those states have backed Clinton." ... "Obama will “bring new people into the process in Southern states, there’s no question about it,” said Rep. James Clyburn, the House Democratic whip from South Carolina. “In these Southern states he’s bringing out more people, young people, African-Americans. They’re being energized by him.”" ... "Clyburn, who has stayed neutral in the primary, said Obama at the top of the ticket would “certainly” do more to help other Democratic candidates, citing South Carolina and Mississippi specifically." ... "Obama has picked up congressional endorsements from Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, North and South Dakota, Mississippi, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Clinton has not collected congressional endorsements from any of these states, according to a tally kept by The Hill." -By Alexander Bolton with contributions by Sam Youngman -TheHill.com

---

- 

"In the wake of the [Jack] Abramoff scandal, there's a greater-than-ever hesitancy among golfers to admit they play. [Republican lobbyist Jack] Abramoff is the former high-powered lobbyist who pleaded guilty in 2006 to charges involving fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials. Luxury golf junkets to Scotland were among the things that got him in trouble." ... "For now, mum's the word among many D.C. golfers. Even Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a longtime player whose 14.5 Index hasn't been updated since 2000, declined to approximate his handicap, saying he hasn't been playing enough to have one. Same for [Oregon Republican Senator] Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore. [Republican-Oregon]) and [Arizona Democratic Representative] Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz. [Democratic-Arizona]). Freshman [Nevada Republican Representative] Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev. [Republican-Nevada]), a member of the Republican "Ryder Cup" team, also declined to reveal a handicap. [former Georgia Republican Representative] Newt Gingrich, a proud 47-handicapper as a new golfer in 2005, doesn't admit to playing, either."

Jack Abramoff - John A Boehner - John T Doolittle - Legal - Politics - Ohio - California - Georgia - Utah - Colorado - Indiana - California - Texas - "Fellow Republicans Help Doolittle Pay Legal Bills Stemming From Abramoff Ties." ... "A House Republican under Justice Department investigation because of ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff has garnered help with his legal bills from a handful of colleagues, including [Ohio Republican Representative] Minority Leader John A. Boehner." ... "[California Republican Representative] Rep. John T. Doolittle, R-Calif., reported in a filing made available Thursday that his legal expense fund had received $5,000 from Boehner’s leadership PAC. The money was part of $36,500 kicked in by GOP colleagues to Doolittle’s legal defense between June 27, when he opened the fund, and year’s end." ... "Other Republican lawmakers who contributed money from their campaign funds or leadership committees included [Republican Senator] Sens. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, [Republican Senator] Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and [Republican Senator] Wayne Allard of Colorado, and Reps. [Republican Representative] Dan Burton of Indiana, [Republican Representative] Wally Herger of California, [Republican Representative] Jack Kingston of Georgia, [Republican Representative] Sam Johnson of Texas, and [California Republican Representative] Howard P. “Buck” McKeon and [Republican Representative] Dana Rohrabacher of California." -By Kathleen Hunter -CQPolitics.com 

---

John McCain - Rick Davis - Russian - Crime - Money - Politics - Switzerland - Ukraine - Canada - Britain - Lawsuits - Ga - NH - Virginia - Arizona - 2008 Election - US - International - "Aide Helped Controversial Russian Meet McCain: Davis, Then a Lobbyist, Has Spurred Debate in Reform-Focused Campaign." ... "A top political adviser in [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator]  Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign helped arrange an introduction in 2006 between McCain and a Russian billionaire whose suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures are so controversial that the U.S. [United States] government revoked his visa." ... "Rick Davis, who is now McCain's campaign manager, helped set up the encounter between McCain and Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska in [World Economic Summit at Davos] Switzerland during an international economic conference. At the time, Davis was working for a lobbying firm and seeking to do business with the billionaire." ... "With a net worth of more than $13 billion, Deripaska is one of the richest men in Russia and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin." ... "When Deripaska met McCain, Davis was part of Davis Manafort, a lobbying firm that was being paid to provide political advice to pro-Russian and oligarch-funded candidates in Ukraine, according to interviews and news accounts." ... "Davis, who has been a political adviser to McCain on and off since 1999, was part of a lobbying firm that worked not only for Ukrainian politicians but also for telecommunications firms, a lottery services provider and freight companies." ... "Davis's firm provided political advice to a pro-Russian party in Ukraine during the parliamentary elections of 2006." ... "He [Oleg Deripaska] has been accused of shady business practices in lawsuits in the United States and Britain, and his multiple-entry U.S. visa was yanked by the State Department in the summer of 2006." ... "The first gathering that brought McCain and Deripaska together occurred in January 2006, when McCain was part of a congressional delegation trip. He and a small group of senators, including [Georgia Republican Senator] Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.[Republican-Georgia]) and [New Hampshire Republican Senator] John E. Sununu (R-N.H.[Republican-New Hampshire]), met for a drink near Davos, Switzerland, at an apartment where they were greeted by Davis and Deripaska. The group then went to a dinner at the ski chalet of Peter Munk, founder of Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold-mining company, based in Toronto [Canada]. Participants at the buffet dinner said Munk complimented his sometime business partner Deripaska during his brief remarks to the 40 or so guests." ... "Later that month, Deripaska wrote to Davis and his partner, GOP political consultant Paul J. Manafort, to thank them for arranging the meeting. "Thank you so much for setting up everything in Klosters so spectacularly," he wrote. "It was very interesting to meet Senators McCain, Chambliss and Sununu in such an intimate setting."" ... "The letter was sent to Davis at the Reform Institute, a Virginia-based nonprofit group that McCain helped start to promote many of his trademark reform efforts, including increasing the transparency of lobbying and campaign financing." ... "Davis was the institute's president from January 2003 until December 2005. During that time, he was also a registered lobbyist at Davis Manafort. The institute was located at the Davis Manafort offices until January 2006." ... "Seven months later, in August 2006, Davis was present again at a social gathering that was also attended by McCain and Deripaska, this time in Montenegro, another Eastern European country in which Davis's firm was working." (1, 2, 3) -By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and John Solomon with contributions by Peter Baker -WashingtonPost

---

US Immigration - Federal - Law - Enforcement - Politics - Arizona - Minnesota - Georgia - Colorado - "Immigration officials detaining, deporting American citizens." ... "Thomas Warziniack was born in Minnesota and grew up in Georgia, but immigration authorities pronounced him an illegal immigrant from Russia." ... "Immigration and Customs Enforcement has held Warziniack for weeks in an Arizona detention facility with the aim of deporting him to a country he's never seen. His jailers shrugged off Warziniack's claims that he was an American citizen, even though they could have retrieved his Minnesota birth certificate in minutes and even though a Colorado court had concluded that he was a U.S. [United States] citizen a year before it shipped him to Arizona." ... "On Thursday, Warziniack was told he would be released. Immigration authorities were finally able to verify his citizenship." ... ""The immigration agents told me they never make mistakes," Warziniack said in a phone interview from jail. "All I know is that somebody dropped the ball."" ... "The story of how immigration officials decided that a small-town drifter with a Southern accent was an illegal Russian immigrant illustrates how the federal government mistakenly detains and sometimes deports American citizens." ... "U.S. citizens who are mistakenly jailed by immigration authorities can get caught up in a nightmarish bureaucratic tangle in which they're simply not believed." ... "Unlike suspects charged in criminal courts, detainees accused of immigration violations don't have a right to an attorney, and three-quarters of them represent themselves. Less affluent or resourceful U.S. citizens who are detained must try to maneuver on their own through a complicated system." -By Marisa Taylor with contributions by Tish Wells -McClatchyDC.com 

---

John McCain - Law - Investigation - Ralph Reed - Jack Abramoff - Grover Norquist - Tom DeLay - Secret - Corporate - Religion - History - Georgia - New Hampshire - 2008 Election - Television - Politics - Opinion - "Ralph Reed's New Role." ... "Eighteen months ago, the political career of Christian right golden boy [Republican] Ralph Reed came crashing down, a casualty of his role in the [Republican] Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. This week, Reed has found a new calling. He appeared on CNN during its New Hampshire primary coverage and again last night, labeled as a "GOP [Grand Old Party=Republican] political analyst."" ... "Reed sounded none too bullish about [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's prospects going forward despite his big New Hampshire win. That's perhaps not surprising, given the long history between the two." ... "McCain, as chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, launched an investigation of Abramoff's tribal lobbying that turned up a mountain of e-mails, including some between Reed and Abramoff." ... "The e-mails revealed Abramoff's corrupt dealings with politicians, as well as conservative religious and advocacy groups. Reed often participated in Abramoff's business schemes, telling him in a 1998 e-mail after stepping down as head of the Christian Coalition: "I need to start humping in corporate accounts!"" ... "E-mails and testimony before McCain's panel showed that Reed, who once branded gambling a "cancer" on society, reaped millions of dollars in tribal casino proceeds that Abramoff secretly routed to him through various non-profit front groups. Abramoff, a lobbyist for the tribes, paid Reed to whip up "grassroots" Christian opposition to prevent rival tribes from opening casinos." ... "Abramoff sometimes routed his money to Reed through a group called Americans for Tax Reform, run by conservative anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist. Norquist lately has been attacking McCain's record on taxes, placing robo calls to voters in New Hampshire." ... "Reed's much-publicized role in the Abramoff scandal cost him the 2006 Republican primary for Georgia lieutenant governor--the first rung on what was widely expected to be a climb into national politics." ... "Former House majority leader [Republican] Tom DeLay, who left Congress and is still under investigation by the Justice Department in connection with the Abramoff probe, predicted to MSNBC's Chris Matthews that McCain won't fare well with conservatives in the South." -By Susan Schmidt -WashingtonPost

---