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2006 Law Enforcement News:

20061224

US - Iraq - People - Police - Military - Politics - "12,000 Iraqi policemen killed since '03; 6 U.S. soldiers killed." ... "Some 12,000 Iraqi policemen have been killed since the ouster of Saddam Hussein, the country's interior minister said Sunday, as clashes, a suicide bomber and weekend explosions killed more than a dozen Iraqi officers and six American soldiers." ... "Police and police recruits have been frequent targets of insurgent attacks. In one of the worst single attacks, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives near a line of national guard and police recruits waiting to take physicals in February 2005. The blast in Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, killed 125." ... "Police have also been blamed for violence. Gunmen in Iraqi army and police uniforms have been responsible for recent bank robberies in Baghdad and the kidnapping of more than 40 workers and volunteers at the Iraqi Red Crescent." ... "The Iraqi Ministry of Health estimated in November that 150,000 Iraqi civilians been killed in the war that began in 2003. Other estimates put the figure as low as 51,000 or as high as 600,000." -AP via -USATODAY

20061211

US - Iraq - Military - Police - Terrorism - Religion - Intelligence - Politics - Analysis - "Intensified Combat on Streets Likely." ... "President Bush's plan to send tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi reinforcements to Baghdad to jointly confront Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias is likely to touch off a more dangerous phase of the war, featuring months of fighting in the streets of the Iraqi capital, current and former military officials warned." ... "The prospect of a more intense battle in the Iraqi capital could put U.S. military commanders in exactly the sort of tough urban fight that war planners strove to avoid during the spring 2003 invasion of the country. The plan to partner U.S. and Iraqi units may compel American soldiers to rely on questionable Iraqi army and police forces as never before. And while the president insisted there is no timetable associated with the troop increase, military officials said sustaining it for more than a few months would place a major new strain on U.S. forces that already are feeling burdened by an unexpectedly long and difficult war." ... "Most of all, the White House's insistence on confronting all insurgents and militias, both Sunni and Shiite, may mean that the U.S. military will wind up fighting the Mahdi Army of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. That militia is estimated by some U.S. intelligence officials to have grown over the past year to about 60,000 fighters, and some in the Pentagon consider it more militarily effective than the Iraqi army." -By Thomas E. Ricks and Ann Scott Tyson -WashingtonPost

20061113

Richard Shelby

Corporate

Crime

Government

Law

Politics

Digital

Technology

Online

Consumer

California

Alabama

"Inside America's Richest Insurance Racket: Title insurance firms rake in $18 billion a year for a product that is outdated, largely unneeded--and protected by law." ... "Parker Kennedy's roots run deep in the California company his family founded 112 years ago. Through four generations the clan (unrelated to the Massachusetts political dynasty) has run what today is First American [Corporation], the largest title-insurance company in the nation. It collects $5.8 billion a year selling this age-old mainstay of homeownership." ... "All that cash--for an outdated product that should have been all but wiped out by digital technology." ... "Title companies appeared a century ago, helping to protect home buyers from being swindled by crooks who sold properties they didn't own. A title insurance policy protects the buyer in case the deed turns out to be defective but the seller cannot be collared to refund the purchase price. It is far less necessary in these days of computerized records, online searches and rare instances of title fraud or hidden liens." ... "Yet First American and its two main rivals--number two Fidelity National (no relation to Fidelity mutual funds) and third-ranked LandAmerica--are fat and thriving in an $18-billion-a-year business that has quadrupled in ten years." ... "First American has doubled its prices in a decade, to an average charge of $1,472 per home for a title search and insurance. Meanwhile, thanks to computerized record-keeping, the cost of searching for a home's ownership records online has fallen to as low as $25. Technology also has helped make mistakes rarer; now only $74 of each policy goes to pay claims--that is, make home buyers with defective deeds whole. That leaves a $1,373 spread for overhead and for profit." ... "Fancy this: racetracks that keep 93% of your money and return only 5% in winning tickets. They wouldn't last long, not unless they could somehow rig the rules to both forbid price competition and make the purchase of race bets mandatory. That's more or less what the title insurance industry has done to American homeowners." ... "Kennedy attributes his profits to the long housing boom and the efforts his company has made to deploy technology and move jobs offshore. "Nobody's cutting a fat hog," he says." ... "But the title industry's halcyon days owe much to antiquated state laws that thwart new competition, allow prices to soar despite declining costs and force almost every home buyer to pay for insurance that most of them will never need. In all but a handful of states, laws bar insurance giants in other fields, such as AIG or State Farm, from offering title insurance and undercutting incumbents' prices. It also is illegal for anyone to offer guarantees that provide the same protection as title insurance." ... "In 2004 the title industry stared down another threat, this one in Washington, D.C. HUD [Housing and Urban Development] had pushed for rules that would allow lenders to package title insurance with a mortgage, something federal law currently forbids. The title industry, fearing the power of banks to negotiate lower title insurance rates, was violently opposed to the rules and found a key ally in [Alabama Republican] Senator Richard Shelby, the Alabama Republican who is chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee--and who owns the Tuscaloosa Title Co. [Company.] (A Shelby spokesman says the senator's attitude toward HUD's proposals is unrelated to his sideline business.) HUD is now considering other options for reforming the industry." ... "Yet another movement for change comes from efforts by the nation's county recorders to agree on a uniform way to store property records online, which could severely curtail the need for title insurers. But even if they succeed, most state legislatures would have to lift a thicket of creaky old laws that have enriched the title industry for decades--and bilked home buyers out of billions of dollars." (1, 2) -By Scott Woolley

-Forbes

Note: First American Corp contributed $56,000 to Alabama Republican Senator Richard Shelby (2001-2006)

via -OpenSecrets.org

20061109

US - Afghanistan - Military - People - Law - Investigation - Journalism - "AP: Startling findings in Tillman probe." ... "The latest inquiry into Tillman's death by friendly fire should end next month; authorities have said they intend to release to the public only a synopsis of their report. But The Associated Press has combed through the results of 2 1/4 years of investigations — reviewed thousands of pages of internal Army documents, interviewed dozens of people familiar with the case — and uncovered some startling findings." ... "Investigators are looking at who pulled the triggers and fired at Tillman; they are also looking at the officers who pressured the platoon to move through a region with a history of ambushes; the soldiers who burned Tillman's uniform and body armor afterward; and at everyone in the chain of command who deliberately kept the circumstances of Tillman's death from the family for more than a month." ... "Military investigators under Gimble's direction this year visited the rugged valley in eastern Afghanistan where Tillman was killed. It was a risky trip; the region is even more dangerous today than it was in 2004." -By Scott Lindlaw and Martha Mendoza -AP via -Yahoo

20061107

Virginia - 2006 Election - Politics - Law - "FBI looking into possible Va. voter intimidation: Officials probing reports of phone calls allegedly intended to confuse voters." ... "The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the possibility of voter intimidation in the hard-fought U.S. Senate race between Sen. George Allen, a Republican, and Democratic challenger James Webb, officials told NBC News." ... "State officials alerted the Justice Department on Tuesday to several complaints of suspicious phone calls to voters who attempted to misdirect or confuse them about election day, Jean Jensen, Secretary of the Virginia State Board of Elections, told NBC's David Shuster." ... "Jensen told NBC that she had been contacted by FBI agents. The FBI in Richmond refused to comment." ... "State Democratic Party counsel Jay Myerson said in a written statement issued by the Webb campaign that he believed Republicans are behind an orchestrated effort to suppress votes for the Democratic challenger." -MSNBC

20061102

Foley - Ohio - Florida - NM - NY - Police - Election 2006 - "Scandals Alone Could Cost Republicans Their House Majority." ... "Indictments, investigations and allegations of wrongdoing have helped put at least 15 Republican House seats in jeopardy, enough to swing control to the Democrats on Tuesday [2006 Election] even before the larger issues of war, economic unease and President Bush are invoked." ... "Democrats have repeatedly hit [Republican] Rep. Deborah Pryce (Ohio), the House Republican Conference chairman, for inaction on the [Florida Republican Mark] Foley matter. And Democrats have tried to hold two former members of the Page Board, [New York Republican] Reps. Sue W. Kelly (N.Y.) and [New Mexico Republican] Heather A. Wilson (N.M.), accountable for Foley's actions." ... "Meanwhile, new allegations continue to spring up. Vern Buchanan, a Republican running for the Florida seat vacated by Rep. Katherine Harris (R), was the target of local media reports this week detailing his use of business entities in Caribbean tax havens to reduce levies on his auto dealerships. The Albany Times Union published an article yesterday charging that the wife of [New York Republican] Rep. John E. Sweeney (R-N.Y.) called police late last year to report that her husband was "knocking her around" during a late-night argument." -By Jonathan Weisman and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum -WashingtonPost

20061101

Secret - US - Iraq - Religious - Police - Politics - Intelligence - "Military Charts Movement of Conflict in Iraq Toward Chaos." ... "A classified briefing prepared two weeks ago by the United States Central Command portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos, in a chart that the military is using as a barometer of civil conflict." ... "A one-page slide shown at the Oct. 18 briefing provides a rare glimpse into how the military command that oversees the war is trying to track its trajectory, particularly in terms of sectarian fighting." ... "The slide includes a color-coded bar chart that is used to illustrate an “Index of Civil Conflict.” It shows a sharp escalation in sectarian violence since the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February, and tracks a further worsening this month despite a concerted American push to tamp down the violence in Baghdad." ... "In fashioning the index, the military is weighing factors like the ineffectual Iraqi police and the dwindling influence of moderate religious and political figures, rather than more traditional military measures such as the enemy’s fighting strength and the control of territory." ... "The conclusions the Central Command has drawn from these trends are not encouraging, according to a copy of the slide that was obtained by The New York Times. The slide shows Iraq as moving sharply away from “peace,” an ideal on the far left side of the chart, to a point much closer to the right side of the spectrum, a red zone marked “chaos.” As depicted in the command’s chart, the needle has been moving steadily toward the far right of the chart." ... "An intelligence summary at the bottom of the slide reads “urban areas experiencing ‘ethnic cleansing’ campaigns to consolidate control” and “violence at all-time high, spreading geographically.” According to a Central Command official, the index on civil strife has been a staple of internal command briefings for most of this year. The analysis was prepared by the command’s intelligence directorate, which is overseen by Brig. Gen. John M. Custer." -By Michael R. Gordon -NYTimes

20061031

John E Sweeney

Politician

New York

Law

"Congressman's wife called police: Sweeney campaign says the document concerning a domestic incident is ``false and concocted''." ... "The wife of U.S. [United States New York Republican Representative] Rep. John Sweeney called police last December to complain her husband was ``knocking her around'' during a late-night argument at the couple's home, according to a document obtained last week by the Times Union." ... "The emergency call to a police dispatcher triggered a visit to the couple's residence by a state trooper from Clifton Park [New York], who filed a domestic incident report after noting that the congressman had scratches on his face, the document states. No criminal charges were filed." ... "Gaia M. Sweeney, 36, told a trooper that her husband had grabbed her by the neck and was pushing her around the house, according to the document." ... "Sweeney campaign aide Maureen Donovan issued a statement late Tuesday attacking the authenticity of the document, labeling it ``a piece of campaign propaganda.'' The six-line statement does not address whether police were called to the residence for a domestic dispute that evening." ... "The Times Union confirmed several months ago, through multiple law enforcement sources, that State Police had responded to the Sweeney residence in early December to investigate a domestic dispute. The sources confirmed that Sweeney had scratches on his face when a trooper arrived, but they provided no additional information about the incident." ... "The alleged incident at the couple's home off Kinns Road took place at the end of a tumultuous year for Sweeney. Less than two weeks earlier, his son, John J. Sweeney, then 19, pleaded guilty to felony assault charges for his role in a fight that left another young man with skull factures and blurred vision. The younger Sweeney initially faced the prospect of spending up to 15 years in prison, but a plea deal gave him youthful offender status and a sentence that included four months of weekends in jail and community service." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Brendan J. Lyons

-TimesUnion.com

20061025

Renzi - Phoenix - Arizona - Real Estate - Money - Politics - Law Enforcement - "Lawmaker's Influence in Land Deals Probed." ... "U.S. prosecutors in Arizona have opened a preliminary investigation into whether [Republican] Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) twice pressured landowners to buy a 480-acre parcel owned by his former business partner, a major backer of Renzi's political campaign, according to federal law enforcement sources." ... "The deal ultimately netted the business partner a $3 million profit, according to Arizona land records." ... "The Arizona transaction has drawn the interest of the U.S. attorney's office and the FBI's Phoenix field office. Three law enforcement officials said both are investigating Renzi's involvement in two land deals -- one of which was not completed -- designed to put the 480 acres under federal protection from development in exchange for land more fit for commercial development." ... "According to sources, the investigation is focusing on whether, in exchange for political contributions and business support, James Sandlin received special treatment from Renzi for a parcel of land that earned him a $3 million profit." ... "Sandlin bought into Renzi's real estate firm in 2001, then paid about $200,000 for half the business and, after he was elected to Congress, $1 million to $5 million for the rest." ... "Investigators want to know whether Renzi twice attempted to arrange deals for Sandlin, including once by proposing legislation, two sources with knowledge of the investigations said." -By Jonathan Weisman and Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost
Renzi - Arizona - Legislation - Politics - International - Money - Family - Military - Communications - Virginia - "Congressman From Arizona Is the Focus of an Inquiry." ... "Federal authorities in Arizona have opened an inquiry into whether [Arizona Republican] Representative Rick Renzi introduced legislation that benefited a military contractor that employs his father, law enforcement officials said Tuesday." ... "Mr. Renzi, 48, a Republican who represents the First Congressional District, is a former insurance executive and real estate investor who was first elected in 2002. Almost from the start, he has been a target of citizen watchdog groups who have accused him of ethical laxity in office." ... "Law enforcement officials said that the most serious accusation involved Mr. Renzi’s sponsorship of legislation in 2003 that appeared to indirectly benefit the ManTech International Corporation, a communications company based in Virginia that employs Mr. Renzi’s father, Eugene, a retired Army general, as executive vice president." -By David Johnston -NYTimes

20061024

Noteworthy - US - Guantanamo Bay - Cuba - Military - Intelligence - Torture - Terrorism - Prison - Religion - People - War Crimes - Law Enforcement - Politics - "Can the '20th hijacker' of Sept. 11 stand trial? Aggressive interrogation at Guantanamo may prevent his prosecution." ... "Mohammed al-Qahtani, detainee No. 063, was forced to wear a bra. He had a thong placed on his head. He was massaged by a female interrogator who straddled him like a lap dancer. He was told that his mother and sisters were whores. He was told that other detainees knew he was gay. He was forced to dance with a male interrogator. He was strip-searched in front of women. He was led on a leash and forced to perform dog tricks. He was doused with water. He was prevented from praying. He was forced to watch as an interrogator squatted over his Koran." ... "That much is known. These details were among the findings of the U.S. Army's investigation of al-Qahtani's aggressive interrogation at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." ... "But only now is a picture emerging of how the interrogation policy developed, and the battle that law enforcement agents waged, inside Guantanamo and in the offices of the Pentagon, against harsh treatment of al-Qahtani and other detainees by military intelligence interrogators." ... "In interviews with MSNBC.com - the first time they have spoken publicly -former senior law enforcement agents described their attempts to stop the abusive interrogations. The agents of the Pentagon's Criminal Investigation Task Force, working to build legal cases against suspected terrorists, said they objected to coercive tactics used by a separate team of intelligence interrogators soon after Guantanamo's prison camp opened in early 2002. They ultimately carried their battle up to the office of Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, who approved the more aggressive techniques to be used on al-Qahtani and others." ... "Although they believed the abusive techniques were probably illegal, the Pentagon cops said their objection was practical. They argued that abusive interrogations were not likely to produce truthful information, either for preventing more al-Qaida attacks or prosecuting terrorists." ... "And they described their disappointment when military prosecutors told them not to worry about making a criminal case against al-Qahtani, the suspected "20th hijacker" of Sept. 11, because what had been done to him would prevent him from ever being put on trial." ... "Defense Department e-mails seen by MSNBC.com show that a delegation visiting Guantanamo on Sept. 25, 2002, included Alberto R. Gonzales, then the White House counsel and now attorney general; David S. Addington, legal counsel to Vice President Dick Cheney, now his chief of staff; Timothy E. Flanigan, the deputy White House counsel; William Haynes III, the Pentagon general counsel; Larry Thompson, then deputy attorney general; Christopher A. Wray, the principal associate deputy attorney general, now head of Criminal Division at the Justice Department; and John Yoo, a lawyer in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, who reportedly had just helped write an Aug. 1, 2002, "torture memo" to Gonzales, defining torture narrowly as causing pain equivalent to organ failure or death." ... "The visiting VIPs met with Gen. Dunlavey and his staff, but not with any of the law enforcement investigators who opposed the aggressive interrogations." ... "Under the Military Commissions Act signed last week by President Bush, statements made under torture would not be admissible in a military trial." ... "But the law says a military judge could accept statements made under coercion. A court may have to decide which category, torture or coercion, encompasses such techniques as a fake trip to Egypt, sleep deprivation, and being forced to do dog tricks. The new law also extends legal protection from prosecution for war crimes to any U.S. personnel who used coercive tactics, if they believed in good faith that what they were doing was lawful." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Bill Dedman -MSNBC
Renzi - Arizona - Real Estate - Money - Politics - Government - Legislation - "Officials scrutinize Ariz. land deal." ... "A land deal involving Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona], is being scrutinized by the U.S. attorney's office in Arizona, a law enforcement official in Washington said Tuesday." ... "Records and officials involved in the October 2005 deal say Renzi helped promote the sale of land that netted a former business partner $4.5 million." ... "The property eventually was to be part of a swap in which potential buyers could exchange it for land owned by the federal government. And while Renzi's business partner, James Sandlin, made money off the land sale, Renzi never introduced legislation in Congress to complete the swap for the new owners." ... "State records indicate that Renzi and Sandlin were partners in a real estate development firm dating back to at least 2002. It is unclear whether the two still have a business relationship." -By Jennifer Talhelm with contributions by Arthur H. Rotstein -AP via -BostonGlobe

20061023

US - Iraq - Police - "15 Police Recruits Killed in Iraq; U.S. Death Toll for October Hits 86." ... "At least 15 Iraqi police recruits were killed Sunday when two buses taking them to Baghdad were ambushed by insurgents north of the capital, a local police official said. Twenty-five recruits were injured in the attack, and 20 others were kidnapped, he said." ... "On Sunday and Monday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of seven soldiers and a Marine, bringing the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq this month to 86 -- the fifth-highest total in any single month since the war began. The only higher monthly tolls were 137 in November 2004, 135 in April 2004, 106 in January 2005, and 96 in October, 2005. Attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad have increased more than 40 percent since midsummer, U.S. military officials say." -By John Ward Anderson and Debbi Wilgoren -WashingtonPost

20061020

Sherwood - Pennsylvania - 2006 Election - Law - Police - "During National Character Counts Week, Bush Stumps for Philanderer." ... "So it has come to this: Nineteen days before the midterm elections, President Bush flew here [Pennsylvania] to champion the reelection of a congressman who last year settled a $5.5 million lawsuit alleging that he beat his mistress during a five-year affair." ... ""I'm pleased to be here with Don Sherwood," a smiling president told the congressman's loyal but dispirited supporters at a luncheon fundraiser Thursday. "He has got a record of accomplishment."" ... "Quite a record. While representing the good people of the 10th District, the married congressman shacked up in Washington with a Peruvian immigrant more than three decades his junior. During one assignation in 2004, the woman, who says Sherwood was striking her and trying to strangle her, locked herself in a bathroom and called 911; Sherwood told police he was giving her a back rub." ... "At a time when Republicans are struggling to motivate religious conservatives to go to the polls next month, it is not clear what benefit the White House found in sending Bush to stump for Sherwood -- smack dab in the middle of what Bush, in an official proclamation, dubbed "National Character Counts Week."" ... "The nature of the accuser's allegations -- she said Sherwood gave her "facial lacerations, bruises about the head, neck and other portions of her body, head injury, injuries to her teeth, mouth and gums, back and neck strain, injuries to her scalp" -- makes it more than a distraction. Sherwood continues to deny abuse after reaching the secret settlement." -By Dana Milbank -WashingtonPost

20061019

Sherwood - Pennsylvania - 2006 Election - Lawmaker - Police- "Bush campaigns for Pennsylvania congressman enmeshed in sex scandal." ... "He said she was "a casual acquaintance." She said they were extra-marital lovers, but told police that he tried to choke her. His wife says she forgives him. So does President Bush." ... "In fact, Bush traveled to northeastern Pennsylvania Thursday to help the wayward husband, Republican Rep. Don Sherwood, keep his seat in Congress. Perhaps it's a measure of the Republicans' plight that the president would throw his prestige behind a candidate whose marital misbehavior conjures memories of Bill Clinton." ... "Sherwood's five-year fling with a woman half his age has all the elements of a bad soap opera, but voter reaction to his performance could help decide whether Republicans keep control of the House of Representatives. Polls show Sherwood trailing Democratic challenger Chris Carney in a district that had been considered a lock for the GOP." ... "Sherwood's problems started in September 2004, when Cynthia Ore called police to the congressman's Capitol Hill apartment claiming that he'd choked her for no apparent reason." ... "She was 29 at the time; he was 63." ... "Sherwood was never charged, and the matter attracted little attention until the following spring, when Ore threatened legal action and provided details of a relationship that Sherwood had initially denied. The two met in 1999 at a gathering for young Republicans." -By Ron Hutcheson -McClatchy via -KansasCity.com

20061018

US - Russia - Weldon - Family - Government - Money - Law - Energy - Politics - Pennsylvania - "Weldon's Ties to Serbian Businessman Part of Probe." ... "Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade were surprised three years ago to be invited to a luncheon in honor of visiting Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa. [Republican-Pennsylvania]), hosted by Bogoljub Karic, a wealthy Serbian businessman who had been barred from visiting or trading with the United States because of his close ties to former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic." ... "Weldon "was visiting solely because of Karic," whom he was trying to get off the U.S. blacklist, a former senior embassy official familiar with the visit concluded. "It seemed odd" at the time, because Karic had no obvious tie to Weldon's district outside Philadelphia [Pennsylvania], and Weldon should have known the embassy was shunning contacts with him, the official said." ... "What the embassy apparently did not know is that the Karic family that year signed a contract with Weldon's daughter, Karen, and a business partner that called for monthly payments of $20,000 for "management, government and public relations," according to a copy of the March 2003 contract. In all, the family paid Karen Weldon's firm $133,858 that year for efforts she undertook to set up a foundation for it." ... "Curt Weldon's visit and that deal are under investigation by the FBI, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the probe. His efforts to assist clients of his daughter's consulting firm in their dealings with the federal government are the focus of that probe, according to sources familiar with it." ... "Besides looking at Weldon's Karic connection, the FBI is examining the lawmaker's contacts with a Russian-managed oil and gas company, Itera International Energy Corp., the sources said." (1, 2) -By R. Jeffrey Smith and Carol D. Leonnig -with contributions by Lucy Shackelford and Madonna Lebling -WashingtonPost

20061016

US - Russia - Energy - Weldon - Money - Law - Politics - PA - Florida - "FBI raids four homes, two offices in Weldon probe." ... "FBI agents investigating U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa. [Republican, Pennsylvania]) conducted six raids this morning - including at the homes of his daughter and a longtime friend." ... "In Center City [Pennsylvania], agents searched the law office of John Gallagher, a Weldon friend who has conducted extensive business in Russia and former Soviet Republics." ... "In Media [Pennsylvania], agents searched the offices of the public relations firm formed by Weldon's longtime friend Charles P. Sexton Jr., and the congressman's daughter, Karen." ... "Sexton and Karen Weldon formed Solutions North America in 2002, and won $1 million in contracts from two Russian energy firms and a Serbian family with ties to Slobodan Milosevic." ... "FBI agents in Jacksonville, Fla. [Florida], raided the office of one of the Russian energy firms, Itera, and a private residence whose connection to the investigation was not disclosed." ... "" -By John Shiffman, Mitch Lipka and Patrick Kerkstra -Philly.com

20061015

Government - Terrorism - Prisons - Law - Enforcement - Money - Politics - Colorado - "Supermax Staffing Too Low To Be Safe: Arbitrator Finds Problems At Prison That Holds Moussaoui, Unabomber." ... "Staffing at the Supermax prison has gotten so low that job hazards have increased for correctional officers watching over the nation's worst terrorists, an arbitrator has ruled." ... "The arbitrator stopped short of ordering the Bureau of Prisons to hire more staff, but union officials representing Supermax officers said the ruling would bolster their argument to Congress for more prison funding." ... ""If the most maximum security federal penitentiary is indeed understaffed, what is happening across the entire Bureau of Prisons as far as staffing levels?" asked [Colorado Democrat] state Rep. Buffie McFadyen, who testified for the union at an arbitration hearing in May. Her district includes Supermax and 11 other state and federal prisons." -AP via -CBSNews

20061014

US - Afghan - Police - "String of Deadly Attacks In Afghanistan: U.S. Army Special Forces Soldier, 3 NATO Soldiers, Several Afghan Policemen and Civilians Killed." ... "An Army Special Forces soldier died of combat-related injuries sustained in Afghanistan." ... "Six Afghan policemen, meanwhile, died after a roadside bomb hit their convoy Friday elsewhere in eastern Afghanistan, said Gen. Anan Roufi, the police chief of Paktia province." ... "Late Friday, Taliban militants attacked a police patrol in Zabul province, sparking a firefight that left two police and three militants dead, said Noor Mohammad Paktin, the provincial police chief." -AP via -CBSNews

20061013

Jim Kolbe - Gay - Ariz - Legislator - Teenager - Politics - "Feds probe trip that Kolbe made with pages: NBC exclusive: Congressman alleged to have been inappropriate in '96." ... "Federal prosecutors in Arizona have opened a preliminary investigation of a camping trip Congressman Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona], took 10 years ago that included two teenage congressional pages, a Justice Department spokesman told NBC News. NBC News first reported on the camping and rafting trip on Tuesday." ... "A spokesman for the Justice Department in Washington said that the U.S. attorney in Arizona has started a "preliminary assessment" of the trip, after an unidentified source made allegations about the congressman's behavior on the expedition." ... "As NBC News first reported, Kolbe took a tour down the Grand Canyon in July 1996 with a group that included two 17-year-old males who had recently left the congressional page program." ... "Kolbe, the only openly gay Republican legislator in both houses of Congress, had not acknowledged his homosexuality publicly at the time." ... "NBC News interviewed several people who were on the trip, and their accounts vary. One participant, who requested anonymity, said he was uncomfortable with the attention Kolbe paid to one of the former pages. He was "creeped out by it," he said, adding that there was a lot of "fawning, petting and touching" on the teenager's arms, shoulders and back by Kolbe." -By Jim Popkin and Aram Roston -MSNBC
US - Russia - Weldon - Family - Money - Politics - Law - Pennsylvania - "FBI investigates Rep. Curt Weldon." ... "The Justice Department is investigating whether Republican Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania traded his political influence for lucrative lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter, according to sources with direct knowledge of the inquiry." ... "The FBI, which opened an investigation in recent months, has formally referred the matter to the department's Public Integrity Section for additional scrutiny. At issue are Weldon's efforts between 2002 and 2004 to aid two Russian companies and two Serbian brothers with ties to strongman Slobodan Milosevic, a federal law enforcement official said." ... "The Russian companies and a Serbian foundation run by the brothers' family each hired a firm co-owned by Weldon's daughter, Karen, for fees totaling nearly $1 million a year, public records show." ... "Karen Weldon was 28 and lacked consulting experience when she and Charles Sexton, a Weldon ally and longtime Republican leader in Delaware County, Pa., created the firm of Solutions North America Inc. in 2002." ... "Spokesmen for the FBI and the Justice Department declined to confirm or deny that an inquiry is under way." ... "But McClatchy Newspapers' sources said the FBI only over the last few months obtained evidence suggesting that the congressman may have broken the law. One of the sources, a federal law enforcement official, said that Weldon had not yet been told about the inquiry." -By Greg Gordon -McClatchy via -RealCities

20051006

Secret - US - Philippines - Emergency - Leandro Aragoncillo - Dick Cheney - Government - Military - Intelligence - Police - Politics - New Jersey - Law - "Spy Probe Widens to Years Suspect Was at White House: Ex-Marine Allegedly Sent Files to Philippine Opposition." ... "The Justice Department is investigating whether a naturalized U.S. citizen from the Philippines stole classified documents while he worked in the office of [Republican] Vice President Cheney and provided the information to opposition politicians in Manila [Philippines capital], [Republican] Bush administration officials said yesterday." ... "The possibility that Leandro Aragoncillo was passing the material while stationed as a U.S. Marine security official at the White House marks a dramatic expansion of the case against him and a former Philippine police official, Michael Ray Aquino. Both were arrested and charged in federal court in Newark [New Jersey] last month with sending classified information obtained this year to the Philippines -- more than two years after Aragoncillo left the White House and went to work as an FBI intelligence analyst." ... "Officials from the White House, Justice Department and FBI declined to comment late yesterday, other than to confirm that Aragoncillo first went to work at the White House in 1999, when [Democratic Vice President] Al Gore was vice president. ABC News reported last night that Aragoncillo had admitted taking classified documents while he worked in Cheney's office." ... "Joseph Estrada, the former Philippine president who was forced from office four years ago by mass demonstrations, has acknowledged receiving documents from Aragoncillo while the suspect was still in the Marines." ... "A document from late July reportedly detailed coup discussions at a secret conclave of about two dozen young army and naval officers in Manila. Another account, citing a clandestine source, described Arroyo calling an emergency meeting of her commanding generals to ensure their backing." (1, 2, 3) -By Dan Eggen and Alan Sipress -WashingtonPost
Foley - E-Mail - Politics - Fla - "Watchdog Group Disputes FBI's Claims on E-Mails." ... "The watchdog group that first provided the FBI with suspicious e-mails from then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla. [Republican-Florida]) said yesterday that FBI and Justice Department officials are attempting to cover up their inaction in the case by making false claims about the group." ... "Law enforcement officials said the allegations by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) are without merit, and they stood by allegations that the group had refused to provide some information to the FBI." ... "CREW held a news conference Monday to announce that in July it had provided the FBI suspicious e-mails between Foley and a former House page. The group criticized the bureau for not taking more aggressive action and asked Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine to investigate the FBI's handling of the case." -By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

20061004

Sherwood - Pennsylvania - 2006 Election - TV - Ad - Politics - Law - "Congressman apologizes for affair in TV ad: [Pennsylvania Republican] Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Pa. also denies abusing mistress." ... "Rep. Don Sherwood, a Republican fighting for [2006] re-election in northeastern Pennsylvania, says in a TV ad that he is "truly sorry" for cheating on his wife but denies ever abusing the woman he had the affair with." ... "Sherwood, a four-term congressman, has a seat that had been considered safe until it was revealed last year that police in 2004 investigated an incident between Sherwood and Cynthia Ore at his Washington apartment." ... "Charges were never filed, but Ore sued Sherwood, claiming he had choked her. Sherwood apologized for the affair but denied abusing Ore. The suit was settled for an undisclosed sum." -AP via -MSNBC
Hastert - Reynolds - Foley - Computer - Messages - Teenage - Lawmaker - Law Enforcement - 2006 Election - Illinois- New York - Florida - "Aide says he told Hastert's office about Foley's conduct more than 3 years ago." ... "House Speaker [Illinois Republican] Dennis Hastert's political support showed signs of cracking on Wednesday as Republicans fled an election-year [2006] scandal spawned by steamy computer messages from former Rep. Mark Foley to teenage male pages." ... "At the same time, Foley's former chief of staff said in an Associated Press interview that he first warned Hastert's aides more than three years ago that Foley's behavior toward pages was troublesome. That was long before GOP leaders acknowledged learning of the problem." ... "Kirk Fordham, who was Foley's top aide until January 2004, said he had "more than one conversation with senior staff at the highest level of the House of Representatives asking them to intervene" several years ago." ... "Fordham resigned Wednesday as staff chief for another lawmaker caught up in the scandal, New York [Republican] Rep. Thomas Reynolds, the House GOP campaign chief who says he alerted Hastert to concerns about Foley last spring." ... "The Justice Department ordered House officials to "preserve all records" related to Foley's electronic correspondence with teenagers, and one law enforcement official said FBI agents have begun interviewing participants in the House page program." -By Devlin Barrett with contributions by Andrew Taylor, Lara Jakes Jordan, David Hammer, Laurie Kellman, Bruce Schreiner, and Marus Kabel -AP via -STLtoday.com

20061002

Foley - Hastert - Cunningham - DeLay - Ney - Children - Lawmakers - Politics - 2006 Election - Florida - Illinois - California - Texas - Ohio - "FBI looks at [Florida Republican] Foley's e-mails to teens." ... "[Illinois Republican] House Speaker Dennis Hastert asked the Justice Department on Sunday to investigate former [Florida Republican] congressman Mark Foley's communications with teenage boys who worked as House pages." ... "Hastert has said he knew about non-sexual e-mails that Foley, 52, a Florida Republican, sent to a 16-year-old former page, first reported by ABC News on Thursday." ... "Foley is the fourth House Republican forced out by ethics problems. [Republican] Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California resigned in November after pleading guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes. Former majority leader [Republican] Tom DeLay of Texas was indicted on state campaign finance violations and resigned in June. [Republican] Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio has agreed to plead guilty to charges of corruption and is not seeking re-election [in 2006]." ... "House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi [from California] called on the House ethics committee Sunday to question GOP leaders under oath. "They chose to cover it up rather than to protect these children," she said." -By Richard Wolf and Kevin Johnson with contributions by Kathy Kiely, Jill Lawrence, Matt Kelley, and Wendy Koc -USATODAY

20061001

Reynolds - Hastert - Foley - Boehner - E-Mails - Louisiana - Teen - Noteworthy - Lawmakers - Enforcement - Secrets - 2006 Election - NY - Ill - Fla - Ohio - Mich - "GOP Leader Rebuts Hastert on Foley: [New York Republican Thomas] Reynolds: Speaker Knew of E-Mails in Spring." ... "House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert ([Republican, Illnois] R-Ill.) was notified early this year of inappropriate e-mails from former representative Mark Foley ([Republican, Florida] R-Fla.) to a 16-year-old page, a top GOP House member said yesterday -- contradicting the speaker's assertions that he learned of concerns about Foley only last week." ... "Hastert did not dispute the claims of Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.), and his office confirmed that some of Hastert's top aides knew last year that Foley had been ordered to cease contact with the boy and to treat all pages respectfully." ... "Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, became the second senior House Republican to say that Hastert has known of Foley's contacts for months, prompting Democratic attacks about the GOP leadership's inaction. Foley abruptly resigned his seat Friday." ... "House Majority Leader John A. Boehner ([Republican] R-Ohio) told The Washington Post on Friday that he had learned in late spring of inappropriate e-mails Foley sent to the page, a boy from Louisiana, and that he promptly told Hastert, who appeared to know already of the concerns. Hours later, Boehner contacted The Post to say he could not be sure he had spoken with Hastert." ... "Yesterday's developments revealed a rift at the highest echelons of House Republican ranks a month before the Nov. 7 [2006] elections, and they threatened to expand the scandal to a full-blown party dilemma." ... "Republicans appeared to have kept the matter under wraps. Rep. Dale E. Kildee (Mich.), the only Democrat on the House Page Board, said yesterday: "I was never informed of the allegations about Mr. Foley's inappropriate communications with a House page, and I was never involved in any inquiry into this matter."" (1, 2) -By Jonathan Weisman and Charles Babington with contributions by R. Jeffrey Smith and Magda Jean-Louis -WashingtonPost