Served with papers, then a flashlight

Via TBogg, domestic terrorism, Bush administration-style.

In a taped interview at the hospital as she was surrounded by bloodied bed sheets and hunks of pulled-out hair, Farren's wife told police she escaped the house after hitting the panic alarm and then driving to a nearby home on Weed Street with her two daughters, a 4-month-old and a 7-year-old, after Farren tried to pull her into a bathroom with a kitchen knife, a police report said.

She said the dispute began when Farren wanted to talk to her about divorce papers she delivered to him on Monday. He wanted them to get back together, but she told police that she could not stay with him because of his explosive temper, the report said.

In the third-floor master bedroom, Farren walked toward her, but she told him not to approach and he flew into a rage, she told police.

He tackled her and began pulling out "gobs of hair," she said in the report. He then began beating her with a metal flashlight and drove her to the floor under the blows, she told police.

Bleeding heavily, she passed out and, when she came to, he began strangling her. With his hands around her neck, she lost her sight and began searching for the panic alarm with her hands, she told police.

Farren said, "don't hit the alarm button," but eventually she pushed it and the alarm began to sound, the police report said.

Hearing the alarm, "he went nuts," and began to hit her again with the flashlight, the report said.

Farren then told her he was going to slit his wrists and went and got a large knife, the report said. He went into the bathroom and tried to get her there too. Thinking that he was going to try to kill her, she ran to her daughter's bedroom and screamed, "daddy's trying to kill me," and "we have to leave now," the report said.

[...]

Farren worked as a deputy counsel for George W. Bush from 2007 until he left office; in this role, he took on a number of issues, including dismissal of several U.S. attorneys and the disappearance of White House e-mail communications.

Prior to joining the Bush legal team, Farren served as a vice president in charge of government relations for Xerox.

Farren worked in the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Ronald Reagan and became under secretary for international trade for President George H.W. Bush in 1989. In 1992, Farren left the Commerce Department to become a deputy manager for the unsuccessful Bush-Quayle re-election campaign.

Farren served as deputy director for George H.W. Bush's transition team and prior to joining the Commerce Department in 1983, he served for two years as deputy director of White House liaison at the Republican National Committee.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but it reminds me of the Bush administration's legal underpinnings of civil liberties and foreign affairs. Would it be irresponsible to speculate? It would be irresponsible not to.

Forgiving Vitter

Oh, snap.

Now THAT'S voter registration fraud we can believe in, my friends

One arrest for voter registration fraud this election season and the guy works for McCain.

John McCain. Tearing the fabric of our democracy in so many ways!

Interiors

Big oil = big fun.

WASHINGTON — As Congress prepares to debate expansion of drilling in taxpayer-owned coastal waters, the Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a wide-ranging ethics scandal — including allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.

In three reports delivered to Congress on Wednesday, the department’s inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, found wrongdoing by a dozen current and former employees of the Minerals Management Service, which collects about $10 billion in royalties annually and is one of the government’s largest sources of revenue other than taxes.

“A culture of ethical failure” besets the agency, Mr. Devaney wrote in a cover memo.

The reports portray a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration’s watch.

[...]

In addition, the report alleges that eight royalty-program officials accepted gifts from energy companies whose value exceeded limits set by ethics rules — including golf, ski and paintball outings; meals and drinks; and tickets to a Toby Keith concert, a Houston Texans football game and a Colorado Rockies baseball game.

The investigation also concluded that several of the officials “frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives.”

The investigation separately found that the program’s manager mixed official and personal business, and took money from a technical services firm in exchange for urging oil companies to hire the firm. In sometimes lurid detail, the report accuses him of having intimate relations with two subordinates, one of whom regularly sold him cocaine.

The culture of the organization “appeared to be devoid of both the ethical standards and internal controls sufficient to protect the integrity of this vital revenue-producing program,” one report said.

A spokeswoman for the Interior Department secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, referred inquiries to the Minerals Management Service. The service’s director, Randall Luthi, released a preliminary statement on Wednesday morning saying he had not yet seen the reports but had scheduled a mid-afternoon conference call with reporters.

I'm sure we can expect change from the "Drill here. Drill now." crowd.

But is she ready to lead?

Palin?

I understand the logic, but...

She is a former mayor of Wasilla who became governor of her state in December, 2006 after ousting a governor of her own party in a primary and then dispatching a former governor in the general election.

More recently, she has come under the scrutiny of an investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that she ordered the dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper.

Drill here. Drill now.

"Seven"

Bullseye.

A-course, you knew this was coming.

He also added: “This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years—in prison,” referring to the prisoner of war camp that McCain was in during the Vietnam War.

A nerve has apparently been touched.

I hope McCain's witless spokespeople continue to refer to his time spent "in prison." It will just remind folks of The Grand ol' Police Blotter that is his party. And his old buddy, Charles Keating.

And there was a time, early in the primaries, when Obama had yet to set up a "war room" for rapid response. I believe that's been fixed.

UPDATE: Doing the math of the McCain/Hensley property is incredibly hard.

He's gone

The GOP has been stealing our money since 1994, it's no surprise that they steal their own.

The thefts are both embarrassing and painful for the committee, which has been struggling to raise money for what is expected to be a tough year for Republican House candidates. According to the most recent federal filings, the Republican committee has only $6.7 million in cash on hand; in contrast, its Democratic counterpart has $45 million.

“We have been deceived and betrayed for a number of years by a highly respected and trusted individual,” said Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chairman of the N.R.C.C. Mr. Cole added that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was conducting a criminal investigation into Mr. Ward’s actions.

The myth of Jack Abramoff

I'm beginning to think it's true what they say, that every time the name "Abramoff" is heard, a Republican, somewhere, dies.

Hacks

Literally. Sheesh.

"Now, if he'd tapped feet with the defense contractor..."

The Republican leadership announce a "zero-tolerance policy" on "serious transgressions" and in a party awash with war profiteering and corruption, the only member to fall victim to it is a guy who engaged in vaguely "gay" behavior in an airport restroom.

It all sounds very nice, but there's ample reason for skepticism. In fact, this "zero tolerance" talk might make for pleasant-sounding p.r., but I don't think the party leadership means a word of it.

Consider the scandal sheet Paul Kiel put together the other day, which helped prove that this year is poised to be as shameful for the GOP as last year.

Of the 11 lawmakers on the list, Craig has resigned and Renzi has said he won't seek re-election. Everyone else -- including those whose homes have been raided by FBI agents -- remains in good standing. Indeed, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), one of the more notorious members on the list, announced this week that he will seek a 16th term next year. "I never seriously contemplated not running again," he said in an interview. If there was an outcry in GOP circles based on their "zero tolerance" policy, it was awfully hard to find.

"Rich" -- a definition

Mitch McConnell, that is.

Fred Wertheimer of Democracy21 called it "a great victory for the American people and a major accomplishment for Congress and its leaders." He said it will give the public "comprehensive information about the multiple ways in which lobbyists provide campaign funds and other financial support" to lawmakers they seek to influence.

The 107-page bill would require senators, and candidates for the Senate or White House, to pay full charter rates for trips on private planes. House members and candidates would be barred from accepting trips on private planes.

Senators' secret "holds" on legislation would be banned. Lawmakers convicted of bribery and other serious crimes would lose their congressional pensions.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., gave the measure a lukewarm endorsement.

"This bill isn't nearly as tough as it would have been on earmarks if Republicans had been involved in writing it," McConnell said. "But weighing the good and the bad, many provisions are stronger than current law."

The White House did not immediately say whether Bush will sign the bill.

The legislation marks Congress' most far-reaching reaction to scandals involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif. Both are now in prison on corruption charges that in some cases involved congressional earmarks.

Sub-prime Republicans

Even out of the majority, Republican sleaze knows no bounds.

When Democrats took control of Congress, they declared that any expansion of government programs would be paid for by tax increases or spending cuts. But now the new pay-as-you-go rules, meant to highlight Democratic efforts at fiscal responsibility, are becoming a potent political target for Republicans.

In recent days, the farm bill, which had bipartisan support, has taken Republican fire over a provision to raise taxes on foreign corporations funneling U.S. profits through offshore tax havens. The expansion of the federal children's health insurance program, passed by the House yesterday, has taken heat over plans to pay for it with tax boosts for tobacco and spending cuts for managed-care companies in Medicare.

And a promised middle-class fix for the alternative minimum tax has stalled because Democrats propose to pay for it with tax increases for the wealthy. Even a proposal to raise taxes on billionaire equity investors who are paying a tax rate of 15 percent has elicited GOP attacks.

For Republicans, pay-as-you-go -- or paygo -- is a new political opportunity.

"They are Democrats, and they create the issues we want them to create -- higher taxes, higher spending, more regulation," said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "Paygo just makes them get to it quicker."

Fiscal watchdogs, and even deficit-minded Republicans, say the Democrats' struggles show that they are trying to stick to their campaign promise of fiscal integrity after the federal debt ballooned on the GOP's watch. Republicans had it much easier, said G. William Hoagland, a longtime Senate Republican budget aide. They had exempted their political priority -- tax cuts -- from the strictures of pay-as-you-go rules, so they never had to wrestle with finding ways to offset their costs.

"That was the problem for Republicans. They could never see the advantage [of budget controls] because they never saw that deficits mattered," Hoagland said.

But what might be good for the deficit might not be good for Democrats' political livelihood. "In the short term, it's not very politically popular, and it is risky," Hoagland said. "But in the long term, it's good for our children and good for the country."

Now, I'm not sure how raising taxes on hedge fund managers, multinational corporations, and billionaires gets translated into a political advantage for Republicans, but the fact that the GOP thinks it does is pretty good evidence of just how fractured their view of the country's well-being has become. This is not your father's Republican Party (even if that hasn't registered with him yet).

It gets better.

Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, whose home back in Alaska was raided by federal investigators Monday in a wide-ranging corruption investigation, has threatened to place a hold on the Democratic-drafted ethics legislation just passed by the House and expected on the Senate floor by week’s end.

The senator told a closed session of fellow Republicans today, including Vice President Dick Cheney, that he was upset that the measure would interfere with his travel to and from Alaska — and vowed to block it.

So long, Ted

It's getting warm in Alaska.

Agents from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service raided the Alaska home of Sen. Ted Stevens (R) yesterday as part of a broad federal investigation of political corruption in the state that has also swept up his son and one of his closest financial backers, officials said.

Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator in history, is under scrutiny from the Justice Department for his ties to an Alaska energy services company, Veco, whose chief executive pleaded guilty in early May to a bribery scheme involving state lawmakers.

Contractors have told a federal grand jury that in 2000, Veco executives oversaw a lavish remodeling of Stevens's house in Girdwood, an exclusive ski resort area 40 miles from Anchorage, according to statements by the contractors.

Stevens said in a statement that his attorneys were advised of the impending search yesterday morning. He said he would not comment on details of the inquiry to avoid "any appearance that I have attempted to influence its outcome."

Stevens, 83, who joined the Senate in 1968, has been considered one of the most powerful members of Congress for more than a decade, including six years in which he held wide sway over nearly $1 trillion in federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He is now the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, which has oversight of fisheries and other industries critical to his home state.

"I urge Alaskans not to form conclusions based upon incomplete and sometimes incorrect reports in the media," Stevens said. "The legal process should be allowed to proceed so that all the facts can be established and the truth determined." Brendan Sullivan, a prominent white-collar defense attorney representing Stevens, declined to comment.

It would be a terrible loss should the Senate lose one of it's most distinguished members.

Shocking, yet unsurprising

Shorter Republican lawyer: I've never seen anything like this, but Republicans can't be blamed for being in power at the time.

Maybe that's not so short.

Jan Baran, a Republican lawyer who specializes in ethics law, said he could not recall a time when so many members of Congress had been caught up in so many financial scandals drawing the attention of the Justice Department.

Mr. Baran said it was not surprising that most of the lawmakers under scrutiny were Republicans, given that their party controlled Congress until this year and “money follows power: those that don’t hold power are less susceptible to corruption, because they don’t have anything to sell.”

Emphasis mine.

Past sins

Another member of the GOP's moral avatars, undone.

And his wife may be looking for him.

Cocaine blues

"Less than 500 grams?" That'd make for a helluva weekend.

COLUMBIA, S.C., June 19 (AP) — The South Carolina treasurer was indicted on Tuesday on federal cocaine charges.

The treasurer, Thomas. Ravenel, a former real estate developer who became a rising political star after his election last year, is accused of buying less than 500 grams of the drug to share with other people in late 2005, said United States Attorney Reggie Lloyd. Mr. Ravenel, a 44-year-old millionaire, is charged with distribution of cocaine, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Mr. Ravenel, a Republican, is also the state chairman for Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign.

The investigation into Mr. Ravenel arose from a drug case last year in Charleston, Mr. Lloyd said. Robert Stewart, the state law enforcement division chief, said that his agents were aware of the accusations before Mr. Ravenel was elected in November but that they did not have enough information to pursue criminal charges. The case was turned over to the F.B.I. in April.

[...]

Mr. Giuliani’s political director, Mark Campbell, said in a statement: “Our campaign has no information about the accusations pending against Mr. Ravenel. Mr. Ravenel has stepped down from his volunteer responsibilities with the campaign.”