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CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Coleman says he welcomes investigation into his finances « - Blogs from CNN.com

Minneapolis, Minnesota (CNN) – Just hours after a liberal-leaning Minnesota group called for an investigation into allegations that Sen. Norm Coleman accepted $75,000 worth of gifts, the incumbent Republican himself said he is eager for any probe to move forward "immediately."

Court documents allege that Texas businessman Nasser Kazeminy fraudulently ordered corporate funds be funneled to Coleman — a potential violation of Senate ethics rules.

Alliance for a Better Minnesota, a self-described progressive organization, sent letters to both the Senate Select Committee on Ethics and the Minneapolis branch of the FBI calling for a full investigation.

Al Franken’s campaign and the state Democratic Farmer Labor Party also continue to bring up the allegations repeatedly to reporters.

Coleman said the accusations were influenced by partisanship. “As another Democratic group that spent millions of dollars attempting to defeat me calls for a politically motivated investigation, I want to be clear that I not only welcome such an investigation, but I am eager to have it move forward immediately." Coleman said in a Wednesday statement. "The fact that a United States Senator is being used as a tool of extortion by private parties should be of concern to all Minnesotans. I reiterate that none of the allegations which attempt to besmirch my family’s good name and reputation are true.

"This investigation should move forward, and it is my hope that those who were behind this matter, their motives and what their connections may be to my political opponents be reviewed aggressively by the appropriate authorities and the media. This matter, which has emerged again as a result of the tactics of my political opponents, during a recount, ought to raise even further suspicions in the minds of Minnesotans as to its motives and purposes.”

Franken and Coleman remain locked in an unresolved Senate race, separated by just a few hundred votes. A state law-mandated recount is set to begin November 19.

Labels: Al Franken, Investigations, Senate

Former Palin aide on plane controversy, troopergate
Video sent by marc1a

Originally posted on 9/5. Wolf Blitzer talks to Gov. Palin's former aide, Meg Stapleton, about the controversy surrounding the "troopergate" investigation.

Labels: Gov. Sarah Palin, Investigations

ABC News: FBI Raids Bush Official's Office

FBI agents raided the downtown Washington, D.C. offices of Special Counsel Scott Bloch Tuesday, a spokesman for the official confirmed.

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) was created to protect whistle-blower rights and investigate improper political activity by government employees. Bloch allegedly attempted to destroy certain computer files in his office following complaints by whistleblowers in his own office. President Bush appointed Bloch to head the office in 2003.

"We are cooperating with law enforcement," said OSC spokesman Jim Mitchell by e-mail. "We do not know what this is about. Meanwhile, we are continuing to perform the independent mission of this office."

Labels: Civil Rights, FBI, Investigations, whistleblowers

The Associated Press: House panel subpoenas top Cheney aide WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to compel a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney to testify to the committee about the Bush administration's interrogation practices.

David Addington, Cheney's chief of staff, refused to testify without a subpoena. No date has been set for his appearance before Congress.

Addington is one of several lawyers believed to have played a key role in crafting the administration's interrogation policies shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, policies which some say amounted to torture.

John Yoo, the former Justice Department lawyer who wrote a now-repudiated memo allowing the harsh interrogations of military prisoners agreed late Monday to testify to Congress about those practices, averting a subpoena. Yoo is now a law professor at University of California-Berkeley.

Yoo's memo, dated March 14, 2003, outlines a legal justification for military interrogators to use harsh tactics against al-Qaida and Taliban detainees overseas — so long as they did not specifically intend to torture their captives.

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith, and former Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin have also agreed to give testimony at a future hearing. Former CIA Director George Tenet is still in negotiations with the committee, according to House Judiciary Committee spokeswoman Melanie Roussell.

Labels: Cheney, Constitutional attacks, Investigations, Surveilance, Torture

Justice Dept. opens criminal probe in CIA tapes case - Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department said today that it has opened a full investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing associated with the CIA's destruction of videotaped interrogations of terror suspects.

The disclosure last month that the CIA had destroyed two such tapes in 2005 -- which included footage of harsh interrogation methods -- touched off a political and legal firestorm. The Justice Department and the CIA Office of the Inspector General had been conducting a preliminary inquiry in the wake of those disclosures to see whether there was evidence of potential crimes, and whether a formal investigation should be pursued.

"The department's National Security division has recommended, and I have concluded, that there is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter, and I have taken steps to begin that investigation," Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey said in a prepared statement, adding that he had appointed John Durham, the first assistant U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to oversee the investigation.

Labels: Intelligence, Investigations, Torture

AG Gonzales gets hammered by Sen. Dick Durbin regarding the treatment of detainees at this Justice Dept. Oversight hearing on 7/24/07.

Labels: Alberto Gonzales, Investigations, Senate, Torture

Senators planning ways to oust Gonzales - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - Senators in both parties concede they don't have enough evidence to make a perjury charge stick against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. But that doesn't mean they're going to quit trying to pry him from office.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is considering asking the Justice Department's inspector general to examine whether Gonzales' answers to questions from lawmakers amount to misconduct.

"I am deeply concerned about the seriousness of his misleading testimony and the pattern that has developed with regards to the attorney general's testimony over the years," Leahy said Thursday. "At the very least, I am considering sending his answers as they stand to the inspector general for review."

Ranking committee Republican Arlen Specter doesn't sound like he'd stand in the way.

"I think we need to finish this (the committee's) investigation and find a way to end the tenure of Attorney General Gonzales," Pennsylvania Sen. Specter said Thursday at a hearing.

Labels: Alberto Gonzales, Investigations, Senate

FBI, IRS search home of Alaska senator - Politics - MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON - The FBI and IRS have searched the home of Republican Sen. Ted Stevens in a ski resort in Alaska as part of an investigation into his links with an oil-services company, officials said Monday.

"The FBI and IRS are conducting a court-authorized search warrant in Girdwood, Alaska," an FBI spokesman said in Washington but gave no further details.

The Alaskan politician, the longest-serving Republican in the U.S Senate in history, issued a statement saying: "My attorneys were advised this morning that federal agents wished to search my home in Girdwood in connection with an ongoing investigation.

Labels: Investigations, Senate

FBI contradicts Gonzales' testimony - Politics - MSNBC.com WASHINGTON - FBI Director Robert S. Mueller said Thursday the government's terrorist surveillance program was the topic of a 2004 hospital room dispute between top Bush administration officials, contradicting Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' sworn Senate testimony.

Mueller's statement came hours after Senate Democrats called for a perjury investigation against Gonzales and subpoenaed top presidential aide Karl Rove in a deepening political and legal clash with the Bush administration.

Mueller was not in the hospital room at the time of the dramatic March 10, 2004, confrontation between then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and presidential advisers Andy Card and Gonzales, who was then serving as White House counsel. Mueller told the House Judiciary Committee he arrived shortly after they left, and spoke with the ailing Ashcroft.

Labels: AG Gonzales, Alberto Gonzales, Congress, Investigations

Memo refutes Gonzales’ testimony - Politics - MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON - Documents indicate eight congressional leaders were briefed about the Bush administration’s terrorist surveillance program on the eve of its expiration in 2004, contradicting sworn Senate testimony this week by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The documents underscore questions about Gonzales’ credibility as senators consider whether a perjury investigation should be opened into conflicting accounts about the program and a dramatic March 2004 confrontation leading up to its potentially illegal reauthorization.

Labels: AG Gonzales, Alberto Gonzales, Investigations, Senate

Bush denies Congress access to aides - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - President Bush directed former aides to defy congressional subpoenas on Monday, claiming executive privilege and prodding lawmakers closer to their first contempt citations against administration officials since Ronald Reagan was president.

It was the second time in as many weeks that Bush had cited executive privilege in resisting Congress' investigation into the firings of U.S. attorneys.

White House Counsel Fred Fielding insisted that Bush was acting in good faith in withholding documents and directing the two aides — Fielding's predecessor, Harriet Miers, and Bush's former political director, Sara Taylor — to defy subpoenas ordering them to explain their roles in the firings over the winter.

In the standoff between branches of government, Fielding renewed the White House offer to let Miers, Taylor and other administration officials meet with congressional investigators off the record and with no transcript. He declined to explain anew the legal underpinnings of the privilege claim as the chairmen of the House and Senate judiciary committees had directed.

"You may be assured that the president's assertion here comports with prior practices in similar contexts, and that it has been appropriately documented," Fielding wrote.

Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House panel, left little doubt where the showdown was headed.

Labels: Executive priveledge, Investigations, US Attorney scandal

Well nothing should surprise us anymore. One of the first to applaud this decision was potential GOP presidential candidate, Fred Thompson who was among those who voted to impeach President Clinton over "obstruction of justice" charges. Above is Keith Olbermann talking to former AG and author of Conservatives Without Conscience, John Dean. Below Keith talks with former Ambassador and author of The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir, Joe Wilson.

Labels: GOP Hypocrisy, Investigations, Libby Trial, Plamegate

Cheney's office subpoenaed - Politics - MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney’s office Wednesday for documents relating to President Bush’s controversial eavesdropping program that operated warrant-free for five years.

Also named in subpoenas signed by committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., were the Justice Department and the National Security Council. The four parties have until July 18 to comply, according to a statement by Leahy’s office.

The committee wants documents that might shed light on internal disputes within the administration over the legality of the program, which Bush put under court review earlier this year.

Labels: Domestic spying, Intelligence, Investigations

Cheney claims exemption of oversight from the executive branch.

Labels: Cheney, Constitutional attacks, GOP Hypocrisy, Investigations

White House held Republican election briefings - Politics - MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON - The White House acknowledged Thursday it has conducted about 20 briefings recently for federal agency employees on the election prospects of Republican candidates - the sort of meetings that sparked an investigation into whether Bush aides engaged in illegal political activity.

An independent investigative unit, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, this week launched a probe into a presentation by Bush aide J. Scott Jennings to political appointees at the General Services Administration. At issue is whether the January session violated the federal Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from engaging in political activities with government resources or on government time.

Labels: Investigations