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Blogs Eric Reads
But He Didn’t Have Any Cellular Service When He Was a POW!
Yet another step towards ending corruption in Washington:
Early in 2007, just as her husband launched his presidential bid, Cindy McCain decided to resolve an old problem — the lack of cellular telephone coverage on her remote 15-acre ranch near Sedona, nestled deep in a tree-lined canyon called Hidden Valley.
By the time Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid was in full swing this summer, the ranch had wireless coverage from the two cellular companies most often used by campaign staff — Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
Verizon delivered a portable tower know as a “cell site on wheels” — free of charge — to Cindy McCain’s property in June in response to an online request from Cindy McCain’s staff early last year. Such devices are usually reserved for restoring service when cell coverage is knocked out during emergencies, such as hurricanes.
In July, AT&T followed suit, wheeling in a portable tower for free to match Verizon’s offer. “This is an unusual situation,” said AT&T spokeswoman Claudia B. Jones. “You can’t have a presidential nominee in an area where there is not cell coverage.”
…
Ethics lawyers said Cindy McCain’s dealings with the wireless companies stand out because Sen. John McCain is a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission and the telecommunications industry. He has been a leading advocate for industry-backed legislation, fighting regulations and taxes on telecommunications services.
A number of McCain’s lobbyist advisors had been registered lobbyists for Verizon and AT&T before they joined the McCain campaign. How do these guys think they can “end abuses of power” and abuse power at the same time?
Drill, Baby, Drill
When RNC delegates chanted “Drill, Baby, Drill,” they were talking about getting oil out of the ground, but the Department of the Interior had a slightly different interpretation:
A report issued Sept. 10 by the department’s inspector general accuses employees in the department’s Denver Minerals Management Service of a litany of ethical violations, including drug abuse and engaging in sexual relationships with oil company employees.
…
The report says, “we learned that some RIK employees frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relations with oil and gas company representatives.”As these companies had direct business with the department, much of this contact was prohibited, with relationships to be kept at arms-length. The report said that two female RIK employees, known in the industry as “MMS Chicks,” had engaged in sexual relations with representatives from the companies. “Sexual relationships with prohibited sources cannot, by definition, be arms-length,” the report notes.
One Department of Interior employee admitted to romantic relationships with an employee of Chevron and with an employee of Royal Dutch Shell, the report says. Another admitted to a sexual relationship with an employee of Shell.
DOJ Hiring Practices Broke the Law
Former Justice Department counselor Monica M. Goodling and former chief of staff D. Kyle Sampson routinely broke the law by conducting political litmus tests on candidates for jobs as immigration judges and line prosecutors, according to an inspector general’s report released today.
Goodling passed over hundreds of qualified applicants and squashed the promotions of others after deeming candidates insufficiently loyal to the Republican party, said investigators, who interviewed 85 people and received information from 300 other job seekers at Justice. Sampson developed a system to screen immigration judge candidates based on improper political considerations and routinely took recommendations from the White House Office of Political Affairs and Presidential Personnel, the report said.
Goodling regularly asked candidates for career jobs: “What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?” the report said. One former Justice Department official told investigators she had complained that Goodling was asking interviewees for their views on abortion, according to the report.
You can read the full 146-page report here (PDF). For those who don’t have the time, the House Judiciary Committee picks out the good parts:
The report, released today by the Office of Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility found:
- Senior Bush Administration Department of Justice officials, including Monica Goodling, Kyle Sampson, Jan Williams, and others violated federal law and committed misconduct in basing hiring decisions for career prosecutor positions, details to senior Department offices and immigration judgeships on the applicant’s political affiliations and views. (125-27)
- The report highlighted political cronyism that was “particularly damaging” in a vital counterterrorism post when a qualified expert was rejected because his wife had the wrong political affiliation. Instead a candidate was chosen that “lacked any experience in counterterrorism issues” and who other DoJ officials believed “was not qualified for the position.” (136)
- Immigration judgeships were needlessly held vacant for long periods while Department leaders sought to identify politically suitable candidates, leading to a severe backlog of immigration matters. (128)
- Monica Goodling also made false statements to the Department’s own lawyers who were defending a lawsuit regarding Immigration Judge hiring. (138)
- A current Department official, John Nowacki, prepared and circulated a press release responding to public concern about these issues that he knew was false at the time; the report recommends that Mr. Nowacki be disciplined (127-28)
- Monica Goodling refused to approve several DOJ appointments for an AUSA who Ms. Goodling believed was gay. (132-33)
Of course, no disciplinary, criminal, or other action will come about as a result of this report since the individuals involved have all resigned and/or are suffering from temporary amnesia. Still, it’s good to know that those of us in the reality-based community were right all along.
Update: And while we’re on the subject, McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt, twenty days ago:
Steve Schmidt, the new man in day-to-day charge of the McCain presidential campaign, stoutly defended his lobbying and PR firm’s hiring of Tim Griffin, a former prosecutor who figured in the U.S. attorneys firing scandal.
…
Schmidt was untroubled by the firings, telling the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that it was “mostly a combination of nonsense and politics and provides us no concern at all.”
BREAKING: Former Rep. Ney May Be Released from Jail
Remember Bob Ney? He’s the former Republican Congressman from Ohio who pleaded guilty to corruption during the investigation of Jack Abramoff in October 2006. In January 2007, Ney was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. According to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, he was supposed to be released in August of this year, a few months early due to good behavior.
Today, new reports (also see subscription-only Roll Call) suggest that Ney might be released from prison even earlier and serve the rest of his sentence on the outside:
William Lawler, a Ney attorney, told The Dispatch that the chances are good that Ney will soon be released from the minimum security prison in Morgantown to serve out his 30-month sentence elsewhere.
Ney would move to a so-called halfway house, a facility that serves as a transition between prison and being released, of the type that most federal prisoners will be placed in at some point during their sentence and before being released, Lawler said.
As part of his sentence, Ney will also have to complete court-ordered alcohol rehab, pay a $6,000 fine, and serve two years probation. A small price to pay for sacrificing the trust of the American people on the alter of greed.