Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: April 27, 2007 7:44:19 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Heavy Is the Head That Wears the Guillotine
Bush Amin Official Resigns After Telling ABC News He Patronized
Escort Service
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/senior_official.html
Deputy Secretary of State Randall L. Tobias submitted his
resignation Friday, one day after confirming to ABC News that he
had been a customer of a Washington, D.C. escort service whose
owner has been charged by federal prosecutors with running a
prostitution operation. Tobias, Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance
and administrator of the US Agency for International Development
(USAID), had previously served as the Ambassador for the
President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief.
Justice Dept official resigns over investigation connected with
Abramoff
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/17145860.htm
A senior Justice Department official has resigned after coming
under scrutiny in the Department’s expanding investigation of
convicted super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to a DoJ official
with knowledge of the case. Making the situation more awkward for
the embattled Department, the official, Robert E. Coughlin II, was
deputy chief of staff for the criminal division, which is
overseeing the Department's probe of Abramoff.
Bush aide Rove faces
federal task force inquiry
By Toby Harnden in Washington
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/26/
wrove26.xml
Karl Rove, President George Bush's senior aide, it to be
investigated for alleged improper party political activity at the
White House.
Mr Rove, who masterminded Mr Bush's elections victories in 2000 and
2004, will be a central focus of an inquiry by a task force set up
by the US Office of Special Counsel, an obscure government body.
The White House maintains that nothing improper has been done and
that all activities within the federal government have been
dedicated to Mr Bush's executive responsibilities and not the
business of the Republican party.
Mr Rove, known as "Bush's brain" to many of his detractors, has
long been a target of Democrats who view him as a malign Svengali-
like figure in the White House. Bush administration sources said
the task force would have little power and would not uncover any
wrongdoing.
But the investigation is an embarrassment to Mr Bush, whose
authority has been diminished by a Democratic mid-term victory and
a long slump in his favourability ratings, because it is being
launched by a federal government body.
Details of the task force came as Mr Bush and his staff engaged in
a bitter war of words over Iraq during a visit by General David
Petraeus, US commander in Iraq, to brief the White House and Congress.
Democrats are finalising a bill that will set a timetable for
withdrawal of troops form Iraq beginning late this year and ending
in April 2008. Also in the bill is funding of $124.2 billion to
finance the war.
But Mr Bush has vowed to veto any bill including a timetable,
arguing that it would result in "a marked advantage for our enemies
and a greater danger for our troops".
Vice President Dick Cheney made a rare appearance before reporters
to lambast Senator Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, for having
declared that "the war is lost" and that Mr Bush was in a "state of
denial".
Speaking on Capitol Hill, Mr Cheney said: "Some Democratic leaders
seem to believe that blind opposition to the new strategy in Iraq
is good politics. Senator Reid himself has said that the war in
Iraq will bring his party more seats in the next election."
"It is cynical to declare that the war is lost because you believe
it gives you political advantage."
The United Nations meanwhile criticised Baghdad yesterday for
stopping providing casualty figures and denied the Iraq
government's allegation that the UN claim that 34,000 people had
died in sectarian violence in 2006.
The investigation into political activities will be led by Scott
Bloch, head of the US Office of Special Counsel, a Republican
political appointee.
He said he would look into allegation that Scott Jennings, an aide
to Mr Rove, gave a "political" presentation to officials at the
General Services Administration in January about the 2008 election
- a violation of federal government rules.
Mr Bloch will also investigate whether played an improper part in
the firings of eight US attorneys. The sacking have led to
vociferous calls, from some Republicans as well as Democrats, for
the resignation of Alberto Gonzales, the US Attorney General.
Rice Hints at Rejection of Congressional Subpoena
http://www.huliq.com/19883/rice-hints-at-rejection-of-congressional-
subpoena
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is suggesting she will defy
a congressional subpoena to testify about the Bush administration's
reasons for invading Iraq.
Rice told reporters in Oslo, Norway Thursday that she has "answered
and answered and answered" questions about what she knew about the
administration's claim that Iraq sought uranium from Niger in order
to build nuclear weapons. That claim later proved to be false.
Rice served as President Bush's national security advisor during
his first term, when the administration began planning to oust
Saddam Hussein. She says any discussions with Mr. Bush on the
matter are protected under executive privilege, and she is not
required to testify before Congress.
The Democratic-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
approved the subpoena Wednesday by a vote of 21 to 10.
Rice says she will be happy to answer any of the committee's
questions in writing.
See what's free at AOL.com.
