Posted by Mark Silva at 6:15 am CDT
As we raise the periscope in the Swamp this morning, we get an early look at the landscape. So we’re tempted to call this early digest the Swamp Scope, for the way we see it, or the Swamp Scape, for what we see. For now, we’ve opted for the Scope for this naming-work in progress. As always, we invite comment.
THE HEAT GOES ON: Democrats are alleging that at least one of the U.S. attorneys fired by the Justice Department last year, Carol Lam of San Diego, was yanked in an attempt to scuttle investigations of Republican politicians in Southern California, the Los Angeles Times notes this morning.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) revealed evidence that Lam had notified Washington about search warrants in a Republican corruption case last year. Soon thereafter, a top Justice Department official in Washington wrote to the White House about a “real problem we have right now with Carol Lam.” See the story. LOOSE LIPS OR SUBPOENA SLIPS — Fred Fielding, the White House general counsel, has aked for time until Tuesday to let the House Judiciary Committee know how Karl Rove and others of the White House staff past and present might provide information about the genesis of the U.S. attorney firings, which are said to have started in the White House. But the Senate Judiciary Committee may not be waiting for voluntary talk.
The Democratic senator leading the inquiry insisted Sunday that Rove and other top aides to President Bush must testify publicly and under oath, setting up a confrontation between Congress and the White House, which has said it is unlikely to agree to such a demand, the New York Times reports today.
Senator Patrick Leahy, (D-Vt.) chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said his committee would vote Thursday on whether to issue subpoenas for Rove as well as Harriet Miers, the former White House general counsel, and William K. Kelley, the deputy White House counsel. See the story.
EXHIBITING EXCESS — The director ot the Smithonsian Museums has been leading what one senator calls a “Dom Perignon” lifestyle at the expense of the taxpayer-supported institution.
This included $15,000 for the replacement of French doors at his home in Washington, for which he has received a generous housing allowance to support entertainment — but has only reported holding two dinners there, in 2000 — and $48,000 for two chairs, a conference table and upholstery for his office suite. Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small’s spending has been the subject of intense public scrutiny since The Washington Post published details last month from a confidential inspector general’s report delving into his $2 million in housing and office expenses over the past six years, the Washington Post reports. See the story.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT NOT TO ENLIST YOURSELF — The military is considering installing surveillance cameras in recruiting stations across the country, the most dramatic of several new steps to address a rise in misconduct allegations against military recruiters — including sexual assaults of female prospects and bending the rules to meet quotas, the Boston Globe reports today.
Recruiters may also be required to give potential recruits “applicant’s rights cards,” spelling out what a recruiter can and cannot do to get them to enlist, and the military may set up a hot line to report violations. , according to the letter. this marks the Pentagon’s most forceful attempt to address what government investigators say is an increase in the number of recruiters using questionable tactics — and breaking the law in some cases — while trying to fill the Pentagon’s need for new soldiers and Marines. See the story.
GORE ON THE HILL — Democrats, environmental activists and presidential hopefuls are angling to share the spotlight with former Vice President Al Gore this week as he comes to Capitol Hill to testify on global warming, the Washington Times reports.
Gore, who has made a personal crusade out of climate change, will appear Wednesday before House and Senate panels to press Congress for action on climate change, and promises to bring a mailbag filled with nearly 300,000 postcards he has collected since Christmas. “You and I know that political will is a renewable resource, and enough already exists to start solving this crisis,” Mr. Gore, a Democrat, told supporters Friday in an e-mail, noting he’s collected 294,000 cards and is aiming for at least 50,000 more. “We just have to communicate that forcefully to the political leaders of our country.” See the story.
COOL TO WARMING — As Congress considers new measures to fight global warming, senators are crticizing the Bush administration for moving too slowly to implement programs passed in 2005 to finance alternative energy projects and help small businesses use less electricity, the Nashville Business Journal reports.
The Department of Energy, for example, is only at the pre-application stage for a government-guaranteed loan program that Congress created to spur private-sector investment in biomass, solar and clean coal projects. The administration also has capped the size of the program and made it less attractive to lenders by reducing the amount of the guarantee. And now Bush wants to cut the budget of an Environmental Protection Agency program promoting energy efficency in applianaces. See the story.
a<
