Politics Daily

Long Island Democrat to Switch Parties, Run for N.Y. Governor, Report Says

Tom Diemer — 2010-03-18T08:56:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Republicans, Scandal, Governors, 2010 Elections, Conservatives, Campaigns

This could get interesting. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, an outspoken fiscal conservative, is about to switch from the Democratic to Republican Party and launch a campaign for governor of New York later this week, according to the New York Times.

Levy, the popular elected leader of a county stretching to the far end of Long Island, called the culture in the New York state capital a "cesspool" and claimed he would be a perfect fit for cleaning house and rebuilding state government in a "cleaner, more efficient manner." David A. Paterson, the current occupant of the governor's office, is enmeshed in scandal but has refused to resign. His predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, stepped down after admitting to frequenting a prostitute.

Levy, a sharp critic of illegal immigration, would likely face former Rep. Rick A. Lazio in the Republican primary. An aide said Levy would make a formal announcement Friday in Albany. New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to be the Democratic candidate in November.

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Iraq Corruption Cases Focus on Americans in Rebuilding Projects

Christopher Weber — 2010-03-15T18:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Iraq, Scandal, Investigations, Crime

More than 50 corruption cases have been opened in the last six months by U.S. investigators looking into the dealings of Americans involved in the $150 million Iraq reconstruction project.

Some of the cases concern suspects who allegedly mailed tens of thousands of dollars to themselves from Iraq or who stuffed money into duffel bags and suitcases when leaving the country, The New York Times reported. Others are suspected of wiring millions of dollars at a time back home or to foreign accounts in Ghana, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain.

Starting last summer, investigators began scrutinizing large cash transactions and were led to cases involving land deals, car purchases, loan payments and gambling debts. According to the Times:

There have already been dozens of indictments and convictions for corruption since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But the new cases seem to confirm what investigators have long speculated: that the chaos, weak oversight and wide use of cash payments in the reconstruction program in Iraq allowed many more Americans who took bribes or stole money to get off scot-free.

"I've had a continuing sense that there is ongoing fraud that we have not been able to nail down," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., who leads the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, an independent oversight agency. "This spate of new cases is evidence that that sense was reasonably well placed."

A similar probe of rebuilding funds for Afghanistan began last month.

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Tiger Woods Taking Reentry Advice From Former Bush Aide Fleischer

Tom Diemer — 2010-03-12T09:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Bush Administration, Scandal, Culture, Ethics

Tiger Woods is looking for advice from former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer as he seeks to put a sex scandal behind him and re-enter the world of tournament golf, the New York Post reports.

Fleischer knows something about dealing with crises that go way beyond sex and golf. He served President George W. Bush between January 2001 and July 2003 -- when the nation was in the midst of responding to the 9/11 attacks. Since leaving the White House, he has formed Fleischer Sports Communications and advised former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, who recently admitted to steroid use after rejoining the Cards as a hitting coach.

The Post said "two sources in the golf community" said Fleischer has been called on to help Woods ease his way back into the high-profile business of competitive golf. The newspaper was unable to get comment from Fleischer, who had his ups and downs with the White House press corps.

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New York AG Andrew Cuomo Recuses Himself from David Paterson Probes

Christopher Weber — 2010-03-11T20:08:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Scandal, Investigations

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has removed himself from his office's investigations of Gov. David Paterson and appointed an independent counsel, as he apparently gears up to announce his own gubernatorial run.

Cuomo said Thursday that Judith Kaye, the former chief judge of New York's highest court, would lead the inquiries into Paterson's handling of an aide's domestic violence case and whether the governor lied about soliciting World Series tickets.

"This is an unfortunate situation and these are unfortunate days," Cuomo told reporters of the scandals surrounding Paterson.

As for his own expected bid for governor, Cuomo remained noncommittal, though he is widely expected to run.

"At the appropriate time, I will be announcing my political intentions," Cuomo said.

Paterson dropped out of the race last month as details emerged about his efforts to prevent a woman from going public with charges of abuse against one of his top aides. That was followed by a report by the State Commission on Public Integrity that said Paterson had testified falsely during a probe into whether he had accepted free World Series tickets last fall.

Kaye, the first woman to serve on the state's high court, was appointed in 1983 by Cuomo's father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo. She retired in 2008 and now works for the international law firm Skadden, Arps.

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Patrick Kennedy Calls Absentee Press 'Despicable'

Tom Diemer — 2010-03-11T08:29:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Scandal, Media, Ted Kennedy, 2010 Elections, Congress

The floor of the House of Representatives and the gallery overlooking it are often nearly deserted as lawmakers and reporters come and go in the course of long legislative days. But Rep. Patrick Kennedy took the absence of a large media contingent on Wednesday as a threat to democracy.

"Cynicism is one, two press people in the gallery," he shouted in an arm-waving one-minute rant. The American public is turned off, he said, because "they are not seeing their Congress do the work they were sent to do, and it is because the press -- the press of the United States -- is not covering the most significant issue of national importance and that is the laying of laws down. . . .

"It is despicable, the national press corps right now," he said.

Reporters often work on laptop computers in an office just outside the gallery, where they watch House and Senate proceedings live on C-SPAN. Even House members often toil away from the floor and arrive en masse when a vote is called.

Kennedy (D-R.I.) didn't see it that way. While the media cover the scandal surrounding the resignation of New York Rep. Eric Massa "24-7," he said, the House is ignored as it debates war and peace and other important issues. Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, is serving his eighth term in the House, but has announced that he will not run for another.

His one minute scolding can be viewed on the CNN Web site.

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New E-mails Could Expand Sen. John Ensign Investigation

Christopher Weber — 2010-03-10T21:42:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, Republicans, Scandal, Investigations, Congress

E-mails obtained by the FBI and congressional ethics investigators provide new evidence about Sen. John Ensign's efforts to allegedly provide lobbying jobs for the husband of his former mistress, in violation of Senate rules, The New York Times reported late Wednesday.

Ensign (R-Nev.) asked a Las Vegas development company to hire the husband, Douglas Hampton, after the firm had requested the senator's help on several energy projects in 2008, according to the e-mails.

Ensign had denied knowing the work might involve congressional lobbying but the e-mails apparently contradict that claim, according to the Times. It is the first written evidence tying the senator to efforts to find clients for Hampton after Ensign had an affair with his wife, Cynthia Hampton, the newspaper said.

Investigators are also examining a $96,000 payment Ensign's parents made to Douglas Hampton, one of the senator's closest friends and top aides.

"Senator Ensign has stated clearly, he has not violated any law or Senate ethics rule," said Rebecca Fisher, the senator's spokeswoman.

Ensign first admitted his affair with Cynthia Hampton in June 2009 after being prodded by Republican senators to end the affair.

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Former John Edwards Staffer Could End Up In Jail Over Sex Tape

Christopher Weber — 2010-03-09T19:00:00+00:00

Filed under: John Edwards, Scandal, Video

A North Carolina judge said he was considering sending former John Edwards staffer Andrew Young and his wife, Cheri, to jail for not turning over all copies of a sex tape featuring the onetime presidential candidate and his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

Superior Court Judge Abraham Jones said Tuesday that the couple had not been truthful about the number of copies made of the tape and how many people have seen it, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.

The judge gave the couple until Friday to account for discrepancies in their story about the handling of the tape and other items related to a lawsuit by Hunter, according to The Associated Press.

Last month the judge held Andrew and Cheri Young in contempt. Tuesday's was the fourth court hearing on the matter.

"I don't want to lock them up, but the pattern is really painful to me," Jones said.

Andrew Young has turned over the original tape and a VHS copy and has sworn that other copies do not exist. Lawyers for Hunter accused Young of lying and produced an affidavit by a writer named Robert Draper who claimed a digital copy exists on Young's laptop computer.

The couple insisted they never intended to distribute the tape or show it publicly, despite being offered large sums to sell it.

Hunter said the tape and other personal items, including family photographs, should be turned over to her. Her lawyers argued that Young has no right to the tape, which he said he found after it had been thrown away. Young said he has kept it to help prove his account of how he helped Edwards cover up his affair with Hunter, which Young detailed in a book.

Edwards admitted in January that he fathered a child with Hunter, his campaign videographer, during his 2008 presidential run. The former senator had previously denied paternity of Quinn Hunter, now 2 years old.

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Support for Paterson Finishing Out Term in New York Drops Sharply

Bruce Drake — 2010-03-05T13:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Scandal, Polls, Governors, Poll Watch, Ethics

The number of New Yorkers who believe Gov. David Paterson should finish out his term has dropped sharply as new revelations continue to emerge about his efforts to get a woman not to go public with charges of abuse against one of his top aides, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted March 3-4.

Quinnipiac says that 46 percent now say Paterson should stay on the job compared to 42 percent who believe he should resign, with 12 percent undecided. In its March 3 poll, 61 percent said he should finish his term, 31 percent said he should resign and 9 percent were undecided.

"Support for Gov. David Paterson erodes with every new headline," said Quinnipiac's Maurice Carroll. "New York State voters started the week giving the Governor the benefit of the doubt 2-1. Now, there is more doubt and less benefit as he clings to a bare plurality of support."

The latest development was a report by the State Commission on Public Integrity that said Paterson had testified falsely during a probe into whether he had accepted free World Series tickets last fall.

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Key Paterson Aide Steps Down, Saying 'Conscience' Prompted Resignation

Tom Diemer — 2010-03-05T08:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Scandal, Governors, 2010 Elections, Ethics

Pressure on New York Gov. David A. Paterson to step down is growing as key aide Peter E. Kaufmann has resigned, saying he cannot "in good conscience" continue working for the beleaguered governor.

Kaufmann quit Thursday after being interviewed for several hours by prosecutors from the office of New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who is investigating charges that Paterson improperly intervened in a domestic violence case involving another of his aides, the New York Times reported.

Kaufmann told investigators he came to doubt the truth of what the governor was telling him to tell reporters about the other aide, David W. Johnson, who is accused of beating a former girlfriend.

"As a former Naval officer in the United States Navy, integrity and commitment to public service are values I take seriously," Kaufmann said. "Unfortunately as recent developments have come to light, I cannot in good conscience continue in my current position."

Paterson, a Democrat, has already said he will not run for reelection, but he has refused to resign as governor. He took office after a sex scandal brought down his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, two years ago.

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Blagojevich Homecoming: Laughter, Boos at Northwestern Ethics Speech

Tom Diemer — 2010-03-03T12:20:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, Democrats, Scandal, Investigations, Crime, Ethics, Law

Impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich went home Tuesday night, received with laughter and boos from 1,000 students at Northwestern University, his alma mater, during a speech on ethics in government.

Blagojevich, who is under federal indictment, said the FBI subpoenaed his grades and other student information from his years at the Evanston campus. Referring to his time at Pepperdine Law School in California, he said, "If they look at those grades, they'll see I obviously never cheated on an exam."

One Northwestern student had another take on the choice of topic for the ousted governor: It was like inviting Tiger Woods to speak about fidelity, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Throughout out the speech, hosted by the College Democrats, Blagojevich insisted he was innocent of corruption charges -- an indictment on 16 counts of extortion, fraud, racketeering and bribery, including an allegation that he tried to barter away President Obama's vacated Senate seat in 2008.

"I am innocent of all charges," Blagojevich said, according to the Daily Northwestern. "I was not only ethical, but I kept my promises."

Dan Rockoff, a vice president of the Campus Democrats, said Blagojevich was invited to speak on ethics because "the best way to better our politics isn't to ignore the past, but to learn from it."

Blagojevich was booed -- one spectator shouted, "Shame!" -- when he compared the Senate Democrats' reluctance to welcome his Senate appointee, Roland Burris, to the actions of southern segregationists. "You don't like Burris?" he asked his antagonist. "No -- you," the heckler responded. "My friend, I have love in my heart for you," the onetime governor replied.

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New Yorkers Believe Paterson Should Finish His Term, Two of Three Polls Find

Bruce Drake — 2010-03-03T10:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Scandal, Governors, Poll Watch, Moderates, Ethics

Two polls found a majority of New Yorkers believe Gov. David Paterson should finish out his term despite overwhelmingly negative job approval ratings and revelations that he tried to influence an assault case involving one of his aides. A third poll had New Yorkers narrowly in favor of Paterson resigning.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted March 1-2 found that 61 percent said he should stay, while 31 percent said he should resign, with 9 percent undecided.

Sixty-two percent -- including 58 percent of Democrats -- disapproved of the way Paterson is doing his job, while 24 percent approved and 15 percent were undecided. In early February, that disapproval ratio was 54 percent to 37 percent with 8 percent undecided.

Quinnipiac's Maurice Carroll cautioned that continuing revelations about Paterson's conduct could change the picture. "There was a noticeable slip in support from the first night to the second night of the survey, after more damaging news came out and the National Organization for Women called for the governor to step down," he said.

The head of the New York chapter of NOW, Marcia Pappas, said the disclosures about Paterson were "very disappointing for those of us who believed the governor was a strong advocate for women's equality and for ending violence against women."

The latest New York Times story said that a state worker who was friendly with both the governor and a woman who said she was assaulted by one of his top aides, David Johnson, was told by Paterson to convey a message to accuser: "Tell her the governor wants her to make this go away."

A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted March 1 had 53 percent saying Paterson should not resign while 28 percent believed her should, with 19 percent undecided.

A SurveyUSA poll conducted March 2 said 47 percent believed Paterson should resign while 44 percent said he should stay in office, with 9 percent undecided. Forty-eight percent of Democrats favored resignation. The margin of error is 4.3 points.

Sixty-four percent in the SurveyUSA poll disapproved of the job he was doing and 27 percent approved, with 8 percent undecided. Sixty-nine percent did not have confidence in Paterson's ability to lead the state while 26 percent did, with 6 percent undecided.

Quinnipiac polled registered voters; Rasmussen surveyed likely voters; and the SurveyUSA poll was of adults in general.

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Charlie Rangel Steps Down as Ways and Means Chairman

Christopher Weber — 2010-03-03T09:38:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Scandal, Investigations, Taxes

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) has temporarily given up his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, days after being admonished by an ethics panel for taking two corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in violation of House rules.

In remarks Wednesday morning in a House press gallery, Rangel said he had sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi "asking her to grant me a leave of absence" until the ethics committee completes its investigation. The announcement leaves the door open for Rangel, 79, to reclaim the position if he is eventually cleared by the ethics committee.

The panel is continuing to investigate Rangel's campaign finances and unreported income from rental properties.

The 20-term congressman did not answer questions about his decision or a possible replacement, saying only that the situation had brought distracting attention and he is stepping down "in order to avoid my colleagues having to defend me during their elections," Politico reported.

The Ways and Means chairmanship could temporarily go to Rep. Pete Stark of California, the committee's second-ranking Democrat, according to ABC News.

Pelosi released a brief statement noting that she will honor Rangel's request for a leave and commending him "for his decades of leadership on jobs, health care, and the most significant economic issues of the day."

Rangel's move comes when it appeared increasingly unlikely that he would survive a House vote this week on stripping him of chairmanship of the powerful tax writing committee.

"We don't have the votes to save him," one Democratic member told NBC on Tuesday.

The ethics committee issued a report last Friday finding that members of Rangel's staff knew that several trips the congressman took to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008 were indirectly funded by private corporations. The committee added that there is no evidence that Rangel himself knew who paid for the trips, but the committee formally admonished him and his staff nonetheless.

More worrisome for the congressman is a much larger investigation by the committee looking into whether he failed to pay the required taxes on a property in the Dominican Republic. A separate inquiry is also looking into an allegation that Rangel improperly used his office to raise money for a New York City academic center named for him.

Rangel, who has served in Congress since 1971, had remained defiant, slamming newspapers for their investigations and criticizing the ethics panel on the House floor.

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Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry Censured in Contract Kickback Charge

Tom Diemer — 2010-03-03T08:14:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Scandal, Gaffes, Crime, Ethics, Mayors

In another fall from grace for a politician who was once the most powerful in city government, the D.C. Council has censured former mayor and current council member Marion Barry for allegedly steering a city contract to a former girlfriend and then taking kickbacks from the woman.

The council, including Barry sympathizers and old friends, voted 12-0 to strip him of a committee chairmanship and send public corruption allegations lodged against him to the U.S. attorney's office for further investigation.

Barry, a Democrat, is accused of awarding a $15,000 contract to a woman named Donna Watts-Brighthaup and then taking a cut for himself.

Barry implored his colleagues to wait for an ethics review before acting and said an investigative report by Washington lawyer Robert S. Bennett "reduced Marion Barry, 40 years of service, to a petty thief . . . to a Southeast [Washington] hustler," the Washington Post reported.

Those 40 years included job creation programs for Washington youth and enormous popularity among some of his constituents, but there were also numerous missteps and corruption charges, including non-payment of taxes in 1990, and a cocaine sting and arrest while he was mayor that landed him in prison.

Barry, who turns 74 on Saturday, insisted he did not break the law and said he should be judged on the whole of his service to the city. The Bennett report said he violated conflict of interest rules and impeded the investigation.

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Obama May Ask for Brake Override in All Cars

Tom Diemer — 2010-03-02T13:46:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, Democrats, Economy, Scandal, Trade, Energy, Obama Administration, Congress, Transportation, Law

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday that the government may recommend that all automobiles install brake-override systems to prevent the incidents of sudden acceleration that have forced the recall of millions of Toyotas.

"We think it is a good safety device," LaHood said in answer to a question from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) at a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Energy and Transportation Committee. "And we're trying to figure out if we should be recommending it."

The brake system, already installed in many cars, is designed to deactivate the accelerator when the brake pedal is pushed, allowing a driver to slow down and stop safely if the throttle sticks open, The New York Times reported. In other words, if both pedals on a floorboard are pushed, the brake would override.

Toyota has begun installing such a system in its Camry, Lexus and Avalon models.

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Ethics Panel Rejects Complaint Against Seven Lawmakers in Earmark Probe

Tom Diemer — 2010-02-27T10:58:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Republicans, Scandal, Gaffes, Fundraising, National Security, Congress, Ethics, Lobbying

The House Ethics Committee has cleared seven lawmakers accused of steering hundreds of milions of dollars worth of govenment contracts -- "earmarks" -- to firms represented by a lobbying outfit that gave them all campaign contributions,

The investigation by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, the formal name of the ethics panel, said in a statement Friday, "simply put because a (House) member sponsors an earmark for an entity that also happens to be a campaign contributor does not. on these two facts alone, support a claim that a member's actions are being influenced by campaign contributions."

In other words, without evidence of a quid pro quo -- a direct cause and effect -- a congressman can argue that his actions in helping to secure government money for particular companies or projects were undertaken independent of campaign donations from the group lobbying for the contracts.

"They found no cause. They basically said we were completely exonerated," one of the seven, Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), told the Washington Post. "We screened everyrthing. It didn't make a difference how well we knew someone."

The lobbying firm that gave to the House members, the PMA group, went out of business a year ago after an FBI raid of its suburban Virginia offices.

One those under investigation, the late Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, chaired the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, where the other six also served as members.

In addition to Moran, they included Reps. Norm Dicks (D- Wash.); Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio); Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) Peter J. Visclosky (D-Ind.) and C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.).

Ethics in government advocates sharplly criticized the report and and pointed to sections in the 305-page document that inicated private companies thought their contributions helped them get earmarked money.

In a separate case, the ethics committee ruled that Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.), should have known that conferences he attended at Caribbean resorts were underwritten by corporations, a violation of House rules.

"They found no cause. They basically said we were completely exonerated," one of the seven, Rep, James Moran (D-Va.), told the Washington Post. "We screened everything. It iddn't make a differenc ehow ell we knew someone."

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Ethics Panel Concludes Charlie Rangel Broke House Rules

Christopher Weber — 2010-02-25T20:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Scandal, Investigations, Taxes

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) broke congressional rules by failing to disclose the financial details of a trip to the Caribbean, a House ethics committee concluded Thursday.

The finding was related to accusations that Rangel and four other members of Congress traveled to a conference in St. Maarten on the dime of a donor who employs lobbyists, a violation of House rules. Rangel falsely reported the trip was paid for by the Carib News Foundation, which had underwritten his travels in the past, The New York Times reported.

The four other members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the Caribbean trips in 2007 and 2008 were exonerated.

Rangel, who chairs the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, has been under investigation by two House committees for over a year in connection with allegations of tax evasion not disclosing assets. He has admitted failing to report up to $600,000 in income from rental properties.

A separate inquiry is also looking into an allegation that Rangel improperly used his office to raise money for an academic center named for him.

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Top New York Official Resigns In Wake of Paterson Revelation

Christopher Weber — 2010-02-25T15:42:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Scandal, Investigations, Governors

The New York official who oversees the State Police has resigned after reports that Gov. David Paterson allegedly intervened in a domestic violence case involving one of his aides.

Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Denise E. O'Donnell, a member of Paterson's cabinet, issued a statement Thursday to The New York Times:

"The fact that the Governor and members of the State Police have acknowledged direct contact with a woman who had filed for an order of protection against a senior member of the Governor's staff is a very serious matter," she wrote. "These actions are unacceptable regardless of their intent."

The case involved David Johnson, 37, who once worked as Paterson's driver and scheduler and now serves as a senior adviser. According to the Times, a woman sought a protective court order against Johnson, who she said had assaulted her.

The woman returned to court on two occasions to press her case, complaining that the State Police had pressured her to drop it. The State Police have confirmed that the woman was visited by a member of the governor's personal security detail. According to her lawyer, she then received a phone call from the governor and soon after the case was dismissed.

"The behavior alleged here is the antithesis of what many of us have spent our entire careers working to build... a legal system that protects victims of domestic violence and brings offenders to justice," O'Donnell wrote.

O'Donnell also wrote that New York's police superintendent, Harry Corbitt, had misled her about the State Police's involvement in the case.

Paterson had called for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo - whom Paterson trails in re-election polls - to investigate "any allegation of improper influence."

A statement from Cuomo's office Thursday acknowledged the probe: "The Governor has formally referred to this Office a matter for investigation and this Office is proceeding to determine if criminal or other wrongdoing is involved."

The growing scandal was likely to lead to calls for Paterson to step down, or at least suspend his campaign.

"If these allegations are true that [Paterson] directly intervened in a criminal investigation, I don't think there's any way he can recover from this," political consultant Scott Levenson told Politico. "There's going to be an increasingly loud drumbeat within the Democratic Party for David Paterson not to seek re-election."

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UPDATE: Toyota Executive Tells Congress Recalls Might Not Be Enough

Tom Diemer — 2010-02-23T19:07:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Scandal, Investigations, Trade, Energy, Obama Administration, Culture, Congress, Jobs, Transportation, Law

The head of Toyota's American sales operation told a House committee on Tuesday that the automaker's massive recall might not solve the problem of sudden acceleration in its vehicles.

James Lentz testified that there's no hard evidence that a faulty electronics system was to blame for the acceleration issue. But, he added, Toyota continues "to look for potential causes," The New York Times reported.

"We need to be vigilant and continue to investigate" all consumer complaints, Lentz told the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He said there is the possibility "of mechanical, human or some other type of error."

Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a persistent and well-informed advocate of consumer causes, criticized Toyota's slow response to the recall, which numbers more than 8 million vehicles worldwide. "The possibility of electronic defects must be actively investigated," Waxman told Lentz.

Toyota claims that floor mats and sticky gas pedals might be the cause of sudden acceleration, an assertion supported in testimony by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He said his department had found no evidence of computer problems.

Waxman cautioned Toyota that his panel is looking as far back as 2004 for signs that regulators overlooked evidence of engine defects in Toyotas.

Documents obtained by the committee "appear to show that Toyota consistently dismissed the possibility that electronic failure could be responsible for incidents of sudden unintended acceleration," they wrote.

Waxman's committee has wide jurisdiction and an aggressive staff of investigators.

On Wednesday, Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He is expected to tell lawmakers the Toyota compromised quality by growing too quickly in the U.S., but will take steps to improve quality control, according to The Associated Press.

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ACORN Reorganizes, But Says It Will Still Fight for the Poor

Tom Diemer — 2010-02-23T10:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Scandal, Gaffes, Investigations, Media, Crime, Taxes, Culture, Conservatives, News Media, Liberals, Ethics, Unemployment, Law

ACORN, the liberal community activist group targeted by right-wing media and stung by an unofficial undercover operation, is reportedly in the midst of a reorganization that will dissolve its national offices.

A senior official close to the group tells Politico that ACORN's underfinanced national offices are being taken down, but that state and local chapters, including the highly active one in New York City, will split off and continue their work counseling people on such issues as housing, taxes and social services in urban centers.

The group was highly embarrassed when two young conservatives, disguised as a pimp and prostitute, got video of ACORN officials in Baltimore appearing to give advice on how to fill out tax forms and get a housing loan for the business of solicitation. James O'Keefe, one of the conservatives, was subsequently arrested in a botched attempt to shoot undercover video in the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

After the Baltimore video incident, Congress voted to stop federal financing of ACORN through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other agencies. A judge later issued an injunction that restored the money, saying the action had been unconstitutional.

Another source cautioned that the impact of the reorganization may be minimal. A new group, with a new board, will be formed in New York, the source said, and "as for the work in the communities and policy campaigns, no one will notice the difference."

ACORN -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- calls itself the nation's largest grassroots organization of low- and moderate-income people, with 400,000 families signed up as members. ACORN says it has chapters in 40 states and national offices in New York, Washington and New Orleans.

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No Punishment for Bush Lawyers Who Wrote Waterboard Memos, Justice Dept Says

Tom Diemer — 2010-02-20T12:25:00+00:00

Filed under: George W. Bush, Bush Administration, Senate, Iraq, Dick Cheney, Scandal, Investigations, Crime, Terror, Foreign Policy, Obama Administration, National Security, Culture, Afghanistan, Congress, Ethics, Law

The Bush administration lawyers who gave legal advice clearing the way for waterboarding and other "enhanced" interrogation techniques used against terror suspects won't be disciplined or disbarred, the Justice Department has decided.

The Justice Department documents, released Friday, said the two lawyers "exercised poor judgment" in writing the memos. But the decision also represented a rejection of the agency's ethics investigators who had earlier urged that former Justice lawyers John C. Yoo and Jay S. Bybee face the scrutiny of state disciplinary officials, according to the Washington Post.

A separate criminal inquiry is under way as to whether CIA contractors went beyond what is allowed legally in the questioning of detainees who died or suffered serious injuries.

The Office of Professonal Responsibility at Justice had earlier said that Yoo, in relation to five memos, "violated his duty to exercise independent legal judgment and render thorough and candid legal advice." The ethics office had said Bybee, in a 2002 memo, offered an expansive view of presidential authority in connection with tactics used against al-Qaeda suspects in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Post reported.

But Deputy Attorney General David Margolis concluded that -- despite the "close question" presented at times by the allegations -- the two lawyers did not intentionally break ethics rules and were trying to prevent another terrorist attack in this country.

Yoo is currently a professor of law at the University of California; Bybee is a federal appeals court judge in Nevada. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt..), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Bybee should resign from his lifetime appointment.

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