“DeLay told the Chronicle Saturday that in recent days he discussed his situation with GOP leaders, including Hastert, and considered several options, including resigning from Congress. In the end he decided against quitting Congress because ‘I still have a lot to contribute to the Houston-Galveston area.’”

A little more than a week ago, the right-wingers heralded the results of a poll that they claimed showed a majority of Americans supporting Bush’s illegal warrantless wiretapping policy. Here’s what that poll found:

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans believe the National Security Agency (NSA) should be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States.

Michelle Malkin used the poll results to suggest “America Is OK With NSA.” Redstate and the National Review also celebrated the results.

But there was a big problem with the poll question — it failed to say that President Bush was conducting the wiretapping without a warrant. Today, a new AP poll was released showing what Americans truly think of Bush’s policy:

56 percent of respondents in an AP-Ipsos poll said the government should be required to first get a court warrant to eavesdrop on the overseas calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens when those communications are believed to be tied to terrorism.

Fox News has the story.

Tom DeLay said this wasn’t going to happen. From the AP, 10/3/05:

The criminal charges are “so frivolous, so over-the-top, so embarrassing to the judiciary that we ought to be able to get it out of here pretty quickly,” DeLay told “Fox News Sunday.” “It will be over and be over very, very soon. And I think I will go back to be majority leader.”

UPDATE: The AP has more.

UPDATE II: DeLay releases his official resignation letter.

Conservatives are off to a bad start on their pledge to “improve transparency and accountability” in the House and Senate.

Not only has Frist tapped Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) — a key player in the K Street Project — to craft a conservative version of lobbying reform, the House has tasked one of its most corrupt members instruct new lawmakers on ethics:

Before they take their seats in the House of Representatives, newly elected lawmakers come to Washington for a weeklong orientation that includes a briefing on congressional ethics.

Presiding over their instruction is the chairman of the House Administration Committee, who since 2001 has been Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio.

Ney has been named as Representative #1 in the plea agreeements of both Abramoff and his partner, Michael Scanlon, detailing lavish gifts, travel, and contributions from the lobbyists in return for Ney’s cooperation in Congress. You can find more details of Ney’s extensive ties to Abramoff here.

(HT: War and Piece)

Percentage of marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body who could have survived if they had had better body armor, according to a secret Pentagon study.

“concludes that the administration’s justification for warrantless eavesdropping authorized by President Bush conflicts with existing law and hinges on weak legal arguments.”

The White House maintains that Bush does not “recall” meeting Abramoff and, if they ever did meet, it was only in passing at a large gathering:

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I said it’s possible that they would have met at a holiday reception or some other widely attended gathering. The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him.

Q But he has the special designation as a Pioneer, as Terry was alluding to, raising more than $100,000. And he attended, as you told us, three events, holiday receptions at the White House. How likely is it that the President would not have met him —

MR. McCLELLAN: That’s why I said it’s possible. But I just told you what I know at this point, and the President doesn’t recall meeting him and he certainly doesn’t know him.

It’s not just possible, it happened.

The Texas Observer reports that Abramoff met with Bush on May 9, 2001, with his clients, the Coushatta tribe. (The chairman of the Coushatta tribe initially denied the meeting occured, but subsequently admitted that it did.) Abramoff charged his client 25,000 to arrange the meeting.