FBI Criminal Division chief James Burrus says “the bureau is ramping up its ability to catch crooked politicians and might run an undercover sting on Congress.” He expects an emphasis on rooting out public corruption “for many, many, many years to come.”
House Speaker Hastert’s (R-IL) future “is in doubt even if the Republicans retain control of the House” because of unease over his handling of the Foley page scandal and “what a House ethics committee investigation might conclude about him,” the Washington Post reports.
A proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marraige in South Dakota is too close to call. Forty-seven percent say they are opposed to the amendment while 46 percent support it.
Federal prosecutors rejected 87 percent of the international terrorism cases brought by the FBI during the first nine months of fiscal year 2006. Prosecutions fell from 118 defendants in fiscal year 2002, to 19 defendants from Oct. 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006. The Justice Department disputed the findings.
“The U.S. government conducted a series of secret war games in 1999 that anticipated an invasion of Iraq would require 400,000 troops, and even then chaos might ensue.” Read the full study HERE.
Robert Novak writes conservative political operatives grumble that Bush’s presence on the campaign trail has been a drag. One operative told Novak what Bush’s strategy should have been: “The president should go on a 2 1/2 -week vacation, and when he gets back, go right into the hospital for minor surgery. In other words, he should have disappeared.”
Iraq is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to new rankings from Transparency International. “When you have high levels of violence,” the group’s chief executive said, “not only does security break down, but so do checks and balances, law enforcement and the functioning of institutions like the judiciary and legislature.”
A recent CIA assessment found that Afghan president Hamid Karzai has been “significantly weakened by rising popular frustration with his American-backed government.” Karzai continues “to struggle to exert authority beyond Kabul,” and is increasingly viewed as corrupt.
House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) criticized the Bush administration yesterday “for its handling of a trove of once-secret documents from Saddam Hussein’s covert nuclear program disclosed on a federal Web site.” “It looks like they screwed up,” he said.
And finally: Vice President Dick Cheney will shoot his friend pheasant on Election Day. “On his first hunting trip since he accidentally shot a companion last February while aiming at a covey of quail on a private Texas ranch,” Cheney “will head to South Dakota to spend several days at a private hunting lodge near Pierre.”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
Previous in TP Politics
By clicking and submitting a comment I acknowledge the ThinkProgress Privacy Policy and agree to the ThinkProgress Terms of Use. I understand that my comments are also being governed by Facebook's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.