Think Progress

ETHICS -- INVESTIGATION FINDS FEDERAL PROCUREMENT CHIEF VIOLATED FEDERAL LAW: The Federal Times reported yesterday that "an Office of Special Counsel report has found that General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan violated the Hatch Act, which bars federal officials from partisan political activity while on the job, sources say." The violation occurred at a Jan. 26 "lunch meeting at GSA headquarters attended by Doan and about 40 other political appointees," in which White House deputy director of political affairs Scott Jennings "gave a PowerPoint presentation that included slides listing Democratic and Republican seats the White House viewed as vulnerable in 2008, a map of contested Senate seats and other information on 2008 election strategy." After the presentation ended, Doan asked how the GSA could help "our candidates" through targeted public events, according to other participants in the meeting. Doan has until June 1 to respond to the OSC report. "After Doan responds, the report will be sent to President Bush with recommendations that could include suspension or termination. The president is not required to comply with the suggestions." Doan has previously testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where she claimed that she thought the meeting was appropriate. 

IRAQ -- IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION MIRED IN 'MUD OF INCOMPETENCE': The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, appeared before the House Foreign Relations Committee yesterday to "explain how billions of dollars of US taxpayers' money had gone missing in Iraq in what [the committee members] called a disastrous effort to rebuild the country." Bowen's latest quarterly report found "that new facilities are crumbling" and that "[s]ome of the supposedly completed ventures are actually houses of cards, ready to collapse." Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) also noted that "between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels of Iraqi oil were unaccounted for each day -- representing [a loss of] $5m to $15m daily" and that Iraq "was still not producing either oil or electricity at rates that matched pre-war performance." Bowen attempted to address the congressional criticisms stating, "This is not the Marshall plan. This is a reconstruction programme conducted virtually under fire." He conceded, however, that "corruption among Iraqi institutions represents 'a second insurgency' in terms of the challenge it presents" and that operations still suffer from "poor U.S. inter-agency planning and co-ordination." Additionally, he said that anti-corruption probes are hampered by new Iraqi laws "that exempt ministers, any employee designated by a minister, and former ministers from prosecution." In regards to American contractors in Iraq, Bowen said his office would soon publish the "results of investigations targeting Blackwater security contracts, Parsons Corp. and DynCorp International."

ETHICS -- GONZALES LIED TO SENATOR ABOUT PLAN TO INSTALL ROVE PROTEGE AS U.S. ATTORNEY: On Dec. 15, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) had their second phone conversation regarding the appointment of Karl Rove-protege Tim Griffin as the new U.S. attorney in Arkansas. In April 19 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gonzales said that when Pryor objected to Griffin's appointment, Gonzales promised to find a different candidate. Gonzales said he recalled telling Pryor, "Well, then I cannot recommend him [Griffin] to the White House, because if you don't support him, I know he will not be confirmed. We'll look for someone else, and give me names that we ought to consider." Yet a newly released Feb. 8 e-mail by Assistant Attorney General William Moschella shows that Gonzales made the decision to appoint Griffin "on or about December 15, 2006, after the second of the Attorney General's telephone conversations with Sen. Pryor." Therefore, despite assuring Pryor that he would "look for someone else," Gonzales went ahead and appointed Griffin anyway. Additionally, four days after the meeting between Gonzales and Pryor, Sampson sent out an e-mail recommending that they "gum this [Griffin's nomination] to death." Sampson told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Gonzales did not object to this plan at the time. Griffin continues to serve indefinitely as an "interim" U.S. attorney, even though the traditional 120-day term limit for interim prosecutors expired on April 20.

Former Justice Dept. spokesman Mark Corallo defended the partisan and potentially illegal hiring practices of Monica Goodling, claiming she "was trying to bring balance to the department." The civil rights division, he argued, "has long been populated by 'some of the most radical Democrats in the law.'"

U.S. soldiers in a Sunni neighborhood in west Baghdad "now openly declare pessimism for the mission's chances, unofficially referring to their splinter of heavily fortified land as 'the Alamo.'" One U.S. Army captain says Bush's escalation plan has mobilized the terrorist movement. "I sometimes worry that this period will end up going down here as their surge, not ours."

According to a new Fox News poll, "more voters say the situation in Iraq will be extremely important in deciding their 2008 vote for president than any other issue, including terrorism, health care and the economy." President Bush's approval rating stands at 34 percent in the poll.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has "effectively blocked a resolution to honor environmental author Rachel Carson on the 100th anniversary of her birth," saying that her warnings about environmental damage have "put a stigma on potentially lifesaving pesticides" such as DDT. 

"Unlike Muslim minorities in many European countries, U.S. Muslims are highly assimilated, close to parity with other Americans in income and overwhelmingly opposed to Islamic extremism, according to the first major, nationwide random survey of Muslims."

"The jump in U.S. gasoline prices this year has so far drained consumers of an extra $20 billion, or about $146 for each passenger car in the country." The average price for regular unleaded gasoline is currently a record $3.22 per gallon.

"A comprehensive immigration bill survived a significant test on Tuesday as the Senate voted to keep a provision that would let hundreds of thousands of temporary foreign workers enter the country each year."

Fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias writes, "What has become clear [through the attorney purge] is that the 'loyalty uber alles' mentality has infected a wide swath of the Bush administration. Simple notions like right and wrong are, in their eyes, matters of allegiance, not conscience. ... [The Justice Department] is in desperate need of leaders who place loyalty to the Constitution on a higher level than politics."

And finally: Harvard is putting out a list of famous people it once rejected. Included in that list are investor Warren Buffett, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, CNN founder Ted Turner, and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). "Rejected is such a strong word," Kerry told ABC News. "I prefer to think of it as crimson-challenged...besides I never would have fit in at a total jock school."