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David
Lee Hobson - 
Ohio
- 
Real
Estate - 
Politics
- 
Lawmaker
- 
Federal
- Airport
- 
Transportation
- 
Construction
- "Rep.
David Hobson steered federal money to projects near properties he owns."
... "U.S. [United States Ohio Republican Representative] Rep. David Hobson
of south-central Ohio has directed millions of taxpayer dollars to two
Ohio projects near real estate he owned, a Plain Dealer review of congressional,
personal-finance and real estate records shows." ... "One project used
federal money to build a freight transfer center at a Columbus [Ohio's
capital] airport to help move goods to and from central Ohio. Hobson co-owns
an office building near the project, and his tenants -- among them U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and several freight companies, including
FedEx -- use that freight center." ... "Since buying into the building
in 2001, records show, Hobson has used his position in Congress to obtain
more than $30 million in federal transportation money to build the freight
transfer station, part of a conversion involving the old Rickenbacker Air
Force Base outside Columbus." ... "In a separate project, Hobson obtained
nearly $2 million from Congress to widen a road in Beavercreek [Ohio],
near Dayton [Ohio], in front of a condominium development in which he was
an investor, the review of records shows." ... "Neighbors of his investment
properties say area real estate values rose, at least partly as a result
of the projects he funded through Congress. Hobson is a senior member of
a committee that determines how to spend federal money." ... "Members of
the budget-writing committee decide in closed meetings which lawmaker-requested
earmarks will get tax money and typically give themselves a greater share."
-By Sabrina Eaton -PlainDealer
John
McCain
- 
Thomas
Loeffler - 
Foreign
- Politics
- 
Saudi
Arabia - 
French
- Aerospace
- 
Military
- 
Manufacturing
- 
Texas
- 
US
- 2008
Election - "Mccain
vs. Lobbyists." ... "Stung by the news that two aides
once lobbied for the Burmese junta, [2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate] John McCain last week rolled out a sweeping new conflict-of-interest
policy for his campaign, requiring all staffers to fill out questionnaires
identifying past or current clients that "could be embarrassing for the
senator."" ... "One top campaign official affected by the new policy is
national finance co-chair Tom
Loeffler, a former Texas congressman whose lobbying firm has collected
nearly $15 million from Saudi Arabia since 2002 and millions more from
other foreign and corporate interests, including a French aerospace firm
[EADS] seeking Pentagon contracts. Loeffler last month told a reporter
"at no time have I discussed my clients with John McCain." But lobbying
disclosure records reviewed by NEWSWEEK show that on May 17, 2006, Loeffler
listed meeting McCain along with the Saudi ambassador to "discuss US-Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia relations."" ... "Another potential problem: Loeffler's
firm started paying $15,000 a month last summer to one of its lobbyists,
Susan Nelson, after she left to become McCain's full-time finance director,
said a source familiar with the arrangement (who asked not to be identified
talking about sensitive matters)." -By Michael Isikoff
-Newsweek
- 
- 
Media
- Politics
- 
Corporate
- 
Network
- 2008
Election - 
-
- 
-
- Torture
- 
- Human
Rights -
- Consumer
- 
-
- Safety
- 
-
- 
- Death
Penalty - "Okay,
Now I'm Bitter." [Mary Mapes on what
DISNEY/ABC didn't cover in the 2008 Election Democratic Presidential
Candidate debate in Pennsylvania with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama]
... "In Iraq, we've seen a rebound in suicide bombings and gotten the disquieting
information that Iraqi soldiers have been fleeing the battlefield in frightening
numbers." ... "Americans learned that detailed discussions of torture techniques
had been held in the [Republican President] White House -- our White House
-- and President Bush revealed that he knew this and approved." ... "[Home]
Foreclosure rates have spiked to frightening levels." ... "U.S. [United
States] shoppers were told that food prices in this country are rising
at a higher pace than at any time in the past 17 years." ... "The airline
industry floundered through dreadful days of groundings, amidst safety
concerns, economic ailments and passenger anger." ... "Oil prices are setting
new records almost every day and $4 a gallon gas is coming soon to a service
station near you." ... "The anguish over China's human rights record and
its handling of Tibet turned the Olympic torch relay into a cross between
Spain's Running of the Bulls and 3rd grade keep-away." ... "[2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, acting like a mean old
man trying to chase those pesky voters off his lawn, refused to endorse
a new GI bill that would help those currently serving our country get a
college education." ... "The Supreme Court issued a fractured opinion on
the death penalty that for the first time in years raises the real possibility
of a national debate on the value and morality of the ultimate punishment."
... "And we are in the middle of what is clearly the most important, most
consequential election of my lifetime -- and I'm no spring chicken." ...
"Instead, I sat in front of my TV open-mouthed, listening to a hodgepodge
of juvenile questions about flag jewelry, the possibility of a "dream"
ticket, elderly radicals, Charlie Gibson's personal tax concerns and ministers
who emote too much. What, no time for a question about Cindy McCain's purloined
pork chop recipe?" -By Mary Mapes
-HuffingtonPost.com
Safety
- 
Enforcement
- Corporate
- Politics
- Federal
- Aviation
- Lawmakers
- 
Ill- Texas
- "Lawmakers
blame FAA for mass flight cancellations." ... "Outrage
over mass cancellations of American Airlines flights spilled into Congress
on Thursday as lawmakers blamed regulators at the Federal Aviation Administration
for indirectly contributing to the hardships shouldered by thousands of
stranded travelers." ... "Nicholas Sabatini, the FAA's associate administrator
for safety, endured relentless questions by members of a Senate subcommittee
on aviation, who took turns denouncing "systematic" regulatory failures
by the FAA. Several suggested that the cancellations may not have been
necessary if the agency had been tougher in the past." ... "In the past
three days, American Airlines has grounded nearly 2,500 flights to repair
wiring bundles in the wheel wells of its MD-80 fleet. The repairs were
ordered after the FAA toughened its oversight of commercial airlines following
allegations that FAA officials in Texas allowed Dallas-based Southwest
Airlines to fly potentially unsafe airplanes that were overdue for inspections."
... ""I don't think there is any question that the FAA has been lax in
enforcing safety regulations," [Illinois Democratic Representative] Rep.
Jerry Costello, D-Ill. [Democratic-Illinois], chairman of the House aviation
subcommittee, said in a telephone interview." -By
Dave
Montgomery -McClatchyDC.com
John
McCain - Jet
- Vacation
- Homes
- Phoenix
- 
Arizona
- 
California
- 
Va
- Political
- 2008
Election - "Beer
heiress could be next first lady: [2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's
marriage has mixed business and politics from beginning." ... "As heiress
to her father's stake in Hensley & Co. of Phoenix [Arizona], Cindy
McCain is an executive whose worth may exceed $100 million. Her beer earnings
have afforded the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican 2008 Election] presidential
nominee [John McCain] a wealthy lifestyle with a private jet and vacation
homes at his disposal, and her connections helped him launch his political
career — even if the millions remain in her name alone." ... "Within a
few years of marrying Cindy Hensley, the daughter of a multimillionaire
Anheuser-Busch distributor, John McCain won his first election. He was
new to Arizona politics and fundraising in the 1982 House race, and his
campaign quickly fell into debt. Personal money -- tens of thousands of
dollars in loans to his campaign from McCain bank accounts -- helped him
survive." ... "Cindy McCain's father, James Hensley, and other Hensley
& Co. executives gave so much the Federal Election Commission ordered
McCain to give some of it back." ... "Beverage industry analysts estimate
Hensley's value at more than $250 million and its annual sales at $300
million or more." ... "Assets held by Cindy McCain alone or with her children
also include Anheuser-Busch stock; two condominiums along the California
coast worth a total of at least $3 million and Arizona investments in rental
medical offices and a parking lot, according to property records and John
McCain's latest financial disclosure reports." ... "Cindy McCain, through
a family trust, sold the family mansion in Phoenix for $3.2 million and
bought a $4.6 million Phoenix condo in 2006. The couple may also jointly
own a condo in Arlington, Va. [Virginia], assessed at $847,800." ... "John
McCain held a barbecue recently for reporters at a two-story cabin near
Sedona, Ariz. [Arizona], that sits on 15 acres owned by his wife's family
trust and a real estate partnership in her name. The property includes
four single-family homes and is worth nearly $1.8 million." (1, 2)
-AP via -MSNBC
Corporate
- Government
- Aviation
- Safety
- 
Audit
- Transportation
- Law
- Texas
- "FAA
Whistleblower Says He Was Threatened: Tells Congress
Agency Viewed Airlines More Like "Customers" Than Companies To Be Regulated."
... "The FAA [Federal Aviation Agency] last month took the rare step of
ordering the audit of maintenance records at all domestic carriers following
reports of missed safety inspections at Dallas[Texas]-based Southwest.
The airline was hit with a record $10.2 million fine for continuing to
fly dozens of Boeing 737s that hadn't been inspected for cracks in their
fuselages." ... "Both FAA whistleblowers - Charalambe Boutris and [Douglas]
Peters - said the agency views the airlines as its "customers" instead
of companies to be regulated. They said the FAA's chief maintenance inspector
at Southwest, Douglas T. Gawadzinski, knowingly allowed Southwest to keep
planes flying that put passengers at risk, and that another inspector knew
of the problem and did nothing." ... "Gawadzinski is still employed by
the FAA, but has no responsibility for safety decisions, said Nicholas
Sabatini, the agency's associate administrator for aviation safety. The
FAA will "take whatever action the law will allow" when the investigation
into the Southwest episode is complete, he added." ... "Gawadzinski was
not asked to testify at Thursday's hearing because he was considered to
be a hostile witness who would most likely refuse to answer questions that
could have incriminated himself, according to a spokesman for the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee."
-AP via -CBSNews
Corporate
- Federal
- Aviation
- Safety
- Transportation
- Law
- 
Jobs
- Politics
- Censorship
- 
Minn
- "FAA
Inspectors Say Jobs Were Threatened: Committee Investigating
'Culture Of Coziness'." ... "The whistleblowers who exposed maintenance
and inspection problems at Southwest Airlines told Congress Thursday that
their jobs were threatened." ... "They also told U.S. [United States Minnesota
Democratic Represenative] Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn. [Democratic-Minnesota],
and other members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
that their reports of noncompliance were ignored for years by their superiors."
... "Federal Aviation Administration inspector Douglas Peters choked up
during the hearing and needed a few sips of water to tell lawmakers about
how a former manager came into his office, commented on pictures of Peters'
family being most important, and then said his job could be jeopardized
by his actions." ... "Oberstar said FAA [Federal Aviation Administration]
managers' actions displayed "malfeasance bordering on corruption," adding
that if presented to a grand jury, the evidence would result in an indictment."
-KCTV5.com
John
McCain
- Corporate
- Politics
- 
European
- Built
- Planes
- US
- Military
- Government
- 
Space
- Arizona
- Los
Angeles - California
- Texas
- 2008
Election - "McCain
Advisers Lobbied for Europeans to Win Air Force Tanker Deal."
... "A co-chairman of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
and Arizona] Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign and other top
campaign advisers and supporters were lobbyists for the European Aeronautic
Defense and Space Company, part of a group that beat out Boeing for a $35
billion contract to build aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force."
... "Boeing, which has filed an appeal with the Government Accountability
Office, is expected to focus at least in part on Mr. McCain’s role in the
deal, including letters that he sent urging the Defense Department, in
evaluating the tanker bids, not to consider the potential effects of a
separate United States-Airbus trade dispute." ... "That contract was won
by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, known as EADS, the
corporate parent of Airbus, and Northrop Grumman, the military contractor
based in Los Angeles [California]." ... "Mr. McCain’s campaign co-chairman,
former Representative Thomas Loeffler, a Texas Republican, also runs a
lobbying firm, the Loeffler Group, which earned $220,000 working for EADS
in 2007. Mr. Loeffler was the McCain campaign national finance chairman
when his firm was hired to lobby for EADS." ... "Two other Loeffler executives
who were registered to lobby for EADS are now top campaign advisers for
Mr. McCain: Susan Nelson, the finance director, and William L. Ball III,
the former Navy secretary. Ms. Nelson and Mr. Ball left the lobbying firm
to join the campaign." ... "Another major money raiser for Mr. McCain,
Wayne Berman, who was named vice chairman of the campaign last year, also
worked for EADS through another lobbying firm, Ogilvy Government Relations,
where he is a partner. Ogilvy earned $240,000 from EADS in 2007." ... "Also
supporting Mr. McCain and lobbying on behalf of EADS was Kirk Blalock,
a national chairman of Young Professionals for McCain and a former aide
to [Republican] President Bush. Mr. Blalock’s lobbying firm, Fierce, Isakowitz
& Blalock, earned $320,000 from EADS in 2007, according to disclosure
forms required by Congress. " -By David
M. Herszenhorn with contributions by Michael Cooper and Steven R. Weisman
-NYTimes
John
McCain
- European
- Planes
- Manufacturing
Plant - Jobs
- US
- Military
- Lawmaker
- Politics
- Arizona
- 
Washington
- 
Kansas
- 2008
Election - "McCain's
Role in Plane Pact Spotlights Ties to Lobbyists."
... "To show that he's a crusader against wasteful spending and congressional
corruption, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona
Senator] Sen. John McCain repeatedly brags about his leading role in stopping
a scandal-plagued air tanker contract between the Air Force and Boeing
in 2004." ... "Four years later, a $35 billion contract has been awarded
to Europe's Airbus consortium to build the latest generation of tanker
planes. The decision has sparked anger from Boeing's congressional supporters
and critics of outsourcing. It has also focused attention on McCain's reliance
on lobbyists in his campaign for president because his finance chairman
and several other top advisers lobbied for Airbus last year when it was
in fierce competition with Boeing for the Air Force contract." ... "McCain
has spoken out for years against the influence of special interests in
Washington, but his campaign includes a number of prominent Washington
lobbyists, including campaign manager Rick Davis, who founded a lobbying
firm, and top political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., chief executive
of a well-known Washington firm. Neither of them lobbied for Airbus." ...
"McCain finance chairman Thomas G. Loeffler and Susan E. Nelson, who left
Loeffler's lobbying firm to be McCain's finance director, both began lobbying
for Airbus's parent company in 2007, Senate records show. William L. Ball
III, a former secretary of the Navy and frequent McCain surrogate on the
trail, also lobbied for Airbus, as did John Green, who recently took a
leave from Ogilvy Public Relations to serve as McCain's legislative liaison."
... "Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington state, where Boeing
has long had a significant presence, have lambasted McCain for laying the
groundwork for a decision that will cost their economy thousands of aerospace
jobs. Lawmakers in Kansas, where Boeing has a plant, have also been critical."
(1, 2)
-By Michael D. Shear and Matthew Mosk with contributions
by Jeffrey H. Birnbaum -WashingtonPost
John
McCain
- European
- Aircraft
- US
- Military
- Politics
- California
- 2008
Election - "McCain
under fire over aides' role in air tanker deal."
... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain faced
fresh scrutiny of his role in the award of a $35bn (£17bn) Pentagon
contract to EADS [European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company] yesterday
after it emerged that some of his top advisers lobbied for the European
aerospace group to win the deal." ... "Mr McCain, the presumptive Republican
presidential nominee, has portrayed himself as a neutral watchdog in the
long battle between EADS and Boeing to supply a new generation of refuelling
tanker aircraft to the US air force. But the revelation that three of his
aides lobbied for EADS threatened to deepen the perception that Mr McCain
helped steer one of the biggest military procurement contracts in recent
years into foreign hands." ... "EADS recruited the Loeffler Group, run
by Tom Loeffler, the national finance co-chair of the McCain campaign,
last year to help it lobby for the contract. Susan Nelson, a former Loeffler
lobbyist who represented EADS, also later joined the McCain campaign as
finance director. John Green, a lobbyist for Ogilvy Government Relations,
worked for EADS before joining the McCain campaign on a volunteer basis
recently." ... "Critics, including [California Democratic Representative
and House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, have accused
Mr McCain of complicity in "outsourcing" the contract to Europe." -By
Andrew Ward -FT.com
John
McCain
- 
Bob
Riley
- European
- Plane
- Maker
- Politics
- US
- Military
- Arizona
- 
Alabama- 2008
Election - "McCain
Received Defense Firm Cash After Backing Its Contract."
... "Critics on Tuesday questioned whether [2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain catered to special interests
when he aggressively threw his support behind a $35 billion Pentagon contract
for a European plane maker." ... "McCain, the presumptive GOP [GOP=Grand
Old Party=Republican] presidential nominee, played a crucial role in blocking
the deal to build air tankers from going to U.S.[United States]-based Boeing,
instead paving the path for EADS [European Aeronautic Defense and Space
Company] to score the loot. He framed his decision as an example of political
integrity; Boeing has previously been exposed of contract abuse. But a
review of campaign finance donations and lobbying records suggests that
money and personal lobbying may have also been in play." ... "On January
15, 2007, McCain appeared at Alabama [Republican Governor] Gov. Bob Riley's
gubernatorial swearing in ceremony and formally called for multiple bidders
in the tanker deal. The push for an open process had only one true beneficiary,
however, and that was the Northrop Grumman/EADS consortium, which was poised
to be Boeing's sole competitor." ... "A day after McCain made his proclamation,
the contributions began to flow. John Green, a lobbyist for EADS donated
$2,100 to the senator's presidential campaign. Ten days after that, Michelle
Lammers, the "Chief of Staff" for EADS North America, gave $250 to the
McCain campaign. It was her first political contribution ever. Less than
a month later, the long-time head of EADS' government affairs program,
Samuel Adcock, made a $2,100 donation to McCain. And eleven days later,
Ralph Crosby, the head of EADS North America, donated $2,300 himself."
... "All told, as documented earlier by CQ PoliticalMoneyline, McCain received
more than $15,000 from EADS and its subsidiary, Airbus North America. Not
only was this the highest amount received by any federal candidate, but
prior to 2006, not a single employee from EADS had ever contributed to
McCain. Two Airbus employees did donate nearly $4,000 for his 2000 run
at the White House." -By
Sam
Stein -HuffingtonPost.com
John
McCain
- US
- European
- Military
- Plane
- Manufacturing
- Politics
- 2008
Election - Arizona
- Texas
- Illinois
- "McCain
Advisers Lobbied for Airbus." ... "Top current advisers
to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator]
Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign last year lobbied for a European
plane maker that beat Boeing to a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract,
taking sides in a bidding fight that McCain has tried to referee for more
than five years." ... "Two of the advisers gave up their lobbying work
when they joined McCain's campaign. A third, former Texas [Republican Representative]
Rep. Tom Loeffler, lobbied for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space
Co. while serving as McCain's national finance chairman." ... "EADS is
the parent company of Airbus, which teamed up with U.S.-based Northrop
Grumman Corp. to win the lucrative aerial refueling contract on Feb. 29.
Boeing Co. Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney said in a statement Monday that
the Chicago[Illinois]-based aerospace company "found serious flaws in the
process that we believe warrant appeal."" ... "EADS retained Ogilvy Government
Relations and The Loeffler Group to lobby for the tanker deal last year,
months after McCain sent two letters urging the Defense Department to make
sure the bidding proposals guaranteed competition." ... "According to lobbying
records filed with the Senate, Loeffler Group lobbyists on the project
included Loeffler; Susan Nelson, who left the firm and is now the campaign's
finance director and former Secretary of the Navy William Ball III, who
has campaigned for McCain. Ogilvy lobbyist John Green, who was assigned
the EADS work, recently took a leave of absence to volunteer for McCain
as the campaign's congressional liaison." ... "So far this election cycle,
[EADS] company employees have donated $120,350 [in political contributions].
Of that, McCain's presidential campaign has received $14,000, the most
of any other member of Congress this election cycle." -By
Jim Kuhnhenn and Matthew Daly with contributions by Glen Johnson and Libby
Quaid -AP
via -SeattleTimes
John
McCain
- France
- European
Union - US
- Military
- Aircraft
- Manufacturers
- Money
- Jobs
- 2008
Election - Arizona
- Los
Angeles - California
- Seattle
- Washington
- Illinois
- "Boeing
backers blame McCain for losing deal." ... "Supporters
of The Boeing Co. blame [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential
nominee, for the company's failure to win the lucrative $35 billion contract
to build new Air Force aerial refueling tankers." ... "The Air Force last
week awarded the contract to a team of Airbus parent EADS and Northrop
Grumman Corp., triggering a firestorm from Boeing advocates who said the
victory by the European-led consortium ignored American national security
interests and would cost U.S. jobs." ... "Boeing advocates say McCain was
a major force behind the Air Force decision to ignore the issue of government
subsidies to Airbus when the tanker contract was put up for competitive
bidding last year." ... "The issue of European government subsidies for
Airbus has been raised for years by Boeing supporters who claim that those
financial breaks have allowed the Toulouse, France-based company to undercut
Boeing's prices and thus gain market share in the global competition between
the two aircraft manufacturers. (Both the U.S. and the European Union,
which claims Boeing also receives subsidies, have filed cases with the
World Trade Organization.)" ... "Boeing advocates assert that those same
subsidies helped European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. and Los-Angeles[California]-based
Northrop Grumman win the Air Force tanker project, with a value that could
eventually top $100 billion." ... ""The only reason that (Airbus) could
even bid a low price is because they receive a subsidy," said [Washington
Democratic Representative] Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., whose Seattle-area
district includes thousands of Boeing workers. "Senator McCain jumped into
this and said that they (the Air Force) could not look at the subsidy issue,
which I think is a big mistake," he told PBS." ... "McCain himself has
received support from the EADS North America executive suite. He has received
more than $12,000 in campaign donations from some of the company's top
U.S. officials, support that continued even as his presidential campaign
was foundering in mid- to late 2007." ... "McCain's donors include EADS
North America Chief Executive Officer Ralph Crosby and Senior Vice President
of Government Relations Samuel Adcock." ... ""The person that stopped (the
tanker) from going to a U.S. company was Senator McCain," said [Illinois
Democratic Represenative Rahm] Emanuel, "and now we are going to send major
high-paying jobs overseas."" -By Eric Rosenberg with
contributions by Daniel Lathrop -SeattlePI
John
McCain
- Corporate
- Politician
- Government
- Television
- Media
- 
Communications
- Law
- Pennsylvania
- Arizona
- 
Florida
- Jet
- 
Vicki
Iseman - 
History
- 2008
Election - "McCain
Disputed On 1999 Meeting: Broadcaster Recalls Urging
FCC [Federal Communications Commission] Contact." ... "Broadcaster Lowell
"Bud" Paxson yesterday contradicted statements from [2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's presidential
campaign that the senator did not meet with Paxson or his lobbyist before
sending two controversial letters to the Federal Communications Commission
on Paxson's behalf." ... "Paxson said he talked with McCain in his Washington
office several weeks before the Arizona Republican wrote the letters in
1999 to the FCC urging a rapid decision on Paxson's quest to acquire a
Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania] television station." ... "Paxson also recalled
that his lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, likely attended the meeting in McCain's
office and that Iseman helped arrange the meeting. "Was Vicki there? Probably,"
Paxson said in an interview with The Washington Post yesterday. "The woman
was a professional. She was good. She could get us meetings."" ... "The
recollection of the now-retired Paxson conflicted with the account provided
by the McCain campaign about the two letters at the center of a controversy
about the senator's ties to Iseman, a partner at the lobbying firm of Alcalde
& Fay." ... "The McCain campaign said Thursday that the senator had
not met with Paxson or Iseman on the matter. "No representative of Paxson
or Alcalde and Fay personally asked Senator McCain to send a letter to
the FCC regarding this proceeding," the campaign said in a statement."
... "But Paxson said yesterday, "I remember going there to meet with him."
He recalled that he told McCain: "You're head of the Commerce Committee.
The FCC is not doing its job. I would love for you to write a letter.""
... "The two letters he wrote to the FCC in 1999 while he was chairman
of the Senate Commerce Committee produced a rash of criticism and a written
rebuke from the then-FCC chairman, who called McCain's intervention "highly
unusual."" ... "On [1999 Novemeber] Nov. 17, McCain sent a letter to FCC
Chairman William E. Kennard saying, "I write today to express my concern
about the Commission's continuing failure to act" on the three-station
deal involving Paxson." ... "McCain had flown on Paxson's corporate jet
four times to appear at [2000 Election] campaign events and had received
$28,000 in campaign donations from Paxson and its law firm." ... "The second
letter came on Dec. 10, a day after the company's jet ferried McCain to
a Florida fundraiser aboard a yacht in West Palm Beach, Fla. [Florida.]
The fundraiser was arranged by Hector Alcalde of Alcalde & Fay and
was hosted by a cruise line that Alcalde had represented, Paxson said.
Paxson said he attended the fundraiser." (1, 2,
3)
-By James V. Grimaldi and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum with
contributions by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost
John
McCain
- Corporate
- Politics
- Television
- Media
- Communications
- Jet
- Vicki
Iseman - Arizona
- Pennsylvania
- Florida
- 2008
Election - "A
Hole in McCain’s Defense? An apparent contradiction
in his response to lobbyist story." ... "A sworn deposition that [2008
Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John
McCain gave in a lawsuit more than five years ago appears to contradict
one part of a sweeping denial that his campaign issued this week to rebut
a New York Times story about his ties to a Washington lobbyist." ... "On
Wednesday night the Times published a story suggesting that McCain might
have done legislative favors for the clients of the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman,
who worked for the firm of Alcalde & Fay. One example it cited were
two letters McCain wrote in late 1999 demanding that the Federal Communications
Commission act on a long-stalled bid by one of Iseman's clients, Florida-based
Paxson Communications, to purchase a Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania] television
station." ... "Just hours after the Times's story was posted, the McCain
campaign issued a point-by-point response that depicted the letters as
routine correspondence handled by his staff—and insisted that McCain had
never even spoken with anybody from Paxson or Alcalde & Fay about the
matter. "No representative of Paxson or Alcalde & Fay personally asked
Senator McCain to send a letter to the FCC [Federal Communications Commission],"
the campaign said in a statement e-mailed to reporters." ... "But that
flat claim seems to be contradicted by an impeccable source: McCain himself.
"I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue," McCain said in the Sept.
25, 2002, deposition obtained by NEWSWEEK. "He wanted their approval very
bad for purposes of his business. I believe that Mr. Paxson had a legitimate
complaint."" ... "While McCain said "I don't recall" if he ever directly
spoke to the firm's lobbyist about the issue [during the 2002 deposition]—an
apparent reference to Iseman, though she is not named—"I'm sure I spoke
to [Paxson]." McCain agreed that his letters on behalf of Paxson, a campaign
contributor, could "possibly be an appearance of corruption"—even though
McCain denied doing anything improper." ... "McCain's subsequent letters
to the FCC—coming around the same time that Paxson's firm was flying the
senator to campaign events aboard its corporate jet and contributing $20,000
to his campaign—first surfaced as an issue during his unsuccessful 2000
presidential bid. William Kennard, the FCC chair at the time, described
the sharply worded letters from McCain, then chairman of the Senate Commerce
Committee, as "highly unusual."" (1, 2)
-By Michael Isikoff -Newsweek
John
McCain
- Corporate
- Politician
- Lawmaker
-
-
- 
- 
-
- 
- 2008
Election - Ariz
- "The
Anti-Lobbyist, Advised by Lobbyists." ... "For years,
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen.
John McCain (R-Ariz.[Republican-Arizona]) has railed against lobbyists
and the influence of "special interests" in Washington, touting on his
campaign Web site his fight against "the 'revolving door' by which lawmakers
and other influential officials leave their posts and become lobbyists
for the special interests they have aided."" ... "But when McCain huddled
with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map
out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington
lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis,
co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC
Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr.,
is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates,
which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways." ...
"Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have
lobbied for Land O' Lakes, UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae." ...
"[Charles] Black's current clients include General Motors, United Technologies,
JPMorgan and AT&T." ... "In McCain's case, the fact that lobbyists
are essentially running his presidential campaign -- most of them as volunteers
-- seems to some people to be at odds with his anti-lobbying rhetoric."
... "McCain's reliance on lobbyists for key jobs -- both in the Senate
and in his presidential campaign --extends beyond his inner circle. McCain
recently hired Mark Buse to be his Senate chief of staff. Buse led the
Commerce Committee staff in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and was until
last fall a lobbyist for ML Strategies, representing eBay, Goldman Sachs
Group, Cablevision, Tenneco and Novartis Pharmaceuticals." (1, 2)
-By Michael D. Shear and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum with
contributions by Glenn Kessler, Alice Crites and Chris Cillizza -WashingtonPost
John
McCain
- Corporate
- Politics
- Lawmaker
- Jets
- US_Debt
- US
- Iraq
- Military
- 
Children's
- 
Health-Care
- Barack
Obama
- 2008
Election - "Transcript:
Howard Dean On John McCain And The Republican 'Culture Of Corruption'."
... "Q: So there is big news about [2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate] John McCain -- the story
that is in the New York Times, raising questions about his relationship
with a lobbyist. This is a story the McCain people are saying is unfair
and untrue. What do you think?""Dean: Yes, he certainly has. This goes all the way back to the Keating Five Scandal and the S & L [Savings and Loan] scandals, where he took a hundred thousand donations, rode on corporate jets and then intervened on Charles Keating's behalf -- and again and again we see this. We even saw -- it's so hypocritical -- we even saw that he is trying to harass [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama about whether he's going to take public financing in the campaign, and he forewent his own public financing in the primaries after getting a loan, based on the idea that he might take public financing." ... "This is not a guy who is a reformer. He talks about change, and he makes a big deal about not being like [Republican President] Bush when in fact he is Bush. He voted for Bush's tax cuts after saying he didn't, and has been responsible for a $6 trillion national debt that our children are going to have to pay. He thinks we ought to stay in Iraq for 100 years. He thought it was great that the president vetoed health care for our kids under 18. This is four more years of George Bush, and I don't think the American people are going to buy it."
John
McCain
- Vicki
Iseman - Corporate
- Government
- Vacations
- Jets
- Real
Estate - Television
Networks - Media
- Communications
- Law
- Politics
- History
- Phoenix
- Arizona
- 2008
Election - "For
McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk."
... "Even as he [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona
Senator John McCain] has vowed to hold himself to the highest ethical standards,
his confidence in his own integrity has sometimes seemed to blind him to
potentially embarrassing conflicts of interest." ... "Mr. McCain promised,
for example, never to fly directly from Washington to Phoenix [Arizona],
his hometown, to avoid the impression of self-interest because he sponsored
a law that opened the route nearly a decade ago. But like other lawmakers,
he often flew on the corporate jets of business executives seeking his
support, including the media moguls Rupert Murdoch, Michael R. Bloomberg
and Lowell W. Paxson, Ms. [lobbyist Vicki] Iseman’s client. (Last year
he voted to end the practice.)" ... "Mr. McCain helped found a nonprofit
group to promote his personal battle for tighter campaign finance rules.
But he later resigned as its chairman after news reports disclosed that
the group was tapping the same kinds of unlimited corporate contributions
he opposed, including those from companies seeking his favor. He has criticized
the cozy ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, but is relying on corporate
lobbyists to donate their time running his presidential race and recently
hired a lobbyist to run his Senate office. " ... "During Mr. McCain’s four
years in the House [of Representatives], Mr. [Charles] Keating, his family
and his business associates contributed heavily to his political campaigns.
The banker gave Mr. McCain free rides on his private jet, a violation of
Congressional ethics rules (he later said it was an oversight and paid
for the trips). They vacationed together in the Bahamas. And in 1986, the
year Mr. McCain was elected to the Senate, his wife joined Mr. Keating
in investing in an Arizona shopping mall." ... "Mr. Keating had taken over
the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association and used its federally insured
deposits to gamble on risky real estate and other investments. He pressed
Mr. McCain and other lawmakers to help hold back federal banking regulators."
... "For years, Mr. McCain complied. At Mr. Keating’s request, he wrote
several letters to regulators, introduced legislation and helped secure
the nomination of a Keating associate to a banking regulatory board." ...
"By early 1987, though, the thrift was careering toward disaster. Mr. McCain
agreed to join several senators, eventually known as the Keating Five,
for two private meetings with regulators to urge them to ease up." ...
"When Lincoln went bankrupt in 1989 — one of the biggest collapses of the
savings and loan crisis, costing taxpayers $3.4 billion — the Keating Five
became infamous. The scandal sent Mr. Keating to prison and ended the careers
of three senators, who were censured in 1991 for intervening. Mr. McCain,
who had been a less aggressive advocate for Mr. Keating than the others,
was reprimanded only for “poor judgment” and was re-elected the next year.
" ... "A champion of deregulation, Mr. McCain wrote letters in 1998 and
1999 to the Federal Communications Commission urging it to uphold marketing
agreements allowing a television company to control two stations in the
same city, a crucial issue for Glencairn Ltd. [Limited], one of Ms. Iseman’s
clients. He introduced a bill to create tax incentives for minority ownership
of stations; Ms. Iseman represented several businesses seeking such a program.
And he twice tried to advance legislation that would permit a company to
control television stations in overlapping markets, an important issue
for Paxson." ... "In late 1999, Ms. Iseman asked Mr. McCain’s staff to
send a letter to the commission to help Paxson, now Ion Media Networks,
on another matter. Mr. Paxson was impatient for F.C.C. approval of a television
deal, and Ms. Iseman acknowledged in an e-mail message to The Times that
she had sent to Mr. McCain’s staff information for drafting a letter urging
a swift decision." ... "Mr. McCain complied. He sent two letters to the
commission, drawing a rare rebuke for interference from its chairman."
(1, 2,
3,
4)
-By Jim
Rutenberg, Marilyn W. Thompson, David
D. Kirkpatrick and Stephen
Labaton with contributions by Barclay Walsh and Kitty Bennett
-NYTimes
John
McCain
- Vicki
Iseman - Corporate
- Government
- Television
Stations - Media
- Communications
- Law
- Politics
- Jet
- Travel
- History
- Arizona
- Florida
- Pennsylvania
- 2008
Election - "McCain:
Reports on lobbyist a "smear"." ... "The story alleges
that McCain wrote letters and pushed legislation involving television station
ownership that would have benefited [lobbyist Vicki] Iseman's clients."
... "In late 1999, [Arizona Republican Senator and 2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate John] McCain twice wrote letters to the Federal
Communications Commission on behalf of Florida-based Paxson Communications
- which had paid Iseman as its lobbyist - urging quick consideration of
a proposal to buy a television station license in Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania].
At the time, Paxson's chief executive, Lowell W. "Bud" Paxson, also was
a major contributor to McCain's 2000 presidential campaign." ... "McCain
did not urge the FCC commissioners to approve the proposal, but he asked
for speedy consideration of the deal, which was pending from two years
earlier. In an unusual response, then-FCC Chairman William Kennard complained
that McCain's request "comes at a sensitive time in the deliberative process"
and "could have procedural and substantive impacts on the commission's
deliberations and, thus, on the due process rights of the parties."" ...
"McCain wrote the letters after he received more than $20,000 in contributions
from Paxson executives and lobbyists. Paxson also lent McCain his company's
jet at least four times during 1999 for campaign travel." -By
Libby Quaid -AP
via -Star-Telegram.com
US
- 
Iran
- Military
- Aircraft
- Money
- Politics
- Texas
- 
Singapore
- "Fort
Worth pair accused of illegal sales to Iran." ...
"A Fort Worth [Texas] woman remained in federal custody Tuesday on charges
that she along with her husband made millions of dollars by illegally selling
commercial and U.S. military aircraft parts to Iran." ... "Laura Woodford,
63, who has been detained for more than a month, and her husband, Brian,
77, who remained at large, conducted part of their underground trade through
a company they operated in Fort Worth, according to a 20-count federal
indictment charging them with conspiracy, money laundering and other acts
in violation of national security laws." ... "The Woodfords exported commercial
aircraft parts from the United States to their company in Singapore, Monarch
Aviation, and then shipped the parts to Iran without first obtaining a
license from the U.S. because of Iran's "support of international terrorism,"
according to the recently unsealed indictments." ... "In addition, the
couple is charged with exporting to Iran the components used to build Chinook
military helicopters in the U.S. without getting the proper license or
government approval to do so, the Justice Department said in a statement."
-By Jack Douglas Jr. -Star-Telegram.com
Secrecy
- US
- Overseas
- Torture- Flights
- Prisoners
- Transport
- Trip
- Corporate
- Government
- Law
- 
Intelligence
- Politics
- California
- "Secrecy
plea ties up torture flights case." ... "A lawsuit
accusing a San Jose [California] flight-planning company of helping the
CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] transport prisoners to overseas torture
chambers must be dismissed because it would risk exposing state secrets,
a [Republican President] Bush administration lawyer argued Tuesday to a
federal judge, who seemed to reluctantly agree." ... "The five plaintiffs
can't prove that Jeppesen International Trip Planning subjected them to
wrongful imprisonment and torture without first showing that the company
aided the CIA, that foreign governments collaborated, and that the so-called
extraordinary rendition program subjected them to brutal treatment, Justice
Department attorney Michael Abate said at a hearing in San Jose. Each one
of those assertions depends on classified information that can't be aired
in court, he said." ... ""Without the information in question, this case
cannot be litigated," Abate told U.S. [United States] District Judge James
Ware. The result of allowing the government to keep its secrets out of
court "can be harsh," he said, but under the state-secrets doctrine recognized
by the U.S. Supreme Court since 1953, "private parties bear that burden
on behalf of society."" ... "Ware did not issue a ruling after the 70-minute
hearing, and made it clear that he considered some aspects of the government's
position to be extreme. He questioned Abate's argument that the imprisonment
and interrogation of each plaintiff remained an official secret, even though
the men knew how they were treated." ... ""If they're in the program, the
secret's disclosed, at least to them," the judge said. When Abate insisted
that legal precedents require official government confirmation to remove
the veil of secrecy, Ware said the doctrine known as the state-secrets
privilege "should be called a state privilege to do whatever it wants.""
-Bob Egelko -SFGate.com
Secret
- 
Larry
Craig
- Gay
- 
Idaho
- 
Colorado
- Minnesota
- Airport
- Police
- Law
- 2008
Election - Money
- "More
gay men describe sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig:
Allegations made since news of the Minneapolis case broke lend weight to
rumors about [Idaho Republican Senator Larry] Craig." ... "David Phillips.
Mike Jones. Greg Ruth. Tom Russell." ... "Four gay men, willing to put
their names in print and whose allegations can't be disproved, have come
forward since news of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's guilty plea. They say they
had sex with Craig or that he made a sexual advance or that he paid them
unusual attention." ... "They are telling their stories now because they
are offended by Craig's denials, including his famous statement, "I am
not gay, I never have been gay." Those words, spoken on live national TV
on Aug. 28, are now memorialized on a just-released-for-Christmas Talking
Senator Larry Craig Action Figure." ... "A fifth gay man, who is from Boise
[Idaho's capital] but who declined to be named for fear of retaliation,
offered a recent and telling account: He was in a men's restroom at [Colorado's]
Denver International Airport in September 2006 when the man in the next
stall moved his hand slowly, palm up, under the divider. Alarmed, the man
said he waited outside the restroom and then identified the man in the
adjoining stall as Craig, whom he had met in Idaho." ... "Craig, 62, says
he was a victim of "profiling" when he was arrested June 11 at [Minnesota's]
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for soliciting sex from an undercover
police officer in an adjoining stall in a men's restroom. Craig pleaded
guilty to disorderly conduct in August. He is appealing his conviction,
financed by his 2008 re-election fund." ... "Craig has said he hoped to
keep his guilty plea secret." -By Dan Popkey
-IdahoStatesman.com
Secret
- 
Rudolph
W Giuliani- California
- Money
- Election
- Law
- Politics
- 2008
Election - 
New
York
- Jet
- Poor
- Countries
- "Publicity-shy
Giuliani backer in spotlight: Backer of plan many
Democrats think could sink their chances at presidency." ... "Paul E. Singer
is the founding partner of one of the oldest hedge funds around. And while
he has become a major donor to Republican and conservative causes in recent
years, he has largely managed to stay out of the limelight, even avoiding
having his picture appear in newspapers." ... "But this year Mr. Singer
became one of the biggest supporters of [2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate] Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign, making his jet
available to Mr. Giuliani, while Mr. Singer and workers at his companies
have donated $200,000 to the campaign. And he became the largest individual
backer of a California ballot initiative that many Democrats believe could
sink their chances of winning the presidency." ... "Suddenly, the normally
low-profile Mr. Singer, a New Yorker, found himself singled out by Democrats
intent on beating back the California effort before it gained any steam."
... "Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic Party, questioned “Paul
Singer’s involvement in this dirty trick aimed at stealing the White House.”
A group of Democrats filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission
charging that Mr. Singer had been acting on behalf of Mr. Giuliani in his
efforts to change the California law — which Mr. Singer and the campaign
deny. And the Democratic National Committee drew attention to the part
of Mr. Singer’s business that involves buying the debt of poor countries
at a discount and then seeking repayment in full — prompting an article
in The Times of London labeling his firm, Elliott Associates, a “vulture
fund.”" (1, 2)
-By Michael Cooper and Leslie Wayne
-NYTimes via -MSNBC
Don
Young - Criminal
- Transportation
- Construction
- Real
Estate - Jet
- Travel
- Money
- Politics
- 
Alaska
- New
York
- Florida
- "Alaska
lawmaker promoted earmarks, raked in cash." ... "As
chairman of the House transportation committee, Alaska Congressman Don
Young flew at least three times to upstate New York aboard a sleek jet
owned by Robert Congel, an ambitious shopping mall developer seeking federal
highway dollars." ... "With Young’s help, Congel got millions of dollars
to boost his dream of building the largest mall in North America. The veteran
Republican congressman got something, too: more than $33,000 in political
donations from Congel, his family and his associates." ... "For Young,
the Congel story was hardly unusual. Time after time, Young approved millions
of dollars for highway projects for people who in turn fattened his campaign
coffers." ... "With money pouring in from transportation interests, Young
amassed $6.5 million in political contributions from 2001 to 2005. Facing
weak political opposition at home, he didn’t need much for his campaign.
Instead, Young tapped his campaign fund to travel the country, often lavishly
and in corporate jets, to meet with more developers and view their proposed
highway projects." ... "Now, though, Young’s campaign donations are going
for another purpose. He’s spent nearly $450,000 on criminal defense lawyers
after he learned of an FBI investigation into his relationships with political
donors, who include a Florida real estate developer seeking a highway ramp
near his undeveloped land." -By
Greg
Gordon and Erika Bolstad-McClatchyDC.com
Fred
D Thompson
- Criminal
- Drug
- Money
- Jet
- 2008
Election - "Thompson
Adviser Has Criminal Past." ... "[2008 Election]
Republican presidential candidate Fred D. Thompson has been crisscrossing
the country since early this summer on a private jet lent to him by a businessman
and close adviser who has a criminal record for drug dealing." ... "Thompson
selected the businessman, Philip Martin, to raise seed money for his White
House bid. Martin is one of four campaign co-chairmen and the head of a
group called the "first day founders." Campaign aides jokingly began to
refer to Martin, who has been friends with Thompson since the early 1990s,
as the head of "Thompson's Airforce."" ... "Thompson's frequent flights
aboard Martin's twin-engine Cessna 560 Citation have saved him more than
$100,000, because until the law changed in September, campaign-finance
rules allowed presidential candidates to reimburse private jet owners for
just a fraction of the true cost of flights." ... "Martin entered a plea
of guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana in 1979; the court withheld
judgment pending completion of his probation. He was charged in 1983 with
violating his probation and with multiple counts of felony bookmaking,
cocaine trafficking and conspiracy. He pleaded no contest to the cocaine-trafficking
and conspiracy charges, which stemmed from a plan to sell $30,000 worth
of the drug, and was continued on probation." (1, 2,
3)
-By Matthew Mosk with contributions by Alice Crites,
Jonathan Weisman, and Sarah Cohen -WashingtonPost
California
- 
Wildfire
- Politics
- Government
- Military
- 
Weather
- 
Winds
- "Aircraft
sat as California wildfires took hold." ... "As wildfires
were charging across Southern California, nearly two dozen water-dropping
helicopters and two massive cargo planes sat idly by, grounded by government
rules and bureaucracy." ... "How much the aircraft would have helped will
never be known, but their inability to provide quick assistance raises
troubling questions about California's preparations for a fire season that
was widely expected to be among the worst on record." ... "It took as long
as a day for Navy, Marine and California National Guard helicopters to
get clearance early this week, in part because state rules require all
firefighting choppers to be accompanied by state forestry "fire spotters"
who coordinate water or retardant drops. By the time those spotters arrived,
the powerful Santa Ana winds stoking the fires had made it too dangerous
to fly." ... "The National Guard's C-130 cargo planes, among the most powerful
aerial firefighting weapons, never were slated to help. The reason: They've
yet to be outfitted with tanks needed to carry thousands of gallons of
fire retardant, though that was promised four years ago."
-AP via -CNN
California
- Aircraft
- Politics
- "O.C.
Fire Chief: 'Had we had more air resources, we would have been able to
control this fire'." ... "At least a dozen Orange
County [California] homes had burned by this morning and thousands more
were in danger as flames as high as 75 feet devastated rural canyon communities,
fire officials said." ... "The Santiago fire continued to push east today,
fueled by brittle canyon brush as it threatened communities around Modjeska
Canyon. On Tuesday, panicked residents begged firefighters for help." ...
"Local fire officials were similarly frustrated, arguing that if the state
had provided adequate aircraft and personnel Sunday, the devastation could
have been prevented." ... ""It is an absolute truth -- had we had more
air resources we would have been able to control this fire," Orange County
Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather said." (1, 2)
-By Mike Anton -LAtimes
Flying
- Safety
- Science
- Politics
- Travel
- Business
- Government
- "NASA
won't disclose air safety survey." ... "Anxious to
avoid upsetting air travelers, NASA is withholding results from an unprecedented
national survey [National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service] of pilots
that found safety problems like near collisions and runway interference
occur far more frequently than the government previously recognized." ...
"NASA gathered the information under an $8.5 million safety project, through
telephone interviews with roughly 24,000 commercial and general aviation
pilots over nearly four years. Since ending the interviews at the beginning
of 2005 and shutting down the project completely more than one year ago,
the space agency has refused to divulge the results publicly." ... "Just
last week, NASA ordered the contractor that conducted the survey to purge
all related data from its computers." ... "A senior NASA official, associate
administrator Thomas S. Luedtke, said revealing the findings could damage
the public's confidence in airlines and affect airline profits. Luedtke
acknowledged that the survey results "present a comprehensive picture of
certain aspects of the U.S. commercial aviation industry."" ... "Among
other results, the pilots reported at least twice as many bird strikes,
near mid-air collisions and runway incursions as other government monitoring
systems show, according to a person familiar with the results who was not
authorized to discuss them publicly." ... "The survey also revealed higher-than-expected
numbers of pilots who experienced "in-close approach changes" — potentially
dangerous, last-minute instructions to alter landing plans." -Rita
Beamish -AP
via -Yahoo
Randy
"Duke" Cunningham
- 
Brent
Wilkes - 
Jerry
Lewis - 
Duncan
Hunter
- 
Tom
DeLay
- 
Roy
Blunt
- 
Dennis
Hastert - Money
- Politics
- Lawmakers
- Travel
- Flying
- Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- San
Diego - California
- Texas
- 
Missouri
- 
Hawaii
- Florida
- 
Nevada
- Idaho
- Illinois
- "Witness:
Contractor Gave Lawmaker Perks." ... "[Former California
Republican Representative Randy "Duke"] Cunningham, a San Diego Republican
who held seats on the powerful House intelligence and defense appropriations
committees, was elected to eight terms before resigning in 2005. He pleaded
guilty that year to accepting $2.4 million in bribes from [Brent] Wilkes
and others and is serving an eight-year prison sentence." ... "[Wilkes
nephew and employee Joel] Combs testified Wednesday that his uncle communicated
with other prominent lawmakers, including California Republicans Jerry
Lewis and Duncan Hunter, former House Majority Leader [Republican] Tom
DeLay of Texas, Republican Whip [Missouri Representative] Roy Blunt, and
Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat." ... "But the relationship with
Cunningham was at the center of Wilkes' success in Washington, and Combs
said his uncle worked to keep the lawmaker happy - efforts that included
staking his nephew money to purposely lose in poker games with the lawmaker."
... "Combs recalled dinners at Washington's fancy Capital Grille restaurant,
shooting lessons, and trips to Florida, Las Vegas [Nevada] and Idaho provided
by Wilkes for the congressman from 1998 until 2002. During that period,
Cunningham made calls to Pentagon officials on Wilkes' behalf and helped
secure about $90 million in federal contracts for Wilkes' company." ...
"The perks included a $20,000 stay in a private villa at a resort in Hawaii,
where Wilkes, Combs and the congressman went diving - an expedition captured
in an underwater video that was played for jurors. Combs said he also hired
women from an escort service for his uncle and the congressman." ... "Wilkes
also paid to fly Cunningham and former House Speaker [Illinois Republican
Representative] Dennis Hastert from a golf outing in Palm Springs [California]
to San Diego [California] for a reception and then back to Washington on
private jets, Combs testified." -By Allison Hoffman
-AP via -Guardian.co.uk
Religious
- University
- Home
- Remodeling
- Jet
- Trip
- Autos
- 
Clothes- Money
- Political
- Family
- 
Oklahoma
- Texas
- California
- "Scandal
brewing at Oral Roberts." ... "[Televangelist Oral
Roberts son and Oklahoma's Oral Roberts University President] Richard Roberts
is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish
spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects,
use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas,
and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay."
... "She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes,
awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending
scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described
in the lawsuit as "underage males."" ... "San Antonio [Texas] televangelist
John Hagee, a member of the ORU board of regents, said the university's
executive board "is conducting a full and thorough investigation."" ...
"The university reported nearly $76 million in revenue in 2005, according
to the IRS." ... "Oral Roberts is 89 and lives in California." ... "Richard
Roberts, according to the suit, asked a professor in 2005 to use his students
and university resources to aid a county commissioner's bid for Tulsa [Oklahoma]
mayor. Such involvement would violate state and federal law because of
the university's nonprofit status. Up to 50 students are alleged to have
worked on the campaign." -By Justin Juozapavicius
-AP via -Yahoo
Larry
Craig
- 
Ted
Haggard - Gay
- Idaho
- Minnesota
- Airport
- Police
- "'Sen.
Craig visited me' says escort who claimed relationship with Haggard."
... "The gay escort whose allegations forced the resignation of nationally
renowned evangelist Ted Haggard now says he was also visited by Idaho [Republican
Senator] Sen. Larry Craig." ... "Craig is the Republican senator who pleaded
guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges earlier this year after
his arrest in a Minneapolis [Minnesota] airport bathroom for propositioning
an undercover police officer." -By Nicole Vap with
contributions by Paula Woodward and Jeffrey Wolf
-9News.com
Government
- 
Electronic
- 
Surveillance
- Data
- Travelers
- Flying
- Driving
- 
Reading
- 
People
- Civil
Liberties - US
- International
- San
Francisco - California
- Alaska
- 
Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Law
- "Collecting
of Details on Travelers Documented: U.S. Effort More
Extensive Than Previously Known." ... "The U.S. government is collecting
electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly,
drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they
travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys,
and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents
obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government
officials." ... "The personal travel records are meant to be stored for
as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security's effort
to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country.
Officials say the records, which are analyzed by the department's Automated
Targeting System, help border officials distinguish potential terrorists
from innocent people entering the country." ... "Officials yesterday defended
the retention of highly personal data on travelers not involved in or linked
to any violations of the law. But civil liberties advocates have alleged
that the type of information preserved by the department raises alarms
about the government's ability to intrude into the lives of ordinary people.
The millions of travelers whose records are kept by the government are
generally unaware of what their records say, and the government has not
created an effective mechanism for reviewing the data and correcting any
errors, activists said." ... "The activists alleged that the data collection
effort, as carried out now, violates the Privacy Act, which bars the gathering
of data related to Americans' exercise of their First Amendment rights,
such as their choice of reading material or persons with whom to associate.
They also expressed concern that such personal data could one day be used
to impede their right to travel." ... ""The federal government is trying
to build a surveillance society," said John Gilmore, a civil liberties
activist in San Francisco whose records were requested by the Identity
Project, an ad-hoc group of privacy advocates in California and Alaska.
The government, he said, "may be doing it with the best or worst of intentions.
. . . But the job of building a surveillance database and populating it
with information about us is happening largely without our awareness and
without our consent."" (1, 2)
-By Ellen Nakashima with contributions by Julie Tate
-WashingtonPost
Larry
E Craig
- Gay
- Politics
- Minnesota
- Airport
- Police
- Idaho
- Newspaper
- "Craig
Asks Court to Let Him Withdraw His Plea of Guilty."
... "Lawyers for [Idaho Republican] Senator Larry E. Craig filed court
papers yesterday asking that he be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea
to disorderly conduct in a Minnesota airport sex sting." ... "In an affidavit,
Mr. Craig said that he was “deeply panicked” in the aftermath of his arrest
June 11 on suspicion of soliciting a plainclothes officer in a men’s room
at [Minnesota's] Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and that, with
an Idaho newspaper already investigating his sexuality, he signed a guilty
plea on Aug. 1 to try to keep the arrest from being disclosed." ... "The
[police] officer said Mr. Craig had peeped into his stall, entered the
adjacent stall, touched the officer’s foot with his own and made hand signals
known to be silent code for soliciting sex in the restroom." -By
Duff Wilson -NYTimes
Military
- Flight
- 
North
Dakota - 
Louisiana
- "Air
Force official rapped after nuclear flyover: Official
relieved of command after 5 warheads are flown across the U.S.." ... "An
Air Force squadron commander has been relieved of his command after five
nuclear weapons were mistakenly loaded aboard a B-52 bomber and flown cross-country
last week." ... "Five 150-kiloton warheads were attached to cruise missiles
that were flown Aug. 30 from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale
Air Force Base in Louisiana to be dismantled, but the warheads should have
been removed." ... "Military officials insist the warheads remained “under
control” at all times and did not pose a danger."
-MSNBC
Larry
Craig
- 
Mitt
Romney
- Gay
- Idaho
- Minnesota
- Airport
- Privacy
- Law
- Politics
- 2008
Election - "Idaho
senator arrested in airport." ... "[Idaho Republican
Senator] Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho pleaded guilty this month to misdemeanor
disorderly conduct after being arrested at the Minneapolis airport." ...
"A Hennepin County court docket showed Craig pleading guilty to the disorderly
conduct charge Aug. 8, with the court dismissing a charge of gross misdemeanor
interference to privacy." ... "He is up for re-election next year [2008
election]." ... "He has been one of [2008 election] Republican presidential
candidate Mitt Romney's top Senate supporters, serving as a Senate liaison
for the campaign since February." ... "Roll Call quoted the Aug. 8 police
report as saying that Craig had handed the arresting officer a business
card that identified him as a member of the Senate." ... ""What do you
think about that?" Craig is alleged to have said, according to the report."
-By Steve Karnowski with contributions by Matthew
Daly, Fred Frommer, and John Miller -AP
via -Yahoo
Larry
Craig
- Gay
- Idaho
- Minnesota
- Airport
- Law
- Politics
- "Republican
senator arrested, reportedly for lewd conduct." ...
"[Idaho Republican Senator] Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was fined earlier
this month for a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge stemming from his
arrest in June at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according
to Minnesota criminal records." ... "While the criminal records did not
provide details of why Craig was arrested, Roll Call newspaper reported
Monday that he was apprehended by a plainclothes police officer investigating
complaints of lewd behavior in an airport men's room." ... "Last fall,
Craig's office publicly denied assertions by an Internet blogger Mike Rogers
that the senator was gay, dismissing speculation about his sexuality as
"completely ridiculous."" ... "He has supported a federal constitutional
amendment banning same-sex marriage, telling his colleagues that it was
"important for us to stand up now and protect traditional marriage, which
is under attack by a few unelected judges and litigious activists."" ...
"In 1996, Craig also voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, which
denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages and prevents states from
being forced to recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples legally
performed in other states." ... "Craig has also opposed expanding the federal
hate crimes law to cover offenses motivated by anti-gay bias and, in 1996,
voted against a bill that would have outlawed employment discrimination
based on sexual orientation, which failed by a single vote in the Senate."
-Contributed to by Dana Bash
-CNN
Larry
Craig- Idaho
- Minnesota
- Airport
- Law
- Politics
- "Craig
Arrested, Pleads Guilty Following Incident in Airport Restroom."
... "[Idaho Republican Senator] Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested
in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating
lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest
report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon." ... "Craig’s arrest occurred
just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin
County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a
10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation
with the court that began on Aug. 8." ... "A spokesman for Craig described
the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding,” and said the office
would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon." ... "After he
was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations
Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to
the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the
plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified
him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report
states." -By John McArdle with contributions by Steven
T. Dennis -RollCall.com
Russia
- 
Nuclear
- Flight
- History
- United
States - Iran
- China
- Global
- Technology
- "Russia
resumes regular flights of strategic bombers: The
missions, which had been discontinued in 1992, are seen as a signal to
the West. The [Republican President Bush] White House downplays the action."
... "Russian President Vladimir V. Putin on Friday announced reinstatement
of the Soviet-era practice of having nuclear bombers routinely make long-distance
flights that bring them within striking distance of the United States and
its allies." ... ""Today just after midnight, 14 strategic missile aircraft,
with support and fuel planes, took off from seven airfields across Russia,"
Putin said in televised remarks. "Combat duty began in which a total of
20 planes are taking part. From today, combat duty of this kind will be
carried out on a regular basis."" ... "Russian strategic bombers can carry
nuclear cruise missiles with ranges of at least 1,800 miles." ... "Russians
have been angered by U.S. plans to install an antimissile system in Eastern
Europe. Washington says it is needed to defend Europe and North America,
citing the possibility of missile attacks by Iran. Moscow [Russia's capital]
has expressed fear that the move would be a step toward a global missile-defense
system aimed at devaluing Russia's and China's nuclear deterrents, and
that the system could be modified for offensive missiles that would be
close to Russia's border." -By David Holley with contributions
by Sergei L. Loiko, Bob Drogin, and Maura Reynolds
-LAtimes
Russia
- 
Georgia
- Airplane- Politics
- "Panel
Hints at Russian Involvement in Fallen Missile in Georgia."
... "A panel of international military experts concluded in a report released
Thursday that a missile found in a field in the Republic of Georgia last
week fell from an airplane that flew from Russia into Georgia and then
returned to Russia." ... "The discovery of the missile points to what would
be the second firing of a Russian-made missile in Georgia this year. In
March, a Russian-made, helicopter-launched missile exploded outside a Georgian
government building in the Kodori Gorge, the only portion of the separatist
region of Abkhazia that is under Georgian control." -By
Andrew E. Kramer -NYTimes
Secret
- Military
- Government
- Space
- Aircraft
- Surveillance
- Imagery
- Technology
- Law
- Enforcement
- Intelligence
- Liberty
- Politics
- "Domestic
Use of Spy Satellites To Widen: Law Enforcement Getting
New Access To Secret Imagery." ... "The Bush administration has approved
a plan to expand domestic access to some of the most powerful tools of
21st-century spycraft, giving law enforcement officials and others the
ability to view data obtained from satellite and aircraft sensors that
can see through cloud cover and even penetrate buildings and underground
bunkers." ... "A program approved by the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security will allow broader
domestic use of secret overhead imagery beginning as early as this fall,
with the expectation that state and local law enforcement officials will
eventually be able to tap into technology once largely restricted to foreign
surveillance." ... "But the program, described yesterday by the Wall Street
Journal, quickly provoked opposition from civil liberties advocates, who
said the government is crossing a well-established line against the use
of military assets in domestic law enforcement." ... ""They want to turn
these enormous spy capabilities, built to be used against overseas enemies,
onto Americans," [Center for National Security Studies director Kate] Martin
said. "They are laying the bricks one at a time for a police state."" -By
Joby Warrick -WashingtonPost
US
- Iran
- Military
- Aircraft
- Technology- Legislation
- Politics
- 
Oregon
- "GAO:
Pentagon Improperly Sold F-14 Parts." ... "The Pentagon
sold more than a thousand aircraft parts that could be used on ["Tomcat"]
F-14 fighter jets — a plane flown only by Iran — after announcing it had
halted sales of such surplus, government investigators say." ... "A Democratic
senator said the investigation shows why legislation he proposed that would
ban the sale of all F-14 parts is needed." ... ""The Pentagon's system
is still riddled with holes," Oregon [Democratic Senator] Sen. Ron Wyden
said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "These are the
very parts that they said they wouldn't be selling and they still are and
so you've got to make sure the changes are going to actually have teeth
and work." -By Sharon Theimer
-AP via -SFGate.com
July
4th - Airport
- Transportation
- "TSA
boosts security for July 4 holiday." ... "Some of
the armed officers with dogs that turned up this week around airports,
subways and bus stops are part of special Transportation Security Administration
teams sent to protect mass transit sites over the July Fourth holiday."
... "In fact, the agency has conducted 84 VIPER missions in the last 18
months. The acronym stands for "Visible Intermodal Protection and Response.""
-AP via -USATODAY
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Police
- Airspace
- Politics
- "Big
Boost In Iraqi Forces Is Urged: A Top General Sees
Years Before U.S. Ends Security Role." ... "A senior U.S. military commander
said yesterday that Iraq's army must expand its rolls by at least 20,000
more soldiers than Washington had anticipated, to help free U.S. troops
from conducting daily patrols, checkpoints and other critical yet dangerous
missions." ... "Even then, Iraq will remain incapable of taking full responsibility
for its security for many years -- five years in the case of protecting
its airspace -- and will require a long-term military relationship with
the United States, said Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who until recently led
the U.S. military's training effort in Iraq." ... "Appearing before a House
panel, Dempsey outlined his assessment of Iraq's 348,000-strong security
forces looking into 2008 and the prospects that they can take over from
U.S. troops. He said the Iraqi forces are improving but are still riddled
with sectarianism and corruption and are suffering from a lack of leaders
and the attrition of tens of thousands of members -- including 32,000 police
between mid-2005 and January." ... "His projection of the size of the police
force required to help bring stability -- 195,000 -- is more than 40 percent
higher than Washington estimated in 2003. The remarks follow other blunt
comments by U.S. military commanders that civilian deaths and attacks on
U.S. troops have recently risen and that particularly tough fighting is
expected in the coming months." -By Walter Pincus
and Ann Scott Tyson -WashingtonPost
Secret
- US
- 
Poland
- 
Romania
- Military
- Terrorism
- Torture
- Prisons
- Law
- Airspace
- Politics
- "Report
claims US ran secret prisons in Europe." ... "The
CIA ran secret prisons in Poland and Romania from 2003 to 2005 where terrorism
suspects could be interrogated free of US legal restraints, a Council of
Europe investigation concluded today." ... "It revealed that Abu Zubaydah,
believed to be a senior al-Qaida member, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a
suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, were held and interrogated
in Poland." ... "None of the prisoners had access to the Red Cross and
many were subjected to what [Republican President] George Bush has called
the CIA's "enhanced" interrogation, which critics have condemned as torture."
... "The report said that within weeks of the 9/11 attacks, Nato signed
an agreement with the US that allowed civilian jets used by the CIA during
its so-called extraordinary rendition programme to move across member states'
airspace." ... "Dick Marty, a Swiss senator who ran the investigation,
said in his report that the "the highest state authorities were aware of
the CIA's illegal activities on their territories"." ... "Politicians from
Poland and Romania, as well as a spokesman for the CIA, have rejected the
findings of the investigation." -By Fred Attewill
-Guardian.co.uk
New
York
- Airport
- Terrorism
- "JFK
Terror Plot Foiled In Planning Stages." ... "Federal
authorities say they foiled an alleged plot by a retired airport worker,
a former Guyanese Parliament member and other Muslim extremists to plant
explosives on jet fuel arteries at [New York state's] John F. Kennedy International
Airport, [reportedly intending on] triggering massive casualties and economic
havoc." ... "NewsChannel 4's Jonathan Dienst broke news Saturday morning
of the arrests in the potentially dangerous plot that law enforcement sources
stressed was in the planning stages and never posed an actual threat to
New Yorkers." ... "Police say the men never got their hands on explosives
or funding and lacked the technical expertise to attack JFK airport's fuel
tanks and underground pipeline." -WNBC.com
US- Iraq
- 
Afghanistan
- Aircraft
- Surveillance
- Intelligence
- "Drones'
supply short of demand." ... "The Air Force has lost
about 40% of its Predator unmanned aircraft and lacks enough trained crews
to meet the demand for battlefield surveilliance in Iraq and Afghanistan,
according to military officials and analysts." ... "The Predator's success
in spotting enemy activity has become an important asset for troops in
the field. Commanders ask for Predator surveillance three times more than
the Air Force can deliver, says Lt. Col. Matthew Bannon, chief of unmanned
aerial systems at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia." ... "Of the 139
Predators delivered to the Air Force, 53 have been lost, records show."
... "The Air Force wants 22 more of the $4.5 million aircraft in the emergency
war funding bill being debated in Congress this week, budget records show."
-By Tom Vanden Brook -USATODAY
Government
- Computer
- Intelligence
- Database
- Privacy
- Politics
- Transportation
- Flight
- 
VT
- "Senate
Judiciary Committee to focus on government data-mining privacy issues."
... "The incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee used his first
hearing of the 110th Congress to call for greater congressional oversight
of the administration’s data collection activities." ... "Sen. Patrick
Leahy (D-Vt. [Democrat-Vermont]) said he would reintroduce today the Federal
Agency Data-Mining Reporting Act, which would require agencies to inform
Congress of their data-mining programs. The senator and several witnesses
testifying at Wednesday’s hearing said that unregulated government databases
pose a threat to citizens’ privacy without necessarily improving national
security." ... "“I think Congress is overdue in taking stock of government
databases that increasingly are collecting and sifting more and more information
about each and every American,” Leahy said." ... "He said the Bush administration
has repeatedly ignored privacy laws and bypassed Congress in development
of programs such as the Transportation Security Administration’s Secure
Flight system to identify travelers who pose security risks." ... "The
hearing and the proposed legislation used a loose definition of the term
data mining, applying it to any type of database search." -By
William Jackson
-GCN.com
US
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Government
- Military
- Technology
- Money
- Politics
- People
- Flying
- Vehicles
- Alabama
- "U.S.
Army Battling To Save Equipment: Gear Piles Up at
Depots, Awaiting Repair." ... "Field upon field of more than 1,000 battered
M1 tanks, howitzers and other armored vehicles sit amid weeds here at the
15,000-acre Anniston Army Depot [Alabama] -- the idle, hulking formations
symbolic of an Army that is wearing out faster than it is being rebuilt."
... "The Army and Marine Corps have sunk more than 40 percent of their
ground combat equipment into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according
to government data. An estimated $17 billion-plus worth of military equipment
is destroyed or worn out each year, blasted by bombs, ground down by desert
sand and used up to nine times the rate in times of peace. The gear is
piling up at depots such as Anniston, waiting to be repaired." ... "The
depletion of major equipment such as tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles,
and especially helicopters and armored Humvees has left many military units
in the United States without adequate training gear, officials say. Partly
as a result of the shortages, many U.S. units are rated "unready" to deploy,
officials say, raising alarm in Congress and concern among military leaders
at a time when Iraq strategy is under review by the White House and the
bipartisan Iraq Study Group." ... "Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army's
chief of staff, is lobbying hard for more money to repair what he calls
the "holes" in his force, saying current war funding is inadequate to make
the Army "well." Asked in a congressional hearing this past summer whether
he was comfortable with the readiness levels of non-deployed Army units,
Schoomaker replied: "No."" ... "Despite the work piling up, the Army's
depots have been operating at about half their capacity because of a lack
of funding for repairs." -By Ann Scott Tyson
-WashingtonPost
Transportation
- Airport
- Terrorism
- Politics
- Money
- 
Massachusetts
- "US
delays security for liquid bombs: Mass. companies
offer technologies, but TSA has reliability, practicality doubts." ...
"The technology exists to detect liquid explosives -- at least three Massachusetts
companies have created such tools -- but the federal government says it's
still not ready to deploy the devices in the nation's airports." ... "The
Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency in charge of
airport security, is testing products from American Science and Engineering
Inc. of Billerica; Ahura Corp. of Wilmington; and General Dielectric Inc.
of Acton." ... "The TSA has not outfitted airports with the devices, in
part, because officials have to prioritize where they spend limited dollars,
according to Frank Cilluffo, former special assistant to President Bush
for homeland security and now director of George Washington University's
Homeland Security Policy Institute." ... "Joe Reiss, AS&E's vice president
of marketing, said his company's SmartCheck systems are used at the White
House and the US Supreme Court. But they're not widely used in airport
security." -By Hiawatha Bray with contributions by
Bryan Bender -Boston/Globe
British
- 
Pakistan
- US
- Aviation
- Terrorism- Law
Enforcement - Intelligence
- Book
- Military
- Politics
- "The
Triumph of Unrealism." ... "The London plot against
civil aviation confirmed a theme of an illuminating new book, Lawrence
Wright's "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11." The theme
is that better law enforcement, which probably could have prevented Sept.
11, is central to combating terrorism. F-16s are not useful tools against
terrorism that issues from places such as Hamburg (where Mohamed Atta lived
before dying in the North Tower of the World Trade Center) and High Wycombe,
England." ... "Cooperation between Pakistani and British law enforcement
(the British draw upon useful experience combating IRA terrorism) has validated
John Kerry's belief (as paraphrased by the New York Times Magazine of Oct.
10, 2004) that "many of the interdiction tactics that cripple drug lords,
including governments working jointly to share intelligence, patrol borders
and force banks to identify suspicious customers, can also be some of the
most useful tools in the war on terror." In a candidates' debate in South
Carolina (Jan. 29, 2004), Kerry said that although the war on terror will
be "occasionally military," it is "primarily an intelligence and law enforcement
operation that requires cooperation around the world."" -By
George F. Will -WashingtonPost
US
- British
- Iraq
- Global
- Military
- Intelligence
- Airline
- Terrorism
- Religion
- Politics
- Election
2006 - John
Boehner
- Ohio
- "Can
Democrats make case Iraq diverted war on terror?"
... "The immediate domestic political impact of the latest airliner-bombing
plot is to bolster Republican fortunes in the campaign leading to midterm
elections on Nov. 7." ... "Terrorism has been the issue that has kept the
Bush administration afloat since Sept. 11, 2001. The White House and its
Republican allies should benefit at least momentarily from the traditional
rallying effect that helps the party in power in the face of a national
threat." ... "How long that moment lasts will be the supreme test for Democratic
candidates in the coming days. For if Democrats now, with the revelation
of the British-based plot, cannot make the case that the Bush administration
has mishandled the fight against terrorism, they deserve whatever may befall
them 12 weeks from Tuesday." ... "This will not be easy, given Republican
possession of the White House and its bully pulpit and Republican willingness
to demagogue the issue." ... "The British suspects were barely in handcuffs
before House Majority Leader John Boehner was complaining about "Defeatocrats."
Funny, but I don't recall it was Democrats who stood in the way of full
implementation of the recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission." ...
"This isn't about whether you can pack hand cream in your carry-on bag.
This is about how President Bush has squandered manpower and materiel in
the war in Iraq, a conflict that has emboldened radical Islamists and made
their cause more acceptable and recruiting much easier." ... "In his first
public response to the arrest of suspects in Britain, Bush said that uncovering
the plot was "a stark reminder that this nation is still at war with Islamic
fascists."" ... "What Bush did not say was that the continuing war in Iraq
has been a diversion from U.S. leadership in the global war on terrorism."
-By Cragg
Hines -HoustonChronicle.com
US
- UK
- Airline
- Terrorism
- Police
- Intelligence-
"Source:
U.S., U.K. at odds over timing of arrests: British
wanted to continue surveillance on terror suspects, official says." ...
"NBC News has learned that U.S. and British authorities had a significant
disagreement over when to move in on the suspects in the alleged plot to
bring down trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States." ... "A
senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police
were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week
to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them
to arrest the suspects sooner." ... "In contrast to previous reports, the
official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had
not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have
passports." ... "The source did say, however, that police believe one U.K.-based
suspect was ready to conduct a "dry run." British authorities had wanted
to let him go forward with part of the plan, but the Americans balked."
... "At the White House, a top aide to President Bush denied the account."
-By Aram Roston and Lisa Myers
-MSNBC
Government
- Military
- Plane
- Terrorism
- Technology
- "Focused
on 9/11, U.S. Is Seen to Lag on New Threats." ...
"The Department of Homeland Security has taken significant steps since
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to make it much harder to turn a plane into
a flying weapon. But a nearly obsessive focus on the previous attacks may
have prevented the federal government from combating new threats effectively,
terrorism experts and former agency officials say." ... "The arrests overseas
this week of people accused of planning to use an explosive that would
be undetectable at airports illustrates the significant security gaps,
they said." ... "While the department has hardened cockpit doors and set
up screening for guns and knives, it has done far too little to protect
against plastic and liquid explosives, bombs in air cargo and shoulder-fired
missiles, the experts say." ... "The nation is still at risk from the same
“failure of imagination” cited by the 9/11 commission as having contributed
to the success of the 2001 attack, several argued." ... "“They are reactive,
not proactive,” said Randall J. Larsen, a retired colonel in the Air Force
who is chairman of the military strategy department at the National War
College in Washington. " -By Eric Lipton and Matthew
L. Wald with contributions William J. Broad
-NYTimes
US
- Britain
- Airline
-Terrorism
- Intelligence
- "Britain
Thwarts Airline Terror Plot: UK, U.S. Raise Security
Threat Levels." ... "British authorities said Thursday they have disrupted
a sophisticated and well-advanced terrorist plot to blow up U.S.-bound
airliners using liquid explosives, arresting 24 people who police said
had planned to commit mass murder over the Atlantic Ocean." ... "Police
said they were confident they had the "main players" in custody, but authorities
in London and Washington ordered a full-scale security clampdown at U.S.
and British airports out of concern that other plotters may still be at
large." ... "A senior European intelligence official said at least a few
people suspected of being involved in the plot were missing and that it
was unclear whether they were still in Britain." ... "The plotters had
not yet booked specific flights but were searching airline routes and apparently
did not plan to purchase tickets until the last minute, the official said."
... "British authorities said the threat involved terrorists who aimed
to smuggle liquid explosive material aboard airplanes in hand baggage,
as well as timers and detonators that could be assembled in flight. British
Home Secretary John Reid said the operation was aimed at bringing down
"a number of aircraft" -- reportedly as many as 10 -- "through mid-flight
explosions, causing a considerable loss of life."" ... "Peter Clarke, chief
of the London police department's anti-terrorism branch, said the investigation
reached a "critical point" Wednesday night, requiring immediate disruption
of the plot, the arrests and the imposition of heightened security measures."
(1, 2,
3,
4)
-By John Ward Anderson and William Branigin with contributions
by Karen DeYoung, Dafna Linzer, Dan Eggen, Debbi Wilgoren, Del Quentin
Wilber, Fred Barbash and Spencer S. Hsu -WashingtonPost
Secret
- Government
- Law
- Enforcement
- Military
- Intelligence
- Aviation
- Transportation
- Terrorism
- Politics
- "9/11
Panel Suspected Deception by Pentagon: Allegations
Brought to Inspectors General." ... "Some staff members and commissioners
of the Sept. 11 panel concluded that the Pentagon's initial story of how
it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate
effort to mislead the commission and the public rather than a reflection
of the fog of events on that day, according to sources involved in the
debate." ... "Suspicion of wrongdoing ran so deep that the 10-member commission,
in a secret meeting at the end of its tenure in summer 2004, debated referring
the matter to the Justice Department for criminal investigation, according
to several commission sources. Staff members and some commissioners thought
that e-mails and other evidence provided enough probable cause to believe
that military and aviation officials violated the law by making false statements
to Congress and to the commission, hoping to hide the bungled response
to the hijackings, these sources said." ... "In the end, the panel agreed
to a compromise, turning over the allegations to the inspectors general
for the Defense and Transportation departments, who can make criminal referrals
if they believe they are warranted, officials said." ... ""We to this day
don't know why NORAD [the North American Aerospace Command] told us what
they told us," said Thomas H. Kean, the former New Jersey Republican governor
who led the commission. "It was just so far from the truth. . . . It's
one of those loose ends that never got tied."" ... "For more than two years
after the attacks, officials with NORAD and the FAA provided inaccurate
information about the response to the hijackings in testimony and media
appearances." -By Dan Eggen
-WashingtonPost
Pete
Sessions - 
John
E Sweeney - Money
- Politics
- 
Sports
- 
Travel
- Airfare
- New
York - Texas
US
- Iran
- Aircraft
- Technology
- Politics
- "AP:
U.S. to Give Iran Nuclear Technology." ... "A package
of incentives presented Tuesday to Iran includes a provision for the United
States to supply Tehran with some nuclear technology if it stops enriching
uranium _ a major concession by Washington, diplomats said." ... "Diplomats
had revealed Monday that the United States had upped the ante on what had
initially been a European offer by agreeing to provide Boeing aircraft
parts for Iran's aging civilian fleet. Just days before, Washington broke
with decades of official policy of no high-level diplomatic contacts with
Tehran, announcing it was ready to join in multinational talks with the
Islamic republic over its nuclear program." -By George
Jahn -AP via
-HoustonChronicle.com
Government- Military
- Terrorism
- Politics
- Civil
Liberties - Opinion
- Airplane
- Business
- Illinois
- "Breakdown
of Trust Led Judge Luttig To Clash With Bush: After
Fight in Terrorism Case, Conservative Star Gives Up Court Seat for Boeing
Job." ... "On Nov. 22, U.S. Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig was at work
in his chambers here when he received a telephone call telling him to switch
on the television. There, he saw Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announce
that the government would file charges against Jose Padilla in a federal
court -- treating the accused terrorist like a normal criminal suspect."
... "The judge was stunned. Two months earlier, he had written a landmark
opinion saying the government could hold Mr. Padilla without charge in
a military brig. (Read
the opinion.) The decision validated President Bush's claim that he
could set aside Mr. Padilla's constitutional rights in the name of national
security. The judge assumed the government had a compelling reason to consider
the suspect an extraordinary threat. Now Mr. Gonzales wanted the courts
to forget the whole case." ... "It didn't take long for the judge's anger
to burst out into the open. The next month he wrote that moves such as
the attorney general's cast doubt on the Bush administration's "credibility
before the courts." Judge Luttig tried to block Mr. Padilla's transfer
to civilian custody from the brig. (Read
the opinion.) The administration's top litigator fired back that the
judge "defies both law and logic."" ... "The clash, which underscores the
increasing skepticism among even some conservative jurists toward the Bush
administration's sweeping theories of executive power, culminated yesterday
in Judge Luttig's resignation. The 51-year-old judge, once considered a
likely Bush nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, stepped down from his lifetime
seat on the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to start a new career
in Chicago [Illinois] as general counsel for BoeingCo."
-By Jess Bravin and J. Lynn Lunsford
-WSJ.com
Government
- Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Secrets
- Aviation
- Transportation
- Politics
- "Judge
blasts government secrecy: Moussaoui judge grants
9/11 families access to documents." ... "The judge in the Zacarias Moussaoui
trial ruled Friday that families of September 11 attack victims are entitled
to the same unclassified aviation security documents the government turned
over to the al Qaeda conspirator's defense team." ... ""I've always been
troubled to the extent which our government keeps things secret from the
American people," U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said, granting the
families' request after a hearing." ... ""It is amazing what some agencies
think is secret," Brinkema added. "As a culture, we need to be careful
not to be so wrapped up in secrecy that we lose track of our core values
and laws."" ... "Her order, issued over the objection of government lawyers,
allows attorneys for 9/11 families to obtain copies of documents related
to pre-September 11 aviation security once the Moussaoui trial ends." -By
Phil Hirschkorn -CNN
Terrorism
- Emergency
- Airport
- Transportation
- Communications
- Technology
- Money
- "Report:
TSA Got Little for $1 Billion." ... "A company awarded
a $1 billion contract for airport security equipment performed so poorly
that the Homeland Security Department's inspector general recommended that
the project be put out for bid again." ... "The inspector general, Richard
Skinner, found in a report released Thursday that Unisys received most
of the $1 billion without providing the Transportation Security Administration
much of the equipment "critical to airport security and communications.""
... "The federal officials who head airport security at hundreds of airports
complained that Unisys supplied antiquated equipment and that their radios
didn't always communicate with each other inside the same concourse _ a
crucial function during an emergency." -By Leslie
Miller -AP
via -HoustonChronicle.com
Government
- Flying
- Transportation
- Terrorism
- Law
Enforcement - Execution
- "Judge
Calls Halt to Penalty Phase of Terror Trial." ...
"An angry federal judge delayed the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui
on Monday and said she was considering ending the prosecution's bid to
have him executed after the disclosure that a government lawyer had improperly
coached some witnesses." ... "Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said she had just
learned from prosecutors that a lawyer for the Transportation Security
Administration gave portions of last week's trial proceedings to seven
witnesses who have yet to testify. In e-mail messages, the lawyer also
seemed to tell some of the witnesses how they should testify to bolster
the prosecution's argument that Mr. Moussaoui bore some responsibility
for the deaths caused by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." ... ""In all my
years on the bench, I've never seen a more egregious violation of the rule
about witnesses," Judge Brinkema said before sending the jury home for
two days. She said that the actions of the government lawyer, identified
in court papers as Carla J. Martin, would make it "very difficult for this
case to go forward."" -By Neil A. Lewis
-NYTimes
Religion
- Military
- Politics
- Flying
- 
New
Mexico - "Plaintiffs
say Air Force recruiters told to use religion as tool."
... "Michael "Mikey" Weinstein, a 1977 graduate of the Air Force Academy,
filed suit against the Air Force in federal court in Albuquerque last October.
Weinstein and four other plaintiffs allege illegal proselytizing by evangelical
Christian chaplains, officers and cadets at the Air Force Academy and throughout
the service." ... "The latest filing seeks to add another plaintiff, Master
Sgt. Phillip Burleigh of Alamogordo, N.M. [New Mexico], a 24-year veteran.
It alleges that Burleigh, an Air Force Reserve recruiter at Holloman Air
Force Base, "has been subjected to regular and persistent proselytizing
by his superior officers" against his will and "in violation of his constitutional
rights."" ... "The 12-page court filing says guest speakers at conventions
of Air Force recruiters in 2003 and 2005 told Burleigh and other recruiters
that "they needed to accept Jesus Christ in order to perform their job
duties" and "to use faith in Jesus Christ while recruiting."" -By
Patrick O'Driscoll -USATODAY
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