DebateGate
General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: sirs on June 12, 2008, 12:29:40 AM
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Bad enough with all the racist and anti-american associations, bad enough with having one of your VP search committee members being the key facilitator for the Marc Rich pardon, but low and behold, another member of this committee had the proper judgement to actually take himself out, vs Oblather taking the lead to have let him go
Johnson Quits Obama's Vice Presidential Search Team
By Julianna Goldman
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Former Fannie Mae Chairman James Johnson said he has quit Senator Barack Obama's vice presidential search committee after the Wall Street Journal reported he may have received preferential mortgage terms from Countrywide Financial Corp.
Johnson said that while he has done nothing wrong, he left to avoid being a hindrance to Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee.
"I would not dream of being a party to distracting attention from that historic effort,'' he said in a statement. "I believe Barack Obama's candidacy for president of the United States is the most exciting and important of my lifetime.''
Johnson's ties to Countrywide became a campaign issue after Republicans pointed out that Obama had been critical of the mortgage lender in campaign speeches. Johnson's role as a political insider also contrasted with Obama's pledge to bring change to Washington.
Johnson, 64, said that "blatantly false statements and misrepresentations'' were written about him.
"Jim did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice presidential nominee, so he has made a decision to step aside that I accept,'' Obama said in an e-mailed statement.
Obama said he is "confident'' his vice presidential search process will produce "a number of highly qualified candidates'' in coming weeks.
Kenney, Holder
Johnson was part of a three-person team, along with Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, and former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who were tapped to help vet prospective running mates for Obama. Johnson, who ran Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign, helped 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry in his vice presidential search.
Angelo Mozilo, the chief executive officer of Countrywide, the biggest U.S. home lender, may have given Johnson and other friends good deals on mortgages, the Wall Street Journal reported on June 7, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. The newspaper didn't provide any specifics on whether favors were granted.
Since then, Johnson's position on the search committee has drawn criticism from Republicans who noted that Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, repeatedly denounced Countrywide for its role in the subprime-mortgage crisis.
Obama and Countrywide
"These are the folks who are responsible for infecting the economy and helping to create a home-foreclosure crisis -- 2 million people may end up losing their homes,'' Obama said of Countrywide at a March 31 campaign appearance in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Johnson's resignation raises concerns about Obama's judgment, said Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.
"The American people have reason to question the judgment of a candidate who has shown he will only make the right call when under pressure from news media,'' Bounds said.
One Republican strategist said mismatches between Obama's rhetoric and the realities of a presidential campaign will continue to be exploited.
"Harsh Reality"
"Soaring rhetoric turns into harsh reality really fast and this is going to happen to Obama over and over again,'' said Terry Holt, a Republican strategist and former campaign spokesman for President George W. Bush. "People's expectations of Obama are going to be difficult to keep up.''
A Countrywide spokesman didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Johnson's loans. Fannie Mae spokesman Brian Faith declined to comment on Johnson's resignation.
Obama, 46, an Illinois senator, yesterday defended his campaign's ties to Johnson, an unpaid adviser, saying it wasn't realistic to think aides would be doing extensive checks on everyone connected with his campaign.
"I am not vetting my VP search committee for their mortgages,'' Obama said during a news conference in St. Louis.
Johnson's role at Fannie Mae, where he was chairman from 1991-99, has also come under scrutiny. The Washington Post reported today that executives of the Washington-based company were concerned in 2004 that a consulting arrangement they had with Johnson would be publicized in confirmation hearings.
"I am extremely proud of my service to Fannie Mae and in other important dimensions of public service,'' Johnson said in his statement.
Holder has also come under fire from Republicans for his role in the 2001 pardon of commodities trader Marc Rich.
One possible candidate if the Obama campaign decides to replace Johnson could be former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a national campaign co-chairman for Obama.
Article (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auHZ.1T7m1gw&refer=home)
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Ah, I see how it works. You blamed Clinton for 8 years, then when Bush spoiled the Republican brand for this and several generations to come, you blamed Clinton again, and now...you start to blame Obama??
Piss poor judgement, indeed.
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Now, how it works is we blame piss poor judgment on the person perpetuating the piss poor judgement, citing the examples of such
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LOL
Ok. Never mind. Whatever floats your boat.
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Yep, and judgement, or severe lack there-of in someone who wants to be my president, definately "floats my boat"
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Yep, and judgement, or severe lack there-of in someone who wants to be my president, definately "floats my boat"
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A presidential campaign is a very complicated affair. There are thousands of people involved. And you expect every one of those people to not only have been never found guilty of anything, but to be guilty by your standards. That is, unless they agree with your political views, then you can cut them some slack.
This silly game is like judging a film as unworthy of an award because the Best Boy or the Key Grip was demonstrably uncouth or guilty of illegal parking on some occasion or another.
Did Mark Rich deserve to have a lawyer?
Should that lawyer have represented him to the best of his abilities?
Do you not understand that is what lawyers do?
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A presidential campaign is a very complicated affair. There are thousands of people involved. And you expect every one of those people to not only have been never found guilty of anything, but to be guilty by your standards.
No, I expect someone who wants to be my president to demonstrate significantly better judgement than to associate himself (much less embrace himself) with "obvious" racists, Anti-americans, & grossly unethical inidviduals. This isn't some happenstance that Oblather "just found out, about". He's known about Holder's history, he's known about Phleger's & Ayer's history. He's actually embraced Wright's history for 20+years. When this stuff about Johnson came out, Oblather should have demonstrated leadership and requested he remove himself. But no, Johnson himself was the only one that demonstrated even a hint of appropriate judgement by taking himself out.
And let me add, if Johnson is truely "innocent" of all wrong doing, as he claims, Oblather should have the fortitude to tell the media to go fly a kite, that he won't allow unfounded and false news stories about his folks dictate who's going to work for him. He didn't do that either, .... surprise, surprise. The more we learn, and push aside the superficial rhetoric, the worse its gonna get
Did Mark Rich deserve to have a lawyer? Should that lawyer have represented him to the best of his abilities? Do you not understand that is what lawyers do?
You can not be serious. You're now trying to justify Rich's Pardon?? A) Holder works for the Justice Dept, which is largely a Prosecutorial branch, not a bunch of Defense Lawyers. B) Holder was NOT Rich's laywer C) Rich was found guilty of not paying "his fair share" by a court of law, but he ran, and has never once tried to seek restitution, but remains as Anti-American as he's always been. He did deserve a lawyer and HAD one, he WAS given his day in court. He was found GUILTY. Do you not understand the Legal system of this country??
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So how is this guy to blame for Clinton giving Rich a pardon?
Isn't Clinton the one to blame?
He can't be prosecuted for giving a pardon.
Anyway, this guy is no longer on Obama's staff, so this is no longer an issue.
The Republicans, aware that they screwed up more than any administration in history are being sucked down into the quicksand and are grasping at straws. They are doomed.
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So how is this guy to blame for Clinton giving Rich a pardon? Isn't Clinton the one to blame?
Holder gave it the so-called "legal green light". But I love your so called "grasp of the legal system" ;D
Anyway, this guy is no longer on Obama's staff, so this is no longer an issue.
Yep......now we wait to see what new bonehead judgement decision Oblather we'll make. And if this fella was innocent of any wrong doing, Oblather should have demonstrated leadership, and kept him on his VP committee
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Since there is nothing whatever that would cause you to do anything other than dump on Obama, it would be best to just ignore you and your instinctive silliness.
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Go for it. You did look in the mirror when you made that last response, right? Just replace the dumpee with ..... pretty much anyone not a Democrat. But don't worry, we won't ignore you or your sillieness
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No, I expect someone who wants to be my president to demonstrate significantly better judgement than to associate himself (much less embrace himself) with "obvious" racists, Anti-americans, & grossly unethical inidviduals.
You had to be laughing out loud when you typed that considering all the people that have been forced to resign from the Bush "administration" under threat of legal sanction, considering how many people have been forced to hide behind executive privilege and considering how many people have just plain broken laws in the current "administration".
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Can you say "speculate"? I knew you could
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>>... considering all the people that have been forced to resign from the Bush "administration" under threat of legal sanction ... <<
All the people? Whom are you referring too?
>> considering how many people have been forced to hide behind executive privilege ... <<
Again, who are these people you're referring too?
>> ... and considering how many people have just plain broken laws in the current "administration".<<
Once agiain, who?
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I think Brass is referring to Scooter Libby. At least that's the only 1 I can think of. Found guilty in an investigation that found nothing that it was designed to find. Oh, I take that back, it found the source of the "leak" was Armitage, and that at no time was Plame ever designated as covert, by the fella leading the investigation.
It did find Scooter guilty of apparently not remembering what he wrote down, and saying something different to a Grand Jury, than what he had written down at another time. That unethical bastard ;)
As to the rest of this supposed laundry list, only Brass can answer that one
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>>I think Brass is referring to Scooter Libby.<<
That's what I figured. However, I'm intereste in who "ALL THE PEOPLE" are.
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Isn't it "obvious"? That is ALL THE PEOPLE 8)
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>>... considering all the people that have been forced to resign from the Bush "administration" under threat of legal sanction ... <<
All the people? Whom are you referring too?
>> considering how many people have been forced to hide behind executive privilege ... <<
Again, who are these people you're referring too?
>> ... and considering how many people have just plain broken laws in the current "administration".<<
Once agiain, who?
Alberto Gonzales
Karl Rove
Harriet Miers
All have hidden behind executive privilege and all are in contempt of congress.
Indicted / Convicted/ Pled Guilty* Eric G. Andell - deputy undersecretary in charge of newly created Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (previously senior adviser to Secretary of Education Rod Paige) - pleaded guilty to one count of conflict of interest for using government travel for personal causes and was sentenced to one year of probation, 100 hours of community service, and fined $5,000.
* Claude Allen - Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy- resigned, pled guilty to shoplifting from Target stores.
* Lester Crawford - Commissioner, FDA - resigned in late September 2005 after only two months on the job. On October 17th, he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts, making a false writing and conflict of interest. On February 27, 2007, Crawford was sentenced to to three years of probation and was fined $90,000.
* Brian Doyle - Deputy Press Secretary, Department of Homeland Security - Resigned in wake of child sex scandal. Doyle was arrested on April 4th, 2006 and pleaded no contest on September 19, 2006 to seven counts of use of a computer to seduce a child and sixteen counts of transmitting harmful material to a minor. On November 17th, 2006 Brian Doyle was sentenced to five years in state prison and ten years of probation. He will also need to register as a sex offender.
* Steven Griles - Deputy Secretary at the Interior Department - is the highest-ranked administration official yet convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal. In March 2007, Griles pleaded guilty to lying about his role in the Jack Abramoff scandal. Sentenced to 10 months incarceration.
* John T. Korsmo ? Chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board from 2002 to 2004 ? pleaded guilty in 2005 to lying to the Senate and an inspector general. He swore he had no idea how a list of presidents for FHFB-regulated banks were invited to a fundraiser for his friend?s congressional campaign. On the invites, Korsmo was listed as the ?Special Guest.? Got 18 months of probation and a $5,000 fine.
* Scooter Libby - Vice President Dick Cheney?s chief of staff - resigned after being indicted for lying to a grand jury and investigators in connection with the investigation stemming from the leak of Valerie Wilson?s covert CIA operative?s identity. Convicted on four of five counts, making him the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-contra scandal. Sentenced to thirty months imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. On July 2nd, after a judge decided that Libby would remain in prison during the appeals process, President Bush commuted Libby?s sentence by removing the thirty months in prison.
* David Safavian - former head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at the Office of Management and Budget - convicted of lying to ethics officials and Senate investigators about his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. On October 27, 2006, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He is currently appealing the ruling.
* Robert Stein - former comptroller and funding officer for the now disbanded Coalition Provisional Authority, Southern Central Region in Al-Hillah, Iraq - pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, possession of a machine gun, and being a felon in possession of a fire arm. On January 30, 2007 Stein was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to forfeit $3.6 million.
* Roger Stillwell - desk officer, Interior Department - pleaded guilty to failing to report Redskins tickets and free dinners from Jack Abramoff.
Resigned Due to Investigation, Pending Investigation or Allegations of Impropriety
* Philip Cooney - chief of staff, White House Council on Environmental Quality - a former oil industry lawyer with no scientific expertise, Cooney resigned after it was revealed he had watered down reports on global warming.
* George Deutsch - press aide, NASA - resigned amid allegations he prevented the agency?s top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming.
* Michael Elston - chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty - announced his resignation on June 15, 2007. Despite allegations that he?d threatened at least four of the eight fired US Attorneys, McNulty said Elston had served the Justice Department ?with distinction for nearly eight years.?
* Kyle Dustin ?Dusty? Foggo - appointed executive director of the CIA, the agency?s third-highest post, in October 2004 - resigned and was ultimately indicted on bribery charges related to the Duke Cunningham scandal.
* Alberto Gonzales - former Attorney General - resigned without explanation amidst investigations of the firings of U.S. Attorneys, the politicization of the Justice Department, warrantless surveillance, and the torture and mistreatment of detainees.
* Monica Goodling - former Justice Department liaison to the White House and senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - resigned on April 7, 2007 amidst the investigation of the firings of U.S. Attorneys.
* Michelle Larson Korsmo - deputy chief of staff, Department of Labor - Helped her husband (see John Korsmo, above) with his donor scam. Quietly left her Labor plum job in February 2004, about two weeks before news broke that she and her husband were the targets of a criminal probe.
* Howard ?Cookie? Krongard - former State Department inspector general ? accused of not properly investigating State Department contractor fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan; of retaliating against whistleblowers in his own office; and of not telling the truth about his knowledge of his brother?s ties with Blackwater, a State Department contractor. Faced with a possible perjury investigation, Howard Krongard resigned on December 7, 2007.
* Julie Macdonald - former deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department - resigned in May 2007 after an ?inspector general?s report found she had improperly leaked information to private organizations, bullied staff scientists and broken federal rules.? The Department of the Interior is investigating many of her decisions regarding endangered species; so far seven have been overturned.
* Paul McNulty - Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice ? resigned, after questions about his involvement in the U.S. attorney firings and his testimony to Congress about the firings.
* Richard Perle - Chairman, Defense Policy Board - resigned from Pentagon advisory panel amid conflict-of-interest charges.
* Susan Ralston - assistant, White House - resigned amidst revelations that she had accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff without compensating him, counter to White House ethics rules.
* Janet Rehnquist - inspector general, Department of Health and Human Services - resigned on June 1, 2003 in the face of an investigation into her alleged efforts to block a politically dangerous probe on behalf of the Bush family.
* James Roche - secretary, U.S. Air Force - resigned in the wake of the Boeing tanker lease scandal, after it was revealed he had rather crudely pushed for Boeing to win a $23 billion contract.
* Kyle Sampson -former chief of staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - resigned amidst the investigation of the firings of U.S. Attorneys.
* Joseph Schmitz - Inspector General, Defense - Resigned amid charges he personally intervened to protect top political appointees.
* Bradley Schlozman - resigned from his third and final post with the Justice Department after accusations of actively politicizing the department. He?s currently under investigation by the Department?s inspector general.
* Thomas Scully - Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - shortly after Scully resigned in 2003, an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general found that Scully had pressured the agency?s actuary to underestimate the full cost of the Medicare reform bill by approximately $100 billion until after Congress passed the bill into law. Scully was also hit with conflict of interest charges by the U.S. attorney?s office for billing CMS for expenses incurred during a job search while he still headed the agency. He settled those charges by paying $9,782.
* David Smith - deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife, and parks, Interior Department - resigned on July 21, 2006 after shooting a buffalo and accepting its skeletal remains and meat as an illegal gratuity. He eventually paid over $3,000 for the dead buffalo, but only after the internal inquiry had commenced. The Department of Interior inspector general also noted in a May 16, 2006 report that Smith?s involvement in the designation of Houston as a port of entry for imported wildlife in order to benefit a friend was inappropriate.
* John Tanner - Voting Rights Section Chief, Justice Department - resigned in December of 2007 and moved to the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices. Already under suspicion for aiding efforts to politicize the voting section, the bumbling proponent of voter identification laws angered lawmakers with his comments that such laws actually discriminate against white voters because ?minorities die first?. Even more impressive was his apology for the comment. The DoJ?s Office of Professional Responsibility is currently investigating his travel habits and those of his deputy.
* Sara Taylor - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs at the White House, where she was Karl Rove?s top aide - resigned amidst the U.S. attorneys investigation and other probes of Rove?s alleged politicization of the government.
* Ken Tomlinson - Board Chairman, Corporation for Public Broadcasting; member, Broadcasting Board of Governors - resigned at the release of an inspector general report concluding he had broken laws in spending CPB money to hire politically connected consultants to search for ?bias? without consulting the board. At BBG, a separate investigation found he was running a ?horse racing operation? out of his office, and continuing to hire politically-wired individuals to do ?consulting? work for him. After being nominated and serving another term, he finally stepped down from that spot earlier this year.
* Carl Truscott - Director, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Bureau - resigned. A report by the Justice Department?s inspector general found that Truscott wasted tens of thousands of dollars on luxuries, wasted millions on whimsical management decisions and violated ethics rules by ordering employees to help his nephew with a high school video project.
* Paul Wolfowitz - World Bank President - resigned in May 2007 after a committee report found that he broke ethics rules by giving his girlfriend a substantial raise.
Nomination Failed Due to Scandal
* Linda Chavez - nominated, Secretary of Labor - withdrew her nomination in January 2001 amidst revelations that an illegal immigrant lived in her home and worked for her in the early 1990s. Chavez blamed what she said were the ?search-and-destroy? politics of Washington.
* Timothy Flanigan - nominated, Deputy Attorney General (also Alberto Gonzales? top deputy at the White House) - withdrew his nomination in October 2005 amidst revelations that he?d worked closely with lobbyist Jack Abramoff when he was General Counsel for Corporate and International Law at Tyco, which was a client of Abramoff?s.
* Bernard Kerik - nominated, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security - withdrew his nomination amidst a host of corruption allegations. Eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor relating to improper gifts totaling tens of thousands of dollars while he was a New York City official in the late 1990?s. Subsequently, on November 8, 2007, Kerik was indicted on sixteen counts for bribery, tax fraud, and false statements with a maximum sentence of 142 years and more than $5 million in fines. Kerik has pleaded not guilty. For a rundown of Kerik?s myriad indiscretions, check out TPM?s Ultimate Kerik Scandal List!.
* William Mercer - the former associate deputy attorney general and US Attorney for Montana - withdrew his nomination to be the permanent number three official at the Department of Justice on June 22, 2007 due to his role in the U.S. attorney firings.
* Hans von Spakovsky - Commissioner, FEC - nomination to another term after his recess appointment failed due to allegations that he?d worked at the Justice Department to suppress minority voter turnout.
Under Investigation But Still in Office
* Stuart Bowen - Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) - was once admired for his successes while investigating allegations of waste and fraud in Iraq, but now employee allegations have prompted four government investigations into the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR).
* Lurita Doan - Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration - still in office, despite investigations by both the Office of Special Counsel and the House oversight committee that found that Doan had ?crossed the line? by suggesting that the GSA use its resources to help Republicans get elected.
* Alfonso Jackson - Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - following reports that Jackson told a business group in April 2006 that he once canceled a contract after the contractor criticized President Bush, an investigation by the HUD inspector general found that while Jackson told his deputies to favor Bush supporters, there was ?no direct proof that a contract was actually awarded or rescinded because of political affiliation.? A second, criminal investigation was triggered in part by Jackson?s claim before Congress in May 2007 that ?I don?t touch contracts.? That probe, now before a federal grand jury, has turned up evidence that Jackson may indeed have touched contracts - and steered them towards friends.
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Brass, you're freaking hilarious!
:D
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_von_Spakovsky
"...career department lawyers say that von Spakovsky steered the agency toward voting rights policies not seen before, pushing to curb minor instances of election fraud by imposing sweeping restrictions that would make it harder, not easier, for Democratic-leaning poor and minority voters to cast ballots."[9] Some of the examples cited were his pushing for approval of the Georgia ID voter law, over the objections of career staff..."
Take note , being against cheating can be bad for your Washington carreer.
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Scooter Libby ..........
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Libby
All right he was convicted, but it is still hard to figure out what he did to be convicted for.
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>>... considering all the people that have been forced to resign from the Bush "administration" under threat of legal sanction ... <<
All the people? Whom are you referring too?
>> considering how many people have been forced to hide behind executive privilege ... <<
Again, who are these people you're referring too?
>> ... and considering how many people have just plain broken laws in the current "administration".<<
Once agiain, who?
Alberto Gonzales
Karl Rove
Harriet Miers
All have hidden behind executive privilege and all are in contempt of congress.
Indicted / Convicted/ Pled Guilty* Eric G. Andell - deputy undersecretary in charge of newly created Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (previously senior adviser to Secretary of Education Rod Paige) - pleaded guilty to one count of conflict of interest for using government travel for personal causes and was sentenced to one year of probation, 100 hours of community service, and fined $5,000.
* Claude Allen - Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy- resigned, pled guilty to shoplifting from Target stores.
* Lester Crawford - Commissioner, FDA - resigned in late September 2005 after only two months on the job. On October 17th, he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts, making a false writing and conflict of interest. On February 27, 2007, Crawford was sentenced to to three years of probation and was fined $90,000.
* Brian Doyle - Deputy Press Secretary, Department of Homeland Security - Resigned in wake of child sex scandal. Doyle was arrested on April 4th, 2006 and pleaded no contest on September 19, 2006 to seven counts of use of a computer to seduce a child and sixteen counts of transmitting harmful material to a minor. On November 17th, 2006 Brian Doyle was sentenced to five years in state prison and ten years of probation. He will also need to register as a sex offender.
* Steven Griles - Deputy Secretary at the Interior Department - is the highest-ranked administration official yet convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal. In March 2007, Griles pleaded guilty to lying about his role in the Jack Abramoff scandal. Sentenced to 10 months incarceration.
* John T. Korsmo ? Chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board from 2002 to 2004 ? pleaded guilty in 2005 to lying to the Senate and an inspector general. He swore he had no idea how a list of presidents for FHFB-regulated banks were invited to a fundraiser for his friend?s congressional campaign. On the invites, Korsmo was listed as the ?Special Guest.? Got 18 months of probation and a $5,000 fine.
* Scooter Libby - Vice President Dick Cheney?s chief of staff - resigned after being indicted for lying to a grand jury and investigators in connection with the investigation stemming from the leak of Valerie Wilson?s covert CIA operative?s identity. Convicted on four of five counts, making him the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-contra scandal. Sentenced to thirty months imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. On July 2nd, after a judge decided that Libby would remain in prison during the appeals process, President Bush commuted Libby?s sentence by removing the thirty months in prison.
* David Safavian - former head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at the Office of Management and Budget - convicted of lying to ethics officials and Senate investigators about his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. On October 27, 2006, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He is currently appealing the ruling.
* Robert Stein - former comptroller and funding officer for the now disbanded Coalition Provisional Authority, Southern Central Region in Al-Hillah, Iraq - pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, possession of a machine gun, and being a felon in possession of a fire arm. On January 30, 2007 Stein was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to forfeit $3.6 million.
* Roger Stillwell - desk officer, Interior Department - pleaded guilty to failing to report Redskins tickets and free dinners from Jack Abramoff.
Resigned Due to Investigation, Pending Investigation or Allegations of Impropriety
* Philip Cooney - chief of staff, White House Council on Environmental Quality - a former oil industry lawyer with no scientific expertise, Cooney resigned after it was revealed he had watered down reports on global warming.
* George Deutsch - press aide, NASA - resigned amid allegations he prevented the agency?s top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming.
* Michael Elston - chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty - announced his resignation on June 15, 2007. Despite allegations that he?d threatened at least four of the eight fired US Attorneys, McNulty said Elston had served the Justice Department ?with distinction for nearly eight years.?
* Kyle Dustin ?Dusty? Foggo - appointed executive director of the CIA, the agency?s third-highest post, in October 2004 - resigned and was ultimately indicted on bribery charges related to the Duke Cunningham scandal.
* Alberto Gonzales - former Attorney General - resigned without explanation amidst investigations of the firings of U.S. Attorneys, the politicization of the Justice Department, warrantless surveillance, and the torture and mistreatment of detainees.
* Monica Goodling - former Justice Department liaison to the White House and senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - resigned on April 7, 2007 amidst the investigation of the firings of U.S. Attorneys.
* Michelle Larson Korsmo - deputy chief of staff, Department of Labor - Helped her husband (see John Korsmo, above) with his donor scam. Quietly left her Labor plum job in February 2004, about two weeks before news broke that she and her husband were the targets of a criminal probe.
* Howard ?Cookie? Krongard - former State Department inspector general ? accused of not properly investigating State Department contractor fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan; of retaliating against whistleblowers in his own office; and of not telling the truth about his knowledge of his brother?s ties with Blackwater, a State Department contractor. Faced with a possible perjury investigation, Howard Krongard resigned on December 7, 2007.
* Julie Macdonald - former deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department - resigned in May 2007 after an ?inspector general?s report found she had improperly leaked information to private organizations, bullied staff scientists and broken federal rules.? The Department of the Interior is investigating many of her decisions regarding endangered species; so far seven have been overturned.
* Paul McNulty - Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice ? resigned, after questions about his involvement in the U.S. attorney firings and his testimony to Congress about the firings.
* Richard Perle - Chairman, Defense Policy Board - resigned from Pentagon advisory panel amid conflict-of-interest charges.
* Susan Ralston - assistant, White House - resigned amidst revelations that she had accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff without compensating him, counter to White House ethics rules.
* Janet Rehnquist - inspector general, Department of Health and Human Services - resigned on June 1, 2003 in the face of an investigation into her alleged efforts to block a politically dangerous probe on behalf of the Bush family.
* James Roche - secretary, U.S. Air Force - resigned in the wake of the Boeing tanker lease scandal, after it was revealed he had rather crudely pushed for Boeing to win a $23 billion contract.
* Kyle Sampson -former chief of staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - resigned amidst the investigation of the firings of U.S. Attorneys.
* Joseph Schmitz - Inspector General, Defense - Resigned amid charges he personally intervened to protect top political appointees.
* Bradley Schlozman - resigned from his third and final post with the Justice Department after accusations of actively politicizing the department. He?s currently under investigation by the Department?s inspector general.
* Thomas Scully - Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - shortly after Scully resigned in 2003, an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general found that Scully had pressured the agency?s actuary to underestimate the full cost of the Medicare reform bill by approximately $100 billion until after Congress passed the bill into law. Scully was also hit with conflict of interest charges by the U.S. attorney?s office for billing CMS for expenses incurred during a job search while he still headed the agency. He settled those charges by paying $9,782.
* David Smith - deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife, and parks, Interior Department - resigned on July 21, 2006 after shooting a buffalo and accepting its skeletal remains and meat as an illegal gratuity. He eventually paid over $3,000 for the dead buffalo, but only after the internal inquiry had commenced. The Department of Interior inspector general also noted in a May 16, 2006 report that Smith?s involvement in the designation of Houston as a port of entry for imported wildlife in order to benefit a friend was inappropriate.
* John Tanner - Voting Rights Section Chief, Justice Department - resigned in December of 2007 and moved to the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices. Already under suspicion for aiding efforts to politicize the voting section, the bumbling proponent of voter identification laws angered lawmakers with his comments that such laws actually discriminate against white voters because ?minorities die first?. Even more impressive was his apology for the comment. The DoJ?s Office of Professional Responsibility is currently investigating his travel habits and those of his deputy.
* Sara Taylor - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs at the White House, where she was Karl Rove?s top aide - resigned amidst the U.S. attorneys investigation and other probes of Rove?s alleged politicization of the government.
* Ken Tomlinson - Board Chairman, Corporation for Public Broadcasting; member, Broadcasting Board of Governors - resigned at the release of an inspector general report concluding he had broken laws in spending CPB money to hire politically connected consultants to search for ?bias? without consulting the board. At BBG, a separate investigation found he was running a ?horse racing operation? out of his office, and continuing to hire politically-wired individuals to do ?consulting? work for him. After being nominated and serving another term, he finally stepped down from that spot earlier this year.
* Carl Truscott - Director, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Bureau - resigned. A report by the Justice Department?s inspector general found that Truscott wasted tens of thousands of dollars on luxuries, wasted millions on whimsical management decisions and violated ethics rules by ordering employees to help his nephew with a high school video project.
* Paul Wolfowitz - World Bank President - resigned in May 2007 after a committee report found that he broke ethics rules by giving his girlfriend a substantial raise.
Nomination Failed Due to Scandal
* Linda Chavez - nominated, Secretary of Labor - withdrew her nomination in January 2001 amidst revelations that an illegal immigrant lived in her home and worked for her in the early 1990s. Chavez blamed what she said were the ?search-and-destroy? politics of Washington.
* Timothy Flanigan - nominated, Deputy Attorney General (also Alberto Gonzales? top deputy at the White House) - withdrew his nomination in October 2005 amidst revelations that he?d worked closely with lobbyist Jack Abramoff when he was General Counsel for Corporate and International Law at Tyco, which was a client of Abramoff?s.
* Bernard Kerik - nominated, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security - withdrew his nomination amidst a host of corruption allegations. Eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor relating to improper gifts totaling tens of thousands of dollars while he was a New York City official in the late 1990?s. Subsequently, on November 8, 2007, Kerik was indicted on sixteen counts for bribery, tax fraud, and false statements with a maximum sentence of 142 years and more than $5 million in fines. Kerik has pleaded not guilty. For a rundown of Kerik?s myriad indiscretions, check out TPM?s Ultimate Kerik Scandal List!.
* William Mercer - the former associate deputy attorney general and US Attorney for Montana - withdrew his nomination to be the permanent number three official at the Department of Justice on June 22, 2007 due to his role in the U.S. attorney firings.
* Hans von Spakovsky - Commissioner, FEC - nomination to another term after his recess appointment failed due to allegations that he?d worked at the Justice Department to suppress minority voter turnout.
Under Investigation But Still in Office
* Stuart Bowen - Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) - was once admired for his successes while investigating allegations of waste and fraud in Iraq, but now employee allegations have prompted four government investigations into the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR).
* Lurita Doan - Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration - still in office, despite investigations by both the Office of Special Counsel and the House oversight committee that found that Doan had ?crossed the line? by suggesting that the GSA use its resources to help Republicans get elected.
* Alfonso Jackson - Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - following reports that Jackson told a business group in April 2006 that he once canceled a contract after the contractor criticized President Bush, an investigation by the HUD inspector general found that while Jackson told his deputies to favor Bush supporters, there was ?no direct proof that a contract was actually awarded or rescinded because of political affiliation.? A second, criminal investigation was triggered in part by Jackson?s claim before Congress in May 2007 that ?I don?t touch contracts.? That probe, now before a federal grand jury, has turned up evidence that Jackson may indeed have touched contracts - and steered them towards friends.
What a bunch of criminals.
Let us be very glad this train will be derailed.