Starting to Wonder
Following up on David's post below, why is McCain outspending Obama two-to-one in Missouri?
We had reader reports suggesting this last week. And in response to those reports readers from a number of other swing states reported seeing the same thing -- a flood of McCain ads and only a much smaller number of Obama ads.
When we checked in with Obama campaign, the impression we were given was that this was more a matter of viewer perception than reality. But the Post-Dispatch's reporting makes it clear that in Missouri at least it is very much the reality.
I've got my hand on only a small patch of a national campaign elephant. But voter preferences are much more malleable in these early summer months than in the Fall. So I am curious to know why what we're told is the heavily outfunded campaign is dominating the airwaves in at least some key areas.
--Josh Marshall
McCain Outspending Obama on MO TV
Earlier this week Josh noted the reports we were getting from readers in Missouri that McCain ads were all over TV, while Obama was barely visible. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jo Mannies runs the numbers:
Since his visit to southwest Missouri last week, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has aired more than three times as many campaign ads in the state as his Democratic rival, Barack Obama.McCain's campaign outspent and out-aired Obama in every major media market in Missouri, including St. Louis, from June 19 through last Wednesday. McCain held a town-hall forum in Springfield, Mo. on June 18.
McCain spent $224,696 for 791 spots that ran on local broadcast stations around Missouri. That compares to $115,054 spent by the Obama campaign to air 212 spots.
McCain's more aggressive spending comes as both campaigns say that Missouri is among their targeted states as they head into the remaining four months before the Nov. 4 general election.Both candidates' ad spending in Missouri and Illinois is being monitored for the Post-Dispatch by the Campaign Media Analysis Group, a Virginia-based, nonpartisan firm.
--David Kurtz
A Lingering Stain
Philip Gourevitch concludes TPMCafe's weeklong discussion on Abu Ghraib, centered on his new book Standard Operating Procedure: "Just as with slavery, we will have to accept that the stain will linger and continue to taint us for a very very very long time to come."
--David Kurtz
Election Central Morning Roundup
Barack Obama will be embarking on an international tour to meet with foreign leaders and boost his image on foreign policy. That and other political news of the day in today's Election Central Morning Roundup.
--Eric Kleefeld
Wrapping Up This Week's Book Club
What do Philip Gourevitch's reflections on Abu Ghraib tell us?
For one, Robert Stone says, that "the Bush-Cheney operation ought never to have been trusted to supervise the deployment of armed troops."
--David Kurtz
Person of Interest
U.S. government (thanks, Bush administration) has to cough up $5.8 million to settle a lawsuit brought by one-time anthrax-mail suspect Steven Hatfill.
--David Kurtz
Why Is It So Easy To Accept Torture?
Rory Stewart weighs in at this week's Book Club. In the aftermath of Abu Ghraib, he observes: "It looks to me - from a distance - as though the real challenges are two-fold: to clear out the clutter that muddles our sense of right and wrong and to identify who to hold responsible."
--David Kurtz
When Anonymity Fails, Be Nasty, Brutish and Short
Dana Milbank, on David Addington's testimony yesterday.
--David Kurtz
Pretty Please?
If you haven't already, please take a moment to subscribe to our new TPMtv video channel on Youtube. It helps us bring you more great video clips.
If you need more convincing, see this post.
--Josh Marshall
Where Are Networks on DOJ Scandal?
From Media Matters:
Continuing a pattern of ignoring developments in the ongoing investigation into the firing of several U.S. attorneys, none of the broadcast networks' June 24 or 25 evening newscasts reported on the Justice Department Inspector General's findings of politicization of hiring practices in several of the department's recruiting programs....
As Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, the broadcast networks' evening newscasts -- ABC's World News, NBC's Nightly News, and the CBS Evening News -- initially were slow to report on the controversy surrounding the dismissal of several U.S. attorneys and have a history of ignoring developments relating to the controversy.
--David Kurtz
Kaboom!
Dynamiting a big part of the crown jewel of their plutonium enrichment program is a pretty convincing demonstration of the North Koreans' seriousness about getting out of the nuclear business. But I question the wisdom of dynamiting a plutonium enrichment facility. Aren't these things usually buried in cement and forgotten about? 
That's not simply a rhetorical question. I obviously know very little about the management, let alone demolition of nuclear facilities. But doesn't this risk kicking a lot of radiation up into the air?
Late Update: And the answer is ... No. TPM Reader Nuclear Engineers seem to agree that the cooling towers are isolated from radioactive contaminants. Next question?
--Josh Marshall
Election Central Morning Roundup
Obama and Hillary meet up today in Unity, NH. That and the day's other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
--David Kurtz
Nevada Gov. Gibbons At It Again
The Carson City paper caught scandal-plagued Gov. Jim Gibbons (R), who is in the midst of a messy divorce, on camera at the Reno rodeo Sunday with the ex-wife of a former Reno mayor. She also happens to be a former Playboy playmate (1989).
Asked to comment on why one picture showed him in a parking lot hugging the woman not his wife (nor the other other woman, with whom Gibbons had exchanged hundreds of text messages), Gibbons said he was comforting a stressed out friend: "She was upset, crying. She couldn't get her breath. I put my arms around her."
What is it with Gibbons and parking areas? You'll recall that during his 2006 campaign for governor, then-congressman Gibbons was accused by a Las Vegas cocktail waitress of sexually assaulting her in a Vegas parking garage. Gibbons, who was never charged, said that the woman had simply tripped and he had caught her.
When Nevada women are in distress, Jim Gibbons is there to comfort them. What more could you want in a governor?
Late Update: We have more on the damsel-in-distress-saving governor -- including the photo in question -- in today's TPMmuckraker Must Read.
--David Kurtz
If Not Mitt, Then Jindal
I noted before our strong affinity for Mitt Romney as McCain's veep. But if it can't be Mitt, then we won't be too disappointed if we have to settle for that exorcism-attending, chemical-castrating Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal:
--David Kurtz
Scavenger Hunt
New York Republicans looking for someone -- anyone -- to field in the race to fill Rep. Vito Fossella's empty seat have scraped through the bottom of the barrel and are still coming up empty.
--David Kurtz
Hope Springs Eternal
Former Republican and former U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee sees a "flicker of common sense coursing through the Republican Party."
--David Kurtz
That's Rich
According to Andrew Sullivan, the only senator holding up ending the HIV travel and immigration ban is none other than Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), serial frequenter of prostitutes in DC and Louisiana.
--Josh Marshall
Romney: Nuke Non-Proliferation is a "Liberal" Position
We try to be transparent around here about our political leanings, so you should know there is a strong "Romney for VP" contingent at TPM. The sun has been a little dimmer since Mitt dropped out of the GOP primary. All would be right again with the world if McCain just named him to the ticket, then we could count on him dropping little nuggets of video gold like this one:
--David Kurtz
Who Needs a Watchlist?
As TPMmuckraker reports, not only did the Pentagon ignore a State Department watchlist in awarding a defense contract to AEY, Inc., those 20-something dudes from Florida, but the State Department itself ignored its own watchlist in awarding separate arms contracts to AEY.
--David Kurtz
McCain Camp Sends Wrong Messenger
In a McCain campaign conference call today, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) dismissed Obama's bipartisan credentials as all talk and no action -- conveniently skipping right past all the times Brownback himself and Obama have worked together.
--David Kurtz
So Sad
It's sad to see articulate and intelligent, if terribly misguided, writers still trying to justify their Iraq catastrophe by claiming its no different from World War II and our decades' long stationing of troops in Germany and Japan.
Today we have the instance of Max Boot ...
I could just imagine an Andrew Sullivan of the 1940's writing something similar about Harry Truman's crazy idea to station troops in Germany and Japan without an exit strategy: "In fifty years' time, the West Germans will not be able to defend themselves against the Soviet Union? Or East Germany? Please." As it happens, the West Germans wouldn't have been able to defend themselves against a broad array of enemies without a long-term American troop presence. That presence has served other important goals too, namely reassuring Germany's neighbors that it would never threaten the peace of Europe again and fostering Germany's internal democratic development. But just because we've had troops in Germany and Japan for 60 years-and in South Korea for more than 50 years-doesn't mean we're occupying those countries. We are there are the request of democratically elected governments.
I never fail to have my breath taken away by various neocons' breezy and wholly unselfconscious claims to be the modern-day stand-ins for every revered past moment in the history of American foreign policy. Boot's problem is that he doesn't get Imperialism, though it's actually a topic he's written a great deal about. Or more particularly, he doesn't understand why it ended. When I interviewed him in the months before the Iraq War he talked with a mix of extravagance and hypotheticalness about recolonizing various parts of the Middle East. The main point I remember was taking over the Saudi oil fields and running them under some sort of internationally-sanctioned protectorate and "administering them as a trust for the people of the region."
But setting all those concerns aside there's one distinction between the case of Germany and Japan and Iraq today that gets far too little mention. It's not a matter of culture or religion. It is the fact in the aftermath of World War II, both Germany and Japan had been conquered by the United States and her allies in a wars of aggression that Germany and Japan had started. The civilian populations of each country, whatever their war guilt, had experienced shattering levels of violence and privation in the final years of the war. And both countries were immediately faced by nearby hostile powers they feared much more than the United States. There are almost countless differences between the two historical situations, either separate from these points or growing out them. But taken together, these three factors explain a great deal of why our occupation of Iraq lacks both the legitimacy and the acceptance we enjoyed in those two countries.
--Josh Marshall
TPMtv: CNN: All Hail McDifferent!
See how CNN manages to get through a list of policies where Bush and McCain agree without mentioning Iraq or the War on Terror ...
High-res version at Veracifier.com.
--Josh Marshall
Dept. of Hmmm
Last night TPM Reader BD wrote in to let us know that John McCain is blanketing the airwaves in Missouri while Barack Obama wasn't on the air at all. We asked other Missouri readers to tell us whether they were seeing the same thing.
And, by and large, the answer seems to be 'Yes'. A few readers say that Obama has gone up on the air in the last few days too, but with a much smaller run.
A national campaign is a complex undertaking, with lots of trade-offs about where to deploy funds and strategies about how to roll out messages and when. So I won't be foolish enough to second guess their strategy on the basis of one single data point, without being privy to their overall strategy.
But given Obama's expected overpowering financial advantage, it would seem odd to me if his campaign is ceding the airwaves to McCain in such a key potential swing state.
--Josh Marshall
Is Obama Ready for the General?
Theda Skocpol: "Although Obama seems to be "up" in current national polls, McCain is actually doing a much better job of shaping the agenda to his advantage."
--David Kurtz
D'oh!
From Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), chair of the Republicans Senate Campaign Committee ...
"Energy is actually a huge opportunity for Republicans. Energy has the opportunity to change the climate if it's done right."
--Josh Marshall
Say What?
David Addington, a leading architect of the unitary executive: I don't even know what the theory of the unitary executive means.
We've got the video here.
--David Kurtz
Yoo Don't Say
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) didn't waste any time cutting to the chase in this morning's hearing featuring Vice Presidential Chief of Staff David Addington and former DOJ torture-memo attorney John Yoo. 
Right out of the box Conyers asked Yoo, "Could the President order a suspect buried alive?"
Yoo hemmed and hawed on that one, and later in the hearing he refused to answer some questions on the basis of attorney-client privilege (he is the attorney, DOJ his former client).
Kate Klonick is covering the hearing at TPMmuckraker.
--David Kurtz
Rendell: Bill Clinton Needs to Get Over It
The Pennsylvania governor says it's time for Bill to "get over" the primary and "shake it off." Watch the video.
--David Kurtz
Polls: Obama Up in Key Swing States
A new round of Quinnipiac polls has Obama well-positioned in Michigan (+6), Minnesota (+17), Wisconsin (+13), and Colorado (+5).
--David Kurtz
Today's Must Read
McCain campaign manager Rick Davis has had a pretty sweet gig going from being a McCain campaign staffer to being a lobbyist to being a McCain campaign staffer to being . . . what next?
--David Kurtz
What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been
President Bush announces at a press conference this morning that he will be lifting sanctions on North Korea and may shortly remove them from the "Axis of Evil":
--David Kurtz
Election Central Morning Roundup
Marching orders for Obama fundraisers: bring in 5-6 checks each for Hillary debt relief. That and the other latest political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
--David Kurtz
Big Mo
From TPM Reader BD ...
The latest Survey USA poll shows McCain opening up a 7 point lead in Missouri, which seems to run counter to the bounce present elsewhere. The poll found that the big change occurred in St. Louis. I live in St. Louis, and have a potential explanation. For the past two weeks our TVs have been saturated with ads for McCain, ads that say that John McCain hates war and stood up to the President on global warming (if I didn't know better I would think that he is the Dem). Despite news reports that Obama is advertising in Missouri, I haven't seen a single ad. I wonder if this may be an indication that McCain's efforts to move to the center may be working in this swing state, especially when Obama has nothing up to counter the McCain message.
Anyone in the state of my birth seeing the same thing?
--Josh Marshall
Who Is Esther Slater McDonald?
Kate Klonick introduces us to the little-known former DOJ official who was implicated in yesterday's inspector general report.
--David Kurtz
Makes You Proud to be an American
Here's President Bush yesterday (how did we not see this before?!?), explaining to Philippine President Gloria Arroyo why he appreciates Filipino-Americans so much -- one cooks for him at the White House (via Huffington Post):
--David Kurtz
Obama on FISA
If there was any doubt that Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) would vote for the new FISA legislation -- even if he fails to strip telecom immunity from the bill -- he cleared that up in a press conference today, saying that telecom immunity does not override "the security interests of the American people."
--David Kurtz
Again!
Chris Matthews, for the second day in a row, makes the Obama/Osama goof:
In case you missed yesterday's, which to his credit Matthews caught:
--David Kurtz
Another GOPer Drinks the Kool-Aid
Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) joins the China-drilling-for-Cuban-oil bamboozlement.
--David Kurtz
For bin Laden's Election Help Before He Was Against It
John McCain says he "strenuously disagree[s]" with advisor Charlie Black's claim that another al Qaida mass casualty terrorist attack would be good news for McCain's election prospects. But back in 2004 he said pretty much the same thing.
--Josh Marshall
Standard Operating Procedure
Philip Gourevitch: "[T]he story of Abu Ghraib was not that Iraqi prisoners were being brutally abused - that was the norm in Iraq. The story was that Americans were doing the abusing - and that they were doing it as a matter of policy."
--David Kurtz
TPMtv: Bush DOJ Scandal, Update #1
As you know, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine came out yesterday with the first installment of his long-awaited report on the panoply of DOJ scandals growing out of last year's US Attorneys firing story. In today's episode we bring you up to date on Fine's key findings and explain why installment one is an ominous sign for those actually involved in the firings ...
High-res version at Veracifier.com.
--Josh Marshall
Where Will the Republicans Go?
TPM Reader HW peels back the layers on Rove's comment about Obama being "the guy at the country club with the beautiful date":
I was watching Olbermann's coverage of the Karl Rove comments the other night, and I've read other accounts, and I have this sense that too many in the media and the blogging left have missed Rove's point. You touched on it "Uppity Watch," but I'm not sure you unpacked it the way it needs to be.The key to Rove's exposition about Obama at the country club isn't the silliness of placing an African-American at a country club because of the fact that so many country clubs largely or completely or just historically exclude African-Americans. That's the way its been picked up by most bloggers and the media, and its obvious, but its not the importance of the comment, and I don't believe Rove's juxtaposition of the African-American Obama at a country club was just a clumsy attempt to paint Obama as a type of elitist contrary to his background.
The key to the statement is that in the image he is with "a beautiful date." Not Michelle Obama or, in the abstract, his wife, i.e. a wife like Michelle Obama. When you think of a "beautiful date" specifically at a country club, do you picture an African-American woman? Would Rove's target audience? Or do you picture him there, a black man, smoking a cigarette indoors at a country club, with a white woman on his arm?
When I thought of this, I got a chill. When you think of Obama's vulnerability, I think the primaries showed that race remains a real and very serious obstacle, particularly with white Americans over 50. When you think of where we are with racism in this country, I think its a pretty safe bet that the final freak-out factor to overcome may be black men dating white women, in particular, one's daughter. If I were a completely amoral Republican operative, I'd try to find some white women that Obama dated before Michelle and get them into the public's stream of consciousness anyway I could. Its a tactic so vile I don't even like speculating about it, but if you want to be ready for the worst, I think Rove just tipped his hand at where they plan to go.
--David Kurtz
Not a Bed of Roses
Obama is personally calling Hillary's top fundraisers in order to soothe hurt feelings -- but they're giving him an earful.
--David Kurtz
Rove: Yes, Obama is Arrogant
Warning: You are about to see O'Reilly and Rove together. Viewer discretion advised:
--David Kurtz
A Little Too Close to Home
DOJ has canceled its e-discovery training session for Scott Bloch's morale-boosting office retreat today, after TPMmuckraker reported about it last week.
Bloch, you'll recall, is the head of the Office of Special Counsel who is alleged to have, among other things, scrubbed his office hard drive clean. So e-discovery is a sensitive subject in that office.
A scheduling snafu, DOJ tell us.
--David Kurtz
Today's Must Read
What do you do if the Supreme Court rejects your legal position on greenhouse gas emissions and orders the EPA to make a ruling?
If you're the White House, you stall, delay, and then, when push comes to shove, you simply refuse to open the email from the EPA that contains the new ruling.
--David Kurtz
Election Central Morning Roundup
The Obama campaign is putting resources into 14 states won by President Bush in 2004. That and the other latest political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
--David Kurtz
A Little Less Buffoonery in Congress
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) went down in a crushing 20-point defeat yesterday in the GOP primary in Utah.
Here's Cannon, the ranking member of a House Judiciary subcommittee, at the height of his powers of buffoonery, explaining how throwing the book at Scooter Libby helped heal the nation of the damage caused when Bill Clinton wasn't prosecuted for perjury and obstruction:
--David Kurtz
No Country for GOP Incumbents
As TPM Election Central's Eric Kleefeld noted early this evening, there was a hotly contested GOP house primary tonight in Utah's 3rd district, the seat currently held by Rep. Chris Cannon (R). You may remember Cannon for talking up the benefits women get from polygamy or pointing out that those teenage pages were just "egging [Rep. Mark Foley] on."
As Kleefeld aptly described it, this was a face off between a "right-wing buffoon versus a right-wing suit." But one might also say that it was a face between a very right-wing incumbent versus a very, very right-wing challenger.
And as TPM Reader BT has just pointed out, with 79% reporting, challenger Jason Chaffetz is clobbering Cannon 60%-40%. Unless, there's some really weird geographic skew in how the votes are coming, I'd say this probably means Cannon's toast.
When a Republican incumbent loses to an even more ideologically extreme challenger, Dems often think they may have a shot.
On the other hand, this district voted 77% for President Bush in 2004. So I'm not holding my breath on this one.
--Josh Marshall
Do Not Miss This
I was out of the office for almost all of today (helluva day considering today's release on the Justice Department IG report). So the next few posts may have me catching up on some of the day's news. But I wanted to start by making sure you saw the TPMCafe Book Club we're hosting this week on Philip Gourevitch's new book Standard Operating Procedure.
It doesn't really do the book justice to say it's about Abu Ghraib. But if this is the first you're hearing about it, that is the general topic. The book is a collaboration of sorts between Gourevitch and the documentary film maker Errol Morris, who shared with Gourevitch transcripts of interviews of American service men and women who'd served at Abu Ghraib. I'm tempted to take a crack at explaining the book and trying to impart some of its flavor. But far better that I point you to the author himself.
Here's Philip's introductory post, kicking off the discussion yesterday. He's also discussing the book with readers at great length in the comments section. So it's really a great opportunity -- a treat you shouldn't miss -- to dig into this vividly awful, shameful story with a writer of non-fiction who can turn a mirror on us with the art and moral insight of the finest novelists.
Of course, it's a discussion. So joining Philip are poet and essayist Mary Karr, author Rory Stewart, Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic Monthly, E.J. Graff, senior correspondent at The American Prospect and novelist Robert Stone. And you can follow the unfolding discussion here.
At TPM, as you know, our core mission is news and reporting. But having a venue where we can host these kinds of more searching discussions -- less tied to the immediacy of the news cycle -- into politics, culture, foreign affairs, the arts, etc. has always been a goal of mine. But it's one we've -- or, I'll take responsibility for it, I've -- not always had the resources or the focus to follow through on in the way we'd like.
But your readership -- both in loyalty and expanding numbers -- has allowed us to slowly build up our ad revenues. And that makes it possible for us to hire new employees who make more of this stuff possible. So with that segue, let me also take the opportunity to introduce you to our newest staffer, Lila Shapiro. Lila is our newest associate editor. And among other tasks, she's takings over the site editorship of TPMCafe from Andrew Golis. So in the coming weeks and months she'll be organizing new book clubs, table for ones and more at TPMCafe. So if you have ideas in mind, drop Lila a line.
--Josh Marshall
Some Guys Get All the Breaks
TPM Reader AB's lament ...
I'm 23 years old and I have yet to make it as an international arms dealer, despite majoring in international relations in college. I sometimes give my weapons pitch on street corners or at open mic nights, hoping to be scouted. I've sent out demo tapes to all of the major government agencies, including the Defense department, State Department, and CIA. I was very surprised when only the FBI responded, even though I hadn't sent them a copy. At the moment I have a job at a coffee shop to pay the bills. I worry that maybe I'll never make it, that I'll be stuck serving coffee for the rest of my life. However every time I feel down, I think of Efraim Diveroli. I tell myself, if he can make it, so can I.
--Josh Marshall
What Raid?
Our sources suggest that reports that the FBI raided the office of former Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY) back in 2006 are not accurate.
--David Kurtz
Playing Nice
Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon is running a new TV campaign ad touting his work with Barack Obama.
--David Kurtz
Another Day, Another IG Investigation
The State Department inspector general's office confirms to TPMmuckraker that it has opened an investigation into the alleged cover up by the the U.S. embassy in Albania of its involvement in those allegedly illegal Chinese ammo shipments.
--David Kurtz
TPMtv: TIM PAWLENTY V.P. MADNESS!
With the general election matchup finally set, it's time for the respective nominees to engage in the rigorous process of vetting potential candidates for running mate. Today TPMtv presents its own special vetting of much-discussed prospective McCain pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) ...
High-res version at Veracifier.com.
--Ben Craw
Newsweek Poll May Not be Outlier
In the wake of last week's Newsweek poll showing Obama with a 15-point national lead comes a new L.A. Times poll that puts Obama up by 12 points.
--David Kurtz
Albania
It's not every day -- in fact, I feel pretty confident saying it's never happened before -- that we have two Albania-related stories in the mix at TPM.
Quite a few readers have noted the coincidence that AEY, Inc. -- which occupies the exceedingly narrow niche of arms dealers run by Floridians in their 20s who buy outdated Chinese ammo and resell it to the U.S. government -- was buying its ammo in Albania while at the same time Tom Ridge, former DHS secretary and current McCain campaign co-chairman, was lobbying for the Albanian government (although he failed to register as a foreign lobbyist until DOJ came calling).
At this point we have no evidence to suggest that it is anything other than an odd coincidence. But we go into such things with an open mind. So if any readers spot, or know of, a firm connection between the two, please let us know.
--David Kurtz
Remembrances of Another Middle Eastern Prison
At the TPMCafe Book Club, Jeffrey Goldberg sees Abu Ghraib through the prism of his time as a military policeman at the Ketziot Military Prison Camp in the Negev Desert of Israel.
--David Kurtz
Meet Me At the Hyphen
Michelle Obama headlining her first fund-raiser for the DNC, at the Waldorf-Astoria on Thursday night.
--David Kurtz
Laws Were Broken
The DOJ IG report concludes that Michael Elston, the chief of staff to then-Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, violated federal law and DOJ policy in making partisan-based hiring decisions for the department's Honors Program.
But it's worth looking at the analysis the inspector general did in determining the actual impact of those ideological-based hirings. For example, in 2002, the first year of the new politicized hiring process for the Honors Program, 80% of the so-called liberal applicants who had made it to the second stage of the hiring process were screened out, while just 9% of so-called conservative applicants were.
We have the numbers and charts laid out here at TPMmuckraker.
--David Kurtz
See No Foreign Lobbyists, Hear no Foreign Lobbyists ...
TPM Reader BH writes ...
Regarding the Tom Ridge lobbying story, I have what are, perhaps, several stupid questions. Why would someone not register their lobbying activities? Is is purely because it looks bad politically or are there other reasons? How often do lobbyists fail to register? Is failing to register associated with failure to report the income?
Good question. Turns out I know a bit about this because I spent a lot of time earlier in this decade researching and reporting about the activities of foreign lobbyists. The unfortunate answer is that the FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) is written and has been subsequently interpreted in such a way to provide numerous workarounds for foreign lobbyists not to register if they don't want to. I have a very vivid memory in fact of sitting down with one of the FARA office's staff lawyers circa 2000-2001 and having him walk me through whether a certain set of facts amount to non-compliance with the law. You would have thought I was talking to the defense attorney for the guy who I was reporting on. They seemed institutionally invested in a minimal interpretation of the legislation they were tasked to enforce.
One thing that tells you is that this Ridge thing is pretty exceptional. The FARA office does very, very little proactive enforcement of its legislation. Which makes me think that Ridge must have been making a lot of waves, getting a lot of attention, or perhaps they thought there was something going on more significant than the simple non-compliance.
As for why he wouldn't register? That's quite a mystery. I could perhaps imagine that even a big player like Ridge wouldn't know about the requirement if he were on his own. But he works for Blank Rome, which has plenty of experience in the foreign lobbying biz. So that seems like quite a mystery too.
--Josh Marshall
Dudes Already Had Bad Reps
The House oversight committee is holding hearings today on those 20-something Florida arms dealers (I could write that phrase a 100 times and take no less pleasure in it).
According to evidence obtained by the committee, government contracting officials had complained that their company, AEY, was delivering "poor quality," "damaged goods, " "junk" weapons, and other equipment in "the reject category." And that was before the Pentagon awarded AEY that $300 million contract to supply ammo to the Afghan Army.
As we know now, AEY turned around and bought decades old Chinese-made ammo from an Albanian arms supplier, which the Justice Department now says was a violation of the Arms Control Export Act. So DOJ indicted these hapless dudes, even though the Albanian government, with an alleged sign-off from the U.S. embassy in Tirana, had helped conceal the Chinese origin of the ammo.
Did I mention that both the Albanian arms dealer and one of the 20-something dudes, Efraim Diveroli, were on the State Department Arms Trafficking Watchlist at the time the Pentagon awarded them the big contract? We'll have more on that wrinkle shortly at TPMmuckraker.
Late Update: Here's more on that State Department watch list that the Pentagon just routinely ignores.
Later Update: The U.S. ambassador to Albania has issued a statement denying any involvement in Chinese arms trafficking.
--David Kurtz
Better Late Than Never?
McCain's national campaign co-chairman, former DHS Secretary Tom Ridge, sorta kinda forgot to register as a foreign lobbyist for Albania, Roll Call reports (sub. req.):
For almost two years former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge failed to register a nearly half-million-dollar lobbying contract that he had with the government of Albania.Ridge filed a registration statement on behalf of the country earlier this month after being contacted by the Department of Justice. ...
Ridge's registration was spurred by a DOJ inquiry after press accounts surfaced noting Ridge's connection to the country. ...
After a meeting with Justice and his counsel at Blank Rome, Ridge decided to file his FARA registration.
"Once we were made aware of certain contacts by Gov. Ridge, we advised him to register, which he did," said Topper Ray, a spokesman for Blank Rome.
FARA prosecutions, or even, as in Ridge's case, contact by the Justice Department to encourage registration, are unusual, ethics lawyers said.
--David Kurtz
OY . . .
WaPo's Richard Cohen: McCain's flip-flops matter less than Obama's because McCain was POW.
--David Kurtz