Open Left

As he sought to renew the USA Patriot Act two years ago, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers. "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse," Gonzales told senators on April 27, 2005.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) apologized last night after his telephone number appeared in the phone records of the woman dubbed the "D.C. Madam," making him the first member of Congress to become ensnared in the high-profile case.

White House officials say that aides want to forestall G.O.P. defections by announcing an intention to withdraw American troops.

CBS News exclusive: On July 15, Sunni politicians representing the Iraq Project plan to ask the Iraqi parliament for a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It could be his greatest challenge yet, Lara Logan reports.

From a half dozen Republicans close to the campaign here is, best I can tell, what happened: Republicans close to Sen. John McCain said today that McCain was under "enormous pressure" by friends and advisers outside the campaign to fire campaign manager Terry Nelson because these advisers felt that Nelson was incapable of containing campaign spending and refused to run a more efficient campaign. These Republicans also said that Nelson first considered resigning ten days ago when the campaign reported a disappointing second quarter campaign tally and was left with only $2M on hand.

Michael Moore slams Blitzer and CNN for their lies about universal health care and his film "Sicko."

President Bush, facing a growing Republican revolt against his Iraq policy, has rejected calls to change course but will launch a campaign emphasizing his intent to draw down U.S. forces next year and move toward a more limited mission if security conditions improve, senior officials said yesterday.

Inside Bush's decision to give Scooter Libby a pass.

A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reform, speeding up the Bush administration's reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday.

Enjoy this story? Get Raw headlines instantly with RSS or Firefox. Before a live interview with documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, CNN aired a segment entitled "Sicko Reality Check" in which Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the network's chief medical correspondent, aimed to keep Moore "honest" and fact check his new film, Sicko.

In a conference call in January, the health-care debate within the Democratic Party played out before former senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who was in search of policy advice for his presidential campaign, and his wife, Elizabeth.

The Roper Center at the University of Connecticut is an excellent archive for poll junkies, featuring polling archives that go back much further than Polling Report (not that polling report isn't great). the coup de grace (I hope I spelled that right) at the Roper Center is their archive of every public, presidential approval poll ever conducted via telephone. It even dates back to the 1930's where you can review FDR's approval ratings from August, 1937 forward. The reason I bring up this archive is because today Bush reached a historic milestone.

President Bush directed former aides to defy congressional subpoenas on Monday, claiming executive privilege and prodding lawmakers closer to their first contempt citations against administration officials since Ronald Reagan was president.

Despite the president's invocation of executive privilege, former White House political director Sara Taylor will still appear before Congress on Wednesday.

One Republican directly connected to today's events said that Mark Salter, McCain's long-time chief of staff and co-author of his five books, had also left the campaign payroll. But Salter will remain as an adviser. "Outside of my family, on this planet, there is no one more important to me than John McCain," he said in a brief interview. "I will continue to help in any way I can."

The Bush administration has failed to fill roughly a quarter of the top leadership posts at the Department of Homeland Security, creating a "gaping hole" in the nation's preparedness for a terrorist attack or other threat, according to a congressional report to be released today.