Sleeping Dog Blog

Here's the deal: if Bushco wants to appoint you to a position in government, you're unfit to serve. These guys apparently don't deal with any ethical, honest, decent people. It seems as if they are looking for the sleaziest fuckwads available...seeking them out...

The Bush administration's choice to be deputy attorney general has withdrawn his nomination, which had been delayed amid questions over his dealings with indicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, officials said today.

Timothy E. Flanigan wrote in a letter to President Bush yesterday that he was withdrawing as a candidate because of "uncertainty concerning the timing of my confirmation."
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Flanigan, a former deputy White House counsel who has served as general counsel at Tyco International Ltd. since 2002, was first nominated in May but his appointment has been held up because of a variety of objections. The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed a vote on his nomination last month after Democrats demanded answers to questions about Flanigan's supervision of Abramoff as an outside lobbyist for Tyco.

Flanigan said in a statement to the committee last month that Abramoff's lobbying firm initially boasted that Abramoff could help Tyco fend off a special liability tax because he "had good relationships with members of Congress," including then-House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).

Abramoff later said "he had contact with Mr. Karl Rove" about the issue, according to the statement by Flanigan.

In addition to questions over Abramoff, Flanigan had been dogged by complaints about his role at the White House in setting controversial policies related to torture of U.S. detainees and about his lack of direct prosecutorial experience.

So the President looks at a candidate for Deputy Attorney General, sees ties to Abramoff, an indicted lobbyist whose name is becoming synomymous with crook. OK, no problem there; what else? Let's see, he helped shape our torture policy, which has become a huge scandal. Looks good so far. What about experience as a prosecutor? Not much, huh? I think we've found our man!

“Worldwide, at least 600,000 to 800,000 human beings are trafficked across international borders each year. Of those, it is believed that more than 80 percent are women and girls, and that 70 percent of them were forced into sexual servitude. The United Nations believes that the trafficking of humans beings is now the third largest source of money for organized crime, after arms and drugs. We’ve got a problem; we need to do something about it.………….

America is…..confronting nations that profit from or tolerate human tafficking. Those countries face potential sanctions that include the loss of U.S. military and economic assistance, as well as the loss of support from the World Bank and the IMF. This approach is yielding results.” ——George W. Bush, July 7, 2004

“…..we hope you are joining us in the abolitionist movement of the 21st century to advance freedom for the world’s most vulnerable citizens.”——Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, June 3, 2005

and the kicker:

BUSH WAIVES SAUDI TRAFFICKING SANCTIONS

“President Bush decided Wednesday to waive any financial sanctions on Saudi Arabia, Washington’s closest ally in the war on terrorism, for failing to do enough to stop the modern-day slave trade in prostitutes, child sex workers and forced laborers.”——AP News, September 9, 2005

Seattle Times

WASHINGTON — Rep. Doc Hastings, the Washington state Republican who chairs the House ethics committee, touched off a political controversy this week with statements supporting embattled Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas.


Hastings told the Yakima Herald-Republic that his committee would not investigate a 15-month-old complaint about DeLay's role in alleged illegal campaign contributions in Texas.

Such an investigation would duplicate the work of the Texas district attorney who obtained indictments against DeLay over the fund-raising issue, Hastings said. "We don't have the resources," he added.

A Hastings spokeswoman later said the congressman wasn't ruling out an investigation after the criminal case.

In the Yakima interview, Hastings also suggested that the case brought by Travis County prosecutor Ronnie Earle in Austin, Texas, is a Democratic partisan move.

"If you look at Ronnie Earle's background, he's done these things," Hastings said. "The majority leader has said this is a political vendetta."

DeLay stepped down as House majority leader after the first indictment, for criminal conspiracy, was handed up last week. He was indicted on two money-laundering counts this week.

Hastings' comments were criticized by Democrats and some public-interest groups.

"It's outrageous for the chairman of the ethics committee to virtually endorse the idea that the indictment is a political vendetta. It's a matter that is before the committee," said Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.

Americablog reports:

More rumors, from Radar:

The D.C. Rumor mill is thrumming with whispers that 22 indictments are about to be handed down on the outed-CIA agent Valerie Plame case. The last time the wires buzzed this loud — that Tom DeLay would be indicted and would step down from his leadership post in the House — the scuttlebutters got it right.

Can it be a coincidence that the White House appears to be distancing President Bush from embattled aide Karl Rove? “He’s been missing in action at more than one major presidential event,” a member of the White House press corps tells us.

Sandy Huffaker

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