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Leahy Lashes Out At Bush Over FISA

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., today compared White House officials to "little children playing with matches" over their refusal to compromise over wiretapping legislation.
He also accused Republicans of using the debate over revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to attack Democrats on national security issues, even though Democrats support most of the substantive changes to the current law.
Leahy warned that the White House should know that the consequences of playing with fire "can be very severe."
The real stumbling block continues to be the Bush administration's insistence that the phone companies that participated in a secret wiretapping program receive legal immunity, something House Democrats have consistently rejected.
"The President once again is misusing his bully pulpit," Leahy said at this morning's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting. "Once again his purpose is not to help the Congress and the country reach consensus on a sensible law, but to tell Congress to set aside its legislative process and to merely take the administration's dictation."
Leahy was responding to comments made by President Bush at a press conference this morning, in which Bush called once again for Congress to grant immunity to the phone companies.

Rep. Waxman Memo Outlines The Case Against Clemens

Rep. Henry Waxman (pictured) has wasted no time in making the case that baseball player Roger Clemens committed perjury when he testified before Congress earlier this month.
Earlier today, the Democrat from California, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked the Justice Department to investigate the issue.
Waxman then backed up his allegations by issuing an 18-page memo detailing the basis for the allegation.
Clemens claimed that he never used performance-enhancing drugs, which contradicts sworn statements of others, who say he did, Waxman alleges.
The memo, prepared by Waxman's staff, raises seven main points, starting with Clemens's testimony that he never took steroids or HGH (human growth hormone).
Waxman's staff say there are three pieces of evidence that "call Mr. Clemens's testimony into question," namely the testimony of former coach Brian McNamee, the testimony of Clemens' former teammate, Andrew Pettitte and Pettitte's wife, and Clemens's own medical records.
The other points in the memo raise discrepancies in other areas of Clemens's testimony, such as his claim of taking many vitamin B-12 injections and his assertion that he never discussed HGH with McNamee.

Rep. Berman Set To Keep Hold Of IP Subcommittee - For Now - Despite Taking Foreign Affairs Chairmanship

Hollywood's man in Washington is not about to give up his chairmanship of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.
Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., is intending to carry on chairing the subcommittee for the time being even though he is in line to replace the late Tom Lantos, D-Calif., as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Normally, members can only hold one chairmanship at a time.
But a spokeswoman for Berman revealed that there is a provision within the Democratic Caucus rules that allows for a member to chair a full committee and a subcommittee if he is elected to lead the full committee towards the end of a particular Congress.
She noted, however, that Berman would have to step down from his chairmanship of the subcommittee at the end of the current Congress.
In the meantime, despite the heavy workload, Berman will "continue working on his patent reform bill and IP enforcement bill and performance royalty, not to mention orphan works," the spokeswoman said.
Hollywood will be pleased.

Fifth Circuit Nominee Holds Her Own

A federal appellate court nominee criticized by liberal activists stood her ground when she appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.
Catharina Haynes, of Texas, (pictured) who President Bush has nominated for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, stressed her commitment to diversity and equal access to the courts during the specially arranged hearing, held during a Senate recess.
Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. said that the 5th Circuit has "historically been at the vanguard of protecting civil rights" and asked Haynes if she could "demonstrate sensitivity to people of different backgrounds."
Haynes, a state trial court judge in Texas for eight years, responded by noting that both her parents are immigrants and that she has "bought that understanding of different backgrounds to my work as a lawyer and a judge."
She also described her role in an effort to improve legal services for the poor in the Vickery Meadow area of Dallas.
Some liberal groups, such as the Alliance For Justice, oppose Haynes’ nomination.
"A nominee for this position must have a record of excellence in the law, impeccable integrity, and a deep commitment to equal justice for all," the group said in a statement. "Ms. Haynes does not satisfy this standard."
But Haynes has the support of both her Republican home state senators, one of which, John Cornyn, is a member of the judiciary committee and has lobbied Leahy on her behalf.

House Members Weigh In On Bradbury Nomination

Earlier today, Steven Bradbury, acting head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, testified before the House.
He defended his legal opinions on waterboarding, which has been reported elsewhere.
What the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties didn't address during the hearing is the status of Bradbury's nomination before the Senate.
Democrats are so reluctant to confirm him - and the White House equally reluctant to withdraw his name - that his nomination is in danger of holding up a whole slew of other nominations, including judgeships.
After today's hearing, I asked the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, whether Bradbury (pictured) should be confirmed.
"No," he said. "I don't think anybody should be confirmed who cannot say that waterboarding is torture."
Bradbury has also failed to provide Congress with copies of his opinions on the issue, Nadler added.
The ranking member of the committee, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., sees things a little differently.
Asked the same question, he responded that Bradbury has had a "distinguished career", and is "absolutely brilliant."
Warming to his theme, he suggested that "only those rooted in twisted partisanship" would not want to confirmation Bradbury.
Furthermore, if the Senate opts to hold up other nominees because of the dispute, that wouldn't help matters either, Franks said.
"I believe that the Senate not giving the president an up-and-down vote on these judicial nominees is proof that the liberal hierarchy in the Senate is more interested in politicizing the courts than protecting the constitution," he added.

Telecom Immunity Debate Moves to House

Republicans have wasted no time in increasing the political heat on the House leadership now that the Senate has voted to grant immunity to phone companies that participated in the Bush administration's surveillance program.
Last year, the House passed the RESTORE Act, its attempt at reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
But that bill doesn't include an immunity provision.
The Senate and House now have until February 16, when the current law expires, to work out a deal.
Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the Republican whip, had a statement out within minutes of the Senate vote.
"Delaying passing the Senate bill – a responsible bipartisan compromise – would be tantamount to putting the national security of our nation on hold," he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., can expect more of that in the coming days.

GOP Congressman Seizes On Lerach Sentencing To Highlight Securities Bill

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, intends to re-introduce legislation today that would reform class securities legislation.
His timing, just a day after William Lerach, formerly of securities class action firm Milberg Weiss, was sentenced to two years in prison (subscribers can see the Daily Journal's print edition for the full story), is not coincidental.
The firm imploded after allegations that it gave kickback payments to some of its clients.
Lerach is the latest former partner to plead guilty in relation to the investigation.
It's not likely that Hensarling's bill, the Securities Litigation Attorney Accountability and Transparency Act, will make much of a dent in a Democratic-controlled Congress.
Former Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., who recently resigned from Congress, had championed a version of the bill in the 109th Congress and failed to make any progress, even when Republicans were in charge.
He also introduced the bill in the current Congress before he resigned.
But Hensarling, pictured right, backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, obviously saw the Lerach sentencing as a good opportunity to highlight the issue.
The bill would require plaintiffs attorneys working on securities cases to disclose payments, fees, and political contributions, among other things.
"Recent, well-documented, cases of abuse in this arena have underscored the necessity of such legislation, and it is my hope that the provisions contained in this bill will restore shareholders’ faith that the days of jackpot justice fraud are over," Hensarling said.
Incidentally, the reason Baker left Congress was to to take up a lucrative post at the Managed Funds Association.

US Attorney Investigation Going Nowhere

Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey made it clear today, if it wasn't clear enough already, that he would not enforce a congressional subpoena against White House Chief-of-Staff Joshua Bolten.
The House Judiciary Committee has approved a contempt citation against Bolten for his failure to produce documents relating to the U.S. attorney firing investigation, but the House has not yet voted on it.
Under questioning from Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fl., at today's judiciary committee oversight hearing, Mukasey said that Bolten's refusal to testify about why the White House wouldn't disclose documents was protected by executive privilege.
"Will you enforce it?" Wexler asked, in reference to a subpoena.
"The answer is no," Mukasey replied.
Overall, the stand-off between Congress and the White House over the U.S. attorney investigation, which was big news last year, has been mentioned infrequently at Mukasey's two recent appearances before Congress (he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week).
Members of both the House and Senate committees appear to have moved onto other issues, with the debate over waterboarding dominating both oversight hearings.
However, Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., who helped lead the House investigation into the firings, insisted today in an interview that she is still keen on learning more about what happened.
"It's still definitely a priority," she said.

Obama Keeps His Teaching Options Open

Applicants to the University of Chicago Law School may be pleased to see that the man who could be the next president of the United States is still listed as a member of the faculty.
An even more youthful looking than usual Barack Obama (pictured) is shown on the faculty website along with a profile describing the Democratic presidential contender as a senior lecturer in law.
The law school helpfully notes that Obama is "on leave of absence."
His office phone number and personal AOL email address are also provided for eager students.
For those who weren't aware, the erstwhile lecturer is "currently a candidate for the office of President of the United States," the profile concludes.