The Sleuth

The Sleuth is Away

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:35:29 -0500

While the Sleuth is away, check out The Reliable Source for Inside the Beltway Gossip and Capitol Briefing for the latest Hill news. Visit 44 for the latest from Obama's Washington, and check in with the Fix for political news and analysis.

Did Joe Wilson Violate House Rules?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:14:44 -0500

Updated, 1:38 pm ET Regardless of how mortified Miss Manners would be, this much we know about Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.): he may well have violated House rules Wednesday night when he yelled "You lie!" at President Obama. The rules of decorum in the House explicitly state that a member cannot "call the president a 'liar.'" While Senate rules on decorum do not prohibit personal references to the president, House rules do. According to section 370 of the House rules manual, members may not: * call the President a "liar." * call the President a "hypocrite." * describe the President's veto of a bill as "cowardly." * charge that the President has been "intellectually dishonest." * refer to the President as "giving aid and comfort to the enemy." * refer to alleged "sexual misconduct on the President's part." (Hard to imagine how many members were in violation of the House

Olbermann Readies a Glenn Beck Muckfest

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:47:00 -0500

Updated, 11:50 pm UPDATE: It was less of a Smackdown and more of a 5th-grade style playground fight. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann did not deliver the goods he sought on his right-wing adversary, Glenn Beck. But he did make clear that in his view, Beck's attack on President Obama's green jobs czar, Van Jones, was all about "latent racism." Olbermann charged that the coordinated effort to oust Jones, like the birther movement, was part of a "Candyland world of racism" in which President Obama's detractors will adopt "any rationalization" to conceal their true racially based motives. But Olbermann had no dirt to dish on Beck, despite asking his viewers and blog readers to help him dig deep. He said he had decided to take the high road because "I have something Mr. Beck does not: a conscience, the respect of my colleagues and self-respect." Plus, he said, "What could we

'Wide Stance,' a Play Based On Larry Craig

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:27:48 -0500

One of Washington's more colorful recent scandals is heading to the stage. A playwright and filmmaker who splits his time between New York and Los Angeles is writing a fictionalized play about former senator Larry Craig's 2007 arrest in an airport men's room sex sting, The Sleuth has learned. The work-in-progress, titled -- what else? -- "Wide Stance," is already scheduled for a debut reading in Craig's hometown of Boise in January at the spectacular home of former Washingtonian artistic power couple Liz Wolf and her husband, Bill Blahd. But don't expect to see Craig there. Asked if the former senator would be invited to the reading, the playwright, Tim Kirkman, told us, "Oh God, no. I wouldn't want him to come to the reading. That would be torture for him. I feel bad for him." Kirkman, a North Carolinian, has a history of focusing on the foibles of conservative

Harry Reid: Just Kidding About Wanting Paper to Go Under

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:14:17 -0500

No doubt these are tough times for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, what with a new Nevada newspaper poll showing him lagging behind his 2010 Republican challengers. But Reid says he was wasn't venting anger at the press when he told an advertising executive at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "I hope you go out of business." Reid's comment before the start of his speech last week to the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce has created a firestorm in Vegas political circles. The conservative-leaning Review-Journal editors are apoplectic over the perceived threat, but Reid and political reporters at the editorially liberal Las Vegas Sun (owned by Reid's friend, Brian Greenspun), think the Review-Journal ought to lighten up. "Clearly he wasn't serious," Reid spokesman Jim Manley says. "Once again, the editors at the Review-Journal got it wrong." The publisher of the Review-Journal, Sherman Frederick, penned a scathing editorial on Sunday titled "Enough

Rep. Rehberg Hospitalized, Boat Crash Under Investigation

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:36:37 -0500

Authorities investigate the scene of a boat accident near Bigfork, Mont., that sent five people to the hospital, including Rep. Denny Rehberg. (Alex Strickland/Bigfork Eagle via AP) Updated 7:10 p.m. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) and four others were hospitalized Thursday after a serious boating accident, and Montana law enforcement officials are investigating whether alcohol played any role in the crash, state officials said Friday. Rehberg and state Senate Majority Whip Greg Barkus were hospitalized in Kalispell, Montana, along with Barkus's wife, Kathy, and two Rehberg aides. All five were in stable condition Friday afternoon, Kalispell Regional Medical Center spokesman Jim Oliverson told The Sleuth. Their 22-foot boat ran aground on the rocky shore of Flathead Lake, near the town of Bigfork, sometime between 10 p.m. and midnight Thursday. The congressman sustained a broken left ankle and "quite a bump on the head" in the boat crash, Rehberg's former chief of

Elizabeth Edwards Expects Paternity Test

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:12:02 -0500

Elizabeth Edwards, unwittingly perhaps, continues to draw attention to the story of her husband's extramarital affair with a campaign aide and the question of whether he fathered his mistress's child. In her latest television appearance, on CNN's "Larry King Live" Wednesday night, Edwards said she expects the issue will at some point be settled once and for all. Asked if there might be a "solution" such as a paternity or DNA test, Edwards replied, "My expectation is at some point, something happens. And I hope for the -- for the sake of, of this child -- that it happens, you know, in a quiet way." John Edwards himself has not denied that he either has or will soon take a paternity test to determine whether he is the father of Rielle Hunter's 18-month-old baby, Frances Quinn Hunter. The former North Carolina Democratic senator and presidential candidate previously vehemently denied he

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Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:12:02 -0500

Are Birthers High On DeLay's Dance Card?

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:37:43 -0500

Tom DeLay has announced that his dance partner on "Dancing With the Stars" will be Cheryl Burke, a two-time winner of the ABC show. Laser-focused on winning, the Hammer, as the disciplinarian former House majority leader was known in Congress, is already compiling a list of e-mail addresses and phone numbers through his Web site for an anticipated massive get-out-vote effort. A source close to DeLay says the former Texas Republican congressman, who was forced to resign his leadership position -- and, ultimately, his seat in Congress -- in 2006 amid an ethics scandal, isn't plotting a political comeback. He's doing the show because "he just likes to dance," the source tells us. But his strategy of winning is as political as anything and apparently involves rallying the base of his party. On Wednesday night, DeLay appeared on MSNBC's "Hardball," where he embraced the birther movement's argument that President Obama

Jenny Sanford Unplugged in Vogue

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:03:36 -0500

(Jonathan Becker/Vogue) South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford likened her estranged husband's affair with an Argentine woman to pornography addiction or alcoholism in an interview in the September issue of Vogue magazine, set to hit newsstands this week. "Over the course of both pastoral and marriage counseling, it became clear to me that he was just obsessed with going to see this woman. I have learned that these affairs are almost like an addiction to alcohol or pornography. They just can't break away from them," Sanford told the fashion magazine. Gov. Mark Sanford certainly proved he couldn't break away when he was busted visiting his girlfriend in Argentina in June instead of hiking the Appalachian Trail (alone) as he had claimed. Other notable quotes from Mrs. Sanford's interview with Vogue include: "It never occurred to me that he would do something like that. The person I married was centered on

Tom DeLay Dances Back Into the Limelight

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:15:30 -0500

(Photo credit: Chris Greenberg -- Bloomberg News) Who knew that Tom DeLay was such a dancing machine? The former House Republican leader has been selected as a contestant on the upcoming season of "Dancing With the Stars," joining cultural celebrities such as Grammy award winning singer Macy Gray and '70s icon Donny Osmond. One thing is clear: the entire DeLay family is ecstatic about the Hammer's transformation to Dancing Machine. "He's been working hard all summer trying to get in shape, improve his flexibility, endurance, etc. He's lost 12 lbs already!" daughter Dani DeLay Ferro, Dad's former campaign manager, said in a message to the Sleuth via Facebook. "He's taking this very very seriously and we are all sooooo excited! People probably don't know that he's a really good dancer!" Daughter Dani said she's most excited "for America to get to know the funny, caring man that I've grown up

Rep. McHenry Not Ready For Birther Status

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:47:55 -0500

Don't add Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) to the short-but-colorful list of House birthers just yet. It's a club he apparently isn't quite ready to embrace. After first suggesting at a town hall meeting in his district that he isn't convinced President Obama is a natural-born U.S. citizen, the North Carolina Republican backpedaled. At the forum on Wednesday evening, McHenry, according to the Charlotte Observer, said, "I haven't seen evidence one way or the other" proving Obama's citizenship. He also said the issue is being addressed "in the courts." On Thursday, McHenry released a statement clarifying his position on the president's eligibility. "As I stated last night, I have not carefully reviewed the evidence as a jurist would," the congressman said. "However, from what I have read, I have absolutely no reason to question President Obama's citizenship. I anticipate that as a legal matter the courts will continue to come

Montana Dems Ready for Showdown at Obama Speech

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:50:06 -0500

Fearing hordes of protesters, Montana Democrats are furiously recruiting the party faithful to turn out for President Obama's scheduled health-care speech Friday in a suburb of Bozeman. Demonstrators, of the same ilk that have disrupted town hall forums across the country in recent weeks, are targeting Obama's appearance as their most high-profile opportunity yet to make their case against a plan they perceive to be a government takeover of the nation's health -care system. Worried about a potential town-hall-style maelstrom, the Montana Democratic Party sent out an e-mail alert to supporters Thursday urging them to show up Friday morning. "Last fall, when Swiftboaters and special interests attacked President Obama, folks like you came to his defense," wrote Anna Gustina, the state director of Organizing for America, a grass-roots group born out of the Obama presidential campaign. "We knocked on doors, talked to neighbors, and made our voices heard. "Now, we

Rep. Jackson Lee Ignores Constituent At Health-Care Forum

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:08:07 -0500

Updated, 1:57 p.m. Angry protesters hijacking health-care town hall forums across the country have dominated headlines in recent days. But the tables were turned in Houston this week when a congresswoman, not a constituent, was the one who breached etiquette. When a constituent stood up and posed a question to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) on Tuesday, the congresswoman wasn't exactly listening. (The incident occurs at about 4 minutes, 30 seconds into the video above.) The constituent, identified as Tracy Miller on a video posted on YouTube, was well into her question about health-care reform when she realized Jackson Lee was talking on her cell phone. "She's not even listening," someone in the room shouted. Another voice in the crowd is heard on tape saying, "Seriously? Really, I mean, come on. Dude." Indeed, the congresswoman is seen chatting on her cell phone as Miller, who said she is a

Hillary Clinton's Cross to Bear: Her Own Power

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:06:00 -0500

It has to be Hillary Rodham Clinton's worst nightmare. After missing her big chance to become president, she becomes secretary of state -- arguably the most powerful woman in the world -- and still, she's living in her superstar husband's shadow. One former Clinton administration official says Hillary Clinton "had every reason to be" as angered as she was this week by a Congolese student's question, which we now know was lost in translation, asking for her husband's opinion on foreign affairs. (The translator misspoke; the student actually asked for President Obama's opinion, not former president Bill Clinton's.) (Watch the video here.) David Rothkopf, a foreign policy expert and author who served in the Clinton administration, says the secretary's frustrated reaction -- "My husband is not the secretary of state; I am" -- was the breaking point for a woman who has been largely overshadowed throughout the first six

Weekly Wrap: A Birth Certificate By Any Other Name

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:15:22 -0500

It seems nothing will deter the conspiracy theorists known as birthers, who have become the bane of the Republican Party's existence with their (dare we say wacky) claim that Barack Obama was born in Kenya and, therefore, is not a natural born citizen. Birthers who commented on our Thursday posting generally continued to claim that Obama has not produced a true birth certificate, and that the document he produced last year is a fake. They're also fixated on the type of birth document issued by the Hawaiian government, which is called a "certification of live birth." They refuse for some reason to believe that a certification is the same as a birth certificate. By all rational accounts, the two documents are most certainly one and the same, only with different titles. (Calling Shakespeare.) A certification of live birth is the "official birth certificate" of Hawaii, according to the state's Department