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Hastert Declines to Resign
House Speaker Dennis Hastert (Republican, Illinois) ignores a call by the conservative Washington Times newspaper to resign for his alleged role in covering-up the Mark Foley scandal. The most conservative Republicans are likely offended by Hastert's strong condemnation of Foley so close to the November elections. |
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Abramoff's Numerous WH Contacts
The House Government Reform Committee releases a draft report indicating that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff had hundreds (485) of contacts with White House officials, which brought only limited success for his clients. |
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Mark Foley Resigns from House
Rep. Mark Foley (Republican, Florida) resigns in the wake of questions about personal e-mails he sent to a 16-year-old former congressional page. Ironically, Foley was a six-term congressman and co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus. |
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Tom Delay Charge Reconsidered
Texas’ highest criminal appeals court agrees to consider reinstating a dropped conspiracy charge against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, likely delaying his trial on felony money laundering and conspiracy counts until next year. |
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Branson Unveils Civilian Space Ship
At Javits Exhibition Center in New York City, Sir Richard Branson unveils a mock-up of the rocket-powered vehicle that will carry clients into space through his Virgin Galactic business. The design is based on Space Ship One and is designed to carry six passengers and two pilots to an altitude of about 140km on a sub-orbital space flight. |
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Branson Gives $3B for Global Warming
Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson committs an estimated $3 billion over the next 10 years (the profits from his airline and rail businesses) to combating global warming. |
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Ann Richards Dies at 73
Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, a nationally known Democrat famous for suggesting that George H. Bush was "born with a silver foot in his mouth," dies at the age of 73. |
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McKinney Loses Runoff
Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia has lost her Democratic primary runoff election to foe Hank Johnson |
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FBI Searches ex-CIA Director
The FBI searches the home and office of former CIA Executive Director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. Foggo is under investigation over his ties to a defense contractor linked to the bribery case against former Republican Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California. |
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Republicans Question Bush DCI Choice
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., questions the soundness of a military officer appointed to run a civilian intelligence agency. On Monday, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., expressed concern that the ouster of Porter Goss as CIA director was a "power grab" by John Negroponte, as Hayden currently serves as Negroponte's deputy. |
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CIA Director Porter Goss Resigns
CIA Director Porter Goss resigns. US President George W. Bush says that he "led ably." Although no reason is given, it is likely that Goss was dismissed over irreconcilable differences with his boss John Negroponte. Goss may also be implicated in a the Duke Cunningham poker party and prostitution scandal. Cunningham, an Ace F-4 fighter pilot from the Vietnam War, resigned from the House on November 28, 2005 after pleading guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors. He also pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. On March 3, 2006, he received a sentence of eight years and four months in prison. |
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Limbaugh Arrested
Conservative Radio Talk show host Rush Limbaugh is arrested on prescription drug charges and released on bail. |
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Tony Snow to be Bush's Press Secretary
Fox News host Tony Snow named new White House press secretary. Political satirist Stephen Colbert will suggest the secret service code name of "Snow Job" during his roast of the President and the White House Press Corps. |
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Abramoff Sentenced
Former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff is sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison in his Florida fraud case. |
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Eaton Critiques Rumsfeld
After US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld suggested that a US withdrawal from Iraq would be the equivalent of handing Germany back to the Nazis, Retired Major General Paul Eaton declares that Rumsfeld "has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically, and is far more than anyone else responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq." Eaton was in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004. |
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US Army Opens Tillman Inquiry
The US Army announces that it will open an investigation to determine whether Pat Tillman's death in a 2004 friendly fire incident in Afghanistan was actually the result of negligent homicide. Tillman gave up a $3.6 million NFL contract with the Arizona Cardinals to become an Army Ranger after the September 11th 2001 destruction of the New York Trade Center. Friendly fire and negligent homicide incidents tend to undermine US Army recruiting efforts. |
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Cunningham Sentenced
Former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a Navy flying ace of the Vietnam conflict, is sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison for selling his office and accepting bribes totalling $2.4 million from defense contractors Virgil Goode of MZM Inc. and Brent Wilkes of ADCS Inc. |
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Senators: Investigate Cheney?
Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) announced that a full investigation is required and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) called the leak of intelligence information ''inappropriate'' if it is true that unnamed ''superiors'' instructed Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby, to divulge the material on Iraq. According to court documents, Libby told a federal grand jury that in July of 2003 he disclosed the contents of a classified National Intelligence Estimate as part of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading Iraq. |
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Fossett Sets Flight Record
US aviator Steve Fossett (61) completes the longest non-stop flight in aviation history after flying around the globe and beyond in roughly 80 hours. He is forced to land his lightweight experimental plane, Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer, at Bournemouth International Airport, in southern England, after encountering generator problems. His planned landing point was in nearby Kent. |
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Libby: Cheney Ordered Treason
According to a letter from special Prosecutor Fitzgerald to I. Scooter Libby's lawyers, "Mr. Libby testified (to the grand jury) that he was authorized to disclose (classified) information ... to the press by his superiors." I. Scooter Libby was Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. |
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Abramoff Email: Invited to Ranch
Correspondence from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff is made public today that President Bush met him "almost a dozen" times, disputing White House claims Bush did not know the man. "The guy saw me in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids. Perhaps he has forgotten everything, who knows," Abramoff documented to the national editor for the Washingtonian magazine.
Abramoff added that Bush also once invited him to his Texas ranch. |
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Alito Joins SCOTUS
After Democrats failed to garner sufficient support to maintain a filibuster in the Senate, Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. was sworn in this morning as the Supreme Court's 110th Justice replacing Sandra Day O'Connor. |
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Socialist Wins Chilean Presidency
Michelle Bachelet, the first woman to be elected president in Chile, won 53 percent of the vote in Sunday's runoff, compared to 46 percent for Sebastian Pinera, a conservative wealthy businessman, according to official results. |
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Delay Gives Up Majority Leader Post
U.S. Representative Tom DeLay (Republican, TX) announces through a spokesperson that he will not attempt to regain his post as House majority leader. |
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Israeli PM Sharon Suffers Stroke
Israeli leaders announce that powers were transferred from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to his deputy, after Sharon suffers a "significant stroke." |
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Lobbyist Abramoff to Plead Guilty
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a close associate of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, to plead guilty to corruption, other charges, |
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Delta Pilots Take 14% Cut
Pilots with Delta Airlines accepted a 14 % pay cut in a deal negotiated with management to assist the bankrupt carrier with a cash crunch. It is the second double-digit pay cut Delta pilots have taken in 13 months. |
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Bush: $3.1B for New Orleans Levee
The Bush administration announces a plan to spend $3.1 billion on repairs and strengthening of the levee system for the city of New Orleans. Cleanup after Hurrican Katrina continues. |
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Nazi Hunter Wiesenthal dies
Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor who tenaciously tracked down Nazi war criminals following World War II dies in Vienna Austria at the age of 96. Wiesenthal is credited with helping to bring more than 1,100 Nazi war criminals to justice. |
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US Nun Murdered in Brazil
Roman Catholic Missionary Dorothy Stang, 74, is shot dead by hired gunmen near the jungle town of Anapu, Brazil. She had fought for decades to protect the rain forest and its people from illegal logging. Stang, who is from Dayton Ohio, was murdered despite constant warnings to authorities that she faced death threats. Brazil has solved only 7% of its murder cases in local land battles primarily because the police in such areas have been bought by landowners. |
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