Virginia Thomas

Clarence Thomas's Wife Teams With Federalist Society Exec On New Conservative Lobby Group

Zachary Roth | March 15, 2010, 3:28PM

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Virginia Thomas

The new conservative advocacy group launched by Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has close ties to Washington's powerful conservative legal community.

As the Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend, Virginia Thomas recently created Liberty Central, a new lobbying group that seeks to tap into the grassroots energy unleashed by the Tea Party movement.

Read more »

Ray McBerry

GOP Gov Candidate Admits Refusing To Salute Flag -- Denies Hitting On Campaign Manager, Sex With Underage Girls

Zachary Roth | March 15, 2010, 12:22PM

Ray McBerry, Republican candidate for governor of Georgia

A far-right Republican candidate for governor of Georgia has issued what must be one of the most counter-productive -- and flat-out hilarious -- denials in the history of modern political campaigning.

On Saturday, Ray McBerry sent out a lengthy statement denying that he "attempted to have an affair" with his former campaign manager; had sexual relations with under-aged girls; stole custody of his son from the son's mother (who, he noted, had tested positive for meth anyway); is no longer allowed to teach in the state; and is unpatriotic, just because he refuses to salute "the current federal flag which represents the present unconstitutional leviathan in Washington," and instead salutes the flag of Georgia and the "original Betsy Ross American flag."

Read more »

John Ensign

GOP Aide On 'Isolated' Ensign: 'I Almost Forget He's Still Here'

Zachary Roth | March 15, 2010, 10:37AM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

It sounds like John Ensign's sex and lobbying scandal is taking a toll on the Nevada Republican's effectiveness in the Senate.

One GOP aide told Politico: "Like Vitter, Ensign doesn't get invited to a lot of press conferences because no one wants their boss in a photo op with them." Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) was identified in 2007 as a client of the DC Madam.

Read more »

Kevin Garn

Utah House Leader Resigns After Naked Hot-Tubbing Revelation

Jillian Rayfield | March 15, 2010, 9:50AM

Utah House Majority Leader Kevin Garn (R)

Utah House Majority Leader Kevin Garn (R) has resigned, following revelations that he took a nude hot tub in 1985 with a 15-year-old employee -- and then paid her $150,000 several years later to keep quiet.

Read more »

Texas

Conservative Bloc Prevails In Latest TX Textbooks Standards Vote

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 5:48PM

Protesters outside the State Board of Education meeting in Austin this week

Another vote, another win for the conservative majority on Texas' State Board of Education.

The 11-4 vote today on the latest draft of Texas' high school history standards comes as the story has blown up, attracting intense media coverage from national outlets including the New York Times and Fox News, which reported live from Austin all week.

Read more »

Focus On The Family

Dobson's Exit From Focus: A Family Affair?

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 3:52PM

James Dobson

There's another wrinkle in the story of James Dobson's exit from Focus on the Family: an unnamed Focus board member told the New York Times in January that because Dobson's son Ryan had a divorce several years ago, Ryan could not replace his father at the helm of the group's popular radio show.

Yesterday we told you about the possibility that Dobson and Focus, arguably most powerful Christian conservative organization in the country, had a less than amicable breakup that resulted in Dobson departing last month as host of the Focus radio program, which reaches 1.5 million listeners.

Read more »

Joe Arpaio

In Face-Saving Move, Arpaio Withdraws Lawsuit Against Supervisors

Zachary Roth | March 12, 2010, 1:54PM

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

In what looks like a last-ditch effort to save face, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has dropped the lawsuit that had accused local county supervisors and others of being part of a criminal enterprise, saying the U.S. Justice Department has agreed to look into the allegations.

At a press conference yesterday, the hardline anti-illegal-immigration sheriff and his allies -- county prosecutor Andrew Thomas, and Robert Driscoll, the former Bush DOJ lawyer hired last year by the sheriff's office -- maintained that the move represented a "victory," because all they were seeking was a full investigation of the allegations, something, they say, that the Justice Department's Public Integrity section has pledged to conduct.

Read more »

Kevin Garn

Utah House Leader Admits Naked Hot-Tubbing With 15-Year Old Girl

Zachary Roth | March 12, 2010, 12:15PM

Utah House Majority Leader Kevin Garn (R)

The Majority Leader of the Utah House took a nude hot-tub with a 15-year old employee, then paid her $150,000 and had her pledge to keep quiet, he admitted yesterday.

The incident occurred in 1985, when Kevin Garn was 30, and married. In 2002, when Garn, a Republican, was running for Congress, the woman, Cheryl Maher, began contacting reporters with the story, prompting Garn to pay her and have an attorney draft a non-disclosure agreement, reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

Read more »

Ari Fleischer

The Return Of The Bush Flacks

Zachary Roth | March 12, 2010, 10:51AM

Clockwise from top left: Bush administration spokespeople Dan Bartlett, Dan Senor, Dana Perino and Ari Fleischer

For some of the Bush administration's most energetic spinners, it looks like it's finally safe to get back into the water.

OK, in truth, some of them never really got out. But we can't help noticing that in the last few weeks, several prominent spokespeople for the last administration have been back in the media spotlight, triggering memories of those halcyon early years of the century.

Read more »

Eric Massa

Pelosi: Earlier Massa Conversation Didn't 'Come Close To Any Kind Of An Allegation' (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 10:24AM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Interviewed by Rachel Maddow last night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that what her staff was told last year about then-Rep. Eric Massa did not "even come close to any kind of an allegation."

She said the conversation, reportedly between Massa's chief of staff and a Pelosi staffer, "repeated something that had been in the newspaper the day before."

Read more »

House Ethics Committee

Reports Conflict On Whether Massa Ethics Probe Remains Open

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 9:27AM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

Is it or isn't it?

Media reports based on anonymous sources are now in conflict about whether the ethics committee is still investigating allegations involving former Rep. Eric Massa.

The ethics committee, perhaps the most opaque institution in Congress, has been mum on the question. So let's review what's been reported.

Read more »

Eric Massa

Timeline: What Were Dem Leaders Told About Massa?

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 6:25PM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), former Rep. Eric Massa and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Since the House vote today to refer to the ethics committee the question of what Democratic leaders knew about former Rep. Eric Massa before news of harassment allegations broke publicly, it's worth looking at the timeline of what we know so far.

At some point in or before October 2009, Massa took out to dinner a member of Rep. Barney Frank's committee staff, Frank said in a statement today. The staffer told another Frank staffer, who in turn told Frank's co-chief of staff, Maria Giesta.

Read more »