As President-elect Barack Obama begins to assemble tough, pragmatic problem-solvers for his team, he ought to consider Joel Klein. We cannot think of anyone more qualified to be secretary of education than New York’s schools chancellor. He has just the right mix of abrasiveness and charm to take on this important task. We’re hesitant to Read More
With Monday cable coverage caroming back and forth from the resignation of US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to the plea agreement for disgraced NFL quarterback Michael Vick, viewers could be forgiven for thinking that a White House now run by one of the world’s more ineffectual Major League Baseball franchise owners could benefit from a Read More
When Attorney General Alberto Gonzales insists that his firing of several United States Attorneys last December wasn’t a political purge but merely a normal bureaucratic decision, many thousands of lawyers, judges, officers and officials surely wish to believe him. Anyone who has taken an oath to uphold the law and the Constitution in good faith—indeed, Read More
The campaign HQ in Yonkers for Andrea Stewart-Cousins--running for State Senate in the 35th District--is reporting they are on the receiving end of all sorts of polling place wackiness today. "It's pretty bad," said Ted Lazarus, campaign spokesman. One voter report they got was of a fellow dressed as a state trooper--gun and all--who has Read More
The Department of Justice will be in town tomorrow watching the polls during voting hours in Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester "to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act," the agency announced today. They'll also be monitoring results in Queens after hours. (They must have read about the bare-knuckled campaigning in Jackson Heights). The Read More
Rudy Giuliani, who says he's "seriously considering" running for president, wants people to help him help others. In a new blast email soliciting donations of between $25 and $500 for candidates in federal races this year, Giuliani urges recipients to rally around the White House and the Republican Congressional majority: "I learned the virtue of Read More
The Justice Department has filed suit against New York State for failing to implement the Help America Vote Act. Worth noting that Chuck and Hillary were the only two United States Senators to vote against the bill in the Senate, opposing its mandatory I.D. check. Certainly, car-poor New York presents an unusual challenge in Read More
What has happened in this country? The Pentagon has a secret court created by the Foreign Intelligence Services Act (FISA). The courtroom is in a windowless room on the top floor of the Department of Justice. There are seven rotating judges. The court meets in secret, with no published opinions or public records. No one, Read More
What has happened in this country?
The Pentagon has a secret court created by the Foreign Intelligence Services Act (FISA). The courtroom is in a windowless room on the top floor of the Department of Justice. There are seven rotating judges. The court meets in secret, with no published opinions or public records. No one, except Read More
Apprehended again in dubious ethical circumstances, Bill Frist has assured the nation that he is faultless. Although he is suddenly under suspicion of insider trading for dumping his stock in Hospital Corporation of America, the Senate Majority Leader predicts that he will be vindicated when probes by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Read More
May your Memorial Day weekend be more like David Rosen's, and less like the weekend of whoever it is over at the Justice Department decided to prosecute him. See you Tuesday.
The Riverdale Review is reporting: "Indictments of borough officials over corruption charges could be handed down shortly. "Several sources close to the investigation, including one in the Department of Justice, have intimated to this newspaper that the grand jury in the case against State Senator Efrain Gonzalez, Jr., has closed, and indictments will be Read More
The prosecutors looking into Hillary Clinton's 2000 fundraising seem to have given the Sun a lead on a serious political mystery. The details of the Clinton case are extremely technical, but leaked prosecution court filings reveal a "mystery witness" in the case against Clinton fundraiser David Rosen. This witness is a family member of Read More
Not so long ago, a
certain member of the United States Senate summoned the press to denounce controversial demands by federal law-enforcement officials for invasive power. While conceding that some additional measures to curtail crime and terror might be necessary, he insisted that fundamental freedoms could not be compromised. "These needs must be addressed, but the Read MoreThe Bush administration may be making legal preparations to undo former President Bill Clinton's 11th-hour move to declare part of Governors Island a national monument, a reversal that would damage New York's chances of gaining control of the historic site.
In a memo obtained by The Observer , the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has Read More
