Somewhat lost in all the last-minute pre-recess wrangling in the House and Senate this weekend was a letter Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sent to Congress "clarifying" his July 24 testimony.

In his testimony on that date, Gonzales told Senators that he was not aware of any instances in which senior Justice Department officials had participated in White House political briefings of the sort that have already been deemed illegal.

It appears, unsurprisingly, that Mr. Gonzales was mistaken.

Here's an excellent timeline of events documenting the actions of the White House and Department of Justice surrounding the US Attorney firings.  It's a nice refresher to get yourself up to speed before round two starts, now that Senator Leahy has issued his subpoenas.

Uh oh.  After months of Beltway whisperings, is the Abramoff scandal officially creeping its way towards Pennsylvania Avenue?  

Don't fall off your chair.  We're talking subphoenas, not charges.  The House Government Reform Committee, which is tasked with executive branch oversight, has suphoenaed Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff's former lobbying firm, for records between his lobbying crew and White House officials.

We're keeping our eyes and ears open for more information on this story.  Thus far, the Abramoff scandal has focused on Congressional members and aides; despite some rumblings a while ago about meetings Abramoff may or may not have had with President Bush, there hasn't been much (or anything) in the way of official investigation into White House connections.

The following post is from guest blogger Katie Yocum, a former Common Cause intern who describes herself as "young, idealistic and pissed off."


If ever there was a doubt that the Bush administration's ties to Fox News Channel are too incestuous, here lies your confirmation: The White House has offered the available position of Press Secretary to Fox News radio host, Tony Snow, who, before working for Fox News, worked as the speechwriting director for George H.W. Bush. This morning, Snow accepted the offer, trading his Fox radio show in for the high-stress White House gig; perhaps, he is turned on to the idea of transitioning from an undercover Bush administration mouthpiece to a legitimate Bush administration mouthpiece.

(side note: According to the Washington Post, the candidate second-in-line for this position was Dan Senor, who is -surprise!- also on the Fox News payroll as a news contributor and was a spokesperson for the U.S. Civilian Authority in Iraq. At this rate, the next employee shuffle might involve Cheney resigning from his post to go hold hands with Rupert Murdoch at News Corp.)

All jokes aside, this is an unsettling development in the latest Bush administration employee shake-up, as its implications for our media system and its too friendly relations with the White House are too serious to laugh off. Although this is not the first time a White House administration has recruited a well-known news correspondent for the Press Secretary position, the "Fair and Balanced" network is renowned for its explicit conservative leanings. Our founding fathers called for an independent media system that is not only free from government control but is meant to be a watchdog of the government. Resembling more of a lap-dog than a watchdog, our media system is failing us, because a media system that marches in lockstep with the government poses a threat to democracy.

One of the reforms Common Cause has long advocated for is public financing. The idea is that members of Congress and the administration would no longer have to spend so much time asking people for money and could spend more time doing the business of the country. For example:

We will be posting our comments on the President's speech, but go ahead with your own anytime.