Existence of Secret Intelligence Program, Solar Eclipse Surprise Head of Intelligence Committee

Peter Hoekstra, wishing to appear slightly interested in this whole “oversight” business, made a big point of demanding that the White House fill him in on an intelligence program they’d been hiding from the Intelligence Committee, so that the Intelligence Committee could hide it from the American public. We’re so very proud.

All the coverage provides tantalizing hints as the nature of this new and exciting program, but some of us can’t wait for Eric Lichtblau and James Risen to expose it next month, in a Style Section piece that also details where Donald Rumsfeld keeps his spare house keys (hallowed-out tree in Rock Creek Park) and Dick Cheney’s one vulnerable spot (shin). We asked a couple sources in the intelligence community just what this new program could be. Their answers may shock you, unless you’ve read a newspaper at any point in the last year.

• FBI has authority to demand that movie theaters turn over ticket-stubs of suspicious individuals, secret arrests could be made of people giggling at United 93, not giggling at An Inconvenient Truth.
• Vast data-gathering program targeting iTunes store, which, to date, has failed to explain High School Musical.
• Vast bank of computers deep in the bowels of the NSA devoted to figuring out what the hell Michael Kinsley is talking about.
• Plan to just buy databases of direct-marketers and credit companies, put all the information on one Excel spreadsheet, save to laptop, lose laptop somewhere PG County.

Hoekstra Urges Bush to Impart Intelligence Details [WP]

READ MORE: congress, eavesdropping, fbi, intelligence, nsa, oversight, peter hoekstra, top

Daily Briefing: WWII 1/2

• Japan is considering military action against North Korea. [AP via Yahoo]
• Mobs of Shiite Muslims in Baghdad violently attacked Sunni neighborhoods yesterday morning, leaving leaving more than 50 dead. A retaliatory bomb exploded later at a Shiite mosque. [WP, NYT]
• Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to President Bush last May claiming that the administration’s unwillingness to brief the committee on certain unspecified “major intelligence programs” could be a “violation of law.” [NYT WP]
• Wages for rich people are rising higher than wages for not rich people. [WP]
• Grover Norquist is finding his luster as superstar Republican fundraiser fading a bit, due to his Abramoff connection and general sliminess. [WP]
• Rick Santorum, facing a tough reelection campaign in a state he doesn’t actually live in, is “reintroducing himself” to Pennsylvania voters. [NYT]

READ MORE: 2006, congress, grover norquist, intelligence, iraq, japan, north korea, nsa, peter hoekstra, rick santorum, riots, scandal, senate, war

Chatology: No Problem With Mean

Having finally recovered from Prom, Chatology returned to her perch on the couch to sit through 3.5 hours of bone-grindingly obvious talking points. We’re used to butt-punishing workouts, but this is not our favorite among them. That said, a surprisingly sexy Sunday morning. ALSO: Can’t get enough of that wacky Bush impressionist? We can.

Top Topics:
• Michael Hayden, spook or just creep? Rep. Pete Hoekstra makes news by negation: Hayden “is the wrong man at the wrong place at the wrong time.” McCain is more loving.
• ‘06 sickness/Congressional “culture of corruption,” with Republicans showing Reaganesque — which is to say, delusional — optimism.
• Goss’s departure: Not did he jump or was he pushed but rather, “Pushed, shoved, or run over with a truck and stomped on the face?”

Quotes to live by:
• Saxby Chambliss on Hayden: He is “just a class individual” (as someone who questioned the patriotism of a paraplegic, he knows class!)
• George Stephanopolous makes right wing bias hunters’ heads explode: “That was not one of the top four pieces of legislation that Speaker Pelosi…ah, I don’t know why I have that stuck in my head today…”
• Chris Wallace masters the obvious: “I don’t have to tell you, you are the chairman of the intelligence committee.”
• George Will teases the Kennedy story: “One reason this story touched all of this city’s erogenous zones…”
• Bill Kristol looks on the bright side: “I’m looking forward to getting more sex into this scandal.”
• David Brooks auditions to be Maureen Dowd: “This has more layers than a Tom Clancy novel.”

Your full-on weekend chat soup after the jump.

READ MORE: 2006, 2008, CIA, Saxby Chambliss, ana marie cox, arlen specter, bill kristol, brit hume, chatology, chris wallace, colbert king, dan balz, david brooks, dianne feinstein, dick cheney, gas prices, george will, hookers, howard dean, intelligence, iraq, joe biden, john mccain, juan williams, katrina vanden huevel, mara liasson, martha radditz, michael hayden, midterms, nancy pelosi, nsa, peter hoekstra, porter goss, scott mcclellan, steve bridges, tim russert, todd purdum, tom delay, war, wiretapping

Daily Briefing: You Jump, I Jump

• Top Republicans and Democrats express reservations about the expected nomination of Gen. Michael Hayden to replace Porter Goss at the CIA; “Bush is politically at his weakest and members of his party are distancing themselves from the White House in the hopes of retaining their grip on Congress in the midterm elections.” Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.): “We should not have a military person leading a civilian agency at this time.” [WP, NYT, WSJ, NYT, USAT, USAT]
• Patrick Fitzgerald “is weighing Rove’s foggy-memory defense against evidence he has acquired or accumulated over nearly 2 1/2 years that shows Rove was very involved in White House efforts to beat back allegations that Bush twisted U.S. intelligence to justify the Iraq war”; decision on an indictment could come this month. [WP]
• Fear of losing seats in November is Rove’s “best weapon” for “motivating his party’s conservative base to turn out”; officials are “trying to turn vulnerability to advantage” and are “telling fellow Republicans that criticizing the president risks bringing the party down with him.” [NYT]
• Bush may close Gitmo prison: “I would like to close the camp and put the prisoners on trial. [The Supreme Court] must still rule on whether they should go before a civil or military court. They will get their day in court. One can’t say that of the people that they killed.” [NYT]
• Sen. Frist seeks to start partisan confrontation over judicial nominations. Sen. Thune: “A good fight on judges does nothing but energize our base. Right now our folks are feeling a little flat. They need a reason to get engaged, and fights over judges will do that.” [NYT]

READ MORE: 2006, 2008, CIA, Democrats, Republicans, White House, al gore, bill clinton, bill frist, dick cheney, george w. bush, iraq, john thune, karl rove, michael hayden, patrick fitzgerald, peter hoekstra, porter goss, russia, usda, war on terror

Hoektra: Unsurprised By WatergateGate (W/ Hookers)

Pete Hoekstra, chair of the House Intelligence Committee (and recipient of a wee bit of Brent Wilkes money), is not surprised that Duke Cunningham was partying with hookers at the Watergate on a shady defense contractor’s dime along with a number of other Congressmen.

Pete — even we were a little surprised. Not at the corruption, the awarding of sweetheart contracts to criminals, the abuse of defense/intelligence money, or the blatant quid pro quo; no, none of that really caught us off guard. But once hookers and the Watergate got involved, well, we admit to being a little surprised. Pleasantly surprised, but still. What did you know that we didn’t? Or is this statement like us saying “We are not surprised that a number of journalists got really smashed at the Macedonian Embassy last Saturday” while we quickly hide our lucite invitation?

TPM Muckraker visited the Watergate, and learned that they’ve had a couple subpoenas. We are not surprised.

Watergate Subpoenaed In Hookergate Probe [TPMM]
Intelligence Committee chairman not surprised by prostitution allegations in Cunningham case [AP via SDUT]

READ MORE: Corruption, congress, crime, duke cunningham, hookers, mitchell wade, peter hoekstra, watergate, watergategate

Hooker/Cunningham/WatergateGate: Who Didn’t Get Hookers?

Oh, Harper’s. We’ve bitched that new editor Roger Lodge Hodge had sullied your good reputation by turning your confusing and labyrinthine website into a common and degraded “blog,” but if you keep letting Ken Silverstein throw anything he wants up there, we’ll forgive you. Especially because Silverstein yesterday dug a little deeper into that Wall Street Journal piece that combined two of our favorite things: Congressional corruption and hookers.

Silverstein found contractor Brent Wilke’s (and therefore Duke Cunningham’s) limo service of choice (Shirlington Limousine and Transportation — run by an ex-con, natch), and drops some tantalizing hints as to the other members of Congress under investigation for availing themselves of professional companionship. We’re looking for former (and current?) members of the Defense and Intelligence committees. And “one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post” (Shirlington, of course, is DHS contractor).

Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings suggests Mr. Porter Goss (oh please please please please).

House Intelligence and Armed Services Committee members who’ve received money from Wilkes include Peter Hoekstra, Darrell Issa, Duncan Hunter — and a hell of a lot more. Hell, if you have any guesses as to who got some escort action, let us know. As you can see here, you got a lot of options.

According to Silverstein, by the way, there are pictures. Best. Scandal. Ever.

Red Lights On Capitol Hill [Harper’s]
Girls! Girls! Girls! [Obsidian Wings]
Earlier: Boring Old Congressional Corruption Case NOW WITH HOOKERS

READ MORE: brent wilkes, crime, darrell issa, duke cunningham, duncan hunter, harper’s, hookers, peter hoekstra, porter goss, scandal, sex, top, watergate, watergategate

Daily Briefing: ‘Leapt into an Abyss’

• House Republicans are debating whether to permanently replace Rep. Tom DeLay as majority leader; the next congressional leadership is unclear. [WP, WT, LAT]
• Prosecutor expands investigation of DeLay to include election expenditures. [WP]
• Senate Democrats tell Samuel Alito to anticipate tough questions at his confirmation hearings; lawmakers “competing madly to prejudge the judge,” says Dana Milbank. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.): “Judge Alito has more to answer for than any other Supreme Court nominee in memory.” [WP, NYT, WP, WT]
• Few heated comments were exchanged when Bush met with 13 former secretaries of state and defense; Colin Powell remained silent. Ari Fleischer: “I think [Bush is] now testing whether enough time and bitterness have passed since the parties, and the country, were so deeply split during the 2004 campaign.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
• Jack Abramoff affair raises the prospect for increased restrictions on lobbying. [NYT, LAT]

READ MORE: Democrats, Republicans, SCOTUS, ari fleischer, arlen specter, chuck schumer, colin powell, eavesdropping, george w. bush, iraq, jack abramoff, nsa, peter hoekstra, robin givhan, samuel alito, tom delay, war on terrror