Category: robert menendez

Daily Briefing: The New Caliphate

• Time reporter Viveca Novak says Karl Rove was the likely source of a July 2003 article about Valerie Plame. Novak: "I remember [Rove's lawyer] looking at me and saying something to the effect of 'Karl doesn't have a [Matt Cooper] problem. He was not a source for Matt.' I responded instinctively, thinking he was trying to spin me, and said something like, 'Are you sure about that? That's not what I hear around Time.' He looked surprised and very serious." [Time, NYT, WSJ]
• Sen. Frist threatens to use the "nuclear option" to save Samuel Alito from a filibuster. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): "We're not close to a deal." [WP, NYT, LAT]
• White House flack Trent Duffy: "What you will see more of next year is the president going back to the basics -- winning the war and growing the economy and creating jobs." [WT]
• Sen. Clinton's quiet, centrist approach to Iraq "is drawing increasing scorn from liberal activists." [WP]
• Ronald Brownstein on Alito's abortion memos: "It's still not clear these disclosures will seriously threaten Alito's confirmation. And if they do not, both sides might need to rethink basic assumptions about the politics of the Supreme Court." [LAT]
• Gov. Mark Warner (D-Va.) tours battleground states for a head-start on '08. Warner: "As Democrats, what we have to do is put forward ideas and candidates that can win in places like Florida, that can win in places like Virginia." [NYT]

• Administration officials warn of impending caliphate; Rumsfeld says Iraq could "serve as the base of a new Islamic caliphate to extend throughout the Middle East, and which would threaten legitimate governments in Europe, Africa and Asia." [NYT]
• House and Senate have different views to the future of Medicaid. [NYT]
• Attorney, professor, and author John Yoo believes "the constitution itself gives the president lots of leeway, allowing him to invade Iraq without congressional permission and to disregard such treaties as the Geneva Convention." [LAT]
• Gov.-elect Corzine's appointment of Robert Menendez to his N.J. Senate seat fulfills childhood dream. [USAT]
• Investigators conclude John Snow's ownership of bonds did not represent a conflict of interest. [WSJ]

READ MORE: 2006 , 2008 , bill frist , caliphate , donald rumsfeld , george w. bush , hillary clinton , john snow , john yoo , jon corzine , karl rove , leak investigation , lindsey graham , mark warner , matt cooper , patrick fitzgerald , robert menendez , ronald brownstein , samuel alito , time magazine , trent duffy , valerie plame , viveca novak

Daily Briefing: 'Finally Getting a Little Credit'

• House passes $94.5b in tax cuts; "some budget analysts say the flourish of tax cutting badly undermines the recent shows of fiscal discipline." [WP, NYT]
• Approval of Bush climbs back to 40% in NYT/CBS poll; 52% believe that the administration "intentionally misled the public when its officials made the case for war" and only 33% approve of Congress. Charles Cook: "It looks like they're finally getting a little bit of credit for the economy performing as strongly as it has. We've had good economic news for a while, but Iraq so dominated things it couldn't break through." [NYT]
• Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald solicits new grand jury; sources say "Fitzgerald was probably providing the new grand jury with a primer on what has been learned in the investigation and what remains unresolved" and "could spell trouble for [Karl Rove], or for other people enmeshed in more recent developments in the case." [WP, NYT]
• Bush shifts strategy in Iraq to focus on "smaller, more visible projects." Bush: "Reconstruction has not always gone as well as we had hoped, primarily because of the security challenges on the ground. Rebuilding a nation devastated by a dictator is a large undertaking." [WP, NYT, USAT]
• Rep. Robert Menendez (D) is expected to be named as Corzine's successor. [WP, NYT]

• Rice explains detainee policy but "did little to clear up widespread confusion about where the administration draws the line or to dispel hints of an internal debate among President Bush's inner circle on that topic." [NYT]
• Bush is selective in his portrayal of Iraq. [NYT]
• Rep. Hastert (R-Ill.) proposes new ethics training for lawmakers. [NYT]
• White House fights to block Congress from gaining access to administration officials' emails about Katrina. [NYT]

READ MORE: White House , budget , condoleezza rice , dennis hastert , george w. bush , house , iraq , jon corzine , karle rove , leak investigation , patrick fitzgerald , polls , robert menendez , senate

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