Government Executive - Authors - Lara Seligman

Holder defends keeping Petraeus investigation from White House

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:39:06 -0500

Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday defended the Justice Department’s decision to keep the investigation that led to former CIA Director David Petraeus’s resignation from the White House until after last week’s election, The Washington Post reported.

Holder said in a news conference in New Orleans that Justice saw no reason to advise officials outside the department before the investigation was complete because, “there was not a threat to national security.” The inquiry was handled “in an impartial way,” he emphasized.

“What we did was conduct the investigation in the way we normally conduct a criminal investigation,” Holder said. “We do not share outside the Justice Department, outside the FBI, the facts of ongoing investigations.”

The DOJ and the FBI have come under fire by critics who argue that the White House and congressional intelligence officials should have been informed of the investigation.

The CIA on Thursday opened an internal inquiry into Petraeus’s conduct during his 14-month tenure, bringing the number of active investigations into the scandal to three.

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Petraeus to testify before Congress on Thursday, Friday

Sara Sorcher and Lara Seligman — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 09:37:41 -0500

Former CIA Director David Petraeus, who stepped down last week because of an extramarital affair, will testify before Congress this week on the terrorist attack in Libya that killed four Americans.

Petraeus will testify on Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to NBC News, and on Friday at 7:30 a.m. before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door hearing open only to lawmakers, the committee said in a statement on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the FBI agent who helped kick off the investigation that uncovered Petraeus’s affair and led to his resignation was identified by law enforcement colleagues on Wednesday as Frederick W. Humphries II, The New York Times reported.

Humphries reportedly took the initial complaint from Jill Kelley, a personal friend, about threatening, anonymous e-mails -- later discovered to be sent by Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell -- that accused her of flirting with Petraeus. A spokesman for Kelley said she reported the e-mails to Humphries because she feared the sender was “stalking” Petreaus and Gen. John Allen, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, The Times reported.

The complaint kicked off the investigation that uncovered the extramarital affair between Petraeus and Broadwell. The investigation also implicated Allen after the FBI discovered “potentially inappropriate” e-mails between him and Kelley.

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Reports: Susan Rice is favorite for State

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:21:54 -0500

Although both Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Rice are possible candidates, The New York Times reported that Rice “has emerged as the clear favorite” despite criticism from Republicans for her remarks following the terrorist attack in Libya on Sept. 11.

Senior administration officials, meanwhile, told The Washington Post, that the job will “almost certainly” go to Rice.

If the White House picks Rice for the job, she will likely face a tough confirmation hearing. But if the spot goes to Kerry, Democrats will risk the loss of Kerry’s Senate seat. Sen. Scott Brown, who lost his Massachusetts Senate bid to Elizabeth Warren last week, could make a bid for Kerry's seat.]]>

Condoleezza Rice: GOP must adapt to 'changing demographics'

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 09:23:02 -0500

Rice said on CBS’ This Morning that many key GOP issues are broadly popular -- fiscal responsibility and a strong national defense, for instance -- but the party is losing “important segments of the electorate” because it has not adjusted to changing demographics.

“The changing demographics in the country really necessitates an even bigger tent for the Republican Party,” Rice said. “What we have to do is appeal to those people not as identity groups, but understanding that if you can get the identity issue out of the way then you can appeal on the broader issues that all Americans share concerns for.”

Rice said that on the issues of immigration and women, “some mixed messages” were sent to the electorate, presumably referring to several controversial statements on rape and abortion made by Republican candidates during the campaign. She added that, “When you send mixed messages through the narrow funnel that is the media spotlight, sometimes people hear only one side.”

On the questions surrounding the Obama administration's response to the terrorist attack in Libya, Rice was diplomatic, saying that “shifting stories” sometimes happen on intelligence issues because “you’re getting different sources of information." She added that the accountability review board and congressional intelligence committees will decide whether the administration was at fault.

Rice repeated her position that, if asked, she would not accept the position as Secretary of State in Obama’s second administration.

“I’m going to support my president, but I’m going to stay at Stanford,” she said. “I've had my time.”]]>

Voting has been particularly confusing in battleground states

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:42:14 -0500

A new Pennsylvania voter-identification law requiring all voters to provide photo IDs is causing confusion at the polls, even though it is not yet in effect.

Pennsylvania passed the tough new voter-ID law requiring all voters to provide photo IDs with an expiration date, but a Pennsylvania court blocked implementation of the law until after the 2012 election. Only first-time voters are currently required to show identification.

But Allegheny County officials received a complaint early Tuesday morning that Republicans outside a polling station on Maple Street in Homestead, Pa., were stopping voters outside the polls and demanding identification. A county judge ordered a halt to partisan electioneering outside polling stations, according to Pittsburgh's Tribune-Review.

Meanwhile, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported confusion at polling stations across the metro area. At a site in South Philadelphia, a poll worker began asking for IDs after she was asked by a visitor why she was not instructing voters to provide them.

Voters in Harrisburg reportedly received mailers instructing them incorrectly that they must provide state-approved identification to vote, according to The Philadelphia Daily News. The mailers were produced by the Pennsylvania State Department and sent out in September, before the Oct. 2 ruling.

A Pennsylvania voter on Tuesday morning posted a video on Youtube in which his vote for President Obama was repeatedly changed into one for GOP candidate Mitt Romney, NBC News confirmed. The machine was taken out of service.

Other problems are cropping up, particularly -- no surprise -- in Pennsylvania and battleground states:

Earlier in Pennsylvania, a judge issued an order to reinstate Republican election officials across Philadelphia who were allegedly ejected from the polls.
An hour after polls opened in Florida, hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of voters received robocalls from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections office mistakenly telling them that they had until 7 p.m. on Wednesday to vote. Polls actually close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The calls went out because of a glitch with the office’s phone system, according to The Tampa Bay Times.
Many New Jersey voters whose polling places were displaced because of Superstorm Sandy are reporting problems via Facebook and Twitter. Voters were instructed to send applications by fax or e-mail to their county clerk’s office, and were supposed to receive ballots back once their applications were approved. But according to NJ.com, many voters reported never receiving a ballot.
In Ohio, a judge will rule later on Tuesday on an election-eve lawsuit alleging that voting software used at election boards in 25 of Ohio’s most populous counties could leave equipment vulnerable to ballot manipulation. The software was made by Omaha-based Elections Systems and Software, according to the Associated Press.
In Ross County, Ohio, elections officials told The Columbus Dispatch that a small group of people was reported to be knocking on doors claiming to be from the Board of Elections.

Voters across North Carolina have reported frustrations with touch-screen voting machines, saying they tried to vote for one candidate, but the ballot was cast instead for someone else. In Greensboro, the Raleigh Telegram reports that one voter tried to vote for Romney three times, but the machine changed the ballot to a vote for Obama.

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Colin Powell accused of race-based Obama endorsement

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:25:10 -0400

John Sununu, a top surrogate for Mitt Romney, suggested on Thursday that Gen. Colin Powell’s endorsement of President Obama’s bid for reelection in 2008 and 2012 was motivated by race, CNN reported.

Sununu, a former New Hampshire governor known for his candid commentary, intimated on CNN’sPiers Morgan Tonight that Powell’s endorsement of the president was based on issues other than policy. When pressed, Sununu pointed to the fact that the two men share the same race.

“When you take a look at Colin Powell, you have to look at whether that's an endorsement based on issues or he's got a slightly different reason for endorsing President Obama," Sununu said. "I think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being President of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing with him."

A few hours later, however, Sununu issued a statement in which he seemed to walk back the comment,Politico reported.

"Colin Powell is a friend and I respect the endorsement decision he made and I do not doubt that it was based on anything but his support of the president’s policies," Sununu said in the statement. "Piers Morgan’s question was whether Colin Powell should leave the party, and I don’t think he should."

Powell, a self-proclaimed “moderate Republican” who served as Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, lent his endorsement to Obama’s reelection early on Thursday on CBS’s This Morning, citing the president’s leadership in troubled times and his efforts against terrorism. He added that he had concerns about Romney’s views on both economic and foreign policies. Powell also endorsed Obama in 2008.

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Colin Powell endorses Obama

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 09:14:00 -0400

Retired Gen. Colin Powell, who served as Secretary of State under George W. Bush, endorsed President Obama's bid for re-election on Thursday.

"Well, you know I voted for him in 2008 and I plan to stick with him in 2012 and I'll vote for him and Vice President Joe Biden next month," Powell said on CBS's This Morning on Thursday.

Powell said he decided to endorse Obama again this year because the president has led the country back from recession after taking over during a time of “real trouble.”

“I think generally we've come out of the dive and we're starting to gain altitude,” Powell said, although he added that the unemployment rate is still too high and people are still hurting. “So I think we ought to keep on the track that we’re on.”

Powell also praised Obama’s efforts to get the country out of two wars, and touted the president’s efforts against terrorism as “very, very solid.” He also offered his support of the health care overhaul, although he said some aspects of the plan need to be fixed.

Powell said he remains a “moderate Republican,” but added that he is “uncomfortable” with GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s economic plan and has “concerns” about his views on foreign policy.

“The governor who was saying things at the debate on Monday night was saying things that were quite different from what he said earlier,” Powell said, referring to the third and final presidential debate, on foreign policy. “I’m not quite sure which governor Romney we would be getting with respect to foreign policy.”

"My concern is that sometimes I don't sense that he has thought through these issues as thoroughly as he should have," Powell added.

Powell also endorsed Obama in 2008.

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In Marie Claire interview, Hillary Clinton insists she won’t run again

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:20:42 -0400

As Hillary Clinton prepares to step down as Secretary of State, the former presidential candidate told Marie Claire magazine in a wide-ranging interview that she will not run for president in 2016.

Although Clinton said she will be cheering for whoever becomes the first female president, she insisted that she is looking forward to having her life back again – away from the public sphere.

“I have been on this high wire of national and international politics and leadership for 20 years," she said. "It has been an absolutely extraordinary personal honor and experience. But I really want to just have my own time back. I want to just be my own person.”

Clinton also offered her opinion of last summer’s cover story in The Atlantic entitled “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All," written by Clinton’s former director of policy planning Anne-Marie Slaughter. In the piece, Slaughter, the mother of two teenage boys, describes how she felt obliged to quit her job.

When asked about the article, Clinton’s disapproval was “palpable,” Marie Claire’s Ayelet Waldman writes.

“Some women are not comfortable working at the pace and intensity you have to work at in these jobs… Other women don’t break a sweat,” Clinton said, emphasizing that Slaughter’s problems were her own. “I can’t stand whining. I can’t stand the kind of paralysis that some people fall into because they’re not happy with the choices they've made.”

However, a spokesperson said Clinton was not slamming Anne-Marie Slaughter, claiming instead that Clinton's remarks condemned Holden Caulfield, the fictional character from "The Catcher in the Rye."

“With all due respect to JD Salinger,” Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines said in a release, “it’s clear as day from the transcript that the only person being called a whiner is his fictional character Holden Caulfield."

Slaughter herself took to Twitter after the article was published online to respond to the claim that Clinton's disapproval was aimed at her.

"Hillary Clinton, for whom I have the greatest admiration and loyalty, was not talking about me when she mentioned whining. #anything4astory," she tweeted.

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Polls show Paul Ryan favored to win the debate

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 14:12:00 -0400

A plurality of voters in Colorado, Virginia and Wisconsin expect Ryan to win the debate, according to a NYT/CBS/Quinnipiac poll, while a new Pew survey found voters nationally divided on who would perform better, with Ryan narrowly leading Biden 40 percent to 34 percent.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus tried to play down expectations for Ryan's performance ahead of the debate on Thursday.

"It's a nervous situation... this is [Ryan's] first time. Joe Biden's been doing this since the 1800s," Priebus said on CNN's Starting Point.]]>

U.S. quietly sends task force to Jordan to aid in Syria crisis

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:24:03 -0400

The New York Times reported.

The task force, which is based at a Jordanian military training center north of Amman, is focused on training the Jordanian military to deal with an estimated 180,000 Syrian refugees and helping officials insulate the country from the possibility that turmoil in Syria could spread.

At less than 35 miles from the Syrian border, the outpost near Amman is the closest American military presence to the conflict. The Obama administration has so far declined to intervene directly in Syria.]]>

Protesters storm U.S. embassy in Yemen

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 09:56:38 -0400

The New York Times reported.

Protesters stormed the U.S. embassy on Thursday, crashing through the gate of the heavily fortified compound as security guards fired into the air, according to Reuters. But order was quickly restored.

Protesters set fire to a building and burned the U.S. flag, raising a black banner bearing Islam’s declaration of faith: “There is no God but Allah,” according to the Associated Press.

A statement released by Yemen through its embassy in Washington said the situation was quickly calmed.

"Security services have quickly restored order to the embassy's complex," the statement said, according to CNN. "Fortunately no casualties were reported from this chaotic incident. "

In his statement, Hadi said that he had ordered an “expeditious and thorough investigation” into the protests, and promised that the perpetrators “will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

The statement also pointed to divisions among Yemeni security and military forces between supporters of the new government and of the previous government under Hadi’s predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh, which may have exacerbated tensions that lead to the protests.

The attack follows violence at the Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday, which killed the U.S. ambassador and three other U.S. diplomats, plunging the U.S. into a foreign policy crisis that monopolized the White House and the State Department on Wednesday.

The protests in Yemen were ignited by a video made in the United States that attacks Islam and that many Muslims find severely offensive.

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Construction on 9/11 Memorial Museum to resume

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 10:29:09 -0400

The New York Times reported.

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum Foundation, which controls the memorial and museum, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the World Trade Center site, reached a deal just hours before the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, which was the day the museum was supposed to open, according to reports by several news organizations.

Both sides say they hope the museum will now open by the end of 2013, although no completion date is included in the deal, The Times reported.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who lead the city through the terrorist attacks, expressed frustration over the delay on CNN’s Starting Point early Tuesday.

“Somebody’s got to feel a sense of urgency about this,” Giuliani said. “I do. I was here. I saw it happen. I have a sense of urgency about it. I wish everybody else that’s involved in this would have that same sense. “

But Bloomberg defended the process behind the construction of the museum, pointing out on CNN that the memorial for World War II in Hawaii took 40 years to build. The most important thing, Bloomberg added, is that the site is constructed safely, and economically.

“There was never any question we were going to finish the museum,” Bloomberg said early Tuesday. “Governors Christie and Cuomo were 100 percent committed to it, but everybody has their responsibilities and they want to make sure that their interests are protected. And that takes time.”]]>

Panetta: Ex-SEAL’s bin Laden book jeopardizes Defense operations

Lara Seligman — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:18:37 -0400

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had harsh words on Tuesday for the ex-Navy SEAL whose new book details the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, saying that the author is jeopardizing sensitive defense operations and the safety of his fellow Navy SEALs.

Panetta said in an interview that aired on CBS’ This Morning that, although people have a right to know about the operation, the Pentagon must ensure the security of its operations and the safety of its personnel.

“How the hell can we run sensitive operations here that go after our enemies if people are allowed to [reveal sensitive information]?” Pannetta said. “When somebody talks about the particulars of how those operations are conducted, what that does is it tells our enemies essentially how we operate and what we do to go after them, and when you do that, you tip them off.”

Panetta distinguished between “sensitive” and “classified” information, and said the Pentagon is still reviewing the book to see if any classified information was revealed.

Panetta stopped short of saying that he wants to prosecute the retired Navy SEAL, although he said the Pentagon needs to “take steps” to make clear that his behavior was unacceptable.

“If we don’t, then everybody else who pledges to ensure that this doesn’t happen is going to get the wrong signal that somehow they can do it without any penalty,” Panetta said.

Panetta also expressed frustration about the looming mandatory cuts to defense spending scheduled to go into effect as part of the bipartisan deal reached on debt reduction last summer. He called the defense sequester “irresponsible.”

“They said let’s put a gun to our head and if we don’t do the right thing, we’ll blow our heads off," Panetta said. "But the purpose was for Democrats and Republicans to do the right thing and prevent this from happening. That’s what’s irresponsible.”

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Obama motorcade police officer killed in Florida accident

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:54:53 -0400

A motorcycle police officer who was part of President Obama’s motorcade was struck by a pickup truck and killed in Florida on Sunday, according to several news reports.

Bruce St. Laurent, a local officer helping with security for the president’s campaign visit, was preparing to shut down Interstate 95 ahead of the president’s motorcade when he was hit by a Ford F-150. He was pronounced dead soon after being transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center.

Palm Beach County Sheriff spokeswoman Teri Barbera told NBC that an investigation was ongoing, but no charges had yet been filed against the truck driver who hit St. Laurent.

The president didn't see the accident, White House press secretary Jay Carney told NBC, but when he learned of St. Laurent’s death he said, “our thoughts and prayers are with the officer’s family.”

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Stolen Secret Service truck carrying Biden supplies recovered

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 16:37:23 -0400

Detroit police have recovered a stolen U.S. Secret Service truck carrying supplies for Vice President Joe Biden’s Monday campaign event in that city, several news outlets reported.

The U-Haul truck, which was stolen this weekend outside the Westin Book Cadillac hotel in downtown Detroit, was found on Monday in an apartment parking lot near Henry Ford Hospital in an area north of downtown, Detroit Police and Secret Service officials told the Detroit News.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said that the truck held “Secret Service property” that was to be used as part of the vice president’s campaign event, but no weapons or “anything that could put the public at risk,” the newspaper reported. Donovan would not say whether any equipment had been stolen.

However, a law-enforcement official briefed on the situation told the newspaper that some of the gear was missing when officials recovered the truck.

Biden was in Detroit on Monday to mark Labor Day by addressing a union rally organized by the Michigan AFL-CIO.

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Moderators announced for presidential debates

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:08:07 -0400

PBS’s Jim Lehrer, CNN’s Candy Crowley and CBS’s Bob Schieffer will be the moderators for this year's presidential debates, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced on Monday.

Lehrer will host the first debate, on domestic policy, at the University of Denver on Oct. 3. Crowley will host the second, town-hall-style debate, on domestic and foreign issues, on Oct. 16 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. Schieffer will host the final debate, on foreign policy, on Oct. 22 at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.

ABC’s Martha Raddatz will moderate the vice presidential debate on foreign and domestic issues on Oct. 11 at Centre College in Danville, Ky.

While PBS’s Gwen Ifill moderated the vice presidential debate in 2008, this year will mark the first election season that a presidential debate and a vice presidential debate will be moderated by women.

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Obama 'regulatory czar' Cass Sunstein to return to Harvard

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:08:00 -0400

Politico reported early Friday.

Sunstein, who has been administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White house Office of Management and Budget for the past three and a half years, embraces “behavioral economics,” which provided the early pillars for Obama’s overhauls to health care and financial regulations.

At Harvard, Sunstein will occupy the position of Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law and director of the school’s Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy. Sunstein is married to Samantha Power, who serves as the National Security Council’s Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights.

“For the last three and a half years, Cass Sunstein has helped drive a series of historic accomplishments on behalf of the American people,” the president said in a statement. “From putting in place lifesaving protections for America’s families, to eliminating tens of millions of hours of paperwork burdens for our nation’s citizens and businesses, Cass has shown that it is possible to support economic growth without sacrificing health, safety, and the environment.”

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Report: Romney’s Salt Lake City Olympics lacked transparency

Lara Seligman — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 10:40:00 -0400

reports The Boston Globe.

Romney and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee had no legal obligation to either preserve key records or make them public since the Games were organized by a private, nonprofit corporation that was exempt from public records laws.

But Romney, charged with reinvigorating the Games after a scandal damaged the Committee’s reputation, pledged that the public would have access to “all of the documents inside our organization,” as well as an extensive public archive of documents related to the Games. A decade later, the Games’ official records still have not been made available to the public.

The Romney campaign argues that Romney had resigned from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee in early 2002 to run for governor of Massachusetts and “was not involved in the decision-making regarding the final disposition of records.”
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Geithner ‘deeply offended’ by former investigator general's claims

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 09:45:23 -0400

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner responded to accusations by a former inspector general for the TARP program that the administration’s program devoted to the mortgage crisis was merely “foaming the runway” for Wall Street at the expense of the average American, saying he was “deeply offended” by those claims.

Treasury’s inspector general for the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program – commonly known as TARP -- Neil Barofksy, is out with a new book that claims the financial bailout program’s funds were “hijacked by the interests of a small group of powerful Wall Street banks.” He blames Geithner, in particular, for the mishandling of the program.

“I find that deeply offensive,” Geithner told Charlie Rose in an interview that aired on Tuesday on CBS’ This Morning. He defended the TARP program: “We pulled the economy back from the abyss, stabilized the system, and got the economy growing again. Those things were absolutely necessary. There was no alternative.

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Report: Health care law deadlines may be pushed back

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:21:00 -0400

Some deadlines that are key to the new health care reform law, which aims to extend insurance coverage to tens of millions of Americans, may be pushed back, according to a report by The Washington Post and Kaiser Health News.

Experts say state and the federal governments may not be able to meet several deadlines, such as the scheduled Jan. 14, 2014, opening of online marketplaces where people can shop for insurance, in the face of technical, political, and financial obstacles.

The federal government, however, maintains that the key elements are on schedule.

“I believe we’re on schedule to implement the Affordable Care Act in the manner in which the statute contemplates,” said Mike Hash, interim director of the federal Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight, according to the report.

(Image via JohnKwan/Shutterstock.com)

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Obama nominee for Iraq envoy steps down amid allegations of misbehavior

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:04:00 -0400

McGurk wrote in a letter to the president and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that he was stepping aside because, with summer recess approaching, a confirmation fight over his nomination could leave the United States Embassy in Baghdad without a permanent leader for several months.

McGurk’s withdrawal comes after a series of leaked, personal e-mails with a Wall Street Journal reporter fueled Republican resistance to his nomination.

“Iraq urgently needs an ambassador,” McGurk wrote, according to The New York Times. “The country is in the midst of a political crisis and our mission is undergoing rapid transformation.”

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Lawmaker: al-Qaida bomb plot shows ‘new level of sophistication’

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:07:00 -0400

Just hours after U.S. officials disclosed that an al-Qaida plot to build a potentially undetectable airline bomb had been thwarted, Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the operation is no longer a threat but shows a “new level of sophistication.”

The plot “shows that al-Qaida and its affiliates can metastasize and morph,” said King, R-N.Y., on CNN’s Starting Point on Tuesday. “That’s why it’s wrong when people in the national arena somehow say the war on terrorism is over or al-Qaida is defeated.

He added: "We have to constantly stay with them and ahead of them.”

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Politicizing bin Laden’s death is 'very disappointing,' Romney says

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Tue, 01 May 2012 08:59:52 -0400

In a rare joint television appearance, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney and his wife Ann sat down with CBS’s Charlie Rose on Tuesday to discuss the presidential race.

Romney shot back at President Obama and his political allies, who have over the past week questioned whether Romney would have sent special forces into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden.

“I acknowledged the president’s success and think he has every right to take credit for ordering that attack,” Romney said. “At the same time, I think it was very disappointing for the president to try to make this a political item by suggesting that I wouldn't have ordered such a raid. Of course I would have.”

The interview took a more personal turn as Ann Romney discussed misconceptions about her husband's character. Ann defended her husband’s personal side, saying that she still looks at him as the boy she met in high school.

“I still look at him as the boy that I met in high school when he was playing all the jokes and really just being crazy,” she said, leaning over to touch her husband. “There’s a wild and crazy man inside of there just waiting to come out.”

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GSA report 'just the tip of the iceberg,' Issa says

Lara Seligman, National Journal — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:52:28 -0400

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, warned on Tuesday that the General Services Administration official in charge of organizing a Las Vegas conference that cost taxpayers over $800,000 "may be facing prison time" for taking the Fifth Amendment at a hearing on Monday.

Issa subpoenaed the official, Jeff Neely, for his role as regional commissioner in organizing a 2010 conference of the GSA’s Public Buildings Service. A GSA Inspector General's report, released earlier this month, detailed extravagant expenses for catered food, commemorative coins, bicycles, and more.

The report led to the immediate firing of two top GSA officials and prompted the resignation of GSA Administrator Martha Johnson.

“[Jeff] Neely may be facing prison time,” Issa told Fox News’ Fox and Friends. “I believe that’s the reason he chose to plead the fifth, because of questions of his personal conduct that he doesn’t want to take a chance on being asked.”

Issa added that the report on the Las Vegas conference is “just the tip of the iceberg” of wasteful spending.

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Secret Service scandal demonstrates 'pattern of behavior,' GOP lawmaker says

Lara Seligman — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:15:00 -0400

Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the Secret Service agents accused of misconduct in Colombia, along with other recent government scandals, demonstrate a "pattern of behavior" in government.

“It's likely it's a pattern of behavior that is costing the American people hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of dollars," Issa said on CBS’s This Morning on Monday. "And [it's] setting a bad example for the rest of the federal workforce.”

Issa said one major problem the Secret Service faces is that the agents allegedly brought a prostitute into a secure zone, which could compromise security.

“Whether you’re a Secret Service, uniform service, or plain clothes, low-ranking or high-ranking, compromising somebody in a way in which they can be blackmailed in the future is a serious threat for those who hold high clearance and are counted on for the safety and security of our most important packages,” he said.

Issa also took issue with the cost of Secret Service protection at the Summit of the Americas, the weekend-long event at which the incident took place, and referenced the upcoming committee hearing on reports that the General Services Administration spent $823,000 on a Las Vegas conference. Issa said that both incidents reflect a pattern of wasteful spending by the government.

“We've got to in Congress not just talk about cutting budgets,” Issa said. “We've got to show how you can really bring austerity, reasonable austerity, to the federal workforce.”

He said his committee will work to ensure that the Secret Service investigation is thorough and that corrective action is taken.

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