Department: Lawmakers seek special treatment

Department: Lawmakersseek special treatment
WASHINGTON -- House leaders who called the late-night search of Rep. William Jefferson's office unconstitutional seek special treatment for lawmakers that would allow them to block criminal investigations, the Justice Department said Tuesday. Democratic and Republican leaders essentially are calling for a member of Congress to be given notice of a search and to be allowed to be present for it, rights "that are not available to any other person" under constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, government lawyers said in a 27-page court filing. If the House leaders have their way, lawmakers also would be able to determine what documents do not have to be turned over to investigators or cannot be used in prosecution, the department said. In that circumstance, "a member of Congress could easily thwart a criminal investigation by unilaterally declaring certain documents to be privileged," the government said.
Hurricane relief fraud
WASHINGTON -- The government doled out as much as $1.4 billion in bogus assistance to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, getting hoodwinked to pay for season football tickets, a tropical vacation and even a divorce lawyer, congressional investigators have found. Prison inmates, a supposed victim who used a New Orleans cemetery for a home address and a person who spent 70 days at a Hawaiian hotel all were able to wrongly get taxpayer help, according to evidence that gives a new black eye to the nation's disaster relief agency. Federal investigators even informed Congress that one man apparently used FEMA assistance money for a sex change operation. Agents from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, went undercover to expose the ease of receiving disaster expense checks from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The GAO concluded that as much as 16 percent of the billions of dollars in FEMA help to individuals after the two hurricanes was unwarranted.
House panel recommendsminimum wage increase
WASHINGTON -- In a surprise move, a House panel voted Tuesday for an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25, which would be the first increase in a decade. But the move by the Appropriations Committee, as an amendment to a bill funding health and education programs, is likely to be stripped out when the measure comes to the House floor. That's because the panel does not officially have jurisdiction over the issue, and Rep. Howard McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, said he will strike the provision on the floor. McKeon said he has no plans to move a stand-alone bill raising the minimum wage. Seven Appropriations panel Republicans voted with Democrats to approve the wage hike on a 32-27 vote: John Sweeney and Jim Walsh of New York, Ray LaHood of Illinois, Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri, Don Sherwood of Pennsylvania, Bill Young of Florida and Mike Simpson of Idaho.
Interrogation techniques
WASHINGTON -- Under pressure from Congress, the Pentagon has dropped plans to keep some interrogation techniques secret by putting them in a classified section of a military manual, defense officials said Tuesday. Two senior officials said there will not be a classified section in the long-awaited revision of the Army Field Manual. One of the officials said descriptions of interrogation techniques initially planned for the classified section are either being made public or are being eliminated as tactics that can be used against prisoners. The officials requested anonymity because the manual has not been completed. One human rights group hailed the decision. "I think this is huge," said Elisa Massimino, Washington director of Human Rights First. "It's a very significant step toward creating the kind of clarity in the rules that military personnel have said that they lack and that led to a lot of the abuses."
Bush adviser escapescharges in CIA leak case
WASHINGTON -- Presidential adviser Karl Rove won't be a criminal defendant in the CIA leak case, but he could still end up being grilled in court as a witness. Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald could question Rove about whether the Bush administration compromised a CIA officer's identity to retaliate against a political critic. Still, Rove and the White House could breathe a sigh of relief Tuesday after the prosecutor told Rove's lawyer he wouldn't seek a federal indictment against the political operative. Rove has been identified as a likely defense witness in next year's trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff. Libby has been charged with lying to the FBI and a federal grand jury about how he learned about Valerie Plame's CIA status and what he told reporters about it.
Associated Press