Reps. John Conyers and Ike Skelton, as ranking members of the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, respectively, have written the following letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (now available here):

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We write about reports that journalists who were embedded with U.S. forces in Iraq were given security clearances. In her recounting of discussions with Scooter Libby, the Vice President's Chief of Staff, New York Times reporter Judith Miller, disclosed her belief that she had a security clearance. She specifically wrote, "[d]uring the Iraq war, the Pentagon had given me clearance to see secret information as part of my assignment 'embedded' with a special military unit hunting for unconventional weapons."1 She also noted she was not certain whether her clearance was in existence at the time she met with Mr. Libby.2

by TChris

A letter from Tom DeLay's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, reveals that DeLay was offered the chance to plead guilty to a misdemeanor as an alternative to being indicted for a felony. The letter, which characterizes the offer as an attempt to coerce a plea from DeLay, accompanied a series of motions that DeGuerin filed in court. These include a motion for a speedy trial, a motion to dismiss the indictments for failure to allege wrongdoing by DeLay, and a motion seeking severance of DeLay's case from his co-defendants.'

Update: A neighbor and sometimes caretaker of the Horowitz property, Joseph Lynch, may be a suspect. Horowitz had tried to get a restraining order against Lynch in June alleging he was afraid for the wife. Horowitz told Dan Abrams it was clear his wife had tried to defend herself. The house was under construction in a remote area and burglary does not seem to be involved. The Horowitz' were living on a trailer on the property while it was being finished.

Sheriff's press conference at 6:30 ET: The autopsy took 3/12 hours. Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. It is a homicide. No one is under arrest. It is a wide open investigation. They are considering all possible theories and motives. Both Daniel Horowitz and Joseph Lynch have been very cooperative. They have interviewed several neighbors. They have not ruled anyone out. Crime lab personnel are collecting evidence to test.

Joseph Lynch has talked to the Associated Press. He says he was on the property the day she was killed, and heard the sirens coming. He acknowledged friction between him and the Horowitz' at times.

There's a great post today byAttytood on Andrea Mitchell, Cheney and that July, 2003 White House's 90th birthday reception for Gerald Ford. Remember, Fitzgerald subpoenaed the guest list.

And, it was not just a birthday party for Gerald Ford. There was a co-honoree, as I recall from doing research on this months ago -Allan Greenspan, who just happens to be married to Andrea Mitchell. I believe she was at that party. So she might know why Fitzgerald was interested in that guest list. She never talks about it.

by TChris

The vote to ratify Iraq's draft constitution will be audited in light of reports of fraud and suspicious numbers of ballots cast.

Iraq's electoral commission said Monday it intended to audit "unusually high" numbers in results coming from most provinces in the country's landmark referendum on the draft constitution.

...

The electoral commission's statement came as Sunni Arab lawmaker Meshaan al-Jubouri claimed fraud had occurred in Saturday's election -- including instances of voting in hotly contested regions by pro-constitution Shiites from other areas -- repeating earlier comments made by other Sunni officials over the weekend.

Yes, Bloomberg News reported last night that Cheney was a focus of Fitzgerald's probe. I did not see any new information there that Raw Story or I hadn't reported on before, so I wrote about a different section of the article which mentioned that Joseph Wilson is considering suing Bush, Cheney, et. al.

Bloomberg doesn't say Fitzgerald has uncovered evidence of Cheney wrong-doing, only that he is looking at it. Bloomberg also acknowledges there have been no leaks from Fitzgerald's team, so the information has to be coming from lawyers for other subjects of the investigation, some of whom, it appears, are in legal jeopardy. It may just be spin and an attempt to deflect attention from their clients. For example, Miller says she exonerated Cheney in her appearance before the grand jury.

But, there's plenty of information out there, for those willing to connect the dots. Whether it's enough to get Cheney is open to interpretation. You can find most of the details in these two posts.

• Cheney, Wilson and the White House, Part One

• Fitzgerald Widening His Probe (follow the embedded links for source material.)

Beginning Wednesday, Alaskans will be able to carry a firearm in their vehicle and no longer need a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

A new state anti-gun control law that goes into effect will essentially bar municipalities from passing gun laws that are more restrictive than state law. The National Rifle Association, which helped Republican state Rep. Mike Chenault write the legislation, says except for the concealed weapon permit requirements, most Alaska city and state gun laws are the same.

by TChris

According to Jerry Kilgore, Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, criminal defense attorneys are unfit to hold a political office, at least if they defend individuals who face the death penalty.

Republican nominee Jerry Kilgore sparked a firestorm with television ads that feature relatives of murder victims criticizing [Tim] Kaine for representing a death row inmate and for once supporting a moratorium on executions in the state. ... But even before the latest ads hit the airwaves, Kilgore had persistently argued that Kaine's legal representation of three death row inmates and his public statements against capital punishment make him unfit to serve as governor.

Assuring that the government doesn't execute an innocent accused hardly seems the kind of radical occupation that should disqualify someone from holding public office. Do Republicans seriously believe that prosecutors the only players in the criminal justice system who are sufficiently "trustworthy" to hold an elective office?

Raw Story confirms that Judith Miller's attorney Robert Bennett had a hand in writing her Sunday article in the Times explaining her role in PlameGate.

No lawyer would let a client write a tell-all about a recent appearance before the grand jury in a case in which she was a principal player and had been held in contempt without reviewing it first and probably making some changes. As I wrote on Saturday about the article:

For anyone who still thinks [Miller] is going to be indicted, please understand that her lawyers would have carefully vetted this article before they allowed her to send it in to the Times. If Miller was in jeopardy from Fitzgerald, there would have been no article.

The FBI released its report on annual crime statistics today. While the MSM is touting the number of murders and other violent crimes, there's another story.

The Marijuana Policy Project, having reviewed the report, writes (received by e-mail):

Marijuana arrests set a new record in 2004, totaling 771,605. Eighty-nine percent of these arrests were for marijuana possession, not sale or manufacture. In contrast, arrests for all violent crimes combined totalled 590,258—a decline from 2003.

TChris wrote last week about the case of a Missouri inmate who had been denied her right to an abortion while incarcerated until a federal court ruled in her behalf. Days later, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, acting alone, issued a stay of the order.

Today, the Supreme Court, without comment, lifted the stay. The state had relied on a a law that banned taxpayer funds from being used obtain an abortion.

Chief Justice Roberts participated in the decision. Scotus Blog reports:

How effective have the railings of right-wing bloggers been against Harriet Miers? According to Business Week, hardly at all.

Big-name Right-wing bloggers and pundits are livid about Bush's latest Supreme Court pick. So why do polls find only 9% of the GOP faithful oppose her?

The White House is changing strategies over Miers' nomination and finally putting a support team in place. Miers' religion is off the table in the new playbook: