Indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff's lawyer, Neal Sonnett, tells the Daily Business Review that his client is a victim in the charged fraud.

Miami attorney Neal Sonnett, who represents Abramoff, said the longtime Republican lobbyist who formerly worked for Greenberg Traurig, the Miami-based law firm, was a "victim." "All I can tell you is that Jack understood that he was involved in a legitimate business deal, and he was not involved in the negotiations, was not even present at the closing," Sonnett said in an interview Friday.

"He only signed documents that were faxed to him with assurances that everything was in proper order," Sonnett said. "So I think Jack was as much as victim as anybody else in this case, perhaps more because now he has to defend himself against criminal charges for something that he did not do."

Sonnett also says that Abramoff is not cooperating with the feds in the Indian tribes investigation:

The Senate is in recess, but the Judiciary Committee lawyers are working through it, day and night, pouring over thousands of pages of released documents on Judge John Roberts to ready the Senators for the confirmation hearings that begin September 6. The Chicago Tribune has an informative article on what the staffers are doing and how the Senators have divided the work.

Specter's staff lawyers are readying talking points to combat negative information, not to be partisan, but to be fair. Cornyn's lawyers essentially admit their partisan role. Sen. Diane Feinstein will take the lead on Roe v. Wade, while Sen. Edward Kennedy will focus on civil rights issues.

Here's a clue to how it's going to go:

Upddate: Murray has more over at his blog, Whatever Already, including this very important news:

What has not been previously reported until now (a blog breaks news!?), is that not only could Rove not remember the name of the journalist who purportedly might have told him of Plame's CIA employment, but he also claimed to remember virtually nothing about the circumstances of the purported conversation. He could not even recall whether the conversation took place on the phone or in person.

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Original Post: 8/14 6:20 pm

Investigative journalist Murray Waas who has broken some of the biggest stories in RoveGate has a new article up at the Village Voice.

To paraphrase:

• Federal investigators believed Karl Rove fibbed during one of his first interviews on the Valerie Plame leak. He didn't tell them about talking to Time Reporter Matthew Cooper. They also doubted his claim that he had learned about Plame's identity from a journalist.

• Despite concerns over former Attorney General John Ashcroft's close personal ties to Karl Rove, Ashcroft got briefings on the investigation. Members of the Justice Department believed Ashcroft should recuse himself because of his ties to Rove. Eventually he did and Comey then appointed Fitzgerald to lead the investigation. But the Justice Department has never explained its reasons for Ashcroft's recusal.

Crooks and Liars has the video of Howard Dean on Face the Nation today.

The question is, what is a reasonable way to get out? And that's - we have no answers from the President on that at all. He keeps - his Administration appears divided. Some of the generals have said we can withdraw some of the troops, perhaps as many as 30,000 after the elections. We have others saying, we're not going to leave. These people do not know what they are doing. They didn't know what they were doing when we got in, they had no plan then, they have no plan now.

[Via Atrios.]

The President should know better than to speak without a teleprompter and prepared script by now. His off-the-cuff comments show his true nature. Leaving for a bike ride at the ranch today,

Bush said he is aware of the anti-war sentiments of Cindy Sheehan and others who have joined her protest near the Bush ranch. "But whether it be here or in Washington or anywhere else, there's somebody who has got something to say to the president, that's part of the job," Bush said on the ranch. "And I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say."

"But," he added, "I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."

Last week we reported that Saddam's daughter had fired all his lawyers. Today, the Iraq tribunal trying Saddam says the lawyers are not fired. Only Saddam can fire or hire lawyers, not his family.

by TChris

Responding to demands for faster lines at airport terminals, TSA officials are considering changes in airline passenger screening rules. Some of the changes under consideration make sense: prohibiting nail files in carry-on luggage has always been a bit extreme, although the ban on ice picks should probably stay. One welcome proposal would allow passengers to keep their shoes on unless they set off a metal detector, while another seeks to reduce patdowns by giving screeners the discretion to keep their hands off passengers who are wearing tight-fitting clothes.

More troubling is the list of individuals who would be exempt from screening requirements:

... federal judges, members of Congress, Cabinet members, state governors, high-ranking military officers and those with high-level security clearances.

These are exactly the people who should know what it feels like to experience an invasion of privacy (however slight) at the hands of a government employee. Exempting public officials from the same travel hassles that the rest of us endure insulates them from the real world in an unhealthy way.

Say Hello to:

• Low and Left, an offshoot from Left Coaster
• Unbossed
• SoapBlox Colorado

Jeanine Pirro's first week on the campaign trail didn't wow the media back home in New York. But they do contain some valuable tips for turning it around. The best one: She needs to bring in an issues trainer on national issues. Jeanine's focus has been on crime, crime and crime her entire career. If she wants to run for the Senate, she needs to learn about the economy, health care, budget deficits, jobs and more. As the column points out, she should have done this before she entered the race.

Also unimpressed with Pirro is Newsday. In an editorial today, the paper says:

One of the curious things about the Jack Abramoff arrest was the differing reports on Thursday: The Miami Herald reported the FBI was looking to arrest him in Baltimore; co-defendant Kidan was allowed to self-surrender; Abramoff was later arrested and jailed in Los Angeles.

Michael Isikoff at Newsweek has this report:

The justice department played hardball last week with former superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, in part because of concerns he might flee to Israel. Hours before Abramoff was indicted on fraud charges in Miami last Thursday, FBI agents tried to arrest him at his Maryland home. But he'd already left for Los Angeles. Agents tracked him down on his cell phone and ordered him to surrender to the local FBI office. When Abramoff did, later that day, he was handcuffed, thrown into jail, then released last Friday on a $2.2 million bond.

With more than 1,800 young American lives lost, does Bush think an Emily Litella "Never Mind" moment will do anything but enrage us and sour the troops?

The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad.

The United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, U.S. officials say. What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground," said a senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion. "

Can you spell f-a-i-l-u-r-e?

Actor Christopher Walken is running for President in 2008.

"Our great country is in a terrible downward spiral. We're outsourcing jobs, bankrupting social security, and losing lives at war. We need to focus on what's important-- paying attention to our children, our citizens, our future. We need to think about improving our failing educational system, making better use of our resources, and helping to promote a stable, safe, and tolerant global society. It's time to be smart about our politics. It's time to get America back on track."

Here's the press release, his bio and his platform.

Update: The Technologist says the website may be a fake. [hat tip Patriot Daily]