With James Comey's departure today from the Justice Department, some wondered who would inherit his oversight of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. Comey himself made the designation today before he left...it will be David Margolis, who has been a Justice Department lawyer for 40 years.

Margolis, whose title is associate deputy attorney general, is taking the place of Deputy Attorney General James Comey, whose last day of work was Friday. Comey will be Lockheed Martin's new general counsel.

Comey made the designation of Margolis. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has stepped aside from the probe because he was White House counsel when Valerie Plame's name was leaked in 2003 and he has testified to the grand jury investigating the unauthorized disclosure.

Comey gave broad discretion to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago when he was appointed to investigate the leak in December 2003. Margolis is not expected to alter Fitzgerald's mandate in what are likely to be the final months of his investigation. The grand jury ends its term in October.

Gonna stand my ground and I won’t back down ....Tom Petty

Judith Miller is staying put. Five weeks and counting. She misses the Internet. For a different take on her confinement, read this article on the information withheld from her and her lawyers.

Testimonial privileges require a court to weigh the government's evidence as to why they need her testimony. Yet Judith Miller was tried, convicted and sentenced to prison based exclusively upon written evidence from witnesses whose identities and testimony were kept secret from her and her lawyers. They were given no opportunity to defend her against, question, or rebut the secret evidence the courts relied upon exclusively in convicting her. Indeed, a full eight pages of the D.C. Court of Appeals decision discussing and analyzing this secret evidence was redacted from the published opinion.

Update: One other condition that was ordered by the Judge: Abramoff must keep up his "course of mental health treatment."

That I don't hold against him. Who wouldn't need mental health treatment after being investigated for so many years?

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Lobbyist Jack Abramoff appeared in federal court in L.A. today and was released.

He was told he could post $250,000 of a $2.25 million bond on Tuesday in Florida only if federal prosecutors there determine that the money came from legitimate sources, said U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek. Family members would be liable for the balance of the bond if Abramoff fails to appear at any subsequent hearing.

A defense attorney said Abramoff was in contact with law enforcement immediately after hearing about the charges. "He does look forward to returning to Miami where he will vigorously defend against the charges," Anthony Pacheco said after the court appearance.

Good lawyering by Pacheco, Neal Sonnett, Abbe Lowell and whoever else was involved. He doesn't have to post the money until he gets back to Florida.

MADD must be having seizures. A judge in Virginia ruled the state's DUI law unconsitutional because it presumes anyone with an 0.8 blood alchohol level or higher is intoxicated.

The state law presumes that someone with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher is intoxicated, denying their right to a presumption of innocence, Judge Ian O'Flaherty ruled in dismissing charges against at least two alleged drunken drivers last month.

Jeanine Pirro has attacked Hillary Clinton saying New Yorkers elected her to be Senator and she should be giving them her undivided attention and not spending time running for another office.

"New York deserves a senator who will give her all to the people of New York for a whole term, full time, and not miss votes to campaign in the 2008 presidential primaries," Pirro said.

What about Jeanine? Isn't she still Westchester DA? How many days will she be out of the office campaigning? It was every one of them this week. Didn't the voters elect her expecting that she would give the DA's job her full attention?

Maybe Jeanine should resign her job. Why should Westchester county pay her - including providing a driver and security detail - if she's not busy prosecuting crooks or running the office?

Smart move by Jeanine Pirro. She brought her husband Albert and her kids to a campaign appearance in White Plains today.

Jeanine Pirro's controversial husband made his first appearance of the Senate race Friday when he stood a few yards away from her podium on the last stop of her introductory state tour. Pirro, the Westchester district attorney who is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, did not introduce her husband, Albert Pirro, or mention him in her speech.

Think Progress put a great chart up today outlining all the characters in RoveGate, with links to news sources on each point. Excellent.

Here's a place for all your continued thoughts on Cindy Sheehan. The movement is swelling. Will Bush relent and meet with her? Where is this headed? Who's writing great stuff? My favorite has been the Huffington Post. (Links must be in html format, instructions are in the comment box.)

[Thread now full, continued here.]

by TChris

It has become routine for people to forget they're carrying items in their carry-on luggage that aren't permitted on an airplane, but a pipe bomb?

A University of Oklahoma student told federal investigators he forgot a pipe bomb he built for fun was in his luggage when tried to board an airplane, court documents show.

by TChris

Tom DeLay should be pleased that fellow scoundrel Karl Rove has been grabbing headlines lately, diverting attention from DeLay’s own woes. DeLay is back in the press, however, as the result of the Abramoff indictment that TalkLeft discussed here and a Federal Election Commission audit.

ARMPAC, Tom DeLay’s political action committee, unlawfully used more “soft money” to pay its 2001-02 administrative expenses than federal law allowed. The accounting shenanigans increased the amount of money the PAC had available to spend on Congressional races in 2002.

The FEC hasn’t decided yet whether to levy a fine against ARMPAC.

The Washington Post reports former lobbyist Jack Abramoff was arrested in Los Angeles late this afternoon on the Florida Indictment we mentioned yesterday. His co-defendant, Adam Kidan of New York, will surrender in Florida today.

Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a business partner were indicted by federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, charged with five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy in their purchase of a fleet of Florida gambling boats from a businessman who was later killed in a gangland-style hit.

Abramoff, 46, was arrested in Los Angeles in the late afternoon and was expected to be taken before a U.S. magistrate there on Friday. He was indicted along with Adam Kidan, the former owner of the Dial-a-Mattress franchise in Washington. Kidan, 41, of New York City, will surrender to the FBI here by Friday morning, his attorney, Martin I. Jaffe, said in a written statement.

It sounds like Kidan cooperated, thinking he could talk his way out of an Indictment, and failed.

A source close to the offical proceedings involving Saddam Hussein's trial says he could be executed after the first trial.

Saddam's daughter is running the defense. Now she says his defense lawyer may boycott the trial. Does she think they would hesitate a nanosecond to try him without a lawyer? Sounds like the fastest way to the execution chamber to me.

Lawyers should be running Saddam's defense, not his daughter.