U.Sn Ambassador nominee John Bolton omitted being questioned by the State Department inspector general's office on his application form for the appointment. The investigation concerned intelligence lapses surrinding Iraq, Niger and uranium.

The acknowledgment came after the State Department had earlier insisted nominee John Bolton's "answer was truthful" when he said he had not been questioned or provided information to jury or government investigations in the past five years.

"When Mr. Bolton completed his form during the Senate confirmation process he did not recall being interviewed by the State Department inspector general. Therefore his form as submitted was inaccurate in this regard and he will correct the form," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

It's unlikely it will matter as the White House says it doesn't find the omission significant. Bush will probably give Bolton a recess appointment after Congress recesses the first week in August.

The State Department source says Bolton was not questioned by Fitzgerald or the grand jury investigating the Plame leak.

Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo was on Hannity and Colmes last night. Crooks and Liars has the video and this comment:

I always get a kick out of Hannity when his guests are so lost that he has to coach them through and supply them with the answers that they can't come up with.

In other Tancredo news, the Congressman will meet with some 'moderate' Muslim groups to discuss his remarks -- but not the big ones.

I don't know too much about the DLC, except that they are centrists and I am not a fan of centrists. Hillary spoke at their convention yesterday and Markos at Daily Kos has some sharp criticisms. So do

• Digby

• Atrios

• David Sirota

Update: skippy the bush kangaroo takes on the dlc's peter ross range for sneaky and misleading use of pronouns, thusly mis-attributing one person's views to markos in general.

In the "you can't make this up" department, Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, who will try and run for President in 2008 on his illegal immigration plank, made an utter fool of himself on the radio Friday while discussing the possibility of future terror attacks. Crooks and Liars has the audio.

The Rocky Mountain News has the transcript, here's a snippet:

Campbell: Worst case scenario, if they do have these nukes inside the borders and they were to use something like that — what would our response be?

Tancredo: ....Well, what if you said something like — if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, um, you know, you could take out their holy sites . . .

Campbell: You're talking about bombing Mecca.

Tancredo: Yeah. ..... I mean, I don't know, I'm just throwing out there some ideas because it seems to me . . . at that point in time you would be talking about taking the most draconian measures you could possibly imagine and because other than that all you could do is once again tighten up internally.

What a jerk.

Crooks and Liars has the video and transcript of Ken Mehlman on this morning's "Meet the Press" - he would not promise to support Fitzgerald's decision to indict members of the Administration if that were to happen.

At the end he says, "I intend to support" Fitzgerald's decision.

Russert: But if you have tremendous confidence in him, then you will accept and respect his decision?

Mehlman: I look forward to hearing what he has to say and I intend to respect what he has to say, but again I'm not going to speculate on what he might do.

Shorter version: "So long as he doesn't indict someone I don't think should be indicted, I'll respect his decision."

Update: Today's Meet the Press transcript of Matt Cooper is here.

Another executive fiat is on the way....the Washington Post reports that John Bolton will accept a recess appointment.

"The president has made his selection, and the president is asking the Senate to confirm the selection, and if the Senate refuses to do that, then most assuredly [Bush] will make a recess appointment."

Just another indicator of Bush's lack of respect for the legislative branch. Welcome to the Monarchy.

We hear a lot about Karl Rove, but little about his job duties, aside from advancing Bush's agenda and orchestrating Republican election campaigns. The LA Times today provides some illumination:

Rove has duties beyond his official role of working on foreign and domestic policy development. He has the broadest portfolio of any presidential aide in history: He micromanages policy, leads outreach efforts to key GOP constituencies and supervises election strategy down to the precinct level, not only for the president but for congressional candidates as well.

Rove also maintains contacts at leading news organizations and often provides background guidance to top reporters and editors, as he did for Cooper. These contacts are part of Rove's less-discussed role of crafting Bush's image, enforcing the strict Bush code of discipline and jumping hard on perceived opponents of the president.

by TChris

It ain't over 'til it's over, but this time, it might actually be over. At least for the unfairly demonized Michael Schiavo.

When we last visited this case (be sure to read Peter G's insightful remarks in the comments), Jeb Bush made the loathsome decision to send a state's attorney after Michael to look for evidence that he abused his wife, all because of a minor discrepancy in estimates that Michael gave of the time he called 911 after discovering that Terri had collapsed. Never mind that he gave one estimate eleven years after the other; Jeb seized on the inconsistency to continue pandering to the right wing extremists who didn't want the controversy to die with Terri.

Despite Jeb's best efforts, Michael has again been vindicated and, like Terri, can finally be at peace.

The chief investigator in the matter has told Florida Gov. Jeb Bush he found no evidence that Michael Schiavo caused his wife's collapse 15 years ago. Bernie McCabe, the Pinellas-Pasco state attorney, urged Bush to end the state's inquiry into the death of Terri Schiavo. Bush said he would follow McCabe's recommendation, the St. Petersburg Times reported Friday.

Breaking from MSNBC - President Bush required some treatment for a bike accident he had today in Gleneagles when he collided with a police officer.

by TChris

The Justice Department has been tight-lipped about its year long investigation of Jack Abramoff, which has apparently “focused until now on accusations that Mr. Abramoff defrauded Indian tribes who paid him millions of dollars in lobbying fees on behalf of their gambling operations.” The Republican chair and senior Democrat on the House Resources Committee have asked the Department to expand the investigation to include “a flurry of accusations of wrongdoing involving Mr. Abramoff’s multimillion-dollar lobbying on behalf of the Northern Mariana Islands.”

Assuming the Justice Department accepts that invitation, will its efforts have an impact on Tom DeLay?

The Resources Committee request could suggest new scrutiny for Mr. DeLay, because he worked closely with Mr. Abramoff for years to block Washington from imposing the federal minimum wage on large clothing factories in the Northern Marianas.

What does it take for the Congress to investigate one of their own? Swing State Project has put together this handy chart of the players and properties involved so far in Congressman Randy Cunningham's embroglio. As Wapo reports,now there is a second developer who both bought Cunningham's yacht and helped with financing for a house.

DNC Chair Howard Dean is raising the issue:

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is trying to get voters to hold the Republican Party responsible for the "culture of corruption" he sees in Washington, but Dean is getting virtually no help from fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives.

In the year since then-Rep. Chris Bell, D-Texas, filed the complaint that triggered the current ethics investigation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, not one Democrat has initiated another complaint despite the pleas of outside watchdog groups.

by TChris

It wasn't a happy Independence Day for U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who missed the pancake breakfast he usually attends rather than face reporters.

The pancake breakfast was to have been Cunningham's first public event since last month's disclosure that congressman sold his previous home to a defense contractor for what may have been an overinflated price. Mitchell Wade, founder of the defense firm MZM Inc., bought Cunningham's house for $1.675 million in 2003 and sold it nearly a year later for a $975,000 - a $700,000 loss in one of the nation's hottest housing markets.

Cunningham likes to have his picture taken with flag wavers, but the timing was off this year.

On Friday, the FBI searched Cunningham's $2.55 million mansion in the exclusive community of Rancho Santa Fe as well as the 42-foot yacht, the "Duke Stir," owned by Wade, where Cunningham has resided in Washington. Federal agents also raided MZM's Washington, D.C. offices.