Bush denies Congress access to aides  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush invoked executive privilege Monday to deny requests by Congress for testimony from two former aides about the firings of federal prosecutors.  —  The White House, however, did offer again to make former counsel Harriet Miers …

Syria Invades Lebanon  —  A few days ago Lebanese daily newspaper Al Mustaqbal quietly reported a limited Syrian invasion of Lebanon.  (Via Naharnet.) … This happened immediately before I left town for two days.  When I returned I was surprised to find no mention of this whatsoever anywhere else in the media.

USAT/Gallup Poll: Steady leads for Giuliani & Clinton  —  Fresh results from the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, parts of which are being released this hour:  —  • In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has a 10 percentage point lead nationally …

Why Are Sections of that L.A Times Fred-Abortion Group Story Disappearing?  —  A couple of other thoughts on Fred and the abortion group:  —  Captain Ed notes that Fred Thompson registered as a lobbyist for a foreign agent in October 1991.  Did he register as a lobbyist for domestic clients at an earlier date?

Mr. Cheney's Minority Report  —  Princeton, N.J.  —  TWENTY years ago this week, Lt. Col. Oliver North testified for six days before a special joint House and Senate investigating committee.  Permitted by the Democratic majority to appear in his bemedaled Marine uniform …

'Scouting' the Hill on Iraq  —  National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley visited Capitol Hill just before Congress adjourned for the Fourth of July.  Meetings with a half-dozen senior Republican senators were clearly intended to extinguish fires set by Sen. Richard Lugar's unexpected break from President Bush's Iraq policy.

A Blog That Made It Big  —  The Huffington Post, Trending Up and Left  —  NEW YORK — In the high-ceilinged SoHo offices that once housed an art gallery, Rachel Sklar is juggling a slew of stories destined for the virtual pages of the Huffington Post.  —  There's her interview with author Gay Talese …

Atheists applaud Ellison's views on Cheney, Libby, 9/11  —  "You'll always find this Muslim standing up for your right to be atheists," he told the group.  —  Freshman Congressman Keith Ellison was among friends Sunday — in this case, a gathering of atheists — so his support for a fistful …

Iraqi FM: Turkey massing 140,000 troops  —  BAGHDAD - Turkey has massed 140,000 soldiers on its border with northern Iraq, Iraq's foreign minister said Monday, calling the neighboring country's fears of Kurdish rebels based there "legitimate" but better resolved through negotiation.

BUSH APPROVAL: NEWSWEEK 26%, TREND 27.9%  —  A Newsweek poll taken 7/2-3/07 finds approval of President Bush at 26%, disapproval at 65%, unchanged from Newsweek's previous poll done 6/18-19.  With the addition of the Newsweek poll, the trend estimate stands at 27.9%.

Job Vacancies At DHS Said To Hurt U.S. Preparedness  —  A Fourth of Top Positions Not Filled, Report Says  —  The Bush administration has failed to fill roughly a quarter of the top leadership posts at the Department of Homeland Security, creating a "gaping hole" in the nation's preparedness …

The group blog of The American Prospect  —  THE GREEN LANTERN THEORY OF DOMESTIC POLITICS.  To follow up on Ezra's point about Megan McArdle's claim that impeachment proceedings would mean "not having any achievements to show the electorate next year," it's always striking to me the extent …

Stoller and Bowers Launch Political Site  —  Two giants of the liberal blogosphere joined forces today with a longtime Washington consultant to launch a new website, OpenLeft, designed as a hub for dialogue between progressive outsiders and Washington insiders.

Tunneling Near Iranian Nuclear Site Stirs Worry  —  The sudden flurry of digging seen in recent satellite photos of a mountainside in central Iran might have passed for ordinary road tunneling.  But the site is the back yard of Iran's most ambitious and controversial nuclear facility …

Rep. Cannon: Iglesias Was Fired 'Because He's An Idiot'  —  The Bush administration has repeatedly changed its excuses for why David Iglesias was ousted as U.S. attorney.  Justice officials called him an "absentee landlord, even though his time away from the office was spent serving in the Navy Reserve.