Top Items:
Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:
Criminal probe opened over CIA tapes — WASHINGTON - The Justice Department opened a full criminal investigation Wednesday into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, putting the politically charged probe in the hands of a mob-busting public corruption prosecutor with a reputation for being independent.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, The Swamp, The Newshoggers, TPMmuckraker, Say Anything, Sweetness & Light, Macsmind, Daily Kos and Cliff Schecter
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Marty Lederman / Balkinization:
The CIA Tapes Prosecutor is Neither “Outside” Nor “Special,” Nor “Independent” — Initial reports are that the Attorney General appointed an “outside” counsel to oversee the criminal investigation of the CIA tape destruction. But there's nothing really “outside” about John Durham.
Associated Press:
Mukasey: Criminal inquiry begins into CIA tapes — CIA said last month it had destroyed recordings of harsh interrogations — WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, and Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey …
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Rush: Huck ‘not a conservative’ — Rush Limbaugh devoted a large portion of his first show since the holidays to criticizing Mike Huckabee's candidacy and offering a disapproving bottom-line assessment of the former governor. — “Ladies and gentlemen, Gov. Huckabee, mighty fine man …
Discussion:
New York Times, Marc Ambinder, TIME, Hot Air, Reason Magazine, PunditGuy, GreenMountainPolitics1, race42008.com and Macsmind
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Foon Rhee / Boston Globe:
McCain addresses age issue — PEMBROKE, N.H. — John McCain is 71 years old, but the issue of his age comes up only occasionally at his town meetings. That is why a query this morning at Pembroke Academy was striking. A woman asked whether McCain had the stamina to serve as president for eight years.
Rick Klein / ABCNEWS:
Clinton Camp Pre-Spinning Possible Bad News in Iowa — Campaign Insists Even a Third-Place Finish Would Not Be Disappointing — As the presidential candidates engage in furious pre-caucus spin, one of Sen. Hillary Clinton's most prominent Iowa supporters said Wednesday that she's already accomplished …
Discussion:
Political Punch, ScrappleFace, 2008Central.net, PunditGuy, Political Radar and Primary Monitor Blog
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Simon / Bloggasm:
Readership of major liberal blogs declined in 2007 while conservative blog readership increased — It has long been understood that the largest liberal blogs have generally produced more web traffic than the largest conservative blogs. But I have noticed a general trend over the past few months …
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Attack ad decision cost Huck $150K — DES MOINES, Iowa — Mike Huckabee's last-minute decision to pull the plug on an attack ad against Mitt Romney has been the talk of Iowa in recent days. — But it turns out there is more to the story than Huckabee explained at his now-famous, had-to-see-it-to-believe it news conference Monday.
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Peter Robinson / The Corner:
Late-Breaking Surge for Thompson — The latest news from Iowa? According to Zogby's latest—and I quote: “Sen. Fred Thompson...has seen a late-breaking surge." (Rich notes the same poll below.) — What's going on here? My guess is that there are whole lot of Iowa Republicans …
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
THE OBAMA CLOSE. — On the bright side, Obama's final stump speech is actually pretty good. “We don't need more heat,” he says. “We need more light. I've learned in my life that you can stand firm in your principles while still reaching out to those who might not always agree with you.
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder, Political Punch, MyDD, 2008Central.net, The Carpetbagger Report and The Agonist
New York Times:
Interview with John Edwards — The following is a transcript of an interview by Michael Gordon of The New York Times with John Edwards, conducted Sunday on the Edwards campaign bus as it drove between campaign stops in western Iowa. Some of the questions have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, The American Scene, Commentary, THE REACTION, The Democratic Daily, AMERICAblog and Firedoglake
Michael J. Totten:
A Plan to Kill Everyone — “War, children, it's just a shot away, it's just a shot away” - The Rolling Stones, from “Gimme Shelter" — FALLUJAH — A sign on the door leading out of India Company's Combat Operations Center says “Have a Plan to Kill Everyone You Meet.”
Mark Halperin / The Page:
More on Letters to Pro-Huckabee Pastors — Reporting by TIME's Michael Scherer: — A pastor's conference call with Iowa church leaders took place this morning at 10 a.m. central time to urge churches to get their parishioners to the polls. Here are some quotes from the call …
William Beutler / Blog P.I.:
Josh Marshall's Readers Are... Not So Bright — This end of a post at Talking Points Memo today made me laugh: … $1.8 billion sounds plausible? Using what counting system? — Elsewhere on the web today, a Des Moines-based WFAA reporter says Romney has spent $4 million on TV ads …
Michael Joseph Gross / Vanity Fair:
A Vast Right-Wing Hypocrisy — Richard Mellon Scaife, billionaire bankroller of conservative crusades, spent heavily to expose Bill Clinton's “Troopergate” misbehavior. Now Scaife's divorce from his second wife, Ritchie, is providing another unsavory saga—adultery! addiction! assault! dognapping!?!—as both parties let loose to V.F.
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