memeorandum: Arizona GOP lawmaker indicted (CNN)

1:15 PM ET, February 22, 2008

Top Items:

The McCain Article — A recent New York Times article examined a number of decisions by Senator John McCain that raised questions about his judgment over potential conflicts of interest. The article included reporting on Mr. McCain's relationship with a female lobbyist whose clients often …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Horses Mouth, MSNBC, JustOneMinute, Gothamist, New York Post, Commentary, BuzzFlash.org, Moonbattery, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Seminal, Hotline On Call, Hullabaloo, Pajamas Media and The Reaction

The Big Blog:

Why we didn't run the McCain story — I chose not to run the New York Times story on John McCain in Thursday's P-I, even though it was available to us on the New York Times News Service. I thought I'd take a shot at explaining why. — To me, the story had serious flaws.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Politico, Captain's Quarters, Think Progress, Washington Wire, michellemalkin.com, The Moderate Voice, Wake up America, TIME: Swampland, The Swamp, Balloon Juice and Romenesko

Washington Post:

FEC Warns McCain on Campaign Spending — The nation's top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Firedoglake, The Seminal, The Caucus, TIME, DownWithTyranny!, Outside The Beltway, Argghhh!, MSNBC, AMERICAblog, The Raw Story, American Street, Hot Air, MyDD, Right Wing News and New York Times

Michael Isikoff / Newsweek:

A Hole in McCain's Defense? — An apparent contradiction in his response to lobbyist story. — A sworn deposition that Sen. John McCain gave in a lawsuit more than five years ago appears to contradict one part of a sweeping denial that his campaign issued this week to rebut a New York Times story …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Talking Points Memo

CNN:

Ex-McCain aide: Times report ‘implausible’ — (CNN) — A New York Times report that Sen. John McCain once had a close relationship with a female lobbyist was “highly implausible,” a former McCain aide told CNN. — The newspaper first reported online Wednesday that aides …

David Brooks / New York Times:
The McCain World Rift

Discussion: Don Surber and Reason Magazine

Pete Abel / The Moderate Voice:
Fact, Fiction, Fickleness, and Fanaticism

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Arizona Republic and Think Progress

Lara Jakes Jordan / Associated Press:

Congressman Charged in Land Deal — WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Rick Renzi has been indicted for extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other charges related to a land deal in Arizona. — A 26-page federal indictment unsealed in Arizona accuses Renzi and two former business partners …

Discussion: Think Progress, RealClearPolitics, Emptywheel, Salon and Hotline On Call

CNN:

Arizona GOP lawmaker indicted — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Rep. Rick Renzi was indicted Friday on multiple federal charges, law enforcement sources tell CNN. — In a 35-count indictment handed up by a grand jury in Arizona, Renzi is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering extortion and insurance fraud.

Discussion: Macsmind

Atrios / Eschaton: Oh My — Congressman Rick Renzi (R-AZ) indicted.

Reuters:
Rep. Renzi indicted on fraud, finance charges

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, All Spin Zone and D-Day

Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:
Renzi indicted on land deal charge

Discussion: On Deadline

Paul Kiel / Muckraker:
Breaking: GOP Rep Renzi Indicted

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

CNN:

The CNN Democratic presidential debate in Texas — This is the transcript of the debate between Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on February 21, 2008 at the University of Texas in Austin. — CNN's CAMPBELL BROWN: And the candidates have taken their seats.

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
THAT LINE — I mentioned at the end of my debate blog …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Time, The Washington Note, Balloon Juice, The Daily Dish, Ben Smith's Blogs, Marc Ambinder, The Opinionator, Angry Bear, Washington Times, Classical Values, Comments from Left Field, Spin Cycle, Captain's Quarters, PoliBlog (TM), Blog of the Moderate Left and Daniel W. Drezner

Walter Shapiro / Salon:
Hillary Clinton's Texas-size moment

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Moderate Voice, New York Times and The Carpetbagger Report

New York Times:

Clinton Donors Worried by Campaign's Spending — Nearly $100,000 went for party platters and groceries before the Iowa caucuses, even though the partying mood evaporated quickly. Rooms at the Bellagio luxury hotel in Las Vegas consumed more than $25,000; the Four Seasons, another $5,000.

Discussion: New York Post, Ankle Biting Pundits, Prairie Weather, Pandagon, JammieWearingFool, RealClearPolitics, The Carpetbagger Report and IntoxiNation

Stephen Spruiell / National Review:
One-Candidate Debate — Austin, Tex. — Has Hillary caught Obama fever …

Discussion: The Nose On Your Face and Hot Air

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Obama once visited '60s radicals — In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the district's influential liberals at the home of two well known figures on the local left: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, JustOneMinute, Commentary, Hot Air, Macsmind, MSNBC, NO QUARTER and Riehl World View

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Try a Little Tenderness — Barack Obama's biggest draw is not his eloquence. When you watch an Obama speech, you lean forward and listen and think, That's good. He's compelling, I like the way he speaks. And afterward all the commentators call him “impossibly eloquent” and say “he gave me thrills and chills.”

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Yahoo! News:

Exclusive: U.S. urges Pakistanis to keep Musharraf, despite election defeat — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan _The Bush administration is pressing the opposition leaders who defeated Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to allow the former general to retain his position, a move that Western diplomats …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Connecting.the.Dots, Firedoglake, American Street, Outside The Beltway and IntoxiNation

Gerard Baker / Times of London:

Obama: is America ready for this dangerous leftwinger? — Listen to the rhetoric of Barack Obama ... For most ordinary Americans, those not encumbered with an expensive education or infected by prolonged exposure to cosmopolitan heterodoxy, patriotism is a consequence of birth.

Jim Forsyth / WOAI-TV:

Huckabee: A Deadlocked Convention is My Goal — Insurgent Republican giving up dream of winning in primaries — In an interview with 1200 WOAI news during his swing through Texas, longshot Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee outlined a strategy which has him not winning …

Discussion: Political Radar, Hot Air and PoliPundit.com

Schuyler Dixon / Associated Press:

Officer dies escorting Clinton to rally — DALLAS - A police motorcycle officer died after a crash while escorting Hillary Rodham Clinton's motorcade to a campaign rally. — “We are just heartsick at this loss of life in the line of duty,” a subdued Clinton said in a statement to reporters after the rally.