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BATON ROUGE, La. -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Wednesday that she will not remove one of her top aides from his job or ask him to abandon his post as head of Southern University's governing board while he is being investigated for sexual harassment complaints. The Governor's Office hired an independent attorney, Mark Falcon, to look into the complaints from unidentified Southern University System employees against Johnny Anderson. But Blanco said her office has received "a verbal accusation with no evidence that I'm aware of" and she wouldn't make changes in Anderson's role until further investigation. "This is very treacherous,...

BAGHDAD — Coalition forces captured and detained the driver of Abu al-Masri, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, during a raid Sept. 28 in here. In other developments, the Ministry of Interior issued a no-notice recall of an Iraqi police brigade, which will be pulled out of service and given corrective retraining. “Based on information from a recently detained al-Qaida in Iraq member, coalition forces on September 28th detained a former driver and personal assistant of Abu al-Masri along with 31 others during a series of raids that were conducted in the Baghdad area specifically targeting al-Qaida in Iraq targets,”...

WASHINGTON The House ethics committee has approved a $2 million payout from a lobbying firm to a top Appropriations Committee staffer. The lobbying firm's ties to Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., are under federal investigation. Jeff Shockey got $1.96 million in severance payments when he left Washington-based Copeland, Lowery, Jacquez, Denton, & White early last year to become deputy staff director of the Appropriations Committee. The payments have been criticized by government watchdog groups because Copeland, Lowery, which specializes in helping clients that want federal funding for projects, frequently lobbies the Appropriations Committee. "It appears that the terms of your...

The pay of a former staffer of Inland Rep. Jerry Lewis was cut less than a year before she took a job with a Washington lobbying firm, enabling her to avoid a rule prohibiting high-ranking congressional staff members from lobbying their old bosses or committees for one year, House records show. Letitia White worked as an assistant to Lewis, R-Redlands, on the House Appropriations Committee before leaving to take a job as lobbyist in 2003 with the firm then known as Copeland, Lowery, Jacquez, Denton & Shockey. Congressional staff members who earn 75 percent of a House member's salary are...

Jefferson hires crisis-seasoned PR aideCongressman target in corruption probe Friday, July 07, 2006 By Bruce Alpert Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., points to a map as he talks with Congressman William Jefferson at a presentation during a briefing on the levee system in Southern Louisiana in New Orleans, Thursday, July 6, 2006. The briefing covered the state of current levee reconstruction and what actions need to be implemented in the future to ensure South Louisiana residents are safe from the flooding associated with hurricanes. (AP Photo/Bill Haber) WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, the target of a high-profile public corruption probe,...

A Bush aide's blunt words New adviser pulled no punches in his magazine pieces By Peter Baker Updated: 5:39 a.m. ET June 13, 2006 WASHINGTON - Bill Clinton is a "virtuoso deceiver" and Hillary Rodham Clinton a "true chameleon" guilty of "self-serving behavior, comparative radicalism, and dubious personal morality." Al Gore is a "mad dog" known to "foam at the mouth." John McCain is given to "showboating." And Jacques Chirac, Nelson Mandela, Gerhard Schroeder and Kofi Annan are all "feckless fools." Says who? President Bush's new chief domestic policy adviser. While most White House aides carefully trim their public commentary,...

NAPLES, Fla. -- A 6-year-old special education student who kicked a Naples teacher's aide and spent several hous in juvenile jail is facing felony battery charges. Her mother, however, wants to know why the case has gone so far. Takovia Allen suffers from behavioral problems and attends a special class at Lely Elementary in Naples. According to an arrest report, on May 2, a teacher was trying to line up students to go to music class. Takovia refused to go and kicked the teacher's aide in the ankle. After a discussion among school officials and two law enforcement officials called...

Aide says Jefferson cooked up schemeAssistant sentenced to 8 years in prison Saturday, May 27, 2006 By Bill Walsh Washington bureau ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- A former aide to U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, said Friday that it was the congressman's idea to solicit bribes to promote a telecommunications deal in West Africa that began as a legitimate business venture. "I've gone over it 10 million times in my head," Brett Pfeffer, 37, said at his sentencing in U.S. District Court. "I don't know why I didn't look him in the eye and say 'No.' " **SNIP** According to court...

WASHINGTON - A batch of 278 e-mails between lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a Bush administration official show a highly inappropriate relationship where gifts and business interests mixed freely and frequently, federal prosecutors said Friday. The prosecutors hope to use the e-mails in the criminal case against David Safavian, who is accused of lying and obstruction of justice in connection with investigations of an Abramoff-sponsored golf outing to Scotland in August 2002. The e-mails show that Abramoff and Safavian, then chief of staff at the General Services Administration, were in frequent contact, played golf often and traded workplace gossip. Abramoff showered...

Auditors found questionable spending by state Education Secretary Alan Bersin when he was superintendent of schools in San Diego. The audit, conducted for the San Diego Unified School District by a law firm, Loeb & Loeb, looked at Bersin's handling of more than $630,000 in tax-deductible donations made by individuals and corporations to an education innovation fund. The audit said Bersin spent the money as he wanted, often reimbursing himself for personal and business expenses. There were also undocumented reimbursements and possible double-billings, auditors said. School district officials have forwarded the audit to the state attorney general, Fair Political Practices...

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro - A Socialist Party aide of Slobodan Milosevic said Saturday that the ex-president was defiant just before his death. "He told me, 'Don't you worry: They will not destroy me or break me; I shall defeat them all,'" said Milorad Vucelic of the Socialist Party, recounting a phone conversation with Milosevic late Friday. "But it was obvious he was very ill." Milosevic, who was found dead Saturday in his cell at the Netherlands-based war crimes court near The Hague, was daily in contact with Socialist party officials in Belgrade as he carried out his own defense before the...

Jefferson 'perplexed' by aide's guilty plea; says he did no wrong By: CHEVEL JOHNSON - Associated Press Last modified Friday, January 13, 2006 10:32 PM PST Louisiana Congressman, William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, left, and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, appear before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development meeting in New Orleans Friday afternoon Jan. 13, 2006. The subcommittee came to New Orleans to discussing the housing problems caused by Hurricane Katrina. (AP Photo/Bill Haber) NEW ORLEANS -- Two days after his former aide's guilty plea implicated him in a bribery case, Rep. William Jefferson said Friday he...

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - Louisiana Democratic Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) sought a cut of a Nigerian telecommunications venture in return for his help setting it up, a former aide said on Wednesday as he pleaded guilty to bribery charges. In return for lobbying Nigerian officials and arranging a loan through the U.S. Import-Export Bank, Jefferson demanded an ownership stake in a venture by two U.S. companies to provide high-speed Internet and cable television to Nigeria, former aide Brett Pfeffer said. "The congressman told me he would require 5 to 7 percent of ownership of the company," Pfeffer...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A former aide to Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), D-La., pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges he helped the congressman solicit bribes to arrange two telecommunications deals. A spokeswoman for Jefferson declined to comment. Brett Pfeffer, 37, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting bribery of a public official and conspiracy. He could get 20 years in prison when sentenced March 31. Specifically, Pfeffer said in federal court that a congressman demanded bribes in exchange for his assistance in brokering two African telecom deals. Court documents did not identify the congressman by name, referring to him only...

DETROIT (AP) - A former aide to U.S. Rep. John Conyers has been arrested in Africa after skipping his sentencing on a federal fraud conviction, federal authorities said. DeWayne Boyd, 49, formerly of Detroit, was arrested Friday in Accra, Ghana, said Daniel D. Roberts, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit Field Office. Boyd is a former aide to Willie Brown when he was the speaker of the California Assembly. Boyd was arrested on a warrant for failing to appear at the April sentencing hearing on convictions of mail fraud, making false declarations under oath, making false statements to...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top education advisor said the administration is prepared to consider raising taxes as part of a long-term solution to the problems plaguing California schools. The statement by California Education Secretary Alan Bersin came in a Dec. 1 speech to the California School Boards Assn. It was posted on the group's website Friday. His comments mark the first time any top administration official has acknowledged that new taxes could be needed to restore the quality of state services. "No one can look at the history of California education over the last generation and not notice we...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's effort to reposition his administration after his special election defeat — culminating with this week's appointment of a Democratic activist as his chief of staff — has disheartened some prominent California Republicans and reinvigorated talk of finding a conservative primary challenger next year. "I'm getting more e-mails off of this than I do for Viagra," said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, a grass-roots group, referring to Schwarzenegger's appointment of Susan Kennedy. "Since the special election, where we were very loyal, all we've heard about was a $50-billion bond and looking at clemency...

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - A congressional panel on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to submit former presidential aide Jose Dirceu to impeachment proceedings over his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal. The Ethics Committee action means an impeachment vote will be held in the lower house of Congress next month, when Dirceu could be expelled for "lack of decorum" and barred from holding public office for eight years. Dirceu resigned his chief of staff post in President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Cabinet in June amid charges he orchestrated illegal campaign funding and a scheme to bribe legislators for their support in...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A state contractor and a top aide to imprisoned former Gov. John G. Rowland each pleaded guilty to two felonies Tuesday, ending a public corruption case that led to the one-time political star's downfall. Contractor William Tomasso and Peter Ellef, who was Rowland's co-chief of staff, pleaded guilty under a plea deal to conspiracy to commit tax fraud and bribery. Prosecutors said the men ran a criminal enterprise out of the governor's office, with Ellef steering multimillion dollar contracts to Tomasso in exchange for gold, cash, travel and gifts. Each faces a maximum of 10 years...

CHICAGO - The onetime top aide to ex-Gov. George Ryan testified Monday that a lobbyist helped computer companies land millions of dollars in state contracts while raising political funds for Ryan. The lobbyist, Larry Warner, was careful to keep his name off campaign finance reports, Scott Fawell said in his second day on the witness stand at Ryan's racketeering trial. Ryan, 71, and Warner, 67, are charged in the 22-count indictment with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud and other offenses. Both men say that nothing they did was illegal. Fawell said Warner raised $100,000 at a dinner for Ryan while helping...