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From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann and Adam Aigner-Treworgy NBC and National Journal have learned that former presidential candidate Fred Thompson is visiting GOP nominee John McCain at McCain's Arizona cabin in Sedona this weekend.

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors say Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion. An indictment in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary. In exchange, Al-Hanooti allegedly received 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil. The lawmakers are not mentioned but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and...

Former presidential candidates John Edwards and Fred Thompson will deliver keynote addresses on the final day of CTIA WIRELESS 2008®, Thursday, April 3 at 9:30 a.m. at the Las Vegas Hilton, Barron Room. CTIA WIRELESS 2008 takes place April 1 – 3 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. John Edwards was a candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President. Edwards served as U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1999-2005 and was John Kerry’s vice presidential running mate in 2004. Fred Thompson was a candidate for the 2008 Republican nomination for President. He served as U.S. Senator from Tennessee from...

If we can't accuse them of being unpatriotic, can we at least accuse some Democrats of being monumentally dense? Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The three anti-war Democrats made the trip in October 2002, while the Bush administration was trying to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Iraq. While traveling, they called for a diplomatic solution. Prosecutors say that trip was arranged by Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a Michigan charity official, who was charged Wednesday with setting up the junket at...

Follow the Money: Towards Treason Written by Melanie Morgan    Wednesday, 26 March 2008 And now for our trip in today's Way Back Time Machine.Let's visit Iraq, shall we? That's where three United States Congressmen traveled in 2002, in the days before the Bush administration launched a war to depose Saddam Hussein, sparking a huge controversy.  Following Ben Bradlee's excellent advice to Woodward and Bernstein during the Watergate era to 'follow the money', the Associated Press has learned that Saddam Hussein's secret agents financed the trip towards treason.          "An indictment unsealed in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a member of a...

... I listened last night to syndicated talk-radio host Mark Levin report the breaking news that an Iraqi-American had been indicted as a spy. In addition, he stands accused of secretly funding the October 2002 pre-invasion trip to Iraq of three antiwar House Democrats, Congressmen Jim McDermott (D-WA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), and David E. Bonior (D-MI, now retired). I first posted a clip of that audio on MarkLevinFan.com and then I followed the money. Always follow the money. You just think that you have read all where it led in this case.

Feds Say Mich. Man Arranged U.S. Lawmaker Trips for Saddam Hussein's Intel Service The former spokesman of a Detroit-area Islamic charity, who organized U.S. congressional delegations to Iraq, has been indicted for alleged conspiracy to spy for Saddam Hussein's government. Muthanna Al-Hanooti, who worked as a top official at Life for Relief and Development — a charity in Southfield, Mich. — allegedly coordinated U.S. congressional delegations to Iraq at the direction of the executed dictator's intelligence service between 1999 and 2002. In return, investigators say he received payoffs via the United Nation's Oil for Food program. The indictment, which was...

Failed GOP presidential hopeful Fred Thompson says he will be going back to his old day job, playing pols on TV. William Morris announced that they've signed big Fred to do TV and movie roles. Before he tried to make it as an actual president (after being a real Senator from Tennessee), he spent years playing big-shot pols and most recently the District Attorney on "Law & Order." Of course, there's still buzz that could be cast in the role of Veep for John McCain.

As usual, Ralph Pontillo, the president of the Manufacturers' Association of Northwest Pennsylvania, has lined up an outstanding program for the 103rd Annual Event on June 18 at the Bayfront Convention Center. The event has been sold out every year. The Bayfront Center can seat 2,000 people. For this year, former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, who seems to be doing quite well fighting cancer, will be the moderator. The two speakers will be Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator who ran for the Republican presidential nomination, and John Edwards, who ran a strong race for the Democratic presidential...

Any comments on the um, revised look of Fred Thompson's website? http://www.fred08.com/

Open Letter to Senator McCain Senator McCain, I write this to you out of dire concern for the outcome of the general election, thus the direction our great country will be led at this crucial time in our history. It appears Barrack Obama will secure the Democratic nomination. With the overwhelmingly diverse support he is receiving and the ensuing contributions, coupled with the fact Democratic voter turnout is consistently much higher than ours, it is imperative the staunch conservative base of our party be not only fully aligned, but also inspired. For this reason, your choice of a VP running...

The Florida Supreme Court is threatening Coral Gables attorney Jack Thompson with sanctions for frivolous and insulting filings in his disciplinary case. The attorney who has made a name for himself crusading against pornography was warned about his filings last April after he submitted “pornographic materials” to the court, the show-cause order said. The Florida Supreme Court issued the order Tuesday telling Thompson to explain why it shouldn’t reject future court filings from him unless they are signed by another Florida Bar member. Thompson responded with three court filings by Thursday afternoon, according to the Supreme Court’s online docket. The...

A few weeks ago, Fred Thompson exited the race for President. In the wake of that decision, the FredHeads and the members of DraftFredThompson.com engaged in a whole lot of soul-searching and vigorous discussion as to what to do next. Fred's candidacy may have come to an end, but our faith in the principles that originally drew us to Fred was as strong as ever. The product of that soul-searching and vigorous discussion is Conservatives for the Advancement of the Reagan Coalition, a new organization formed to advance the key conservative principles articulated by men like Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan...

The commonly held belief amongst self-described Reagan footsoldiers, is that John McCain is a conservative apostate, who enjoys sticking his thumb in the eye of conservatives. Maybe he does enjoy his "maverick" reputation a little too much; maybe his 5 1/2 years as a POW knocked a few screws loose and instilled a certain "mean-spiritedness" in him. Maybe he was born this way. But a conservative apostate?! He may not be the conservative we like; nor the kind of conservative we can all trust, on all issues; yet, conservative he is, and the conservative we are all stuck with. I...

Since even Ron has conceded that there will be no brokered convention for the GOP (boo!), we can now move on to discussing who McCain will pick as his running mate. The pundits have been batting around both Thompson and Huckabee as contenders; I think both choices have their pros and cons. Let's discuss them, shall we?

Fred Thompson, the one-time Republican presidential candidate, endorsed Sen. John McCain Friday, calling on the party to "close ranks" behind the presumed nominee

Short List of possible VP Candidates: Romney, Huckabee, Coburn, Hunter, Thompson, DeMint, Sessions, Lynn Cheney, Ingraham, Rush, Mark Levin, Lieberman, Giuliani, Condy Rice, Colin Powell, Rumsfeld, JOhn Bolton, Pawlenty, Sanford, Stallone, Chuck Norris, J. C. Watts, Jeb Bush, Michael Steele Any others? Have at it.

With the sorry choices of McCain or McCain left, how about a write-in of Thompson in Texas? Is it allowed under Texas primary rules? Beats not voting and beats supporting McCain.

With Romney's pull-out (suspension, anyway), and barring huge unforeseen events, the GOP Pres nomination will go to McCain. I didn't see any prior threads devoted to discussing a range of VP options. (I did see some suggesting particular people, like Condi Rice.) As I see it, McCain SHOULD want to address three factors with his VP pick, although the 3d is far behind the first 2: 1. Ideological Balance. Someone to McCain's right on those issues where McCain is left, such as Amnesty, Gore-Bal Warming, Judges. 2. Relative Youth. McCain's age is a factor, making his VP pick more important...

Apparently, a handful of former Fred Thompson supporters are keeping the faith. They’ve been trying to organize grassroots supporters to vote for Thompson anyway, despite the fact that he’s dropped out of the race… There is a reason Fred Thompson hasn’t endorsed any other Republican candidate for President. If the FRED ARMY can come through on Super Tuesday and deliver a victory in Tennessee, he will re-enter the race and give us the conservative alternative we need! Mitt Romney is a phony conservative. John McCain is an honorable servant, but he is not the right man to represent our party....

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Sen. John McCain, riding a wave of primary victories and favorable polls, is seen by many Illinois Republican insiders as the front-runner in the state's presidential primary. ... Romney's Illinois highlight was a presidential straw poll at the state fair last August, when about 1,000 people cast votes and he won with 40 percent - twice as much as the second-place finisher, Fred Thompson, who now backs McCain. ...

Ain't Missing Fred At All

Editor's Note: Fred Thompson will appear as the second candidate on Connecticut's Republican primary ballot, even though he has withdrawn from the campaign. WASHINGTON — Fatherhood and ambition. In Fred Thompson's life, they rise and fall together, a recurring couplet in the nostalgic story of a Tennessee fella who's guided more by life's surprises and others' expectations than he is by any master plan. Consider: The small-town jock called "Freddie" and "Moose," who, at 17, upon getting his high school girlfriend pregnant, married her, heeded her politically connected family and made something of himself. The divorced U.S. senator, lawyer, lobbyist...

You would never realize how big the stakes are in today's winner-take-all Florida Republican primary if you judged only the behavior of the leading presidential candidates these last few days. Their final pre-primary debate was bland to the point of apathy. Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee and even iconoclastic Ron Paul were on their best behavior — as if oblivious to what the 57 delegates available in Florida could mean to anyone who pulls out a plurality victory.

Republicans had better rush to come to grips with the reality that all of our smart options for the 2008 election cycle are already off the table. Unlike past elections, Republicans actually had two very strong conservatives to unite behind in the 2008 primaries, Thompson and Hunter, and they failed to unite behind either of them. The time to stand up for a true traditional conservative Republican has passed. The chance to do something smart no longer exists. Now we have one last shot and less than one week to do something that is at least half-smart. John McCain is...

The Writing on the Wall in South Carolina - Thompson didn’t fail the Republican Party. The Party that failed to present a conservative themselves, or support one even when conservatives drafted one, failed Thompson. Shade tree political pundits, who worked around the clock to douse ice water on Fred Thompson’s conservative campaign for President, are busy with their “I told you so” follow-ups. For them, Thompson’s departure from the race is interpreted as hard proof that the candidate was indeed “too old,” “too unhealthy,” “too lazy” and “too disinterested” in winning or leading. But for those who know Fred best,...

I never thought I would be picky in choosing a Republican presidential nominee. After all, the gap between Republicans and Democrats has become so very wide on issues such as taxes, free trade, abortion, education and foreign policy that it didn’t seem to matter which Republican was nominated. In spite of tiny divergences with conservative principles, I thought, any Republican nominee would be a Godsend against a liberal Democrat. How wrong I was. My assumption was that no candidate would even make the cut to the Republican shortlist without adherence to the principles of the Reagan coalition. But who thought...

The most-recent poll on the presidential race in Tennessee, conducted by the market research firm Crawford Johnson & Northcott Inc. for WSMV TV in Nashville, found that 26 percent of likely Republican voters are still undecided. Of those stating a preference, Thompson had 25 percent, Huckabee 24 percent, McCain 12 percent and Romney 7 percent. The poll of 500 Republicans and 503 Democrats was taken Jan. 19-21. Thompson came in third in the South Carolina primary Jan. 19 and announced his withdrawal Jan. 22.

As unlikely as it seemed several months ago, it seems increasingly likely that Mitt Romney should win the Republican primary and win the general election. Mitt Romney may be the last best hope of conservatives. Before condemning that statement as un-Reaganesque, consider that Ronald Reagan as Governor of California was once pro-choice. The Gipper changed dramatically, but change is part of the process that people of the Judeo-Christian tradition undergo when they reflect. As an enthusiastic supporter of the now ended candidacy of Fred Thompson, whose sentiments on abortion changed, I am willing to concede to Mitt Romney the same...

Post-mortems on Fred Thompson's short presidential run focus on how the actor and former senator ran his campaign. Started late, poorly managed, lack of enthusiasm, etc. But these analyses miss the more fundamental, and instructive, problem -- his message. Touted as the only "real conservative," a careful look shows that this label was pretty dubious. His ideas were devoid of the vision and leadership that fueled Republican ascendancy a quarter-century ago and badly needed today. On the social agenda, the difference between Thompson and Mike Huckabee was palpable and significant. Huckabee understands that abortion, like the slavery issue years ago,...

As I write this, it is about 15 degrees outside my Virginia farm. Nonetheless, my llamas and sheep, deep in snow, seem perfectly cozy in their winter woolens; the peacocks are in their feathered wintered invulnerability to cold; the horses are in their winter hair and indomitable spirit; my cats, all curled up and sleepy; the dogs, slumbering by the fading embers of the fireplace. The Lord provides for his children. But we Republicans shiver in the cold and brace ourselves for the hard winds yet to come. In the aftermath of Sen. McCain's South Carolina victory, it can only...

Fred's Finished. That's $50 and the prospects for a near-term revival of American conservatism right down the tubes. I'm not sure where I go from here, politically. We'll know more after the results from the January 29th Florida primary roll in. I may still vote for Thompson to send a "message" that conservatism is important. If it's a close race in California between acceptable and unacceptable GOP options, I'll likely vote for the acceptable candidate in an attempt to actually make a difference. In the mean time I need to go back to the drawing board and look at the...

If any recent day typifies life in this crazy modern world, it was probably this past Tuesday. World financial markets were in a meltdown and the Federal Reserve held an emergency meeting to cut the interest rate a massive three quarters of a point in an attempt to stave off a precipitous stock market drop. President Bush was working with congressional leaders on an economic stimulus package to reduce the likelihood of a recession. Meanwhile the U.S. presidential campaign was in full swing with Hillary and Obama having just ripped each other to shreds at a debate, and Fred Thompson...

In his recent memoir, Alan Greenspan says he's been pushing a constitutional amendment of his own devising. It reads: "Anyone willing to do what is required to become president of the United States is thereby barred from taking that office." If the Greenspan amendment is ever enacted, it will at last clear the field for Fred Thompson, who might then become president. But not until then.

"I'm encouraging folks who believe in the principles Thompson espoused to vote for Fred and vote for his delegates," said Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris. "I still think that's the clearest choice." If Thompson garners more than about 20 percent of the Republican vote in the primary, his delegates will be sent to the GOP convention and could play an important role.

America is in the midst of an all-important electoral campaign. But, talking to Europeans, I've discovered that there is puzzlement and misinformation on your continent about what's happening on ours. Europeans feel an understandable confusion when faced with a political system consisting of two houses of Congress and a White House, and nobody is home in any of them. Also, America's political parties are indistinguishable to the European eye. A British journalist once described the situation thus: "America is a one-party state, but just like Americans they've got two of them." (I forget which British journalist said that. But there...

That's the name of a new anti-Huckabee web site started by former Thompson staffer Darrel Ng. Jonathan Martin has more on the site: Now that his candidate is out of the race, one Thompson staffer has gone the next stop and is actively working against Huck. Sorta. Darrel Ng, perhaps the heartiest and most dogged of Thompson's aides and somebody who logged many a mile on the Fred bus, has launched a website called "Boycott Chuck Norris." Yup, Ng now wants people to show their disregard for Huck by not patronizing any companies that use Norris as a pitchman. The...

Last Friday night, I went to Fred Thompson’s final campaign rally, in Greenville, S.C. You’ve read the stories about Thompson’s lackluster performances, about his seeming lack of interest in the stuff of everyday campaigning. It’s true; a lot of the time he didn’t seem terribly engaged. But on Friday night in Greenville, he was all there, and he was terrific. Thompson walked into the ballroom of the Embassy Suites Hotel — jammed with between 300 and 400 people — and delivered a stirring defense of basic conservative principles: limited government, free markets, fiscal responsibility and a strong defense. “The Founding...

With Thompson dropping out of the presidential race, his conservative supporters are wondering who to support now. He has not yet endorsed one of the remaining candidates. There are four viable Republican candidates left; Huckabee, Romney, McCain and Giuliani. Giuliani is unacceptable to the kind of conservative who was supporting Thompson, because of his liberal social views and reputation as a moderate. He has yet to win a primary and may drop out of the race if he doesn’t win Florida. McCain and Romney are currently tied for the lead in Florida polls. McCain is leading national polls, but Huckabee...

Thursday, January 24, 2008, 05:40 PM The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign on Thursday rolled out a list of 11 Republican state lawmakers it had gathered up in the wake of the collapse of the Fred Thompson campaign. Top among them was House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart of Powder Springs. Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson of Savannah switched from Thompson to Romney on Monday — a day ahead of Thompson’s exit. In a press conference at the state Capitol, Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter of Alpharetta declared that Romney had now supplanted Thompson as the Republican campaign with...

As soon as Fred Thompson announced he was dropping out of the GOP race, friends, acquaintances and total strangers started trying to win Thompson supporter Rick Moran over to McCain, Huck, Romney or Rudy. Who will he and his fellow depressed Fredheads turn to for their second choice? Less than 10 minutes after Fred Thompson’s announcement that he was dropping out of the Republican presidential race hit the wires, one of my good internet friends IM’d me. FRIEND: Sorry to hear about Fred. Gd mn. (Good man) ME: SUCKS THE BIG ONE FRIEND: He wll b missed. ME: IT REALLY,...

Steven Stark lays out a scenario whereby all the other candidates, none of whom have wholehearted Republican support, cancel each other out, paving the way for Fred Thompson to receive the nomination at the convention. "When conventions deadlock, history teaches us that yesterday's disappointments become tomorrow's stars. If McCain can't stampede to the nomination and Super Tuesday doesn't produce another clear front-runner, we may not have heard the last of Fred..." I find the idea highly unlikely, though appealing...but stranger things have happened. Whoever would have thought the 2000 election wouldn't be decided for 36 days?

This is a weird article. I was never one who believed that politicians were - on the whole - smart enough to pull off something like this. I never thought the Democrats would pull Hillary in as the Party's savior in 2004. And I'm skeptical of what Steven Stark writes in the above-linked piece. What do you guys think? Is this author on to something, or is he certifiable? If McCain loses in Florida, the Republicans may well be headed to a deadlocked race and convention. And history teaches us that the likeliest candidate to emerge in that scenario is...

Fred Thompson's quitting the Republican presidential contest will benefit former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee more than any of his principal rivals for the nomination, pollsters and pundits are telling The Washington Times. "Huckabee benefits the most," said Portland, Ore.-based Republican pollster Bob Moore. "Evangelical voters had fewer problems with Thompson. And evangelical leaders have problems with the background or views — or both — of John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani."

"Anita Mitchell told The Hill she decided to back the former Massachusetts governor Wednesday, citing her concerns about the economy and Romney’s record as both a businessman and CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Mitchell said she decided to go with Romney after she was contacted by the other GOP campaigns. She said she will likely start raising money for the former governor after she meets with him Sunday. Mitchell said she thinks “a lot of the people I brought to the table for Fred will go with Romney.” Scoring Mitchell and her considerable Sunshine State connections could prove to...

A veteran of Louisiana state campaigns offers this ironic suggestion about last night's Louisiana GOP primary — Fred Thompson won, or would have done well, had he not dropped out hours earlier. Louisiana's social conservatives created the winning "Pro-life, Pro-family" slate in early January largely because we didn't know if Fred was still going to be a candidate at the time of our caucuses (turns out that he wasn't, by a few hours). Because we had almost all the state's social conservative leaders for Fred, we were also able to stave off Huckabee by use of this "pro-life, pro-family" slate....

I was Fred Thompson’s first hire. In fact, I moved from ABC Radio, where I worked with him on the Paul Harvey show, first into the exploratory committee and then the campaign proper. When the campaign turned its focus and limited resources to the mechanics of traditional primary politics, my role ended. FDT’s decision to drop out of the race at this point is entirely logical. It is, nevertheless, truly depressing. This is a particular moment in history. After a brief respite, during which it appeared that the dangers posed by imperialistic totalitarian ideologies had abated, we are facing more...

My Favorite Fred Thompson Columns Well, he’s out. And I’m left with three great questions that inspire only mediocre answers, if indeed there are any answers that can be provided at all: One, why vote against Fred? I don’t mean why did they; I mean why should they have. The best answer I ever heard came from statements like “that’s what we need to do — to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards�? Three…lacking some kind of reform, does our electoral process have any better chance of installing a quality leader at the head of our government,...

Fred Thompson's campaign announced via e-mail Tuesday afternoon that Thompson had dropped out of the Republican presidential race. To which one might respond, "Fred Thompson had a presidential campaign?" Thompson announced his candidacy on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" half an hour after, and 3,000 miles away from, the Republican presidential debate in Durham, N.H., last September 5. It was an act of hubris borne of the disconnection from everyday reality that Hollywood stardom often produces even within otherwise sensible people. The Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary exist to give lesser-known and under-funded candidates a shot at winning...

‘We need to deserve to lead. And this is what this is all about; it’s about deserving to lead.” That was Fred Thompson on Saturday in South Carolina during a sincere, passionate, well-grounded speech that sounded like his farewell to the campaign trail. With his announcement Tuesday afternoon that he has withdrawn his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, we now know it was. It was a bittersweet moment for any conservative who had been watching his campaign and wished it had been a more effective one earlier in the process. It was also a moment for the ages...