Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton trails five top Republican presidential contenders in general election match-ups, a drop in support from this summer, according to a poll released on Monday. Clinton's top Democratic rivals, Barack Obama and John Edwards, still lead Republicans in hypothetical match-ups ahead of the November 4, 2008, presidential election, the survey by Zogby Interactive showed. Clinton, a New York senator who has been at the top of the Democratic pack in national polls in the 2008 race, trails Republican candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mike Huckabee by three to five...

Is Sen. Hillary Clinton feeling any doubts about winning the Democratic nomination for president? Not at all. "It will be me," Clinton tells Katie Couric in an interview to air Monday on the "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric." The broadcast airs at 6:30 p.m. on WKMG-Channel 6. Couric also asked if Clinton is concerned that Oprah Winfrey could boost Sen. Barack Obama by campaigning for him in three key states. "No, at the end of the day," Clinton says. "I'm proud to have my husband support me ... with his knowledge, experience and incredible ability to vouch for me."

COURIC SCORES INTERVIEW WITH HILLARY FOR 'CBS EVENING NEWS'... DEVELOPING...

A federal judge who stated in court Sen. Hillary Clinton had nothing to do with the planning and preparation for a scandal-plagued Hollywood fundraiser, received by hand-delivery yesterday a transcript of a videotape that allegedly captures the New York Democrat committing felonies related to the event. The transcript, along with a letter demanding a hearing, was hand-delivered to Federal Judge A. Howard Matz by Douglas Cogan, a regular contributor to FreeRepublic.com who has followed the case closely and helped produce a documentary. As WND reported, the tape – held by the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York...

The state Republican Party has launched a television ad attacking state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi for mishandling the collapse of the Executive Life Insurance Co. The ad targeting Garamendi, a Democrat running against Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, for lieutenant governor, began running Aug. 28 in the Sacramento and Los Angeles media markets. (snip) ANALYSIS: The GOP advertisement attempts to weaken Garamendi, a former gubernatorial candidate and statewide officeholder, by exploiting what is perhaps his greatest political vulnerability. Garamendi has long been dogged by criticism for allegedly mishandling the collapse of the Executive Life Insurance Co. In 1991,...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal judge has thrown out a $700 million punitive damages award won by the state of California in a lawsuit stemming from the takeover of failed insurer Executive Life by French investors. U.S. District Court Judge A. Howard Matz concluded Tuesday that the state's Department of Insurance was not entitled to receive the $700 million awarded by jurors in July as part of their judgment against French company Artemis SA, according to a summary of the order posted on the court's Web site. "This order addresses only the question of whether plaintiff (Insurance Commissioner) John...

The state's giveaway sale of Executive Life and the insurer's fat portfolio of junk bonds is the gift that keeps on giving - political headaches, that is. State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, who seized the troubled insurer in 1991 and then approved its sale, desperately wants to deflect the onus for the multibillion-dollar debacle that left tens of thousands of disabled and retired annuitants twisting in the wind. But try as he might to shift the burden onto the French buyers, it appears they will at most cede only a tiny fraction of their huge profits from the transaction. A...

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge urged both sides to resolve their differences after a jury found that a French company owned by billionaire Francois Pinault conspired to defraud California regulators as part of a scheme to take over failed insurer Executive Life. However, while ruling on the state's lawsuit, the jury cleared Pinault himself of any involvement in the scheme. Jurors also considered three allegations that the firm, Artemis SA, had caused harm to Executive Life policyholders. They found in favor of the defense on two of those counts. The rulings carried no immediate financial judgments. U.S. District Judge...