Free Republic

Four people were indicted Thursday in an alleged kickback scheme that?s at the core of the debate over the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Former state Senate President Pro Tem Manny Aragon, Toby Martinez, Raul Parra and Sandra Mata Martinez all face charges. The U.S. attorney?s office in Albuquerque says Marc Schiff, Ken Schultz and Manuel Guara had already entered guilty pleas in the case. Investigators say the kickbacks were related to the construction of the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse in Albuquerque. Iglesias believes he was fired as the federal prosecutor for New Mexico for resisting pressure from Senator...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has resigned from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. As previously and extensively reviewed in these pages, Feinstein was chairperson and ranking member of MILCON for six years, during which time she had a conflict of interest due to her husband Richard C. Blum's ownership of two major defense contractors who were awarded billions of dollars for military construction projects approved by Feinstein. As MILCON leader, Feinstein relished the details of military construction, even micromanaging one project at the level of its sewer design. She regularly took junkets to military bases around the world to inspect construction projects,...

Liberated by her firing-qua-resignation, ex-John Edwards blogger Amanda Marcotte is back to what she does best: using vulgarity to insult her political opponents. On a whim I thought I'd check in at Marcotte's site, Pandagon, and wasn't surprised to find her slurring Michelle Malkin, with shots at Ann Coulter and the two leading conservative women's organizations thrown in for good measure. Marcotte decided to respond to an inquiry from a poster she labelled a troll who had written: "does it bother you that one of the major architects of your demise was herself a strong woman, Michelle Malkin?" That...

Fraud lawsuit filed against Kentucky firmCEO pleaded guilty in Jefferson probe Wednesday, February 14, 2007 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- Rep. William Jefferson, his wife, Andrea, and the CEO of Kentucky technology firm iGate Inc. defrauded investors by using company money for illegal activities, including the payment of bribes that put the company out of business, according to a lawsuit filed by a stockholder. **SNIP** Vernon Jackson, the CEO of iGate Inc., who has pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official and says he made payments of $367,500 to bank accounts controlled by Jefferson family members, did not immediately...