Yesterday the Senate judiciary committee voted to find Rove and Bolton in contempt of Congress and allow a floor vote The floor vote, if it ever happenes, is doomed, so the Committee vote was an empty gesture from the outset.

But in the extreme improbability that Congress affirmed the contempt citation, Dana Perino has assured that the Justice Department would not pursue the matter:

"The Department of Justice would not require a U.S. attorney to convene a grand jury or otherwise pursue a prosecution of an individual who carries out a president's instruction not to provide documents or testimony on the basis of the president's assertion of executive privilege," Perino said.

It looks like these situations aren't hypothetical to Mukasey anymore.

In the first HC former Governor Huckabee's destruction of state computers, hard drives, and servers during his final days in office is discussed. Background into his family, including son's history of animal torture, that same son's arrest at the airport for attempting to board an airplane with a gun and ammunition is also detailed.

In the second HC, outlines Huckabee's use of the state plane at taxpayer expense, diversion of state funds to an organization that employed Huckabee's wife, and the governor's use of a disaster emergency relief fund to facilitate the destruction of those state computers and servers as he left office.

Today it's time to learn a little about Mrs. Huckabee.

In yesterday's edition of the HC we learned that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee had the hard drive on 83 computers and four servers crushed on his way out of town. The ostensible reason for the $350,000 destruction of State property was to protect personal information relating to employees. Presumably, Huckabee would have us believe, he did not trust his successor to keep confidential information confidential.

One hard drive Huckabee had destroyed is of particular interest. That is the computer used by  State Police at an airport hangar. No explanation of the nature of the personal information at the airport, which was so sensitive it had to be destroyed, was given. It is an interesting coincidence that the computer likely contained data which would cause Huckabee Giuliani type problems. The difference between Huckabee and Giuliani is that Huckabee's misuse of state property, personnel, and money was not to benefit a mistress.

Rudy Giuliani may wish he had Mike Huckabee's foresight. Huckabee isn't going to be surprised by information requests about his misuse of state funds, personnel or property. That's because Huckabee ordered the hard drives in 83 computers and four servers be crushed (destroyed) in his final days in office. This was at a cost to taxpayers of $13,000 for the "service" plus $335,000 to replace the computers.

The reason Huckabee destroyed these records was likely to conceal massive misuse of state funds during his administration.  He and his family used the state police, and state funds in much the same way as Rudy, except that the Church was Huckabee's expensive mistress.

Then there is Huckabee's Willy Horton, but this one makes Mike Dukakis look like George Bush on crime.

.....

A Test for Mr. Mukasey

An early test of all these traits will come in the next few weeks, when the new attorney general is expected to review the Justice Department's flawed, embarrassing prosecution of two former lobbyists for AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The lobbyists, Steven J. Rosen, and a junior associate, Keith Weissman, are charged under the 1917 Espionage Act with receiving classified information from Lawrence Franklin, then a top Defense Department official. The lobbyists allegedly passed on the information they had received to a reporter for the Washington Post and an Israeli embassy employee.

Much of the information was about Iran's plans for destabilizing Iraq. Mr. Franklin, who was also indicted, subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Under intense government pressure he has agreed to testify against his friends, the former AIPAC lobbyists. Their trial is set for January

.....

Senate buildings evacuated  
By Alexander Bolton  
October 31, 2007  

There are at least four fire trucks and an ambulance at the scene as hundreds of aides left the buildings. Senate staffers told The Hill that this was not a planned drill, though it is unclear why fire and rescue personnel were called.

"Evacuating hart & dirksen due to confirmed fire & audible alarm. Fire near sh-b01," U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Sergeant Kimberly Schneider, said in an e-mail.

The electronic vote counters in the House are broken (and I thought those things could never fail). There is a vote to adjourn on the floor, the Democrats want to wait for the voting machines to be repaired, and the Republicans now want a manual vote.

What’s truly ironic is that (per CNN, link below)Bush has prohibited them from calling a recess anyway, but they must not know this.

It’s clear that you feel compelled to make these theatric, meaningless gestures to satisfy the clamoring base’s screams for real action. They don’t work, on every level. The administration laughs out loud when they are announced; it clearly doesn’t consider them serious, and will never comply. The group you attempt to placate with these empty acts becomes more disgusted with each successive motion. It fails, give it up.

Harriet Grant Libby worked for Joe Biden

Harriet Grant:Stay-at-home mom after their children were born, lawyer, former Democratic staff lawyer for the Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Joseph Biden.

Joe Biden suggested the public take the meaningless step of calling the WH to let them know we’re mad about the pardon: