'This is the Most Superficial Report I've Seen in My 30 Years in Congress'

Not for nothing, but Rep. Chris Smith is being a little naive here. Does he actually expect a report from a so-called government watchdog to do anything but exonerate the Obama regime?

A government watchdog has issued a report saying it found no evidence that the Obama administration illegally funded groups seeking to legalize abortion in Kenya for the first time with changes to the constitution -- a conclusion that immediately was blasted by one of the administration's top critics on the issue.

Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, the top Republican on the House Africa panel, said the report by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) inspector general was "poorly researched, superficial, incomplete and a whitewash."

"This was not a well-researched investigation," he said in a written statement. "We had expected the truth and nothing else. We had hoped the IG would dig deep for the facts. This is the most superficial report I've seen in my 30 years in Congress."

The inspector general's office did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Kenya has long been ripe for a new constitution, one that would balance power in the country and prevent the kind of violent rioting that followed Kenya's 2007 presidential election.

But Smith and other lawmakers have accused the Obama administration of offering incentives to Kenya to approve the controversial new constitution, promising that passage would “allow money to flow” into the nation's coffers.

Smith has cited an earlier report by USAID that estimated more than $23 million in U.S. taxpayer funds had been spent on the referendum. He and other conservatives have alleged that at least some of that money has been spent in support of the proposed constitution, possibly in violation U.S. law that prohibits "lobbying for or against abortion" in other countries.

All that money spent in Kenya and Obama's half brother is still living in a hut. USAID recently hailed Obama's vision. No wonder they won't do anything to criticize him.

Crystal-Gate: Clinton Staffers Twisted Arms for No-Bid Contract

Not so funny

Obviously when you're a generous donor to Barack Obama and the DNC you're in line to get some favor in return, even when you've got no experience and just emerged from bankruptcy.

Change you can believe in, baby!

Politically connected staffers in Hillary Rodham Clinton's State Department twisted arms to steer a $5.4 million contract for crystal stemware to a tiny interior-design firm without putting it out for bid -- a move that shut out a well-known New York glassmaker, a department whistleblower told The Post.

Two senior State Department contracting officials, Randolph Bennett and Tandra Jones, successfully pushed for the contract to go to a firm run by Denise Mathis-Gardner as a no-bid minority "8(a)" contract, the source said -- an action that one shut-out competitor complained cost taxpayers an extra $1 million.

The contracted firm, Systems Design Inc., based in Washington's Georgetown neighborhood, had no experience making glassware, and its owner had only recently emerged from bankruptcy proceedings, the source said.

As The Post first reported last month, SDI shut out upstate's Steuben Glass, which has made government glassware since the Truman administration.

"These two [Bennett and Jones] went down to the small-business office and insisted that we have an 8(a) company -- have this company SDI do our contract," the source said.

"They [SDI] don't know how to make glass. The glassware is being made in Sweden."

There's been very little reporting on this since the story broke. Of course it would be front-page news if the Bush administration pulled a stunt like this. Has anyone even mentioned it at an Obama press conference?

Oh, that's right, he doesn't hold any.

Records show Bennett gave $1,000 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign, $2,000 to the Obama Victory Fund and $2,300 to the Democratic National Committee for the inauguration.

According to the source, Bennett and Jones and their superiors steered the contract to SDI even after agency officials and at least one competitor complained it was a taxpayer rip-off.

"My belief is that this process is tainted and preferential treatment was given," said James Stieff, whose firm was shut out of the work. An e-mail with Stieff's complaint to a top State official was obtained by The Post.

Bennett was listed alternatively as a DoD or Department of State employee when he was showering Obama with money in 2008. No Denise Mathis-Gardner shows up in a search, yet a Denise Gardner listed as a Chicago resident gave plenty of money to Obama, as well as the DNC.

Curiously if you search their name in the news it's as if these people didn't exist. I guess most of the media isn't interested in covering this story.

Corrupt UN Hack Gets Ivy League Fellowship

Another case of rewarding incompetence.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been named a Columbia University Global Fellow and is expected to give lectures, host conferences and moderate events at the Ivy League school.

Columbia also announced Thursday that former Austrian chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee Hwa will join Annan as Columbia Global Fellows next year.

The university says it expects Annan will participate in Columbia's World Leaders Forum on campus and abroad.

Maybe he can lecture about how he and his cronies managed to loot $64 billion in the oil-for food scandal.

Beck Holds Blago's Feet to the Fire (VIDEO)

Today on Glenn Beck's show, Blago continued his magical mystery media tour, and unlike his other appearances, the interviewer this time (Glenn) actually didn't lob softballs at him. Tomorrow is part 2 of Glenn's interview, so we'll post that one then.



Here are my two favorite screen caps.





I love Beck's honest facial expressions. Priceless!

Odeur fétide de Hillary

We report. You decide.



And don't miss part two



Also at A Tangled Web

Pantsuit Returning $850,000 of Hsu Funny Money

The Clintons must realize this scandal could quickly mushroom, and are hustling to distance themselves from the tainted Norman Hsu megabucks.

Just imagine what they might do if the media paid one-tenth the amount of attention to this as they did to the hapless Larry Craig.

I'd like to know how many other shady donors they've received money from.

Still now, after two weeks, not a single Democrat presidential candidate has mentioned this scnadal.

Obviously, they're very afraid.

The timing of this announcement is a bit suspicious, to say the least, coming after the Petraeus testimony today and just as we're about to enter the 9/11 anniversary news cycle. Just like the old Clinton scandal days, with the 6 pm Friday document drops.

Clinton to return $850,000 raised by Hsu

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign said Monday it will return $850,000 in donations raised by Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who is under federal investigation for allegedly violating election laws.

Clinton, D-N.Y., previously had planned only to give to charity $23,000 she received from Hsu for her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to her political action committee, HillPac.

The FBI is investigating whether Hsu paid so-called straw donors to send campaign contributions to Clinton and other candidates, a law enforcement official said Monday.

"In light of recent events and allegations that Mr. Norman Hsu engaged in an illegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to return the money he raised for our campaign," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement Monday night. "An estimated 260 donors this week will receive refunds totaling approximately $850,000 from the campaign."

Wolfson said the Clinton campaign also will vigorously review its fundraisers, including thorough criminal background checks, in the future. "In any instances where a source of a bundler's income is in question, the campaign will take affirmative steps to verify its origin," he said.

Ah, Howard Wolfson. Funny, he wasn't being so contrite when this scandal first broke.

A Clinton campaign spokesman, Howard Wolfson, said in an email: "Norman Hsu is a longtime and generous supporter of the Democratic party and its candidates, including Senator Clinton. During Mr. Hsu's many years of active participation in the political process, there has been no question about his integrity or his commitment to playing by the rules, and we have absolutely no reason to call his contributions into question."

Would you like to take that one back now, Howie?

Questions still linger. Such as, where did the money come from?

Federal authorities are looking into whether Hsu leaned on investors to contribute to political candidates after paying them big earnings from a shady business venture he was running, the law enforcement official said. Such a scam — using conduit contributors known as straw donors — is a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act, which limits how much money individuals can give to candidates and political committees.

The FBI may be looking at other potential charges as well, according to the law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

In addition to the $260,000 he contributed to federal candidates, Hsu also contributed at least $330,000 to state Democratic candidates and state party committees and ballot initiatives during the 2004 and 2006 election cycles. Among the state officials who received money were New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Both have said they would divest their campaigns of the donations.

UPDATE: More from Allahpundit, Suitably Flip, Blue Crab Boulevard.

Mrs. Clinton to Attend Fundraiser at Ex-Con's House

Apparently her greed outweighs any semblance of common sense, though we're still waiting patiently for one of her Democrat opponents to mention this scandal.

Are they so afraid of her they don't have the onions to bring this up?

John Hawkins has the latest.

Expect a last minute "scheduling conflict" once word spreads on this.

Fugitive Clinton Bagman Nabbed in Colorado

Well, knock me over with a straw.

Remarkably, he didn't turn up in a carpet somewhere having committed Hsu-icide.

Fugitive fundraiser Hsu captured in Colorado

Fugitive political fundraiser Norman Hsu, who skipped out on San Mateo County authorities this week rather than face sentencing for a 1992 fraud conviction, was apprehended Thursday night by federal and local lawmen in Grand Junction, Colo.

Authorities said Hsu was taken into custody at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction at 7 p.m. local time. He had been on the lam for almost two days after failing to appear in a Redwood City courtroom Wednesday to surrender his passport.

Hsu was taken off a passenger train at the Grand Junction train station earlier in the day by paramedics who requested a backboard to move him, said Sgt. Lonnie Chavez with the Grand Junction Police Department.

Authorities received a request for medical assistance at the train station at about 11:15 a.m., but the exact nature of Hsu's condition was unclear, Chavez said. Staff at St. Mary's Hospital declined to comment.

FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler said Hsu will be returned to California on the 1992 conviction once released from the hospital.

Hsu's attorney told state prosecutors that Hsu had been on a charter flight that arrived at Oakland International Airport at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday and then dropped out of sight, said Gareth Lacy, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office.

Amtrak's California Zephyr train offers service from nearby Emeryville to Grand Junction before heading to Denver and Chicago. The Zephyr left Emeryville at about 7:10 a.m. Wednesday and was scheduled to arrive in Grand Junction before noon Thursday.

Hsu's disappearing act seemed to be a reprise of a move he pulled 15 years ago, when he failed to show up for sentencing in the same grand theft case. Hsu was facing up to three years in state prison, a $10,000 fine and restitution payments after pleading no contest to a single count of grand theft in what prosecutors described as a $1 million fraud scheme.

If you stay with the story long enough, they mention the word "Democrat" in the ninth paragraph.

Were he a Republican, it would have been mentioned in the first sentence.

More from Michelle Malkin, Suitably Flip, Wizbang, Gateway Pundit.

In a shocking development, the leftwing blogs are totally silent.

Patches Kennedy to Keep Hsu Funny Money

Only a dunce like Patrick Kennedy would do something this reckless.

Still, he'll get away with it since Democrats don't seem to care the least their party is overrun with suspicious money.

Rep. Kennedy Will Keep Hsu Donations

WASHINGTON (AP) - Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy said Tuesday he's not returning $6,600 in donations he got from Norman Hsu, a prominent Democratic donor whose criminal past was recently revealed.

Several top Democrats, including 2008 presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Kennedy's father, Sen. Edward Kennedy, have said they will return Hsu's donations or give them to charity.

Rep. Kennedy will keep the money because there is no indication that Hsu's contributions to him were illegal, according to his chief of staff, Adam Brand.

"We are complying with all applicable (Federal Election Commission) rules and regulations with regards to campaign contributions," Brand said. "If something changes with respect to those rules, we'll take appropriate action."

Sure. Then they'll "donate it to charity," which is in his case is probably his bar tab.

Michelle Malkin has more on the friends of Norman Hsu, while Suitably Flip has an exhaustive list of Democrat recipients of Hsu's suspicious cash.

Where is the Justice Department on this?

Fugitive Clinton Donor Turns Himself In

Fugitive Norman Hsu, sugar-daddy to the Democrats, has turned himself in.

In a stunning development, the Associated Press used the word Dem in the headline.

Top Dem fundraiser turns himself in

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - A top Democratic fundraiser whose criminal past has roiled the campaigns of top presidential candidates turned himself in Friday in California, where he had been a fugitive for more than 15 years.

Judge H. James Ellis ordered Norman Hsu handcuffed and jailed on $2 million bail. The judge declined Hsu's request to immediately reduce the bail by half, instead scheduling a Sept. 5 hearing to consider the request.

Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, admitting he'd defrauded investors of $1 million in a bogus investment scam. He was facing up to three years in prison when he skipped town before his 1992 sentencing date, Deputy Attorney General Ronald Smetana said outside court.

Hsu also resigned from the board of trustees of The New School and from the board of governors of The New School's Eugene Lang College. The college received a federal appropriation secured by Clinton last year, but a spokesman for the school said Hsu was not involved in seeking money for the school.

Friday's 10-minute hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court was the culmination of a stunningly quick fall from grace for a disgraced California businessman who remade himself in New York apparel executive and benefactor of Democratic causes and candidates, including presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose campaign designated Hsu a "HillRaiser" — a title given to top donors.

Federal Election Commission records show Hsu donated $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates since 2004. Though a top fundraiser for Clinton, he also donated to Obama's Senate campaign in 2004 and to Obama's political action committee.

After reports surfaced this week of his fugitive status, politicians at all levels scrambled to distance themselves.

Obama's campaign said Thursday it would give to charity the $2,000 Hsu contributed to his 2004 Senate campaign and the $5,000 Hsu gave to his political action committee, Hopefund.

Hsu's $43,700 in donations to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $2,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also will go to charity, both groups announced.

Clinton joined the other candidates, returning $23,000 in contributions that Hsu made to her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to her political action committee, HillPac. But his close association with her campaign put Clinton on the defensive just as she prepared to ramp up for an intense post-Labor Day campaign stretch.

California officials who said they would get rid of donations from Hsu include Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and House members Mike Honda and Doris Matsui.

Earlier this week, Hsu said he thought the criminal charges had been taken care of when he completed his bankruptcy proceedings in the early 1990s.

"I have not sought to evade any of my obligations and certainly not the law," Hsu said in a prepared statement.

According to Smetana, Hsu told investors he had a contract to buy and sell latex gloves, but he never purchased the gloves and had no contract to sell them.

After he failed to show up for sentencing, investigators believed Hsu had fled to his native Hong Kong, Smetana said.

Smetana said he has agreed to let Hsu post $1 million cash bail, He also said prosecutors are likely to again argue for a prison time when Hsu finally keeps his sentencing date with the judge.

"He stole $1 million," Smetana said.

That $2 million bail could have made for a lot of dubious $2300 donations to Democrats.

Oh well.

Now instead of Democrats pretending to be magnanimous and donating Hsu's dirty money to charity, let's find out where the money came from in the first place.

The Democrats will be desperate to put this burgeoning scandal aside, and will proclaim it "old news" by next week. But they need to be held accountable and the GOP needs to remind the public of this every day between now and November 8.

Previously: The Mysterious Norman Hsu.

Good News: Only 500 Big Dig Leaks

A victory for graft, corruption, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, union goons and Northeast liberalism.

At least 500 Big Dig leaks await repair

BOSTON - About 500 leaks in Big Dig tunnels are awaiting repair, and that number doesn't include leaks being handled by the project's contractors, according to state officials who warn that future leaks are inevitable.

Project manager Michael Lewis also told the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board Tuesday that the leak-repair program is "effective," and should be viewed separately from new evidence indicating water continues to leak steadily into the Interstate 93 Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. tunnel.

Repairs of existing leaks will continue through next spring, Lewis said, after successfully lobbying the board to add $2.3 million to an existing $5 million contract for repair crews.

In addition, contractors are expected to repair leaks they find. If they don't, Lewis said, the MTA will have to fix them and charge the contractor for the repair cost.

The board did not address an independent engineering firm's analysis that water continues to leak steadily into the O'Neill tunnel -- a section of Interstate 93 beneath downtown Boston. The analysis contradicted Lewis' report to the board last month that said water discharge from the O'Neill tunnel had decreased.

Leaks have vexed the $14.798 billion project -- the most expensive public works construction in U.S. history -- since it buried Boston's Central Artery in a tunnel system. A large leak into the O'Neill tunnel in September 2004 backed up traffic for miles.

Milena Delvalle was unavailable for comment.

UN Translator Busted in Visa Scheme

Hard to fathom someone working for the UN would be corrupt, but here you have it.

U.N. translator charged in U.S. visa scheme

NEW YORK — U.S. authorities today arrested a U.N. translator and two other persons on charges of running an extravagant scheme to sell U.S. visas, mostly to Russian and Uzbek nationals.

Vyacheslav Manokhin, a relatively low-ranking U.N. staffer, was accused of providing requests on U.N. letterhead for U.S. visas to allow aliens to attend U.N. conferences that didn't exist or that the visitors did not attend.

The scheme had apparently been in operation for years.

"Manokhin used his position at the U.N. to make it appear as though the U.N. supported the visa applications, so that the aliens could enter the United States, purportedly to participate in conferences organized by non-government organizations, by the U.N. or by entities associated with the U.N.," according to a statement issued yesterday by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

"In most instances, the alien was successful in obtaining a visa and entering the United States."

No doubt they've ever left.

A man named Kamiljan Tursunov, who was arrested by Immigration and Customs on July 25 for failing to appear at an immigration proceeding, admitted to paying $15,000 to an associate in Uzbekistan for the false letter of invitation, according to the charging documents.

Wow, he failed to appear for an immigration proceeding. See how easy it would be to keep tabs on all the illegals here?

A third man, identified as Vladimir Derevianko, is accused of participating in the scheme. The charging documents say it was at Mr. Derevianko's request that Mr. Tursonov prepared the false letters.

The documents say Mr. Derevianko faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and the other two face up to five years. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has already lifted Mr. Manokhin's diplomatic immunity.

How much you want to wager this story, as well as the defendants, quickly disappears?

Mon Dieu! Frog Season Opens

Former French president, Jacques Chirac. Photograph: Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images
Couldn't happen to a nicer weasel-look-alike Froggie.

Chirac faces corruption inquiry
Jacques Chirac is to be questioned by judges investigating alleged corruption in the Paris city government while he was mayor.

Jean Veil, the lawyer for the former French president, confirmed Mr Chirac will "very probably" be questioned before September 15 as an "assisted witness", meaning it remains possible he will face criminal charges.

The 74-year-old faces a series of potential legal problems now that he no longer enjoys presidential immunity. He handed over the French presidency to Nicolas Sarkozy on May 16.

The case involves claims members of the conservative Rally for the Republic party, which Mr Chirac headed, were illegally on the payroll of the Paris government while he was mayor between 1977 and 1995.

"For the period up to 1995 when he was elected president he is a citizen like any other, and he will answer all questions in all the cases that may concern him," Mr Veil told Europe 1 radio.

Mr Chirac's ally Alain Juppe, a former prime minister, was convicted in the affair in 2004 and banned from politics for one year.

Mr Chirac's lawyer stressed he has given an "absolutely definitive" refusal to be questioned in two other cases, including the so-called Clearstream affair in which it is said senior politicians and business figures - including Mr Sarkozy - received illegal commissions on a major arms sale to Taiwan.

Judges have indicated they want to interview Mr Chirac over claims he ordered a secret intelligence probe in 2004 to see if the allegations against Mr Sarkozy were true. The two men have had strained relations for several years.

Mr Veil has also announced the former president will refuse to respond to allegations of a murder cover-up over the death of a French judge in Djibouti in 1995.

Mr Chirac's office said last week that because he had constitutionally guaranteed judicial immunity while he was president he cannot be ordered to provide testimony about incidents during his tenure.

In the Djibouti case, Mr Chirac prevented judges from making a rare search of the presidential Élysée palace last month while he was still in office.

Congressman William Jefferson was unavailable for comment.

Perfidy Across The Pond

The Cousins are enjoying a media blitz leading up to the EU summit in Brussels later this week.

Tony Blair has been accused of 'knifing' Gordon Brown by holding secret discussions about a job as the first ever President of the European Union.

The Prime Minister was entertained in Paris by new French president Nicolas Sarkozy at an upmarket restaurant called Thiou, where they agreed a joint agenda on Europe.

French political sources have confirmed that President Sarkozy is keen for Mr Blair to take on a full-time paid role as the 'face' of the EU after he quits Downing Street.

But such an appointment would be a disaster for the Chancellor, who has long struggled to escape from the shadow of his political rival.

And Eurosceptic campaigners warn that the prospect of a lucrative post-retirement job in Brussels would compromise Mr Blair's ability to strike a good deal for Britain at this week's European summit, when EU leaders meet to agree a new treaty.

Critics claim this will effectively be a full-scale European Constitution by the back door.

The summit will almost certainly also agree the creation of a new powerful post, President of the European Council.

Neil O'Brian, director of the Open Europe think-tank, said: "The risk is that if Tony Blair has even half an eye on this job he will be more concerned about being a "good European" than fighting for Britain.

"A bad European treaty will be a poison pill for Gordon Brown. The Chancellor has been knifed."

Mr Blair's private dinner with Mr Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia at the Thai restaurant on the banks of the Seine has echoes of a previous restaurant encounter where Mr Brown was outmanoeuvred.

In 1994, at Granita in Islington, Mr Blair is said to have made a deal to hand over power to Mr Brown during his second term, leading to later accusations of betrayal.

The Paris meal, revealed here for the first time, took place on May 11, days after Mr Sarkozy's presidential victory and hours after Mr Blair publicly confirmed his retirement date.

Members of the Democratic Caucus were unavailable for comment.

Billions in Iraqi Oil Missing

The left will simply accuse Bush of stealing it, since that's been their canard for four years.

Still, I'm getting sick of these corrupt, thieving Iraqi pols who do nothing while we expend our treasury and manpower, while they're on the take.

Between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels a day of Iraq’s declared oil production over the past four years is unaccounted for and could have been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling, according to a draft American government report.

Using an average of $50 a barrel, the report said the discrepancy was valued at $5 million to $15 million daily.

The report does not give a final conclusion on what happened to the missing fraction of the roughly two million barrels pumped by Iraq each day, but the findings are sure to reinforce longstanding suspicions that smugglers, insurgents and corrupt officials control significant parts of the country’s oil industry.

The report also covered alternative explanations for the billions of dollars worth of discrepancies, including the possibility that Iraq has been consistently overstating its oil production.

The time is at hand for them to clean up their act or we will indeed be leaving them to fend for themselves.

Report: Fresh UN Corruption

Truly shocking there would actually be corruption in such an august body.

Of course, as with all the other myriad scandals, nothing will ever happen.

Fresh allegations of corruption within the United Nations have surfaced in a confidential audit report that claims the 2003 election of the current chief of the U.N. weather agency was manipulated.

The report, obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, centered around payments to government delegates at the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization, which coordinates the study of the world's weather and climate.

WMO instructed Maria Veiga of Portugal, an independent auditor who wrote the report, to investigate the financial irregularities in 2003. Three years later, she was fired for what the agency described as "serious misconduct."

The auditor, however, said she was blocked from pursuing her investigation, received intimidating phone calls and was threatened with legal action by one WMO official before being dismissed.

In a 65-page summary of her findings, Veiga said that Muhammad Hassan of Sudan, a former WMO staffer, skimmed some $3 million from the agency while he was working in its training department.

Reason number 2,859,732 to boot these thieves out of the United States.