senate majority leader

When oil executives took to Capital Hill last month to testify before Senate
about their profits, Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was outraged that Democrats
would want them sworn in. What did he know? As it turns out, these executives
lied when asked if they ever met with Cheney about energy policy. In fact they
did meet with him in 2001. Now Democrats are calling for an Attorney General
investigation into the lies told by these executives.

This from

Raw Story:

Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on both Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist (R-TN) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) Thursday to join him
in pressing the Attorney General for an investigation into whether top oil
executives made false statements during a recent Senate hearing when they
said they did not meet with Vice President Dick Cheney about energy policy.
His call was subsequently joined by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid
(D-NV).

During a joint hearing of the Commerce and Energy Committees on Nov. 9,
senators heard testimony from the CEOs of the nation’s largest oil
companies. When Lautenberg asked these witnesses whether their companies had
participated in Vice President Cheney’s energy taskforce in 2001, they
denied -- answers that were later contradicted by a report in the Washington
Post. Cheney has refused to disclose who he met with at those meetings,
citing executive privilege.

View complete story

here

Looks like trouble could be compounding for Bill Frist according to this
article which appears today in the

Washington Post:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has been subpoenaed to turn
over personal records and documents as federal authorities step up a probe
of his July sales of HCA Inc. stock, according to sources familiar with the
investigation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued the subpoena within the
past two weeks, after initial reports that Frist, the Senate's top
Republican official, was under scrutiny by the agency and the Justice
Department for possible violations of insider trading laws.

Frist aides previously said he had been contacted by regulators but did
not mention that the lawmaker had received a formal request for documents.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
investigation, said Frist is expected to testify under oath about what he
knew about the company's health in the weeks before he sold stock. Frist has
told reporters that he did nothing wrong and that he directed the sale to
eliminate potential conflicts as he considered a 2008 presidential bid.

View rest of the article

here (free registration required).

As this investigation broadens, it will raise the question of how the right
can put blame onto the left. Ken Mehlman talking points should be really
interesting when it comes to this story.

Via

Bloomberg

Specter Urges Delay in Replacement of
O'Connor at Supreme Court

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee
said he urged President George W. Bush today to delay nominating a
replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, said he talked to
Justice O'Connor about staying on the high court. ``She's prepared to do
that'' through the court's term ending in June, Specter said. The president
``was noncommittal,'' Specter said. ``The body language was not very
positive,'' Specter said.

Specter said the delay would give Congress and the rest of America more
time to know John Roberts as chief justice. ``When we know a little more
about Judge Roberts it's going to be easier with the next'' nomination,
Specter said.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said he urged Bush to
submit a name to the Senate promptly. ``I feel we should proceed with the
nomination as anticipated,'' Frist said. If so, the confirmation process
could be completed ``around Thanksgiving.''

O'Connor, 75, often a key swing vote on the Supreme Court, announced on
July 1 that she is retiring and agreed to stay on until her replacement is
confirmed. She has said she wants to help care for her husband, John
O'Connor, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Specter and Frist, together with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of
Nevada and Patrick Leahy of Vermont, ranking Democrat on the Judiciary
Committee, spoke with reporters at the White House after meeting with Bush
over breakfast.