WASHINGTON — U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Wednesday cracked down on contacts that employees of the Justice Department may have with the White House, fulfilling a pledge to members of Congress concerned that the department had become unduly politicized under his predecessor.
The new guidelines, outlined in a memo to department heads and U.S. attorneys around the country, sets the most restrictive limits on contacts between Justice and White House officials since the beginning of the Bush administration. The policies put especially strict limits on contacts involving pending criminal investigations or prosecutions.
Cozy relations between Justice and White House personnel are believed by Democrats to be at the root of the scandal that led to the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006, including the federal prosecutor for Western Washington.
Trent Lott says farewell to Senate
Sen. Trent Lott, 66, retired from Congress late Tuesday with characteristic flair, making public with 16 minutes’ notice that he would relinquish his seat when the Senate closed for business, which was at 12:05 a.m. Wednesday. Lott spokesman Lee Youngblood said the formal announcement at 11:49 p.m. came so late because Lott had to resign at least a day before the Senate recesses, which could be as early as Wednesday, but wanted to vote on important bills that were being considered well into the night.
Huckabee, Romney tops in Iowa
The race for Iowa’s Republican caucuses has narrowed to a two-person battle between former governors Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, with Huckabee now perched atop the field, propelled by a big jump in support among religious women. The findings, from a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, show Huckabee wins the support of 35 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers, just above Romney, who takes 27 percent.
Florida: Blast at plant kills 4
Explosions and fires at a Jacksonville chemical plant Wednesday killed four people, injured at least 14 and sent debris flying several stories into the air, fire officials and witnesses said. The T2 Laboratories Inc. plant makes chemical solvents and fuel additives.
Kansas: Arrest in student’s death
A man suspected in the late November slaying of a college student in El Dorado who led a secret life as an Internet pornography model named Zoey Zane was arrested Wednesday in Mexico, authorities said. Israel Mireles, 24, was arrested at a relative’s home in Melchor Muzquiz, Mexico. Mireles has been charged with capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the death of 18-year-old Emily Sander, Butler County prosecutor Jan Satterfield said. Investigators believe Sander’s killing was planned, she said.
Nevada: Arrests in teens’ shooting
Three more people have been arrested in connection with a shooting at a Las Vegas school bus stop that wounded six teenagers, police said. The shooting stemmed from a scuffle at the bus stop a day earlier involving one of the shooting victims and one of the shooters, according to arrest reports.
Penn.: Sentence in boy’s arsenal
A 14-year-old Plymouth Township boy who gathered an arsenal of weapons and admitted that he planned a Columbine-style attack on a high school outside Philadelphia was sentenced Wednesday to as many as seven years in a juvenile treatment facility. Dillon Cossey, who was arrested in October, felt bullied and tried to recruit another boy for a possible attack at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, authorities said. Authorities said they searched Dillon’s home and found a 9 mm rifle, about 30 air-powered guns modeled to look like higher-powered weapons, swords, knives, a bomb-making book, videos of the 1999 attack on Columbine and violence-filled notebooks.
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