The Sleuth - Mary Ann Akers ... behind the scenes in Washington - May 18, 2008

Rep. Richardson's Mounting Mortgage Disaster

The tale of Rep. Laura Richardson's (D-Calif.) home foreclosure just keeps getting worse. Despite the congresswoman's claim that her second home in Sacramento (which she bought when she was a state assemblywoman) was not in foreclosure and that the bank had not seized it, published reports suggest otherwise. The Los Angeles-based Daily Breeze newspaper reports that Richardson defaulted on her mortgage, failed to pay $9,000...

Get Your Hot Dogs, Cracker Jacks, Larry Craig Bobble Foot!

Sen. Larry Craig's (R-Idaho) wide stance was already part of our pop-culture lexicon. But this weekend, it'll get as American as apple pie and baseball. The "Saints" baseball team in St. Paul, home of the wide stance, where Craig was busted in an airport men's room sex sting, is giving away free Larry Craig "bobble foot" dolls at this Sunday's game. The first 2,500 fans...

More on Rep. Richardson's Financial Woes

UPDATE: California Congresswoman Richardson insists that her home in the capital of Sacramento, which she bought when she was a state assemblywoman, is not in foreclosure. Though the definition of foreclosure, it would seem, is open to interpretation. "While the transitioning has impacted me personally, the residential property in Sacramento, California is not in foreclosure and has NOT been seized by the bank," Richardson said...

GOP to Vito Fossella: Show Us The Money!

Now that scandal-plagued Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) has decided to retire, we wonder what he'll do with all the money sitting in his campaign coffers. His Republicans colleagues wonder, too. He has several options, including donating it to his struggling GOP brethren, who are buckled in for what promises to be a very rough ride for them in this November's congressional elections. Of course, he...

Rep. Richardson's Personal Foreclosure Crisis

The home mortgage crisis has really hit home for one member of Congress, freshman Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.), whose Sacramento home was recently seized by the bank. Richardson was elected last year in a hotly contested special-election race to succeed congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.), who died of cancer. Even as she loaned her campaign $60,000 to win the House seat, Richardson stopped paying her mortgage....

Sen. Coburn's Famous Opera Soprano Daughter: More Mom Than Dad

It's a good thing Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) staunch opposition to federal funding for the arts hasn't meant the death knell for the Kennedy Center in Washington. Or else he may not have had the pleasure of seeing his daughter, Sarah Coburn, star opposite Placido Domingo this month. Coburn, the Senate's most famous crusader against "earmarks," has caught two of his daughter's performances in Tamerlano...

Rep. Tauscher and Michael Douglas Nuke It Out

When actor Michael Douglas sauntered around Capitol Hill Tuesday lobbying for nuclear disarmament, no member of Congress was happier to see him perhaps than Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), a big fan who actually had license to say, "Long time, no see, Michael." Rep. Ellen Tauscher and Michael Douglas. Tauscher met Douglas in 1978 at a planning meeting for the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y....

G.I. Joe vs. Frank Sinatra

Who doesn't love Ol' Blue Eyes? A veterans group irate about Frank Sinatra being honored on the House floor instead of GI Joe and Jane, that's who. The late crooner Frank Sinatra is set to be honored by the U.S. House of Representatives. Vets for Freedom, a group that espouses nonpartisanship, is bent out of shape over the legislation Congress is choosing to tackle this...

Rep. Fossella Slammed With Ethics Complaint

UPDATE: A Washington ethics watchdog group wants the House ethics committee to investigate whether Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) violated House rules by romancing his mistress on taxpayer-funded congressional delegation trips abroad. The left-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, known as CREW, has sent an ethics complaint against Fossella to the ethics panel, officially called the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The...

Vito Fossella, Out and About But Still Mum on Future

Just as last week ended, this week begins on a note of silence from Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.), who is still wrestling with whether to run for reelection as a scandal-tainted philanderer. Fossella hasn't said a word publicly about his drunken-driving and infidelity debacle since his statement on May 8, in which he admitted to having an extramarital affair with a retired Air Force officer...

The Sleuth: May 18, 2008 - May 24, 2008