The Sleuth - Mary Ann Akers ... behind the scenes in Washington - April 19, 2009

One Lone Ranger Rides Again To Legalize Dope

Howard Wooldridge has one of the craziest jobs: trying to convince 535 of the most uptight people in Washington - the entire membership of Congress - to legalize drugs. That means everything from marijuana to cocaine to heroin. The idea isn't quite as far-fetched as you may think. The more money the United States spends on fighting a drug war that has spiraled out...

ABC Snags Obama Inner Circle For White House Dinner

As usual this time of year, Washington news organizations are knocking each other over to find the A-list of hot celebrities to take to the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner. ABC News is winning this year's battle - at least when it comes to Washington celebrities, the Sleuth has learned. ABC has managed to snag everyone from White House senior adviser David Axelrod and...

Measles Outbreak Has Capitol Hill On Edge

Freaked out congressional staffers are on alert given the recent outbreak of measles in the Washington Area, especially since one of possible sites of exposure to the deadly virus is a Potbelly Sandwich Works on Capitol Hill. (Eeek!) An email (which was forwarded to the Sleuth with the subject line "Measles!!") is floating around congressional offices with the following Fox News story attached: WASHINGTON, D.C....

Former Rep. Tim Mahoney: Some Kind of Dog

As soon as former congressman Vito Fossella's infidelity was revealed last year after his drunk driving arrest, fellow Republicans dropped him like a hot potato. But some Democrats haven't been so quick to drop Tim Mahoney, the former congressman whose own sex scandal cost him his reelection last November. Mahoney is still listed as a member of the fiscally conservative group of Democrats known as...

What It Takes For Sean Penn To Be Joe Wilson

For those of you following the spate of Washington thrillers that are either in theaters or in the works, we have an update on one of them: "Fair Game," starring Sean Penn. This year's Oscar-winning Best Actor, not surprisingly, is going the extra mile to get into character. Penn plays former ambassador Joe Wilson, husband of Valerie Plame Wilson, whose book about how the Bush...

Suspicious Package Rocks Italian Embassy