A Night Excursion In Washington DC

Seeing the Capitol in a positive light.

A closeup of the Rotunda dome in the evening light.

From the Garfield statue near the Capitol.

At the Tidal Basin looking towards the Jefferson Memorial.

Marine One taking off with President Obama on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 from the White House on his trip to Israel. The dots you see in the upper right corner are the helicopter escorts lining up to join Marine One in formation as it flies off to Andrews and Air Force One.

Outside the Treasury Building.

The White House at night.

FBI Sting Leads To Arrest of Attempted Suicide Bomber In DC

The FBI had been carrying out a sting operation to ferret out Islamic extremists and it appears that their efforts have paid off. They arrested a suspect today, who was believed to be from Morocco in his late 20s or early 30s, when he received what he thought was a vest containing explosives so as to attack the US Capitol:

An FBI official says the man had expressed a desire to carry out a terrorist attack. By the end, he was willing to carry out a suicide mission, which makes this case different from most sting operations. His apparent target was to be the U.S. Capitol visitors' center. "He wanted to set off the explosives where people would be around," one official says.

Agents are conducting searches in Alexandria, Virginia, where the man had been living. They have not yet released the man's name while they do further investigating, but they say at this point they believe he was acting alone. And while they doubt he would have been capable of pulling this off by himself, that is always the unknown factor in a sting of this kind.

Law enforcement had been carrying out the sting operation for some time, and gave the suspect a fake bomb vest today.

“This arrest was the culmination of a lengthy and extensive operation during which the individual was closely and carefully monitored,” spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider said in a statement. “The U.S. Capitol Police was intimately involved in the investigation for the duration of the operation. At no time was the public or Congressional community in any danger.”

The Capitol police didn’t disclose any details but Fox News and NBC reported that the man was carrying a vest containing what he believed were explosives but were actually inert. He was arrested in the sting operation after leaving a mosque where he was praying before heading to the Capitol, Fox said.

NBC said that man was in his early 30s and had been under observation for months.

Expect the usual claims that the suspect was entrapped by law enforcement and that but for the law enforcement informant claims that they could provide explosives and/or know-how the suspect would not have carried out any terror attack and that it would have stopped at the mere plotting stage.

Those kinds of claims are unsuccessful at trial and the suspects are usually found guilty of crimes flowing from attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) to conspiracy. The suspect is someone who had no problem donning what he thought was a suicide bomb vest in order to murder civilians. He thought he was dealing with like-minded individuals who wanted to kill Americans for who they were and what they represented. He wanted to engage in acts of terrorism.

It is those acts for which he will be charged and the entrapment defenses will fail.

NYPD Surging Cops To Streets In Light of Credible Terror Threat

The NYPD is out in force today (and through the weekend and beyond) as a result of a credible terror threat on the eve of the anniversary of 9/11. Investigators are trying to track down at least three men believed to be involved in a "vehicle-borne" terrorist attack anticipated in NYC or Washington D.C. to coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11. According to some sources, the three men traveled by plane to the U.S. last month from Afghanistan and that one of the men is an American citizen. ABC reports that two of the individuals may have had U.S. documentation, and that they came from tribal areas (the NWFP, Waziristan - the same region along the Afghan-Pakistani border), where the threat intelligence originated.

Commissioner Ray Kelly spelled out that police officers would be working 12 hour shifts rather than 8 hour rotations, increasing the number of cops on the street by 1/3.

Cops are manning vehicle checkpoints all over the City, but especially in Manhattan. There's been a checkpoint on Broadway near Wall Street for years (for southbound traffic), but now there's one on Church Street in the same vicinity for all northbound traffic. Additional checkpoints are likely to spring up at locations all around the city, including at or near bridges and tunnels.

All kinds of sensor equipment has been installed around Lower Manhattan, air sensors, additional cameras, etc.

There's apparently two distinct threats involved here - one for a car/truck bomb in New York City or Washington DC, and one directed against NYC area bridges and tunnels.

FBI Links Reservist Arrested Outside Pentagon To Shooting Incidents; Including Video

A string of mysterious shooting incidents, including where shots were fired at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, the Pentagon, and several other military-related locations around Virginia have been tied back to a reservist who was arrested outside the Pentagon (HT: Killgore Trout).

FBI officials who arrested 22-year-old Marine reservist Yonathan Melaku outside of the Pentagon during a security scare last week say he recorded himself shooting at the National Museum of the Marine Corps and have linked him to a string of five shootings in October and November.

Federal prosecutors charged Melaku on Thursday with destruction of property and firearms violations in the Eastern District of Virginia. He's accused of shooting at the Marine Corps museum two times as well as the Pentagon, a Marine Corps recruiting sub-station in Chantilly and a Coast Guard recruiting office in Woodbridge between Oct. 17 and Nov. 2.

Authorities said in an affidavit that they found bomb-making and explosives documents on Melaku's computer, according to a preliminary FBI review. They also found a digital video tape of one of the shootings in his desk.

"I've already... that's the military building... last time I hit them, they turned off the lights for like four or five days," Melaku allegedly said in the video, according to an FBI affidavit. "So now here we go again; this time I'm going to turn it off permanently."

He allegedly shouted "Allahu Ackbar" before firing the rounds, and from the sound of things, it appears that he's another lone wolf jihadi who has caused at least $100,000 in damage due to his alleged firing on a total of five military buildings, including the Pentagon, a Marine Corps recruiting station in Chantilly, VA, a US Coast Guard recruiting station in Woodbridge, VA, and the museum twice. He was taken into custody while fleeing into Arlington National Cemetery.



Melaku, a naturalized US citizen from Ethiopia, was out on bail on unrelated grand larceny charges at the time of his arrest. The same gun was used in all the incidents. The Marine Corps is in the process of removing him from the service on those larceny charges.

Investigators Link Shootings At Pentagon and Marine Corps Museum

Last week there were two separate incidents that caused a minor stir around Washington, DC, as shots were apparently fired at the Pentagon and the Marine Corps Museum. No one was injured, and both facilities suffered only superficial damage.

Investigators now say that the two incidents are linked.

Law enforcement officials announced Tuesday that ballistics tests linked bullets found at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle on Oct. 17 with evidence found at the Pentagon two days later. Both buildings are within range of busy interstate highways and are about 30 miles apart.

Law enforcement officials declined to discuss the type of weapon used in the shootings or the caliber of ammunition, but they have said previously that they believe the rounds were fired using a high-velocity rifle.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has taken the lead in the investigation. Agents are working to do ballistics testing on material found at the scene of a shooting at a Marine Corps recruiting office in a Chantilly shopping center late Monday or early Tuesday. A Marine Corps recruiter found two bullet holes in the office's windows at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, although a Marine Corps official said the office has been closed for renovations.

Police say they are unsure what is motivating the shootings, and they are reluctant to speculate.

"We are working with local law enforcement to determine anything we can to provide us any clues," said Lindsay Godwin, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Washington field office. "I don't think at this point in time we are prepared to say this is a serial of any kind. But the targets are all blatantly military."

Although the Terrorism Task Force is leading the investigation, officials described that as a precaution because of the military targets. It is unclear whether the shootings are acts of terrorism.

The unknown shooter - or shooters - have targeted buildings late at night or early in the morning, when the buildings were either unoccupied or there was little chance of people being around. Police said that the attacks essentially amount to vandalism but that they are troubling and mysterious.

DC Bag Tax Falls Short On Revenues; Proponents Remain Optimistic

Washington DC had enacted a tax on plastic bags with the intent of curbing their use.

The tax has worked but the anticipated revenues never materialized.

Since January, District residents have been charged 5 cents for each disposable bag they pick up at the grocery store or local market. Four cents of the tax goes to the city, while the retailer is allowed to keep the rest to cover costs.

The latest data from the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue reveals the city collected just over $1.3 million in revenue from the tax through September. A number that falls far short of the official $3.6 million estimate, made by the District's chief financial officer in 2009.

That's because the number of bags being used by consumers has fallen off the chart.

The use of bags by shoppers at grocery stores is down by 50%, according to an informal survey conducted by the office of Councilman Tommy Wells. He was one of the original bill's sponsors, and the driving force behind the tax. Some big name grocers like Giant, Safeway and Harris Teeter have reported that bag use by their customers has fallen by 60%.

Reducing pollution is a worthy goal. The problem is that the revenues were allocated toward clean-up efforts along the Anacostia River. If the District allocated $3 million for cleanup, but took in less than half that amount, the program wouldn't be able to do its job. While some cleanup is better than none, allocating tax revenues from taxes that are designed to eliminate certain behaviors are more likely result in shortfalls. It also means that revenues will need to come from elsewhere to fully fund the cleanup activities, raising taxes and fees elsewhere to cover the differences.

Holocaust Museum Shooter Dies In Prison

Accused U.S. Holocaust museum shooter James Von Brunn died in prison hospital according to AP reports. He murdered a security guard, Stephen Johns, who saved the lives of countless others in returning fire at Brunn. Brunn was seriously injured and had been in prison medical facilities, also undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

The media never could quite figure out that Brunn was a full blown wackaloon who was anti-Semitism, into Holocaust denial, white supremacy, 9/11 trooferism, and anti-Christian, among his pet conspiracies. He collected conspiracies.

Forget About Nationalizing Subway and Light Rail Safety

Until now, subway and light rail safety has been a local and state issue. However, the Obama Administration wants to pursue another bureaucratic layer of oversight in the aftermath of a deadly subway crash on the District of Columbia Metro system that killed nine people. WCBS News reports:

"The industry has always had its own safety – each of the properties does their own," Dr. Robert Paaswell said. "In New York, there's an Office of Inspector General associated with the MTA, so if there is an accident OIG gets right involved."

But in the wake of the Washington, D.C. Metro crash that killed nine people, the Obama administration is proposing that the federal government take over safety regulation of all subway and light rail systems across the country – in essence, telling state and local regulators to step aside.

The plan would require congressional approval. New York's senior senator says that, based on what he knows so far, he's supportive.

"We have federal standards for highway safety, for airline safety, and having it for subway safety is a good thing," Sen. Charles Schumer said.

The idea of federal oversight of subway safety appeals to some straphangers.

"I think that would be a great idea," Jordan said. "Many more people are traveling on the subways these days."

Some subway riders, however, aren't so pleased with the idea.

Don Surber notes that if local government can't provide mass transit it should be privatized. That may be possible, but there's an even more fundamental flaw with President Obama's plans.

Congress already has oversight over the District of Columbia and the Metro. The District of Columbia is not a home rule jurisdiction free of further oversight. If the DC Council wants to pass legislation, it requires Congressional approval. The Council can pass emergency and temporary legislation, but it needs Congress to approve legislation permanently.

That means that the compact establishing the DC Metro required Congressional approval. See:

"Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Compact," Pub. L. No. 89-774, 80 Stat. 1324 (1966); as amended by "National Capital Transportation Act of 1972," Pub. L. No. 92-349, 86 Stat. 464 (1972); "National Capital Area Transit Act of 1972," Pub. L. No. 92-517, 86 Stat. 999 (1972); "Metro Transit Police Act of 1976," Pub. L. No. 94-306, 90 Stat.672 (1976); "Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact Amendments," Pub. L. No. 100-285, 102 Stat. 82 (1988); "Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact," Pub. L. No. 104-322, 110 Stat. 3884 (1996) and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact Amendment, Pub. L. No. 105-151, 111 Stat. 2686 (1997).

Congress wants to expand its oversight and add bureaucracy when it can't even fulfill its current obligations? Sorry, that's not going to fly with this commuter.

DC Metro Collision Kills Four; Dozens Wounded

Four people were killed and dozens wounded when two DC Metro trains collided just after 5pm EDT.

The two trains that collided were both going in the same direction and one rear ended the other with such force that the lead car of the trailing train catapulted over the other.

Metro officials said the two trains were headed in the same direction, when one rear-ended the other shortly after 5 p.m. The female operator of the trailing train died.

"Obviously something went terribly wrong for two trains to be on the same track," Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty told reporters after 7 p.m. that four people were killed and scores injured. "This is the deadliest accident in the history of our Metro train transit system," Fenty said.

Authorities said rescuers were combing through the trains at the scene in Northeast Washington to to ensure they were evacuated.

"We're using heavy rescue equipment to cut open the cars to get whoever's trapped in there out," said D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesman Alan Etter.

More details for DC commuters can be found here.

Federal investigators are on the scene.

UPDATE:
The death toll has risen to six. The cars involved look like they've been opened like a can of sardines.

Developing: Shooting at US Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC

At least two people were shot at the US Holocaust Museum after a person walked in with a rifle and opened fire.

D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes says a person walked into
the museum with a rifle and shot a guard. Hughes says the shooter
was also shot.

Hughes says the victims' conditions were not known. Both were
being rushed to a hospital.

U.S. Park Police gave slightly different information, saying
three people had been shot.

UPDATE:
The Washington Post reports that the DC Fire Department spokesperson indicates that an officer was down, although no one is sure from what department - Capitol Police, DC Police, etc.

FoxNews reports that one guard was shot, and a second guard returned fire, hitting the gunman.

UPDATE:
Mary Katharine Ham notes that the shooter was apparently stopped at the security checkpoint where visitors to the museum are screened and may have prevented a far larger tragedy.

UPDATE:
MSNBC is reporting that it was an 89 year old white supremacist, James Von Brunn who started the gunfight. The Washington Post notes that gunfire rang out and security told visitors to hit the floor while others were rushed to their buses to move away from the location:

One witness, Dave Unruh, of Wichita, Kan., said he was waiting to enter the museum when he heard one gunshot, then a sequence of four or five gunshots. He said he then heard someone scream, "Hit the floor!" He and his wife, Karen, and their two teenage grandchildren hit the floor and were subsequently herded out of the building by authorities.

Unruh called the experience "intensely, extremely frightening."

By 1 p.m., the street in front of the museum was blocked by a museum police officer. A group of schoolchildren was rushed onto a chartered luxury coach and the bus driver struggled to pull away from the block.

UPDATE:
Seems that this may be the guy and his website. It's full of the usual anti-Semitic crap we've come to expect from white supremacists, and he's gone after the government in the past and has served time in prison (blaming the Jewish courts for his troubles).

UPDATE:
Here's a screen shot of Brunn's wiki entry, before it is changed:


UPDATE:
This guy was also into 9/11 conspiracies, believing that the US government and Jews were somehow involved in the attacks, via a posting on Arabnews.com:

Not suddenly

Evidence of CIA and FBI negligence in the 9-11 attacks demands immediate investigation of John Deutch, former head of the CIA, and Louis Freeh, former head of the FBI. Connecting the dots will reveal probably that vital US secrets and resources were purloined under Deutch’s watch; and that Freeh allowed Israeli spies to operate unmolested within the USA .

It is imperative to explain why the FBI released 126 Israeli spies and "art students" apprehended following Sept. 11. This may reveal why only one (1) Jew died at the WTC disaster — the heart of Jewish trade located in the world’s largest Jewish city.

James von Brunn, USA, published 7 June 2002

UPDATE:
The WaPo blog notes that Brunn didn't believe that the Holocaust existed (Holocaust denial), neighbors thought he was off-the-wall, and had previously been convicted of carrying a firearm into the Federal Reserve to hold hostage the members because he was angry over interest rates.

Brunn is apparently in critical condition. No word on the security guard's condition either, although other reports indicate that he too is seriously injured. My thoughts and prayers go out to the guard, his coworkers, and friends and family. The guards may have prevented a far more serious incident and saved lives.

UPDATE:
There are unconfirmed reports that the security guard has died. In the meantime, law enforcement is fanning out because they found a notebook on Brunn's personal effects that suggested more than 100 other targets.

UPDATE:
Official word - the security guard has died.

UPDATE:
Brunn has the pu-pu platter of craziness working. It's a little from columns A, B, C, D, E, and F. Not only is he a raving anti-Semite, he's a Holocaust denier and 9/11 conspiracy theorist, but he thinks Christianity is a hoax and brought about the downfall of the Roman Empire.

UPDATE:
The AP has a curious headline to reflect today's attack at the Holocaust Museum. "Eldery gunman kills guard at Holocaust Museum". That's one way to describe him. Another is that a full blown wackaloon, who had anti-Semitic and was a 9/11 Troofer, murdered a security guard at the Holocaust Museum. The headline deemphasizes the nature of the attack although the lede does note his violent past and rabid anti Semitism.

Which One Of These Is Not Like The Other?

Which one of these folks is getting raked over the coals for their position on gay marriage, and which one is skating without so much as a raised eyebrow? This person, whose topless photos have apparently caused quite a stir:



or, this person, whose topless photos also cause quite the stir (and tingling in the pants of Chris Matthews):


Carrie Prejean or President Barack Obama? Both hold precisely the same view on gay marriage, which is to say both personally oppose it, and yet it's Prejean who's being attacked in the media for her position, while President Obama, who actually is in a position to take action on gay marriage and to use the bully pulpit to further the gay rights movement, has not received a fraction of the scrutiny on his gay marriage posture that Prejean has.

Prejean, for those who aren't paying attention, was Miss California and had a truthful answer about gay marriage during the Miss USA pageant. The fallout has revealed just how thuggish the left can be. Jammie has the details.

It still doesn't explain why the President's position on gay marriage hasn't come under the same kind of withering attack unless it is because the media is willing to look the other way and forgive Obama on this issue knowing that they'll get so much of the rest of their agenda adopted?

Does the media understand how asinine this all looks? Do they even care?

My position on gay marriage is this: if the individual states want to impose it legislatively, it is entirely up to the individual states. They can decide for themselves, based on how conservative or liberal they choose to be on the matter. And this isn't simply a GOP/Democratic party split on the matter, given that the overwhelming majority of African Americans oppose gay marriage even as they vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates. The California Proposition 8 ballot shows this point explicitly.

Gay marriage should not be imposed from the bench, despite the will of the people of those states. Judicial diktat is not the way to make this happen. Maine has become the latest state to legislatively authorize gay marriage. That's the right course to take.

Meanwhile, the District of Columbia has passed a bill authorizing gay marriage, over the opposition of Marion Barry and black church leaders throughout the city. It now goes to the Congress to approve within 30 days. If Congress takes no action on the bill, it automatically becomes law.

In the meantime, I await President Obama's leadership on the matter [that's sarcasm for all you folks out there].

UPDATE:
Even the New York Times is finally calling on the President to get engaged and speak out about the gay marriage issue. Of course, there are also those who think that Obama's opposition to gay marriage thus far is nothing more than a political ploy to curry favor in the African American community, and I'm inclined to believe that to be the case.

More Details Emerge About D.C. Tech Officials Arrests

Yusuf Acar was arrested with $4,500 in his pajamas. Acar was a top official in the District of Columbia's Office of the Chief Technology Officer and is now considered a flight risk to Turkey.

His attorney, public defender Dani Jahn, declined to comment on the case yesterday. Acar, who has been jailed since his arrest Thursday, is scheduled to have a detention hearing today before U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola.

Acar and a business executive who was also arrested Thursday were described by prosecutors in the court filing as the "two primary participants" in the alleged scam. The businessman, Sushil Bansal, 41, president and chief executive of the contracting firm Advanced Integrated Technologies, was released on personal recognizance.

Federal agents began investigating Acar after being approached last April by a D.C. employee who agreed to record conversations with Acar as part of the probe. In yesterday's court filing, prosecutors wrote that they think Acar had operated the "complicated scheme for years."

Acar was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and launder money, honest-services wire fraud and conflict of interest. He could face 6 1/2 years to a little more than eight years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines if convicted, prosecutors wrote.

They said that the potential sentence makes Acar a flight risk, and that they are not sure anyone could guarantee his compliance with pretrial supervision rules. Acar "involved his wife and several friends and co-workers" in his alleged crimes, they wrote.

FBI agents have said that Bansal wrote several checks worth a total of $70,201 to Acar's wife, Galen, in 2006 and 2007. She has not been charged in the case.

Also, it appears that Acar was working on a plan to smuggle out another $200,000 in a Turkish diplomatic pouch to avoid detection.

Acar was a top official for Vivek Kundra, who was recently chosen by President Obama as his Chief Information Officer. Kundra is on leave, even as he took office mere days ago and despite no word that he was directly involved in the investigation or the criminal acts alleged.

UPDATE:
Kundra was quietly reinstated by the Administration today. Funny how that works.

White House officials confirmed to The New York Times that Mr. Kundra had been reinstated today; it was first reported this afternoon by Techpresident.com without confirmation.

The reinstatement comes a few days after F.B.I. agents had raided his former office at the District of Columbia’s technology department. Mr. Kundra was not a target of the raid. A former employee of his, Yusuf Acar, has been charged with bribery. The F.B.I. said that Mr. Kundra was not implicated in the bribery case, but he took a leave from his new federal job anyway.

The reinstatement comes as word was swirling around the Internet about a youthful arrest of Mr. Kundra for a theft involving something of less than $300 in value. Asked if Mr. Kundra had revealed the arrest during the White House vetting process, officials said they would not discuss the process but pointed out that the reinstatement should speak for itself.

Hmmm... the reinstatement speaks for itself? You mean to tell me that Obama doesn't mind having criminals in his administration? Is that the message he's sending (and repeatedly sent courtesy of all the tax cheats he's brought on board, starting with Tim Geithner at Treasury, or sought to bring on board, including Tom Daschle)?

No, I don't think that's the message Obama wants to send, but it is a message one can take away.

Arrest Warrants Signed In Chandra Levy Case

This was one of the biggest stories in the media immediately prior to 9/11, but now we have someone not named Gary Condit being charged with the murder. It's a laborer who is serving prison time in California and can be placed in the same park where Chandra Levy disappeared and her remains were discovered.

A judge on Tuesday signed an arrest warrant for Ingmar Guandique, 27, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence in California.

He was convicted of two assaults in Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Park that occurred around the time of Levy's disappearance. Levy's remains were found in the park.

"We believe Levy was a random victim of Guandique, who attacked and killed her as she jogged in Rock Creek Park," said Jeffrey Taylor, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

If convicted, Guandique could face a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 30 years and a maximum of 60 years, Taylor said.

Yet another career criminal.

Another Day, Another Rangel Tax Revelation

Thanks Harlem, New York voters for voting Charles Rangel (D) back into office without bothering to note the swirling criminality surrounding him. You've managed to reelect a tax cheat who's been shorting the government (take your pick of New York City, New York State, District of Columbia, and the federal government) for years on end, and yet doesn't think that this diminishes his capacity to head the very committee charged with writing tax laws for the country.

In fact, his fellow Congressmen don't seem to think anything is wrong with this situation either. Neither does the Democratic party leadership, which is going along with this mess, despite admissions by Rangel that he's shorted New York and the IRS on rental income from his Punta Cana villa.

So, following revelations over the weekend that Rangel may not even be eligible to be your Congressman by claiming a homestead tax benefit in the District of Columbia for years, which is available only to residents of the District and would put Rangel's rent stabilized apartments in New York City in jeopardy, the New York Times takes note and offers up a concise history of Rangel's current mess:

WASHINGTON — Representative Charles B. Rangel’s legal team is reviewing his tax records to determine whether the congressman received a homestead exemption on a house he owned in Washington while living in several rent-stabilized apartments in New York City.

The situation is potentially troublesome for Mr. Rangel, a Harlem Democrat who is already the subject of a wide-ranging internal House investigation stemming from an assortment of ethical concerns.

Rent laws in New York City and the state require that tenants occupying rent-stabilized apartments use those units as their primary residences. At the same time, the District of Columbia’s Office of Tax and Revenue extends the homestead tax deduction only to properties that are primary residences.

So, which is it? Is Rangel a resident of DC or New York? That's a factual determination, and is generally based on the number of days that Rangel is using the property as his residence. In New York, one must maintain a permanent place of abode in New York State and spend more than 183 days in New York to be treated as a resident for tax purposes. To claim a change of domicile, the taxpayer must show via clear and convincing evidence that the domicile has changed. (NY Tax Law 603)

The District of Columbia has residency requirements that are virtually identical to the New York law.

In either case, he's violating the law of the other state, and the question then becomes whether he did so to defraud the government. Claiming that he didn't know the laws is not going to sit well with the tax authorities, and it's even more farcical given that he's supposed to know tax laws generally and how they operate. It calls into question his character and judgment, let alone his fitness to be the chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

UPDATE:
The New York Post further notes that the DC law explicitly prohibits Congressmembers from taking the tax break.

Here's a good rule of thumb: If Charlie Rangel owns it, you can bet the tax man's not getting his fair share.

As The Post reported yesterday, the Harlem congressman - who chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee - took a "homestead" property-tax deduction on a house he owned in Washington, DC, until 2000.

Problem is the deduction only applies to a home that is an individual's "principal place of residence" - and the law explicitly bars members of Congress from taking the break.

Besides, it's not as if Rangel has exactly given up on New York living: It came out earlier this year that the congressman occupied four rent-stabilized apartments in a Harlem building - one of which he used, also illegally, as a campaign office.

UPDATE:
Another Congressional ethics complaint is being filed against Rangel for his tax break on the DC property.

UPDATE:
Instapundit links. Thanks!

UPDATE:
The Times now decides to dig deeper on Rangel's issues with CUNY. This might have been useful, say, a few weeks before the November elections.

Representative Charles B. Rangel has helped raise $11 million for a City College of New York school of public service to be named in his honor. In recent months, as questions have emerged about his fund-raising, he has insisted that he has kept his efforts to attract donors scrupulously separate from his official duties in Congress.

But Congressional records and interviews show that Mr. Rangel was instrumental in preserving a lucrative tax loophole that benefited an oil-drilling company last year, while at the same time its chief executive was pledging $1 million to the project, the Charles B. Rangel School of Public Service at C.C.N.Y.

The company, Nabors Industries, was one of four corporations based in the United States that were widely criticized in 2002 and 2003 for opening offices in the Caribbean to reduce their federal tax payments. Mr. Rangel was among dozens of representatives from both parties who bitterly opposed those offshore moves and, in 2004, pushed unsuccessfully for legislation to make the companies pay more tax.

This whole situation reeks. (Added the photo at top)

Developing: Man Arrested With Rifle, Explosive in D.C.

The guy stopped to ask for directions, and the Capitol Police sensed something wasn't quite right? The cops instincts turned out to be right:

A man is under arrest in Washington after an improvised explosive device, a rifle and some ammunition were allegedly found in his jeep, Capitol Police said Friday.

The man stopped to ask police for directions near the Capitol building at about 11 a.m. EDT Friday, at the intersection of 2nd and Independence Avenue Southeast, according to Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider.

The officer responding noticed a rifle case on the car seat and inspected the jeep, discovering the IED, rifle and ammunition. A canine unit was enlisted to help.

"They've all been rendered safe right now because they're in the custody of Capitol Police," Schneider told reporters at a briefing Friday.

The officer took the unidentified man into custody; the vehicle is still being searched.

Maybe he was going hunting and lost his way. Or, maybe he had a more nefarious intention. It remains to be seen which it was.

Heller Hauling DC Back Into Court

Dick Heller, the man who took the District of Columbia to court and won over its unconstitutional restrictions on legal firearms possession, is again taking the District back to court because their new restrictions are in violation of the Second Amendment. One requirement would require that the gun remain in a gun lock or disassembled at all times unless in imminent harm (a standard that is patently absurd on its face), and the other relates to the definition of acceptable firearms:

The lawsuit challenges the District’s requirement of trigger locks for revolvers and continued refusal to allow residents to keep semiautomatic handguns.

Police earlier this month denied Heller’s application to register a Colt Model 1911 semiautomatic pistol on the basis that the pistol constituted a “machine gun,” the lawsuit states.

Under D.C. law, any weapon that has the capability to fire 12 rounds without reloading is considered a “machine gun.”

The District considers a semiautomatic firearm that shoots fewer than 12 shots without reloading, such as Heller’s World War I-era Colt, to be a machine gun under the theory that it “can be readily converted or restored to shoot” more than 12 shots, the lawsuit said.

The definition essentially prevents the usage of all handguns except revolvers, the lawsuit alleges.

“That’s a very weird definition,” Halbrook said. “It’s the only one like it in the world.”

One of the three plaintiffs, Amy McVey, the first D.C. citizen to register a handgun this month, is also suing over the District’s requirement that handguns be kept secured by a trigger lock or in a gun safe. D.C. requires that the handguns be kept secured unless there’s the “perceived threat of immediate harm to a person.”

The District hasn't learned. They refused to listen to the majority opinion, which noted that a statutory scheme that made it nearly impossible to comply would be struck down as unconstitutional just as surely as the one at issue in Heller, and now will spend taxpayer money to defend itself from a suit it is nearly guaranteed of losing.

District of Columbia Rejects Heller's Gun Application

There's de facto (in fact) violation of a constitutional right, and there's de jure (in law) violations. The Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia's de jure violation of the Second Amendment in District of Columbia v. Heller.

Now, the District appears hell bent on engaging in a de facto violation by making completely unreasonable and overly restrictive limitations on gun ownership and handling of firearms that puts the District squarely at risk of spending millions of dollars to lose in court yet again.

Dick Heller is the man who brought the lawsuit against the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns. He was among the first in line Thursday morning to apply for a handgun permit.

But when he tried to register his semi-automatic weapon, he says he was rejected. He says his gun has seven bullet clip. Heller says the City Council legislation allows weapons with fewer than eleven bullets in the clip. A spokesman for the DC Police says the gun was a bottom-loading weapon, and according to their interpretation, all bottom-loading guns are outlawed because they are grouped with machine guns.

Besides obtaining paperwork to buy new handguns, residents also can register firearms they've had illegally under a 180-day amnesty period.

Basically, the District is claiming that only six shooters are eligible to be registered as firearms. 9mm automatic handguns, such as those used by police forces around the country, would be illegal under the District's interpretation.

The District further intends:

Firearms in the home must be stored unloaded and disassembled, and secured with either a trigger lock, gun safe, or similar device. The new law will allow an exception for a firearm while it is being used against an intruder in the home.

Yes, I'm sure that an intruder will wait and give a person the time to assemble a gun to be used. Asinine doesn't begin to cover this. More here.

Of course, the District runs afoul of the Heller decision, which anticipated this kind of chicanery.

Scandalicious

It's a small world after all.

The former Senate aide who scandalously blogged about sleeping with Washington, DC's elite for cash - and later posed nude for Playboy - is among the inner circle of a Manhattan call-girl ring that counted Eliot Spitzer as a client, The Post has learned.

Four years after her blog "Washingtonienne" shocked the Capitol with salacious details of sex with married sugar daddies, Jessica Cutler has re-appeared as a "model" on alleged madam Kristin "Billie" Davis' Web site.

The still-alluring Cutler is seen on Davis' MySpace page partying with the alleged madam at the birthday party for her booker, who sources said is a mutual friend of both women.

Davis captioned the photo "The Famous Jessica Cutler!" The same photo also appears on a Web site touting a shoot for Davis' business, Wicked Models.

Still, the more important question are who are the other clients involved in the prostitution ring bust that resulted in Gov. Spitzer to resign in disgrace. Thus far, that's fallen by the wayside in favor of the salacious photos.

Serious Fire At Executive Office Building

News outlets are reporting a serious fire at the Executive Office Building in Washington, DC. The fire is centered on an area near Vice President Dick Cheney's office. The entire building has been evacuated.

Needless to say, the leftists and kooks will have fun with conspriacy theories over the fire and whether it was done to destroy evidence of misdeeds.

They're already on the case at Democratic Underground. (HT: Yankee Division Son at LGF)

It wont take long before they're making the rounds at Daily Kos or the other leftist haunts.

The fire was apparently started by an electrical fault:

The blaze appeared to be located near the ceremonial office of Vice President Dick Cheney on the second floor of the building. The vice president was across the street in his office in the West Wing of the White House.

Secret Service spokesman Darrin Blackford said the Old Executive Office building was evacuated as a precaution. District of Columbia firefighters poured water on the blaze and moved furniture from the building onto a balcony.

It's also being reported by Drudge that the Secret Service is preventing investigators from entering the scene.

UPDATE:
The fire is now out. Good work DC's Bravest.

UPDATE:
The unhinged DKosers are truly off the rails. Here's an example:

I'm sure that will now be used (0 / 0)
as an excuse for any papers that are subpoenaed. Too bad Cheney wasn't in the office while it burned.

(- 4.63, - 5.18) Truth is incontrovertible, ignorance can deride it, panic may resent it, malice may destroy it, but there it is. --Winston Churchill

by mkfarkus on Wed Dec 19, 2007 at 08:44:15 AM PST

And another:

Logged in just to see if y'all were thinking that (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:sc kitty
this was a prime way to destroy evidence.....

Yup. First thought I had. The creeps.

by jm taylor on Wed Dec 19, 2007 at 07:29:10 AM PST

And another:

Cheney figured out that a shredder (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:annrose, labwitchy
Would take until 2010 to dispose of the evidence.

So a fire was required.

Another Reichstag?

The biggest threat to America is not communism, it's moving America toward a fascist theocracy... -- Frank Zappa

by NCrefugee on Wed Dec 19, 2007 at 07:01:41 AM PST

UPDATE:
Think Progress shows that they need a wee bit more thinking and a whole lot more progress.

White House Press Office Evacuated After Bomb Scare

DEVELOPING STORY:

WASHINGTON — The White House Conference Center and buildings surrounding Blair House were evacuated Monday after a K-9 unit made a "hit" on a car parked in front of Lafayette Park, across from the White House.

Members of the press who were standing outside of the executive mansion were also asked to leave the White House grounds, though staff and President Bush are in the building ahead of a celebration with NCAA winning teams.

U.S. officials said D.C. Metro Police were using an abundance of caution in calling in an explosives and ordnance team after what is reportedly a bomb scare.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had just arrived in Washington, D.C., for a stay at Blair House, where foreign dignitaries often reside while visiting the president. Ehud is in town for talks with U.S. officials on the recent dissolution of the Palestinian government, and security has been heightened because of his visit.

Probably nothing, but we will keep an eye on the story and report developments.

UPDATE:
As I guessed earlier, the bomb scare turned out to be nothing and the Secret service gave the all clear. Amazing how little coverage this has received in the press though.