it's worth remembering that the Justice Department's Inspector General report concluded that Sampson's testimony was "not credible" and "unpersuasive."

Of course, if Sampson lied under oath, you can add "perjured" to that list. And even if not under oath, if memory serves me right, lying to Federal investigators is a crime regardless, yes?

And even if not under oath, if memory serves me right, lying to Federal investigators is a crime regardless, yes?

That would be obstruction of justice, and yes, sir, you are correct.

I can't wait til she brings back The Schloz.

I predict the big fish will answer a big "Fuck you" to her subpoenas. Judicial hilarity will ensue, Obama will feel disinclined to get involved, several courts will either punt or have orders overruled and everyone will ultimately walk away unscathed save a bit of bad press and a pile of legal bills.

Nora Dannehy meet tip, find iceberg.

All she needs is one domino to fall and I suspect once Bush is in Texas, that won't be hard. They had to know what they were doing was wrong and people in those sorts of situations usually find a place to hide the smoking gun(s).

Why do I think Rove, Bush, and Cheney aren't sleeping like they did 4 years ago.

Let's hope the AG appoints a special prosecutor to investigate how and why the Obama campaign turned off the default settings for its online credit card contributions so that there was no matching of names, addresses and card numbers. Whether it was intended or not, the effect was to facilitate contributions that violated the campaign finance laws (e.g., via multiple contributions that aggregated over the legal limit, or contributions from foreigners, etc.) A special prosecutor can determine whether this was done with criminal intent or recklessness, and if so, who in the campaign was responsible.

All rocks need to be looked under. All ne'erdowells and traitors involved in what I believe to be the worst era of our political history need to be brought to dock. Rove et al. in the WH deserve nothing more than the swift hand of justice for trying to transform our beloved nation into a Soviet style one party system! Go get them! -Kevo

DBL wrote: "Let's hope the AG appoints a special prosecutor to investigate how and why the Obama campaign turned off the default settings for its online credit card contributions ..."

Yes, let's hope that the legions of brain-dead dittoheads keep obsessing about inane bullshit for the next eight years.

It will keep them busy in their little bubble world of irrelevancy while the rest of us -- including the Obama administration -- deal with actual issues of actual importance to actual Americans.

As Steve Benen noted in his previous post, a new USA Today/Gallup Poll finds, "More than three of four Americans, including a majority of Republicans, approve of the job Obama has done so far ..."

The Bush-bootlicking dead-ender dittoheads are a dying breed.

Let's hope the AG appoints a special prosecutor to investigate how and why the Obama campaign turned off the default settings for its online credit card contributions blah blah blah

Just when you think you can't be astonished by the stupidity of the right-wing, SURPRISE!

Let's hope the AG appoints a special prosecutor to investigate how and why the Obama campaign turned off the default settings for its online credit card contributions so that there was no matching of names, addresses and card numbers. Whether it was intended or not, the effect was to facilitate contributions that violated the campaign finance laws (e.g., via multiple contributions that aggregated over the legal limit, [...] -- DeBiL, @13:46

Where on earth did you get *that* pantload from? I've been one of those who donated in small increments -- $10, $15, whatever I could -- over the course of several months. The moment I hit the aggregate of $250, it showed up on the various websites which kept track of donations (like the HuffPo's Fundrace). My donations total currently stands at $325. So, obviously the tracking had *not* been turned off and you're full of it. No wonder you took "debil" as your screen name...

Hi SA,

It's nice to see that you haven't lost your gracious and thoughtful way with words.

Seriously, though, while I would not want the Bush justice department investigating the Obama campaign, I think serious questions have been raised that ought to be investigated. If nobody did anything wrong, there's no reason to be concerned.

exlibra - Since you were a contributor, you can straighten me out about the facts: When you made credit card contributions to the Obama campaign, did the web site ask for your name, address and credit card number? When your aggregate contributions went over $200, did the web site ask you any different questions?

Thanks for taking the time.

DBL, @ 18:39,

The answer to your first question: Yes. The website asked my name, address, credit card number, card's expiration date, occupation and employer's name, I also had to check off the box where I "swore" that I was a citizen, that the card was my own and the funds ditto. It's the same, standard set of questions that I have to fill in for any and all political -- ie non-deductible -- contributions, even if I do it by s-mail.

The answer to your second question: No. I was asked the same questions before and after the $200 "watershed". Additionally, I don't think that it's $200 that's the watershed; I think it's $250. It was only after I went over that later amount, that my name appeared in the publicly available databases. It was the same, BTW, for Edwards (my first choice and also supported by small increments) and Obama. In both instances, I was under the radar until I hit $250. For Edwards, that's all I ever gave before he quit, so that's all that shows up; for Obama, once I vaulted over $250, my name appeared with the new aggregate number at the end of the quarter.

Sorry to be answering so late, but I read WAMo off and on throughout the afternoon and evening, as the time permits and didn't see your question until just now.

DBL,

contributions from foreigners

I live abroad and contributed to Obama's campaign via the website. The site asked me the questions that people describe upthread, and also demanded that I provide my US passport information. A couple of weeks after my first contribution, the campaign both phoned and emailed to request further confirmation of my citizenship.

Oh, and they put me through the same wringer when I tried to buy an Obama t-shirt, as buying the shirt apparently counts, legally speaking, as a campaign contribution.

My impression is that the campaign took very seriously their responsibility to ensure that only US citizens donated.

But everybody should have a hobby, so you go right on believing that the Obama campaign deliberately disabled the filters on its website -- a belief in the cherished tradition of "Obama is a secret Muslim", "Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11" and "the moon landing was a fake".