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Insider Report: Rove Threatens, CIA Reads, Bush, Kerry... Special From NewsMax's Most Informed Sources
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against President Bush in the Senate Judiciary Committee's investigation of the administration's unauthorized wiretapping. Being blacklisted would mean an end to any White House political or financial support for Senators running for re-election this year, sources told Insight magazine.
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"It's hardball all the way," one GOP congressional aide declared. The administration is worried that the defection of a handful of Republican committee members could lead to a finding that Bush violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - and possible impeachment hearings. During the last few weeks, Rove has been meeting with GOP committee members to deliver the message: A vote against Bush would ravage Republican prospects in this year's congressional elections, Insight reports. But while Rove is threatening the stick - the blacklist - he is also holding out a carrot: White House offers to help loyal candidates with money and publicity, such as photo-ops with the president.
2. CIA Boss Reads Vince Flynn CIA Director Porter Goss and a friend of NewsMax had an intriguing exchange when Goss was spied reading a novel by Vince Flynn this past summer. Flynn is the author of seven espionage thrillers, six of them featuring top CIA operative Mitch Rapp. His latest book was "Consent to Kill" and was released last October. Our source reports he spotted Goss doing some summer reading with one of Flynn's paperbacks. The source, also a Flynn fan, asked Goss if he knew Flynn. "No," Goss reportedly said with a harsh tone. But he quickly added, "I don't know him but I'm going to find out about him."
Asked why, Goss replied tersely: "He knows things he shouldn't" - indicating that Flynn had access to information only a CIA insider would have. Flynn's bio on his Web site claims that "Memorial Day" was "put under security review by the department of energy due to classified material" dealing with nuclear security that appeared in the book. But the bio notes that Flynn "honors his sources."
3. Bush Thinking Ahead to Retirement President Bush still has nearly three years remaining in his second term, but he's already begun to ponder his life after the White House. "Five years into his presidency, and now five months shy of his 60th birthday, the state of Bush's mind seems to be a sense of contentment about the present and some apprehension about his post-White House future," Elisabeth Bumiller wrote in the International Herald Tribune a few days after the president delivered his State of the Union address. Bush recently told Bob Schieffer of CBS News: "One of these days I'll be a member of the ex-presidents club ... I'll be looking for something to do." Right now Bush has begun planning for his presidential library, to be built in Texas either at Southern Methodist University, the University of Dallas or Baylor University, or by a group led by Texas Tech University. But beyond that, he has said he's not sure what he'll do. After he leaves office it isn't likely that he'll follow in the footsteps of his father, who has taken up skydiving and disaster relief, or Bill Clinton, who loves attending the international conferences that Bush abhors, according to the Herald Tribune. But there is a growing bond between the three. Clinton and the first President Bush have become so close that during his State of the Union speech, Bush said: "This year, the first of about 78 million baby boomers turn 60, including two of my dad's favorite people: me, and President Bill Clinton." Bush said he speaks with Clinton himself and felt the relationship would continue after he leaves the White House: "There's a lot of shared experiences and so I can understand why ex-presidents are able to put aside old differences." Bush is also thinking about getting on in years, Bumiller writes, citing a comment he made to a crowd in Kansas last month: "It's kind of like my knees are like tires, you know, and they're bald."
4. Kerry Still Thinks He'll Get Nod in '08 If at first you don't succeed... A former top campaign fundraiser to Sen. John Kerry insists that when the smoke clears in the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president, Kerry will once again be the party's nominee. Here's the scenario the aide outlined for NewsMax: Hillary Clinton is the front-runner and she has the money and the organization to capture the nomination. Other potential candidates, including Joe Biden, Evan Bayh and Mark Warner, don't have the money and will run out of cash before the race is over. Not John Kerry, however. He still has millions of dollars left over from his previous campaign - plus the financial support of his billionaire wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, who can afford to pay whatever it might take to keep Kerry in the race. In the end, then, it will come down to Clinton vs. Kerry. But Clinton is "too polarizing" to win the nomination, the fundraiser told NewsMax, leaving Kerry to get the nod. When asked if Kerry himself wasn't "polarizing," the aide pointed out that if just 60,000 Bush voters in Ohio had voted for Kerry instead, the Massachusetts Democrat would have won the election. "He's a proven vote-getter," the Kerry supporter declared. If the scenario plays out, Kerry could also wind up as the first Democrat since Adlai Stevenson to come out the loser in two presidential elections.
5. Jim Rogers: You Can't Trust the Inflation Statistics Is the federal government telling us the truth about inflation? Top investor Jim Rogers doesn't think so. His point: While the Fed reports that consumer price inflation is just 2 or 3 percent, consumers can see in their daily lives that prices are rising at a far greater pace. "I get letters from people all the time saying, 'Where do these people [who report low inflation] shop?'" said commodities guru Rogers in an interview with NewsMax's Financial Intelligence Report. "'You should see my utility bills, gasoline, education, entertainment, medical - everything is going through the roof. Who are these people kidding?'" Said Rogers: "The government has been and is lying to us. They do something they call 'hedonic adjusting.' Well, I guess you know what hedonism is. They're showing us a good time." Nearly everything - including housing - is going up sharply in price whether or not the government is willing to admit it, insists Rogers, author of the bestseller "Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World's Best Markets." "The government tells us that the cost of housing is not increasing. They tell us that hotel prices aren't up. Again, I don't know who these guys are or where they live. "Something is wrong. I am confident enough to say that they are lying."
6. Mark Warner 'Impressive' to Brits Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner has some new admirers - in England. Warner - often mentioned as a strong contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 - made a "pre-presidential" trip to London and was invited to a gathering of media brass and political leaders at the home of Sir Ronald Grierson, a retired merchant banker. An observer said Warner was viewed as "very impressive" by the mixed crowd of both Conservatives and Labour supporters. After hearing Warner's remarks, the observer also noted that if one didn't know he was a Democrat, he might be seen as a "moderate Republican." Warner didn't mention Hillary Clinton, the supposed Democratic front-runner - but the feeling at the gathering was that her stock was going down.
7. We Heard... Paul Harvey, Hannity, Giuliani We heard... that a major media company must have a lot of faith in the longevity of an aging radio broadcasting legend. Citadel Broadcasting Corp. has bought the ABC Radio Networks and 22 ABC stations from the Walt Disney Co. for $2.7 billion in cash and stock, making it the nation's third largest radio group. But according to a release from Bank of America, nearly all of the networks' $25 million in estimated annual EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is derived from just one radio personality - Paul Harvey. Harvey is 87 years old. Now you know the rest of the story. Bank of America also reveals that ABC Radio's' Sean Hannity has a "change-of-control" clause in his contract that would allow him to depart, but states that "we think his services ultimately will be retained." …that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is stepping back into the political limelight. Giuliani has mostly kept a low profile since campaigning for President Bush's re-election in 2004. But now he's agreed to headline a May 2 fund-raiser in Washington for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is working to keep the Senate in GOP hands this year. He also paid a visit to a large convention of evangelical pastors in Florida, the New York Daily News reports. And he has sent out a letter seeking contributions to the re-election campaign of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, saying: "Governor Perry shares my belief in applying practical solutions and strong leadership to achieve change ... Governor Perry has cut spending, reduced property taxes, and worked to eliminate frivolous lawsuits." Giuliani - who's at or near the top of most early polls for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 - is "definitely collecting some insider chits," said GOP political consultant Nelson Warfield of Giuliani's fund-raising for Republican candidates.
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