Why such a short session with Graves? Anybody have ideas, or was that to be expected?

Geez, I would have put more time into my letter to the good judge if I’d known it was going to be on the toobz.

Wait, that was YOUR letter that was read?

Very smart to have “bad” Rep and “good” Rep at the same hearing, particularly when the “bad” rep takes a whoopin’…….

It kind of takes that “partisan witch hunt” tag line away, when you see the difference in treatment is not based on party, but on whether one witness is a lying evasive weasel and the other witness is a competent professional.

Yupper.

A short while later, Bond was asked about crossing party lines to endorse Barnes in the race against Graves. Bond didn’t rule it out.

“I haven’t even looked at that yet,” Bond told Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper.

No one expects an endorsement. But insiders say Bond sent a message that he was tired of Graves’ political operation.

“It seems to be much more public than most of these quarrels within parties,” Fulton said.

Bond this month issued an unusual statement acknowledging that his staff in 2005 called the Bush administration about replacing Graves’ brother, Todd, who then was U.S. attorney for western Missouri. Bond’s staffer called over concerns that Todd Graves’ wife was given one of the state’s lucrative driver’s license fee offices and that resulting publicity was hurting the GOP.

In the statement, a Bond spokeswoman said the senator had no knowledge of the contact and would not have approved it.

But Todd Graves responded with derision, questioning Bond’s assertion that he knew nothing about the call.

Fulton wonders whether Bond is more than just frustrated with Graves.

“Why would he be doing all these things for Barnes if he wanted Sam Graves to be in Congress?” Fulton said.

The Bond-Graves relationship has seen happier times. Todd Graves was an intern for Bond in the 1980s and worked on Bond’s 1992 re-election campaign. During the 1993 floods, Sam Graves, then a state lawmaker, and Bond worked closely together. In 2001, after Graves won his seat in Congress, a former Bond staffer helped the new congressman organize his office.

RonD @ 133

Man, how eff’d we would be if we hadn’t won in November. We haven’t got all we wanted, true, but how much worse it would be if we hadn’t.

Not just WORSE — it would have been OVER if we hadn’t won on 11/7.

Exactly.

Educated Plaintiff @ 187

i didn’t really understand why graves said, “I wouldn’t put self in Bud Cummins category”

can someone illuminate what he meant by this?

Well, he either meant it as a compliment to Cummins (”I’m not worthy to be mentioned in the same breath”) or he meant that Bud Cummins was asked to leave so Rove’s protege Griffin could have a shot at the job, whereas he, Graves, was not. I thought he meant the former, but maybe someone else knows.

The former, I think. Cummins is vastly respected.

Educated Plaintiff @ 187

i didn’t really understand why graves said, “I wouldn’t put self in Bud Cummins category”

can someone illuminate what he meant by this?

Well, he either meant it as a compliment to Cummins (”I’m not worthy to be mentioned in the same breath”) or he meant that Bud Cummins was asked to leave so Rove’s protege Griffin could have a shot at the job, whereas he, Graves, was not. I thought he meant the former, but maybe someone else knows.

Self-deprecating moment and compliment to Cummins both…

I think it’s smart of them not to attack every Rep from the DoJ they haul up there, makes it look not like a political witch hunt. Besides Graves and Comey seem kinda like upstanding, for the most part, guys. And they both remembered the answeres to questions, which has got to earn them a bit of gratitude. Also, Graves has been gone for so long, that he really didn’t deal with Abu and all the aparatchicks very much. I think it was brilliant timing, putting this guy after Schlozman. It just screams, you got rid of this guy?? For that idiot who can’t remember anything and has no trial experience??? Brilliant showmanship from Leahy et al.

Wait a minute. Don’t tell me this. I’m a bit in the dark, didn’t even get to read Chrity’s lead in cuz I ran in from work and started watching CSpan right away; but are you telling me they replaced GRAVES with ALVIN?

Yeppers!