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today's papers
The Jump Off
By Daniel Politi
Posted Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008, at 6:20 AM ET
The New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times lead with Attorney General Michael Mukasey's announcement that the Justice Department has opened a formal criminal investigation into the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes. Mukasey said that after a preliminary inquiry that began on Dec. 8 "there is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter." The attorney general didn't clarify what evidence might have been discovered or what crimes could be under investigation but everyone agrees the main focus is likely to be obstruction of justice.
USA Today leads with news that the price of oil reached $100 a barrel yesterday for the first time. It didn't stay there for long as the price dropped and ended up closing at $99.62. The NYT points out that reaching the $100 mark was apparently due to a "lone trader" who appeared to be "looking for vanity bragging rights." Regardless, the price still increased $3.64 and USAT says it won't be long before it reaches consumers, particularly since experts point out that gasoline prices usually rise in the spring.
Mukasey appointed John Durham, the No. 2 federal prosecutor in Connecticut, to lead the investigation. Both the LAT and NYT say that appointing someone from outside Washington was an "unusual move," but everyone points out that it was a clear attempt to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. In fact, the U.S. attorney's office in eastern Virginia, where the CIA's headquarters is located, has recused itself from the case. The CIA's inspector general participated in the preliminary inquiry also recused himself from the investigation because he predicted that he would be called up as a witness. No one has anything bad to say about Durham, a veteran prosecutor that everyone describes as tough and relentless. He's probably best known for having been appointed in 1999 to investigate allegations that the FBI and police officers in Boston had ties to the mob.
The Post does point out that Durham is a registered Republican but the LAT notes he's largely seen as apolitical. Congressional Democrats criticized Mukasey's decision not to name an independent special counsel, which means Durham won't have the same broad powers as Patrick Fitzgerald, who investigated the leak of the identity of a CIA operative. Durham will report directly to the deputy attorney general and the NYT points out the investigation will probably last several months and might not be over until after the end of the Bush presidency. The LAT says the formal investigation will likely slow down the Congressional inquiries into the destroyed tapes and some witnesses could be reluctant to testify before lawmakers. But Congressional leaders vowed to continue their investigations.
After so much waiting, it's hard to believe it's finally here. But it's true, after the most expensive campaign in the history of the Iowa caucuses, tonight actual voters will state their preferences among a crowded field of presidential candidates in a race that is still up in the air. All the papers front the last minute efforts of the campaigns to convince Iowans that they should brave the sub-freezing temperatures to caucus. The NYT points out that the vast difference in the level of excitement between the two parties was evident even on the last day as the Democratic contenders spoke to audiences of hundreds of people, while Republicans addressed much more intimate gatherings of potential supporters. The LAT says the Democratic candidates "shifted to a somewhat quieter tone after days of discord" and largely avoided mentioning their opponents by name. Republicans, on the other hand, had no such break. Mike Huckabee suggested Mitt Romney was trying to buy an Iowa victory and Romney criticized Huckabee for choosing to fly to California for an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Huckabee said he could get more exposure by appearing on Jay Leno than by staying one more day on the campaign trail. The WP points out there's no rest for the weary and notes that it was evident yesterday that some of the candidates were turning their sights to New Hampshire, as Romney also criticized Sen. John McCain, who is his most formidable rival in the Granite State. Sen. Barack Obama also seemed to be looking east as he made a plea to Republicans and independents. The NYT notes at the end of the story that "perhaps the biggest uncertainty" lies with Rep. Ron Paul and some Republicans are worrying that he might turn out to be stronger than most had previously realized.
Meanwhile, the WSJ fronts a look at how one contender from each party has taken up the populist mantle and are running campaigns filled with "anticorporate, anti-Wall Street rhetoric." The case of John Edwards might not seem so strange since it's part of Democratic tradition to side with workers' rights, but Huckabee "represents a new challenge to the historically business-friendly" GOP and it's unclear whether his message will resonate with Republican voters beyond Iowa.
Back to Huckabee's TV appearance for a moment, the NYT says the trip to California "added to the mystery behind his campaign strategy." Also strange was the fact that Huckabee expressed his support for the striking writers and said he didn't know he would have to cross a picket line to have a chat with Jay Leno. Huckabee appeared to be under the impression that the deal reached between the writers' union and David Letterman's production company applied to all the late-night shows. Huckabee "does not appear to be able to distinguish between Leno and Letterman and yet is running for president of the United States," writes the Post's Lisa de Moraes. For her part, Clinton taped her appearance on Letterman's Late Show so she didn't have to leave Iowa.
The LAT catches late-breaking news out of Kenya, where police clashed with protesters who were gathering to stage the banned "million-man march" that was called by the opposition to protest the results of last week's election. Police fired tear gas, but early morning wire stories report that so far the crowds were not as big as many feared. The country's main newspapers ran identical banner headlines: "Save Our Beloved Country."
The NYT and LAT front, while the WP goes inside with, dramatic accounts that detail how a mob set fire to the church near the town of Eldoret on Tuesday and killed up to 50 people. "The church turned into an oven," says the LAT. The NYT notes that Western diplomats are trying to get the government and opposition leaders to the negotiating table, but neither seems open to compromise. "One of the most developed, promising countries in Africa has turned into a starter kit for disaster," says the NYT.
The WP fronts, and everyone mentions, the latest out of Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf defended the decision to postpone the elections until Feb. 18 and announced that Scotland Yard will help investigate the killing of Benazir Bhutto. The WP points out that it's unclear how much the Scotland Yard team will be able to contribute since the crime scene was compromised and there was no autopsy. The NYT says that the British investigators will probably concentrate on providing "technical support."
In a strange op-ed piece, the LAT's Rosa Brooks tries to make a parallel between Bhutto passing on the leadership of her party to her son to the possibility that Clinton will be elected president. "We're perilously close to becoming a dynastic state ourselves," Brooks writes as if she's the first one to notice that if Clinton is elected, "by 2012 the U.S. presidency will have been controlled for 24 years by only two families." She even quotes Bilawal Bhutto's Facebook profile: "I am not a politician or a great thinker. I'm merely a student." The NYT's Lede blog revealed last night that the profile was a fake.
Daniel Politi writes "Today's Papers" for Slate. He can be reached at todayspapers@slate.com.
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