Oct. 16, 2006, 1:26PM
Crawford charged for lying about stocksBy PETE YOST Associated Press Writer
- 2006 The Associated PressWASHINGTON G Former FDA chief Lester Crawford was charged Monday with lying about his ownership of stock in companies regulated by his agency.
The Justice Department accused the former head of the Food and Drug Administration with falsely reporting that he had sold stock in companies when he continued holding onto shares in the firms governed by FDA rules.The criminal charges were outlined in court papers known as an "information," a legal document which ordinarily precedes a guilty plea. The Justice Department's fraud and public corruption section filed the papers in U.S. District Court in Washington.
The papers state that Crawford also failed to disclose his income from exercising stock options in Embrex, an agriculture biotechnology company regulated by FDA.
Crawford had been a member of the board of directors of Embrex, according to federal filings.
The former FDA chief was accused of making a false writing and conflict of interest. The court papers say that Crawford chaired FDA's Obesity Working Group at a time when he and his wife owned stock in soft drink and snack food manufacturer Pepsico and food product manufacturer Sysco.
The panel Crawford was chairing was making decisions affecting food and soft drink manufacturers.
Crawford, you may recall, was the agency official who countermanded his medical and scientific advisers on Plan B, the morning after contraceptive, to please religious conservatices, no doubt relying on his vast expertise as a veterinarian:
The top Food and Drug Administration official in charge of women's health issues resigned yesterday in protest against the agency's decision to further delay a final ruling on whether the "morning-after pill" should be made more easily accessible.Susan F. Wood, assistant FDA commissioner for women's health and director of the Office of Women's Health, said she was leaving her position after five years because Commissioner Lester M. Crawford's announcement Friday amounted to unwarranted interference in agency decision-making.
"I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled," she wrote in an e-mail to her staff and FDA colleagues.
Crawford said last week that unresolved regulatory issues made it impossible to approve expanded use of the emergency contraceptive. Wood said the decision was widely seen in the FDA as political.
Note his novel excuse:
FBI raids homes of Weldon child, friend By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer
53 minutes agoThe FBI raided the homes of Rep. Curt Weldon (news, bio, voting record)'s daughter and a close friend Monday as it investigates whether the congressman improperly helped the pair win lobbying and consulting contracts.
Agents searched four locations in the Philadelphia area and two in Jacksonville, Fla., said Debbie Weierman, an FBI spokeswoman in Washington. The congressman's home and his offices were not among the locations searched, she said.
Earlier Monday, Weldon called the investigation politically motivated and called the timing suspect. The Republican, who is locked in a tight re-election bid and has clashed with the Bush administration, denied wrongdoing and said he gave his daughter no special help.
"What I find ironic, if there is an investigation, is that no one would tell me until three weeks before the election," Weldon said at an appearance in Media. "This incident was 2 1/2 years ago."
I'd say Weldon is well done in this election.
Rep. John Doolittle acknowledged Monday that his lawyer, whom he has paid more than $38,000 in the past two months, is talking with the Justice Department about the congressman's relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.The Washington Post and other papers, citing unnamed sources, have said the Roseville Republican and Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., are under investigation in the Abramoff matter.
Doolittle's office in a statement late Monday again insisted that the congressman is not under investigation.
Instead, it characterized the meetings as an effort initiated by Doolittle to clear the congressman's name.
By JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press Writerhttp://news.yahoo.co...
Mon Oct 16, 4:05 PM ETTOLEDO, Ohio - Less than a month before Election Day, a politically connected coin dealer accused of embezzling from a state investment in rare coins went on trial Monday in a scandal that has rocked Ohio's Republican Party.
Tom Noe, 52, is accused of stealing more than $2 million from a fund for injured workers and spending it on his business and renovating his home in the Florida Keys.
***Noe, once a member of state boards that oversee the Ohio Turnpike and Ohio's public universities, was a top GOP fundraiser who gave more than $105,000 to Republicans, including President Bush and Gov. Bob Taft during the 2004 campaign.
These papers have the story.
WASHINGTON -- Overseers of the House page program this week discussed a camping trip that Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz. took with two former pages and others in 1996 _ an outing now under review by the Justice Department, a congressional source said Tuesday.
Don Sherwood: there's no official investigation, just voters judgment of his 5 year affair and the abuse allegations from his mistress
Susan Ralston (Rove's secretary)http://en.wikipedia....
Scooter Libby
Jack Abramoff (how could I forget)
Ralph Reed
http://en.wikipedia....
Grover Norquist http://en.wikipedia....
Michael Scanlon--has pled guilty http://en.wikipedia....
Conrad Burns
http://en.wikipedia....
Kyle “Dusty” Foggo — resigns No. 3 CIA post, investigated by CIA Inspector General http://en.wikipedia....
Ted Stevens: they're investigating Stevens' son, but it may have implications for the Senator; http://blog.seattlet...
And, of course, Craig Schelske: