Capitol Hill

At or just before 8 a.m. this morning, a caller phoned into C-SPAN to ostensibly discuss the “the budget.” The guest of the hour was retiring 16-term Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) But like some C-SPAN callers these days, “Frank” from Largo, Fla. went rogue and quickly began asking questions about closeted Republican members of Congress, specifically mentioning Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) as being one.

Barney said, “I have no comment to make about any individual, and no knowledge about any individual. There are some members of Congress who have not made that public.” He added, “You pay no penalty for being honest about your sexuality.” He said there are great pressures in Republican Party to not be too open about being gay. He said they will tolerate gays in their party “as long as they don’t appear to be too happy about it.”

Watch here. “Frank” from Largo is the very first caller to Rep. Frank.

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Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker Josh Fox was arrested Wednesday morning as he attempted to film a House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment committee hearing on “fracking”, according to Politico. Fox’s documentary, Gasland, explores the practice and the safety concerns surrounding it. Before the hearing even got underway, GOP lawmakers had Fox and his film crew detained. Fox protested that he was within his first amendment rights and that he was being “taken out.”

Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) filed a motion to allow the filmmaker and crew back into the hearing saying, ”If you claim that rule does not allow them to film, or allows you the discretion to turn them away, I move the rules be suspended so the fella who wanted to film for HBO be allowed to film this hearing and that ABC be allowed to film this hearing and all God’s children be allowed to film this hearing until the room is too full for us to conduct our business.”

The Republican lawmakers claim that the issue is that Fox and his crew did not have formal Capitol Hill credentials. HuffPost reports that in previous instances, a person in Fox’s situation would have been directed to obtain a temporary pass, not arrested.

Fox, which is shooting footage to a followup for Gasland, has been charged with unlawful entry.

 

There were many tears on the House Floor Wednesday as Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) offered her resignation from Congress. So many, in fact, that no one’s emotions stood out as unusual — among the criers was, of course, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has been known to shed a tear or two. In this story by Roll Call‘s Jason Dick, we see he had a gavel in one hand, a tissue in the other.

“Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), an emotional man known for his public weeping, was joined in tears by others as he wielded the gavel in one hand and a tissue in the other. For a few fleeting moments, last year’s partisan warfare never happened. Virtually everyone wanted to kiss Giffords as she made her way through the chamber, to the well, and onto the dais to hand-deliver her resignation letter to Boehner. Everyone felt connected to her.”

Brad Dayspring, the sometimes cantankerous press flack to House Maj. Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), is truly everywhere. And this morning, he was spotted on CNN for a full five minutes with a penetrating and  pensive stare in the backdrop of his boss. He was also applauding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) before her formal resignation. How lucky can a lawmaker get than to have his aide control the backdrop? It was also a perfect chance for Dayspring to keep a watchful eye on his boss.

 

This morning we find major uncanny similarities  in WaPo Ombudsman Patrick Pexton and former Rep. Jim Traficant (I-Ohio). Traficant used to say he got his hair cut by a weed wacker. Though we suspect Pexton likely addresses his locks in a far more civilized manner, the result may be one in the same: extremely stylish.

Fans of The Hill‘s French-American journalist Julian Pecquet will be pleased to learn that soon he’ll move from the Healthwatch blog to a new foreign policy blog that will launch later this month.

In a memo from Editor-in-Chief Hugo Gurdon, he says of Julian: “He has done a great job on Healthwatch, to which he brought detailed policy expertise. But foreign policy has always been his passion, ever since he was in the French diplomatic corps in 1999-2000. So this is a perfect fit for Julian and it’s very pleasing that an internal move allows us to fill a new position with a reporter whose talents we already know well. Thanks, Hugo”

We don’t use the word schmuck lightly.

But in the office of Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) there are a couple of them — like the fabulously named Laurel Schmuck, a former legislative aide who took heat for some underage drinking that went down at an office party last summer. The news was reported early this morning by Global Rhetoric‘s Joe Steffen and then by Jeff Quinton on the Inside Charm City blog.

Here’s the lowdown: Harris’ COS Kevin Reigurt allegedly bought booze for a going away party for an office intern. The underage intern got trashed and was thrown out of her internship program when she arrived back to her dorm after curfew. Harris’ aide, the Schmuck, got canned. Meanwhile, the congressman is one of those big social conservative family values types. Which is always a recipe for disaster. When will lawmakers learn not to be proponents of social or family values?

A weird detail worthy of noting: When Harris was first elected to the Maryland Senate, he defeated F. Vernon Boozer in the 1998 primary. He’s no Schmuck, but yes, he really is a Boozer.

But it gets even weirder. Turns out Peter Schmuck (father of Laurel) is a columnist for the Baltimore Sun and gave Reigurt a piece of his mind.

An excerpt from Steffen’s piece:

“To begin with, what the Hell was Kevin Reigurt thinking? Buying alcohol for a party to be held in Andy Harris’ office, a party celebrating the impending departure of an 18 year old? The very party which led to said underager getting smashed and thus making her impending departure immediate? And, Mr. Reigurt, isn’t a part of the job of the Chief of Staff to take – as opposed to deflect onto someone else – the hits (which, in this case, seems to be YOUR fault anyway?)”

We’ve emailed the congressman’s spokesman Ryan Nawrocki for comment. So far, no one from the office is talking. See the email I sent him after the jump.

Developing…

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The Library of Congress is now home to Bambi, Thumper, Forrest Gump and Lt. Dan. On Wednesday James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, selected Walt Disney’s Bambi, Forrest Gump and 23 other titles ”to be preserved as cultural, artistic and historical treasures,” according to a press release.

Americans nominated 2,228 titles this year to be included in the Library. Billington then consulted other film curators and the National Film Preservation Board before selecting the final 25.

You can nominate titles for next year’s consideration at at the NFPB’s hideous website here.

Amanda Infield, a spokesman for Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) graciously got back to us concerning her boss telling a female constituent that first lady Michelle Obama has a “large posterior.” The congressman was overheard talking on his cell phone earlier today in a lounge at Reagan National Airport.

Infield writes:

Hi Betsy, I am not going to comment on my boss’ “behind.”

Mr. Sensenbrenner was referring to the First Lady’s healthy food initiative.  He doesn’t think the government should be telling Americans what to eat.  While he may not agree with all of her initiatives, he plans to contact the First Lady’s office to apologize for his comments.

Amanda

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), known for his cantankerous ways and for not speaking to media unless it’s his idea, was overheard at the Delta Crown lounge at Reagan National Airport today talking on his cellphone about an incident he said occurred three weeks ago while at an Episcopal church auction. Please note, a church auction.

Our source, a Democratic operative who heard the whole thing, said he was “very loud”. Sensenbrenner was overheard saying that after buying all their “crap” (his word) a woman approached him and praised first lady Michelle Obama.  He told the woman that Michelle should practice what she preaches — “she lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself.”

Hold the phone! Did the congressman just say Michelle Obama has a FAT ASS?

The operative said it sounded like he was on the phone with a staffer who was telling him that someone in the media would likely write about his comments (concerning something) to which he said it was heresy and just liberal media bias to print gossip.  But “he stands by his remarks.”

At this juncture we’d like to point out that Sensenbrenner, who typically celebrates his birthdays by eating Cheetos and shrimp, has no business discussing fat asses while having quite the big butt himself.  And we realize that our picture is only head shot, but if this is what his noggin looks like, just imagine his backside. A note to the Congressman: “Let’s Move” could do you a WORLD of good. And lay off the Cheetos!

We reached out to Amanda Infield in Sensenbrenner’s Washington press office by both email and phone. When and if she responds, we’ll provide her quotes.

UPDATE: Sensenbrenner’s spokeswoman responds. Read here.

Read the email I sent to Amanda after the jump…

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