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Sen. Chuck Schumer refused to answer questions Monday evening about the Twitter scandal that has ensnared Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), his one-time congressional aide. But in a statement, the powerful Democratic senator said he was "deeply pained and saddened" about the married congressman's admission at a New York news conference Monday that he carried on lewd online conversations with at least half a dozen women. "By fully explaining himself, apologizing to all he hurt and taking full responsibility for his wrongful actions, Anthony did the right thing," Schumer said. "He remains a talented and committed public servant, and I pray...

Candidates lob shots during convention Open season on Scott Brown officially kicked off yesterday with five of the six Democratic candidates seeking to reclaim the “people’s seat” training their sights and barbs squarely on the freshman U.S. senator during speeches at their party’s state convention in Lowell. “When Ted Kennedy went behind closed doors with lawmakers and lobbyists, he always fought for us,” Bob Massie, the nonprofit executive who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1994, told some 3,000 Democratic delegates gathered on the floor of Tsongas Center. “When Scott Brown goes behind closed door with lawmakers and lobbyists and...

"I swear that I am not making this up." Dave Barry

A groundbreaking ceremony has been slated for early next month for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Dorchester. The ceremony is to be held at the future site of the institute, next to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, a statement from the institute said.

Another round of declassified FBI files on Senator Ted Kennedy has been released (click here and here). Fittingly, in Kennedy’s case, they once again raise all sorts of questions, from the moral to the political to issues of national security.

Another round of declassified FBI files on Senator Ted Kennedy has been released. Fittingly, in Kennedy’s case, they once again raise all sorts of questions, from the moral to the political to issues of national security.

A federal judge in Houston has thrown out the 20-year-old arms smuggling conviction of a former CIA agent, outlining in scathing terms how federal officials knowingly used a false affidavit at his trial and concealed the act through years of appeals. Edwin Wilson was convicted in Houston in 1983 of smuggling arms to Libya at a time when the threat of Libyan terrorism was major news. Congress was mounting investigations into controversial CIA activities around the globe, and CIA administrators were actively trying to deflect criticism. Wilson, now 75, has been in prison ever since, serving a 52-year sentence. His...

Last week at American Thinker (click here), I wrote on the latest declassified FBI files on Ted Kennedy. I looked at several intriguing claims, mainly based on Kennedy's July-August 1961 "familiarization tour" of Latin America. According to the file, Kennedy familiarized himself not only with the political/social life of the region -- reportedly attempting to "rent" an entire brothel -- but also with one of the most suspicious, notorious Cold War figures, Lauchlin Currie, FDR adviser and alleged Soviet agent. One item I didn't note, but want to deal with here, is an eye-opening March 2, 1967 memo. Written by...

An FBI file contends that a young Edward M. Kennedy arranged to rent a brothel for a night while visiting Chile in 1961, a year before he was elected to the Senate. The previously redacted State Department memo, dated Dec. 28, 1961, was released by Judicial Watch, a Washington-based organization that said it obtained it through a Freedom of Information lawsuit....

The late Sen. Ted Kennedy arranged to "rent" a brothel for a night while on a visit to Chile and other Latin American countries decades ago, according to a 1961 State Department memo obtained and published by the watchdog group Judicial Watch. Judicial Watch released several documents said to be from Kennedy's FBI file. The group said it obtained a cleaner copy of the State Department memo after a mostly redacted version was made public earlier. The Dec. 28, 1961, memo described a tour of several Latin American countries Kennedy made while he was an assistant prosecutor with Suffolk County,...

After repeated attempts, Judicial Watch has managed to pry loose certain documents relating to Teddy Kennedy from the FBI. The FBI's original redactions plainly had nothing to do with national security, so the agency apparently was trying to protect Kennedy's reputation. The most entertaining documents relate to a trip Kennedy took to Latin America in 1961. He visited a number of countries, accompanied by his "political counselor." In each country, Kennedy met with prominent Communists or other left-wing leaders. The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico was outraged that Kennedy wanted to bring such people to the embassy--this was the heart of...

Late U.S. senator Ted Kennedy has been accused of renting an entire Chilean brothel and seeking meetings with communists who had left-wing views. The information came to light after a Freedom of Information request by Judicial Watch - the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption - who put pressure on the FBI to release the material. Their file on the late senator, who died from brain cancer in August 2009, was released but contained a large amount of blacked out information - until now. The statements previously withheld include accusations that during a tour of several Latin...

An explosive FBI file on the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy now reportedly reveals he “made arrangements to rent a brothel” in Chile in 1961 while on a swing through South America, according to newly released documents obtained by Judicial Watch. The documents in question, part of an expansive FBI file on the late Bay State senator, were originally redacted when released last year until Judicial Watch objected under the Freedom of Information Act, the organization stated in a press release. The new passages allege Kennedy was on a tour of Chile, Mexico and other surrounding countries while serving...

Judicial Watch has obtained some new documents from the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's massive, heavily-redacted FBI file. One interesting bit: During a trip to South America in 1961, then-Assistant District Attorney Kennedy had a party at a brothel: "while Kennedy was in Santiago made arrangements to 'rent' a brothel for an entire night. Kennedy allegedly invited one of the Embassy chauffeurs to participate in the night's activities." Kennedy was in South America to meet various "left-wingers," and Communists, according to the memo. (To what end? The memo doesn't say.) Diplomacy was different back in the 60s, one hopes. Keep...

Judicial Watch continued to argue that the blackouts were baseless and, after six more months, the FBI relented. Among the statements previously withheld but now made available to Judicial Watch: •“While Kennedy was in Santiago he made arrangements to ‘rent’ a brothel for an entire night. Kennedy allegedly invited one of the Embassy chauffeurs to participate in the night’s activities.” •“[I]n each country Kennedy insisted on interviewing ‘the angry young men’ of the country. He wanted to meet with communists and others who had left-wing views. …Ambassador Freeman, Bogota, said the first person whom Kennedy wanted to meet was Lauchlin...

WASHINGTON — Whites continued to decline as a share of the American population in 2009, and they now represent less than half of all 3-year-olds, according to a Brookings Institution analysis of census data released Monday. The country’s young population is more diverse than ever, with whites now in the minority in nursery schools, preschools and kindergartens in eight states — Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas — and the District of Columbia, according to William H. Frey, a demographer at Brookings. That was up from six states in 2000. “We are on our way to...

The late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s son, Ted Jr., is among the names being floated as potential candidates for Connecticut U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s seat in 2012. Kennedy, the middle child of the late senator and his former wife, Joan, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Lieberman’s seat, which the 23-year senator is giving up when his term ends next year. One Kennedy family friend called the 49-year-old attorney, who lives in Connecticut, a “great candidate.” “No one knew Lieberman would be getting out. I think Teddy would be the odds-on favorite were he to enter the...

The late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s cuddly, curly coated canine companion, Splash, has gone to doggy heaven. Kennedy’s widow, Vicki, announced the death of the 13-year-old Portuguese water dog to friends and family earlier this week. “At Teddy’s side, Splash became a world-class fetcher of tennis balls and a meeter and greeter of presidents, senators, congressmen and even foreign dignitaries,” Kennedy wrote. “I like to think that he and his master are playing tennis ball fetch again tonight.” Kennedy, who died last year after he was diagnosed with brain cancer, was rarely seen without the black-and-white, high-energy pooch, whether...

The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s cuddly, curly-coated canine companion, Splash, has gone to Doggy Heaven. Kennedy’s widow Vicki announced the death of the 13-year old Portuguese Water Dog to friends and family earlier this week.