Free Republic

For more than a year, the affair between San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the wife of his good friend and campaign manager, Alex Tourk, was a bomb that those around the mayor knew would one day go off. But it wasn't until last week that the fuse was finally lit, by Tourk's wife herself. After this week's explosion, people close to the mayor, Tourk and Ruby Rippey-Tourk, revealed what had gone on behind the scenes. We're told the affair didn't last long -- the mayor has privately said to friends that there were only a couple of encounters. Rumors...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Russ Feingold's campaign said Friday it was returning campaign contributions from political action committees and individuals associated with the law firm of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Feingold campaign aide George Aldrich said in a statement that the campaign is returning $1,600 worth of donations from a PAC and two individuals associated with Greenberg Traurig, where Abramoff worked. "We are not aware that any donation to our campaign committee is tied to Mr. Abramoff, but because he worked at the law firm during the time we received contributions from others at Greenberg Traurig, we have decided to...

Travis County DA Ronnie Earle has been gunning for Tom DeLay for years, trying to tie the long-time GOP House leader to political corruption -- and coming up empty, at least so far. However, NRO's Byron York notes that Earle has found others in violation of the law along the way, notably large corporations who have donated to DeLay campaign, forbidden by Texas law. Does he prosecute the corporations? Apparently only if they don't comply with the Ronnie Earle Clemency Program, which consists of demands for huge cash contributions to his own pet causes: Ronnie Earle, the Texas prosecutor who...