Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Days of Controversy
After several days of controversy, Massachusetts Democratic Governor Deval Patrick now says he'll reimburse the state for the leasing of a $46,000 Cadillac and spending $10,000 in taxpayer money on new curtains for his office.
Patrick says he'll contribute $543 each month to lease the Cadillac DTS he uses for state business — to bring the costs more in line with the Ford Crown Victoria former Governor Mitt Romney used. Additionally, the governor will also pay for the curtains he installed in his office, along with other furnishings totaling over $27,000.
The governor also raised eyebrows last week for hiring a scheduler for his wife, Diane Patrick at a cost of $72,000 a year. No governor's spouse has had a taxpayer-funded assistant since former Governor Michael Dukakis hired an aide for his wife, Kitty.
Not Satisfied
Paul Brachfeld, the inspector general of the National Archives is unsatisfied with the investigation into the case of former Clinton national security adviser Sandy Berger.
Berger, you might remember, was convicted for theft and destruction of classified documents from the National Archives in April of 2005. Berger stuffed classified documents in his socks, placed them under a trailer and later cut them up with scissors.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Inspector General Brachfeld said he wanted the Justice Department to notify officials of the 9/11 Commission that Berger's actions and the bungled response by archive officials may have obstructed the commission's review of President Clinton's terrorism policies. Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling says the Justice Department, "stands by its investigation," and believes the guilty plea, "was the best one possible in light of the available evidence."
Accused Madam
A California woman under investigation by the IRS and the U.S. Postal Service for allegedly running an escort service in Washington is fighting back.
The accused madam, Deborah Jean Palfrey told federal investigators via email that she will "make life miserable" for her former customers and employees unless the case is dropped. The email came to light during a motion to postpone Ms. Palfrey's civil case pending the outcome of the government's criminal investigation into her "full-service" escort service.
But Ms. Palfrey wants the civil case to continue, going so far as naming former Clinton campaign advisor Dick Morris in legal papers filed last weekend. Morris resigned from the Clinton campaign in 1996, amid a sex scandal involving escort services and is the only admitted customer of Ms. Palfrey's business.
Palfrey's attorney, Montgomery Silbley says, "the only reason we mentioned Dick Morris is that he had publicly come out. We are trying to keep the names of the other hundreds of clients private...Nobody wants a circus."
Cure AIDS
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, the former army colonel who came to power in a military coup in 1994, says he can cure AIDS using herbs and bananas. Jammeh admits there will always be skeptics, but he says, "mine is not an argument, mine is a proof. It's a declaration. I can cure AIDS, and I will."
How does the president's cure work? He simply spreads a green herbal paste on the patient and then orders the afflicted person to drink a bitter yellow fluid and eat a couple of bananas.
The president's cure-all worries experts who are trying to tackle the world's worst AIDS
epidemic. Dr. Antonio Philipe says, "as the World Health Organization, we would like to state quite clearly the following — number one, so far there is no cure for aids."
—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.
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