Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Subprime Mortgages
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has been a big critic of subprime lenders. But the Wall Street Journal has identified 34 New Orleans homes whose owners have faced foreclosure suits from companies affiliated with Fortress Investment Group, a company that Edwards once worked for and which still manages about $16 million of his money.
The paper reports Edwards now says he will personally provide financial assistance to the New Orleans residents affected and is also promising to cleanse his portfolio of any investments that profit from their losses.
Pulling Punches
The Census Bureau wants federal immigration agents to suspend enforcement raids on illegal aliens during the 2010 census count. The bureau's No. 2 official says raids during the population survey will make an already distrustful group even less likely to cooperate with government census takers.
A spokeswoman with Immigration and Customs Enforcement wouldn't comment on the request, saying if they did back off a bit they wouldn't announce it.
But Michigan Republican Congresswoman Candice Miller calls the census request "nuts" saying, "I don't know what country the Census Bureau is living in. The American people have grown sick and tired of their immigration laws not being enforced. They are not going to tolerate enforcement being suspended for any amount of time."
Funny Money
A parts supplier in South Carolina has pleaded guilty to ripping off the Pentagon for more than $20 million in fraudulent shipping costs. Included: Charging almost $1 million for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas army base; $455,000 to send three machine screws to Iraq, and $293,000 to ship an 89-cent washer to Cape Canaveral.
The owners of the company took advantage of an automated purchasing system that automatically paid bills marked "priority". Pentagon officials say they have since changed the system.
TV Critic
A judge in Butler County, Kentucky is telling jurors they cannot watch any of the "CSI" or "Law and Order" shows while involved in a case. Common Pleas judge Patricia Oney says the programs can create unrealistic expectations for jurors about what can and cannot be done with evidence.
Judges and lawyers have been dealing with what's called "CSI Blowback" for nearly a decade. One assistant prosecutor tells a Kentucky newspaper that "CSI" is to forensics what "Star Trek" is to space travel.
—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.
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