Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has submitted reports for three trips taken as many as seven years ago and paid for by outside interests, which she failed to disclose within the 30-day window required by the ethics committee.
Scrutiny of such trips has increased in the wake of controversy surrounding Majority Leader Tom DeLay's travel disclosures. Pelosi had neglected to provide details of a trip to New York, paid for by NBC for a TV appearance, and a flight to Florida to speak at an American Israeli Public Affairs Committee reception. The California Representative also failed to include a week long, $8,000 junket to Taiwan for Pelosi and her husband, paid for by a Taiwanese lobbying group, on her annual financial statement.
Times Tells It
The New York Times on Sunday described a conservative delegation to the White House, led by C. Boyden Gray, which reportedly warned the administration against nominating Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for the Supreme Court seat vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor.
But asked about the story on “FOX News Sunday,” Gray said, "that was news to me," adding that no names came up at the meeting... which he says "was about process, not about people." Gray also said he would support Gonzales for the Supreme Court. Speaking of the Times, the Gray Lady has slipped to sixth in a list of the world's best newspapers.
A global poll of journalists, politicians, and business executives named London's Financial Times the best paper on Earth, followed closely by the Wall Street Journal and Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine. The Times was named the world's premiere paper in 2003, when 21 percent of those surveyed called it the best, but just 8 percent made the same claim in this year's poll.
Hat Battle
Baseball caps bearing the Washington Nationals logo have become common in the nation's capital, but some fans are taking sides over the script "W" logo, which is also President Bush's middle initial. Stadium vendors tell The Washington Post that customers often ask if the "W" stands for Bush and that some staunch Democrats can't bring themselves to wear the logo.
Opponents of the president often resort to alternate caps with a "DC" logo, even though the team doesn't wear them in games.
— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report
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