WASHINGTON - A top adviser to Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson quit the campaign yesterday, following a report about his decades-old criminal record for drug dealing.
"The focus of this campaign should be on Fred Thompson's positions on the issues and his outstanding leadership ability, not on mistakes I made some 24 years ago," campaign cochairman Philip Martin said in a statement issued by the campaign. "I deeply regret any embarrassment this has caused."
Thompson's campaign also said that the candidate will no longer fly on the private jet borrowed from Martin.
Martin pleaded guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana in 1979, but the court withheld judgment pending completion of his probation. In 1983, he was charged with violating probation and multiple counts of bookmaking, cocaine trafficking, and conspiracy. He pleaded no contest to the cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy charges, and was continued on probation, the newspaper said.
Thompson said Sunday that he was unaware of Martin's criminal past, but that he wouldn't "throw my friend under the bus" for decades-old indiscretions.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
R.I. primary move vetoed
PROVIDENCE - Governor Don Carcieri said yesterday he has vetoed a bill moving Rhode Island's presidential primary up a month to Feb. 5, a surprise move made just days after the Republican governor signaled he would let the bill stand.
Lawmakers in the Democratic-dominated General Assembly revived a bill last week to move up the primary during a special session. They said tiny Rhode Island would become irrelevant in presidential politics unless it joined about two dozen other states that have set their presidential primaries or caucuses for Feb. 5.
In a veto message, Carcieri said changing the date so late in the year could create havoc for local voting officials, who did not have a chance to testify about the bill before it passed. His office also released letters from voting officials in more than half of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns who said they opposed a February primary.
Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in the House and Senate, but they are not scheduled to meet again until January.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Edwards accuses Clinton
IOWA CITY - Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards accused rival Hillary Clinton yesterday of a two-faced foreign policy and said she is failing to do enough to stop what he called President Bush's march to war with Iran.
"Senator Clinton is voting like a hawk in Washington, and talking like a dove in Iowa and New Hampshire," Edwards told hundreds of people at the University of Iowa.
He stepped up criticism of Clinton's vote last month for a Senate resolution declaring Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.
"The war in Iraq isn't even history yet, but the Bush administration is repeating the march to war with Iran, and they're getting help from people who should know a lot better," Edwards said.
Clinton has said that she was voting for stepped-up diplomacy, and sent a mailer to Iowa Democrats explaining her position.
Clinton spokesman Mark Daley contended in a statement that "while Senator Clinton has been a leader in the effort to stop the rush to war with Iran and has consistently called for engagement with Iran aimed at ensuring that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons, Edwards is spending his days attacking other Democrats."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paul snares funds by Net
Ron Paul continues to amaze online.
The Texas congressman is barely a blip in the Republican presidential polls, but that doesn't stop him from raising big bucks on the Internet.
As of 7 p.m. yesterday, he had brought in more than $6 million - including nearly $3 million yesterday - toward a $12 million goal by Dec. 31 to fund his campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, and South Carolina.
After raising a surprising $5.2 million in the third quarter, Paul ended up with $5.4 million in cash as of Sept. 30. He has started spending some of that bankroll to build up his name recognition and support with his first TV ads. A series of five television ads began airing last week in New Hampshire and will continue to appear in November and December.
FOON RHEE
Group to eye care records
WASHINGTON - A conservative public interest group has sued the National Archives to obtain records from Hillary Clinton's tenure as head of a White House task force on healthcare during her husband's administration.
Judicial Watch, which has been seeking access to Clinton's White House records since April 2006, announced the filing yesterday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
