All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

In June, lawmakers received letters ostensibly from the NAACP and local Hispanic, seniors, women and veterans groups stating that those organizations had serious reservations about the then-pending climate change legislation.

Eventually they learned the letters, which were printed on official stationary, weren't real: They had come from a D.C. lobbying group called Bonner and Associates, which is headed by Jack Bonner. (Here's one sample.) Yesterday Bonner was called before House lawmakers to explain the fake letters. He took responsibility, National Public Radio reports, but also claimed he knew nothing about them when they were drafted.

"This improper activity was undertaken without the knowledge of anyone at our firm. It was the actions of one rogue temporary employee, acting on his own, against our company's policies and without the knowledge of anyone else at Bonner and Associates," Bonner said. He said the employee had been fired.

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On Washington Unplugged Friday, Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of former President Harry S. Truman, discussed his grandmother Bess Truman's decision to burn 1,300 of her letters to her husband for fear of future prying. Earlier this week, the former first couple's eldest grandson released eight letters Mrs. Truman "missed" in her 1955 burning.

"My grandmother was a very private person," he explained. "Actually a shy person and she pretty much figured that her business was her own business and no body else's."

Daniel told moderator John Dickerson that "my grandfather came home earlier in 1955 around Christmastime. He came home and found my grandmother in front of the fire throwing in stacks of her letters to him and he stopped her and said, 'Bess, what are you doing? Think of history,' and she said 'Oh, I have.'"

The eight letters released by the presidential descendent, who now works at the Truman College in Chicago, were found in old desk drawers. They had apparently been missed by Bess Truman.

Which letter, Dickerson asked, is Clifton Truman Daniel's favorite?

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On Friday, President Obama will join former President George H.W. Bush for a presidential forum on community service at the George Bush Presidential Library Center on the campus of Texas A&M University.

In advance of the event, Mr. Bush has penned an open letter to the "Texas A&M Family" that seems to be a subtle call for the community to be on its best behavior. (He opens it with a friendly "Howdy!")

"This will be an important national moment, and a moment for Texas A&M to shine in the global spotlight as it always does," he writes. "I sincerely hope and believe it will serve as a point of Aggie pride for many years to come."

As Mr. Bush notes in his letter, which was posted by KBTX, the event is meant to be a non-partisan celebration of "the importance of service to our communities and our country."

Yet the university community is clearly conflicted about the visit. In comments on the KBTX site, one person writes that while he appreciates what Mr. Bush is saying, "at some point [our] population has got to step up and say enough is enough."

"It is my opinion that our community would be hyprocrical [sic] if we just sit back and welcome President Obama as if we do not have any concerns with his current policy," writes the commenter. "I hope to see a very large turn out of the Aggie family in respectful opposition to President Obama. Lets all remember the Aggie code of honor."

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In a breakup letter to mistress Cynthia Hampton last February, Sen. John Ensign wrote that he "used you for my own pleasure" and "betrayed everything I believe in."

"God never intended us to do this," Ensign wrote in the handwritten letter, which was obtained by the Las Vegas Sun. "I walked away from Him + my relationship with Him has suffered terribly. I know He loves me + I know He loves you. He wants to restore [wife] Darlene + me + wants to restore Doug + you."

Ensign also said he "justified my actions because I blamed by wife."

The "Doug" referenced in the letter is Doug Hampton, who along with his wife Cynthia were staffers for the senator. The Sun reported Wednesday that Hampton said Ensign would not give up the affair even after intermediaries tried to get him to do so, among them Sen. Tom Coburn, a fellow conservative Republican.

Coburn's office released a statement that the senator "did everything he could to encourage Senator Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Senator Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton’s marriage."

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President Obama has said his Supreme Court pick, Sonia Sotomayor, has earned the "respect of colleagues on the bench, the admiration of many lawyers who argue cases in her court and the adoration of her clerks, who look to her as a mentor."

On Monday, some of those adoring clerks are making their official argument for Sotomayor — with 45 who previously worked with her signing a joint letter of endorsement and sending it directly to the lawmakers in charge of her approval.

"As former law clerks to the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, we write this letter to offer our enthusiastic and wholehearted support for President Obama's nomination of Judge Sotomayor to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States," begins the letter, addressed to the Senate leaders of both parties and the two men at the top of the Judiciary committee.

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Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sent President Obama a letter today in which they expressed strong concern about his decision to leave the door open to the possible prosecution of officials who crafted controversial Bush administration policy on detainee interrogations.

"Pursuing such prosecutions would, we believe, have serious negative effects on the candor with which officials in any administration provide their best advice, and would take our country in a backward-looking direction at a time when our detainee-related challenges demand that we look forward," the letter said.

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When Barack Obama declared his candidacy for president, he knew he had to fix a brewing economic crisis, confront war zones around the world and restore the nation's sagging reputation.

But apparently those were not the driving forces behind his White House run. That distinction goes to his daughters.

In an open letter to Sasha and Malia Obama, the president-elect declared: "I ran for President… because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation."

In the letter published in Parade Magazine, Mr. Obama tells his daughter that he knows life was hard for them while he was away on the campaign trail and that he wanted to explain why he wanted to "take our family on this journey."

"I thought life was all about me-about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want," he writes "But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours."

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CBS News correspondent Bob Orr and producer Robert Hendin report the following from a U.S. law enforcement source:

The FBI's "suspicious letters" case has gone international. Letters containing white powder have begun showing up at "a handful of U.S. embassies abroad." One of the letters was received at the U.S. Embassy in Germany.

The letters seem to be nearly identical to the white powder letters that have been sent to more than 30 governors' offices in the U.S. since October. All of the mailings contain a non-hazardous powder and a vague generic one line threat. And, all of them have been postmarked and sent from the North Texas area.

Law enforcement officials say this letter campaign is an obvious hoax that is not a danger in and of itself, but the investigation is time-consuming and taxes already thin resources.