Washington Wrap

Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Steve Chaggaris, Clothilde Ewing, Nicola Corless, Smita Kalokhe and Joanna Schubert of The CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.

The latest open-microphone snafu involves several California Democratic state legislators who met behind closed doors Tuesday to discuss the potential political damage they could inflict on Republicans in the state assembly by prolonging the state's budget crisis. Unfortunately, no one remembered to turn off the room's "squawk box," which broadcast the meeting to 500 speaker boxes all over the State Capitol, allowing staffers, reporters and lobbyists to hear the entire thing.

While perhaps not rising to the level of Ronald Reagan's, "We begin bombing in five minutes," or then-Gov. George W. Bush's "major league" insult of New York Times reporter Adam Clymer, the meeting is still muddying the political waters in California, where Democrats already have their plates full with the almost certain recall election of Gov. Gray Davis this fall.

The AP reports that in the not-so-closed-door meeting, Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg was heard saying that extending the budget crisis through procedural maneuvers could improve the prospects of a Democratic plan to raise taxes via a ballot initiative. Goldberg said a prolonged crisis might force Republicans to accept the ballot initiative on a 55 percent vote, rather than the current 2/3 threshold.

Republicans, of course, howled foul, and Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, a Democrat, tried to dismiss the incident as a "bull session," the AP reports. "For anyone, Democrat or Republican, to think there is any advantage in this crisis, I think they are wrong," Wesson said.

Meanwhile, Democrats are also dealing with the Davis recall, which looks almost certain to be decided in a special election this fall. The L.A. Times reports that its survey of all 58 California counties found more than 1.1 million certified signatures, far more than the 897,158 required to trigger a recall. Recall organizers says they've gathered more than 1.6 million signatures. The Secretary of State's office has until 5 p.m. Wednesday to finish counting and verifying the signatures.

For more on the recall story as it develops, click here.

Kicking Back In Raleigh: Despite the fact that Sen. John Edwards isn't leading in the polls, his staff's enthusiasm has not waned. According to the American Prospect's Web site, prospect.org, the number of staffers who gave money to his campaign in the last quarter surpasses that of any other candidate. The second-quarter FEC report showed that 30 Edwards staffers, advisers, consultants - and let's not forget Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth - donated money to the Edwards for President coffers.

Furthermore, 22 of those donations were made on June 30, the final day of the quarter. Without these donations, the campaign, which already fell $500,000 short of its $5 million goal, would not have reached its $4.5 million total, the magazine reports. Among those who gave were campaign manager Nick Baldick, who declared his affiliation as the "Dewey Square Group" on the FEC forms, and deputy campaign manager David Ginsburg, who said he was a "Ginsburg Lahey consultant."

Jennifer Palmieri, Edwards's press secretary, who also gave to the campaign, told CBS News that the staff is happy to go above and beyond what is typical to support their man. "The Edwards campaign is the campaign of the truly committed," Palmieri said. "We want to support our candidate anyway we can. The parking lot at our Raleigh headquarters is filled with John Edwards bumper stickers and our apartments have signs in the windows. We may not fit the patterns of other staff donations for other campaigns, that suits us just fine."

Meanwhile, Edwards opened up his South Carolina headquarters in Columbia, S.C., on Tuesday with what he described as "incredible" support. The State newspaper said the estimated crowd of 35, was "overflowing with well-wishers and supporters."

Edwards told the AP after the headquarters opening that he would unveil his health-care plan in a few weeks. It will add parents to the CHIPs program and allow people to buy Medicare coverage at 55 years of age.

Wipe-Out: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., a potential presidential contender, faces a nearly empty re-election campaign account after a long-time staffer was charged Tuesday with embezzling about $350,000, the Wilmington News-Journal reports.

Roger D. Blevins III, 32, rose to the position of assistant campaign treasurer after nine years as a paid staffer and several years volunteering for Biden. Until last week, when he resigned without giving a reason, he served as secretary for the New Castle County Democratic Party. Now, he faces up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine for interstate transport of stolen property, allegedly the missing campaign cash.

Biden's office anticipated $357,000 in the campaign fund this quarter, but after they discovered a nearly empty account earlier this month, they contacted the FBI. Blevins allegedly stole the money from October 2002 until now by making 22 unauthorized wire transfers. According to court documents, Blevins acknowledges that these transfers, ranging from $3,000 to $80,000, were not for legitimate campaign expenses.

With just $7,000 left in the bank, Biden's spokeswoman Margaret Aitken said that the senator will still consider a presidential bid and announce his decision in the fall. "If he does decide to run for president, he's very aware that he would have to raise a great deal more money. He couldn't have run on $350,000," Aitken told the News Journal.

Clinton Bashers Get A Building: In an attempt to tell the truth as they see it, Clinton bashers are establishing an Anti-Clinton library just a few blocks away from Bill Clinton's Presidential Library in Little Rock, Ark. According to the AP, former U.S. Rep. John LeBoutillier and Richard Erickson, the library's founders, plan to call the establishment the Counter-Clinton Library.
While the presidential library focuses on how Mr. Clinton's policies accommodated the political and technological transition into the 21st century and cultivated an economic boom, the Counter-Clinton library will concentrate on the various scandals, including Whitewater, Monica Lewinsky, last-minute pardons and damaged White House furniture. "We think people will want to come out of the Clinton Library and head immediately down the street to us to get the rest of the story," said LeBoutillier.

Mr. Clinton has recently complained about the smearing of his presidential legacy and has expressed hope that the library will set the record straight. However, LeBoutillier refutes, "As long as he's talking, we'll have to be here trying to keep him somewhat honest and stop him from rewriting history."

Although LeBoutillier and Erickson still need $5 million more to complete the project, they are optimistic about opening the library on the same day as the presidential library in November 2004. Skip Rutherford, president of the of foundation paying for the Clinton Presidential Library said, "The haters don't have to like or agree with Clinton, but they need to acknowledge that only 43 men have done this – reached the pinnacle. I think they need to move on with their lives."

Jacko's Misunderstanding: Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Howard Berman, D-Calif., say they're just trying to help artists and authors with their bill that stiffens laws against online piracy. But singer Michael Jackson took issue with the legislation Tuesday, although it seems the King of Pop misunderstood what the bill actually says.

In a news release datelined "Neverland Ranch, Calif.," Jackson "expressed concern" over HR 2752, the Authors, Consumer and Computer Owners Protection and Security Act of 2003, complaining that the bill is too harsh towards those who download music off the Internet.

"I am speechless about the idea of putting music fans in jail for downloading music," Jackson said. "It is wrong to illegally download, but the answer cannot be jail."

"Here in America we create new opportunities out of adversity, not punitive laws," he continued. "It is the fans who drive the music business; I wish this would not be forgotten."

Well, Berman says Jackson just doesn't understand the bill. The legislation, according to a Berman statement released this week, "clarifies that uploading a single copyright-infringing file to a publicly accessible computer network meets the monetary threshold for a felony under the copyright laws."

In essence, those who actually put music on the Internet to be downloaded would be punished, not those who download it. The penalty for uploading is up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

"Unfortunately, Michael Jackson hasn't read the bill and so he doesn't know that it's not about music fans downloading music," Berman told CQToday. "It only affects those who upload to millions."

Quote of the Day: "He's all right with me. He doesn't take away from my base and he's killing Kerry in New England." – Rev. Al Sharpton on former Gov. Howard Dean, and his impact on the presidential race. (New York Post's Page Six)