As Hotsheet reported yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a television interview in Ecuador this month that the Obama Justice Department “will be bringing a lawsuit” against the controversial Arizona immigration measure signed into law earlier this year.

The comment was striking because both President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder had said only that the administration was considering a suit. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the law, called Clinton’s comments stunning and added that “to learn of this lawsuit through an Ecuadorean interview with the secretary of state is just outrageous.” She has said in the past she is prepared for a court fight.

It was unclear yesterday whether Clinton’s comments were simply a prediction or mistake or whether instead she was getting ahead of a planned announcement by the administration.

Now a senior administration official tells CBS News that the federal government will indeed formally challenge the law when Justice Department lawyers are finished building the case. The official said Justice is still working on building the case.

Contacted about Clinton’s comments today, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said they reflected her beliefs.

“The Secretary was asked about the Arizona law during a TV interview in Ecuador,” he said. “She believes that a better approach is comprehensive immigration reform, and said so. Regarding how far along the legal review is, that is a matter for the Department of Justice.”

Despite the senior administration official’s comments, an official at the Justice Department told CBS News today that the question of whether to sue is still under consideration.

The Arizona law, which would go into effect in July, requires immigrants in the state to carry documents verifying their immigration status and requires police officers to question a person about his or her immigration status during a “lawful stop” if there is “reasonable suspicion” that person may be in the country illegally.

CBS News polling has found that a majority of Americans support the Arizona law, which has spawned protests and boycotts.

Brewer said following her meeting with Mr. Obama earlier this month that the president “brushed over” the possibility of a lawsuit during their discussion. A suit would likely focus on the notion that the legislation is discriminatory and infringes on civil liberties.

• Illinois Republican Senate candidate Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. (AP)

• Stories
• Kirk Apologizes for Misstatements About Service

(AP)

Senate candidate Mark Kirk pushed back Tuesday against a Pentagon statement that he improperly mixed politics with his service in the Navy Reserve, while his Democratic opponent said Kirk wasn’t being truthful.

The Defense Department said it has twice warned Kirk after incidents in which he conducted political business while on duty once by giving interviews about the arrest of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and once by posting a Twitter statement about his work at the Pentagon.

“Commander Kirk was counseled about both of the incidents,” according to a statement provided by Pentagon spokeswoman Maj. April Cunningham late Monday night.

Interactive Map: CBS News Election 2010 Race Ratings

The Kirk campaign last week denied he had ever improperly mixed politics with his military service, and the Republican seemed to stick to that position Tuesday despite the Pentagon statement.

“The campaign has made all of the congressman’s military fitness reports available for review and no concerns were documented,” Kirk spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said in a statement.

Kukowski did not immediately respond to a message seeking additional comment.

But Democrat Alexi Giannoulias quickly addressed the issue.

A statement from his campaign said Kirk was “not being truthful.”

Giannoulias, the state treasurer, said in a conference call with reporters that the Pentagon statement “raises grave questions.”

“I think this … begs the question of what else in his professional career is Mark Kirk not telling the truth about,” Giannoulias said. “I think there are a lot of voters who want to hear Mark Kirk’s answer on this latest development.”

Kirk, a five-term member of Congress from Chicago’s northern suburbs, is battling Giannoulias for the Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama.

Kirk has made his 21 years of service in the Navy Reserve a key part of his campaign, mentioning it in most speeches and news releases.

But that was before revelations that he had exaggerated his military record, particularly by repeatedly saying he was named intelligence officer of the year. The award in question went to his entire unit.

The issue of Kirk taking political action while on active duty was first raised when a blogger named Terry Welch disclosed a Defense Department memo on the issue.

The Kirk campaign said then that he had “never” violated Pentagon policy.

“The document in question should be viewed for what it is - a baseless political ploy by partisans bent on defending a U.S. Senate seat at any cost,” Kukowski said last week.

But the Defense Department said Kirk violated policy twice.

In late 2008, Kirk gave video interviews about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich being arrested, the Pentagon statement said. The Kirk campaign counters that regulations allowed him to conduct business related to his congressional duties.

And in July 2009, Kirk or a staff member wrote on the candidate’s Twitter account that he was on duty at the Pentagon’s National Military Command Center.

The Defense Department required Kirk to sign a statement acknowledging that political activity is not permitted while on active duty before he was given permission to return to Afghanistan in December 2009.

BP Emails Show Disregard for ‘Nightmare Well

From Andrew Miller:

Internal discussion at BP in the days leading up to the explosion that sunk the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and began the largest environmental catastrophe in American history reveal concerns about the well’s integrity and a disregard for a key safety mechanism, according to emails obtained by a congressional investigation.

The original rig drilling at the well site for BP had been damaged by Hurricane Ida last November, and the Deepwater Horizon had been brought in to resume the operation.  However, by the day the well exploded, April 20, the replacement rig was more than 40 days overdue for its next booked drilling — BP was footing a daily overdue fee for the Deepwater Horizon rig of at least $500,000.

Under pressure to finish the job, BP apparently chose a cheaper and riskier method of casing the steel tubes in the well.  In an email dated April 14, six days before the explosion, BP drilling engineer Brian Morel describes the Macondo well being drilled by the Deepwater Horizon as “a nightmare well.”

A response by colleague Richard Miller reveals a risk that made some engineers uncomfortable: “We have flipped design parameters around to the point I got nervous.”  Later, however, Miller tries calming nerves by insisting, “All looks fine.”

In a brief reply punctuating the conversation, a third BP engineer, Mark Hafle admits, “This has been a crazy well for sure.”

In May, Hafle faced criticism before a joint Coast Guard-Minerals Management Service panel investigating the circumstances of the explosion and subsequent leak.  At least one panel member suggested the casing that Hafle oversaw was responsible for the blowout and explosion, but Hafle insisted BP employed “sound engineering practice.”

Separate email exchanges also reveal corners BP cut in a crucial safety device.

Centralizers are important mechanisms for insuring the casing runs straight through the well bore. It has been previously revealed in congressional testimony that Halliburton recommended 21 centralizers be used at this site, but ultimately, BP only used six. In the early morning of April 16, four days before the explosion, BP official Gregory Waltz identifies modeling data provided by Halliburton requiring additional centralizers.  In response, Waltz emails colleagues, “We have located 15 Weatherford centralizers with stop collars.”

Waltz’s inquiry of the available centralizers is squashed that afternoon by John Guide, who writes in response, “I just found out the stop collars are not part of the centralizer as you stated.  Also it will take 10 hours to install them … I do not like this … I am very concerned about using them.”

In a separate conversation, also on April 16, BP official Brett Cocales at once emphasizes the centralizers’ importance while shrugging off BP’s neglect of them.

“Even if the hole is perfectly straight, a straight piece of pipe even in tension will not seek the perfect center of the hole unless it has something to centralize it,” Cocales wrote. “But, who cares, it’s done, end of story, will probably be fine and we’ll get a good cement job… So Guide is right on the risk/reward equation.”

Four days later an explosion killed 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon and oil began gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

The BP emails were among dozens of internal documents made public today by the House Energy and Commerce Committee as one of its subcommittees prepares to hear testimony from BP CEO Tony Hayward Thursday morning

14 Jun 2010
pisces
You may experience significant discord in your personal relationships at this time. Connecting with others on an emotional level is likely to be challenging. Fortunately this period will pass quickly, so don’t get too upset about the distance that seems to exist between you and those you are close to. Ride this aspect out without forcing any issues and all will return to normal soon.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln wins Arkansas race

(CNN) — Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln won the Democratic primary Tuesday, beating back a challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, whose campaign was fueled by unions and liberal activists.

In Nevada, Gov. Jim Gibbons failed to convince Republicans to give him another chance at a four-year term, while a Tea Party-backed candidate won the GOP nod to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Voters in 12 states held primary elections Tuesday night, but the outcomes of two contests in South Carolina will be delayed by another two weeks. A runoff will be held on June 22 for the Republican gubernatorial nomination as well as for a GOP congressional seat in the northern part of the state.

The Republican gubernatorial contest captured national attention because of accusations of extramarital affairs.

The candidates are vying to succeed scandal-plagued Gov. Mark Sanford, a fellow Republican. A year after Sanford made national news for disappearing and then admitting to an affair with a woman from Argentina, allegations of infidelity surrounded state lawmaker Nikki Haley.

Haley has denied the accusations over the last two weeks, which she said rival campaigns were pushing.

Haley cruised to a commanding lead but fell just short of the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff election, scheduled for June 22. She’ll face U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, who came in at a distant second.

“You saw us push against the establishment and push against the money and push against the power,” she said at her election night celebration in Columbia, South Carolina. “And boy did they push back.”

“Over the last two weeks we said no to the dark side of politics,” Haley told supporters.

Haley, Barrett headed for runoff

In California, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman topped Steve Poizner in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

Whitman, who also was an adviser and surrogate for Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid, spent around $70 million of her own money. Poizner, California’s insurance commissioner and a self-made multimillionaire, injected some $25 million of his money into his campaign.

Whitman will face off in the general election against state Attorney General Jerry Brown, a former two-term governor

California Republicans batter each other in primaries.

The winner in November will succeed Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who can’t seek re-election because of term limits.

Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina won the state’s Republican Senate primary and will face three-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in November. Polls suggest that Boxer faces a tough re-election battle.

In neighboring Nevada, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is also considered vulnerable in November. A crowded field of 13 Republicans were competing for a chance to challenge him in his bid for a fifth term in the Senate.

Tea Party darling Sharron Angle came out on top in the Republican race. Angle, a former Nevada Assembly member, won endorsements from many conservative organizations, including significant financial backing from the Tea Party Express, a national Tea Party group best known for running cross-country bus caravans, and the Club for Growth, a fiscally conservative organization.

Republican voters in Nevada also handed incumbent Gov. Jim Gibbons a defeat, making him the first incumbent governor to lose a primary this year. Former federal judge Brian Sandoval won the state’s GOP gubernatorial contest.

Nevada Republicans in ’slugfest’ for right to take on Reid

In Arkansas, Lincoln was able to survive a primary runoff despite an anti-incumbent wave, but she’ll face a tough general election fight against Rep. John Boozman, the GOP nominee.

“We’ve got a lot worth fighting for. A whole lot worth fighting for. We’re going to make sure, as we regroup tomorrow, we put this campaign on a trajectory towards November and a victory in November,” Lincoln said after the results came in.

Lincoln fights ‘incumbent’ label

Iowa, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota and Virginia also held primaries Tuesday. Former state Rep. Tom Graves, a Republican, won the runoff in Georgia to fill the seat of former Rep. Nathan Deal. Deal, also a Republican, stepped down this year to run for governor

And a new generation of leaders beckons. Will it be any better than the old one?

JUST before Yukio Hatoyama stepped down as Japan’s prime minister on June 2nd, he carried out what could—in an ideal world—be one of the bolder acts of his premiership. He convinced Ichiro Ozawa, secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and a powerbroker who has held sway over Japan’s mildewed politics for decades, to resign with him.

After announcing his decision, Mr Hatoyama, who is only 63, promised to retire gracefully from politics. His eyes wet with tears, he showed what appeared to be genuine contrition for letting down voters who nine months ago overwhelmingly backed his party in a general election, ending more than half a century of rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Not so Mr Ozawa. As The Economist went to press, there was still some doubt that his resignation would loosen his grip on the party machine. He currently commands the loyalty of at least 150 ruling-party lawmakers, by far the biggest faction in the parliament, or Diet. That would give him some influence over whomever the party picks to replace Mr Hatoyama at a gathering on June 4th, even from behind the scenes.

The front-runner for the job has long been Naoto Kan, the finance minister and deputy prime minister (see article). Before the vote he received a fillip when two possible rivals, the foreign and transport ministers, decided not to run against him. But whoever the new leader is, he—it is never a she—will have a lot on his plate. After picking a cabinet, he will have less than a fortnight before the session of the Diet ends on June 16th. That means he will have to decide whether to postpone or scrap a controversial bill to reverse the reform of the postal system. Scrapping it would anger a small coalition partner of the DPJ that is passionately opposed to privatisation. It would also alienate the politically powerful postal workers. But it would be a strong signal to financial markets that the new leader has his economic priorities right.

Then, on July 11th, come mid-term elections for the upper house. These will be another milestone for the DPJ. Months ago, gaining a majority in the upper house to add to its lower-house one was considered a safe bet. But the DPJ’s financial scandals, and Mr Hatoyama’s inability to decide until last month what to do about an American marine base in Okinawa, have hit the party hard, according to opinion surveys. The new leader will have his work cut out to avoid a drubbing at the polls.

What is more, he must somehow escape the curse of Okinawa. Friction with America over relocating the marine base there ultimately triggered Mr Hatoyama’s downfall. The hope for Mr Kan, if he is the new leader, will be that his silence on the issue during the past nine months will absolve him of responsibility for it. He could maintain an existing agreement with America, which would mollify the administration, and hope that the anger in Okinawa is eventually forgotten by much of the electorate. The Okinawans, however, will do their best to keep their strident opposition to the base in the public eye.

Even if the DPJ’s popularity is not significantly enhanced by the change of leader, a poor showing in the upper-house election could be a blessing in disguise. It would reinforce the impression that Mr Ozawa had done the party no good, and make it easier to send him packing.

Within the Diet, some small parties are winning popularity at the expense of the flailing DPJ and the discredited LDP. Some, such as Your Party, have sensibly liberal views, and might be willing to align with the DPJ, provided Mr Ozawa were not lurking in the shadows. Mr Ozawa’s resignation “opens up the possibility of a coalition as long as [Mr] Ozawa doesn’t try to run the DPJ through a surrogate,” writes Richard Katz of the Oriental Economist, a newsletter (unrelated to The Economist).

Coalition politics can be scrappy. Mr Hatoyama’s feisty partners made life tough for him over the Okinawa air base. Without a big majority, a dominant party like the DPJ can easily get bogged down in parliament. Japan could become even more directionless than it already is.

But coalitions have merits, sometimes forcing bigger parties to accommodate smaller ones to get their policies voted into law. If policies in Japan become more important than personalities, it would mark a welcome shift. Even if this new style of politics weakens big parties, that could be no bad thing, considering how chaotic recent years have been under them.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Friday that North Korea must faces consequences over the alleged sinking of a South Korean warship which has stoked tensions in the divided peninsular.

A South Korean military report published this week claimed that the sinking of the Cheonan was caused by a North Korean torpedo attack.

Pyongyang denies that claim and said Friday that it could back out of a nonaggression pact between the neighbors if Seoul attempted to punish it over the sinking.

North Korea and South Korea have remained officially at war since an armistice in 1953 brought their three-year Cold War conflict to an end.

“I think it’s important to send a clear message to North Korea that provocative actions have consequences,” Clinton said Friday as she began a week-long Asian tour in Tokyo, Japan. “We cannot allow the attack on South Korea to go unanswered by the international community.”

She said she was consulting with international allies to find the appropriate reaction.

Meanwhile, North Korea said Friday that it would “regard the present situation as the phase of a war” after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak accused it of engaging in military provocation and violating the armistice agreement between the nations, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korean military officials on Thursday announced the results of an official investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan, which concluded that North Korea fired a torpedo that cut the vessel in half.

Lee vowed Thursday to take “resolute countermeasures” against North Korea for its alleged attack, according to his office.

Should South Korea take steps to retaliate, North Korea will “strongly react to them with such merciless punishment as the total freeze of the inter-Korean relations, the complete abrogation of the north-south agreement on nonaggression and a total halt to the inter-Korean cooperation undertakings,” North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement, Yonhap reported.

North Korea denied Thursday that it sunk the warship, which went down on March 26, killing 46 sailors.

“We had already warned the South Korean group of traitors not to make reckless remarks concerning the sinking of warship Cheonan of the puppet navy,” North Korea’s national defense commission said in a statement Thursday responding to the investigators’ report, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

“Nevertheless, the group of traitors had far-fetchedly tried to link the case with us without offering any material evidence,” the statement said.

The South Korean military group that presented its report on the ship’s sinking Thursday comprises experts from South Korea, Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine,” said Dr. Yoon Duk-yong, the group’s co-chair.

“There is no other plausible explanation,” he said.

China asked both sides to stay calm to avoid an “escalation of the situation,” said the country’s foreign affairs ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu.

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said the status of the 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea has not changed because of the findings.

“They are on their normal state of readiness. They are engaged very routinely out there,” Mullen said.

The United States is bound by treaty to assist South Korea if it goes to war.

Japan said it stands behind South Korea. “We had received extensive explanation from the ROK [Republic of Korea] side prior to today’s announcement,” Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said in a statement.

“On this basis, Japan strongly supports the ROK. North Korea’s action cannot be condoned by any means, and Japan together with the international community strongly condemns North Korea,” the prime minister said.

“In handling this matter, Japan will continue its close coordination and cooperation for regional peace and stability with the countries concerned, including the ROK and the United States.”

Military and civilian briefers said that damage to the Cheonan’s hulk and injuries on the bodies of the sailors were consistent with the kind of “shock-wave and bubble effect” produced by a homing torpedo attack. Seismic data, witness statements and computer modeling provided further corroboration, Yoon said.

Briefers displayed torpedo parts recovered from the Cheonan wreck site: part of a motor, a shaft and parts of the propeller. Korean writing, with the words “Number 1″ were inscribed on fragments of the weapon. The parts displayed in a glass case were compared and shown to be identical to the blueprint of a 7.35 meter torpedo, obtained from a North Korean weapons export brochure.

General Han Won-dong, director of South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Agency, declined to state how or where South Korea had obtained the brochure, citing security sensitivities.

International members of the investigative team agreed with the conclusions.

“We worked closely and collaboratively, using separate tools and methods,” said Adm. Thomas Eccles of the U.S. Navy, adding that all members of the international team were in agreement.

Military officials also identified what they believe to be the type of vessel responsible.

“A few small submarines and a mother ship supporting them left a North Korea naval base in the West Sea [Yellow Sea] two - three days prior to the attack,” Yoon said, citing information gathered by a multinational task force made up of Australia, Canada, South Korea, the UK and the U.S.

The likely culprit was a midget submarine of the Yeono (”Salmon”), a vessel equipped with night vision equipment, Han said.

This is not the first clash the two Koreas have had near the maritime border.

In 1999 and 2002, there were fatal naval clashes between surface patrol boats near the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea. A November shooting incident also may have killed North Korean sailors.

However, the use of a submarine is a significant escalation in terms of weapons used. It’s also the deadliest North Korean attack since the bombing of a South Korean airliner killed 115 people in 1987.

Gen. Park Jung-i, who co-chaired the investigative committee, said that South Korea would give the evidence to the Armistice Commission that oversees the ceasefire that ended the 1950-1953 on the Korean peninsula. The commission would make the findings available to North Korea, he said.

Asked what defensive moves the South Korean navy is taking to prevent a recurrence, Han said that that the navy would establish anti-submarine detection measures, but admitted the difficulty of detecting an underwater submarine once it has left its base.