Could the D.C. lotto case be the city’s case of the decade? Probably not, but the subpoena list is turning out to be a who’s who of Washington’s biggest names.
Former President Bill Clinton and ABC newsman George Stephanopoulos were just subpoenaed as part of a civil case filed by a former city employee who says he was wrongly fired for protesting the lotto deal, according to Washington City Paper.
Eric Payne—who worked in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer before he was fired—says the District is now going out of its way to prevent him from finding a job in the city.
Payne says he’s known Clinton for 24 years and worked for him in the White House, according to WCP, where he was part of the communication staff and did research and fact-checking for the president as a member of the team headed by Stephanopoulos.
Court records show that in a February deposition Payne brought up Clinton and said he spoke to the former president for 20 minutes about helping him find a job and even said Clinton “might be a witness called at trial,” according to WCP. Payne also said that he has been exchanging emails with Stephanopoulos about the job hunt.
Now, the District is calling in Clinton and Stephanopoulos to see how they are helping Payne find a job.
Via WCP:
"It's overreaching, it's overbroad," Payne's attorney, Brian K. McDaniel, says of the subpoenas. He adds that the District is trying to use the subpoenas to "chill relationships" with former and potential future employers. "They just want to embarrass Mr. Payne," he says.
The subpoenas only require documents, not testimony.
Federal judges recently ruled that Mayor Vincent Gray and Councilmember Jim Graham will have to testify in the case about their involvement in his firing.
* Wonkblog’s Sarah Kliff explained what a late-term abortion would actually mean for D.C.
In short, the ban wouldn’t have a real practical effect on too many women. Late-term abortions accounted for 1.3 percent of the 623,000 abortions performed in 2007.
Thirty-nine states prohibit elective abortion late in a pregnancy. The District, however, has no such restriction. Many of these laws are understood to be compliant with Roe v. Wade, which gave states the power to prohibit third-trimester abortion as long as there was an exception for “the preservation of the life or health of the mother.”
But, as Kliff reports, reproductive health advocates are raising concerns about what would happen to women who could experience harm if a late-term abortion were not available.
Although Rep. Trent Frank’s (R-Ariz.) bill to ban later-term abortions in D.C. does include a provision for women whose life is threatened by their pregnancy, it does not include anything for a woman who may face adverse health effects from the pregnancy.
* The Baltimore Sun editorial board wrote that a Friday Maryland Court of Appeals decision to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages fundamentally shifts the terms of the marriage rights debate.
"How ironic that a divorce will be remembered for strengthening the rights of all Marylanders to be married regardless of sexual orientation.
With its slam-dunk 7-0 opinion issued Friday in the matter of two women seeking a divorce, the Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that Maryland must recognize same-sex marriages legally certified elsewhere. It's a huge victory for the ongoing efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland and adds a whole new dimension to this fall's referendum.
Instead of deciding whether same-sex marriages should be legal in Maryland, voters will effectively be choosing only whether such ceremonies are conducted within the state or in the nearby District of Columbia — or some other jurisdictions where they have already been legalized. In either case, it appears same-sex marriages are here to stay."
* Former Virginia governor and Democratic Senate hopeful Tim Kaine tweeted today about his son's graduation from George Washington University and his enlisting as a second lieutenent in the United States Marine Corp.
"Anne and I are so proud of our son Nat for graduating from GWU and commissioning as 2nd Lieut. in the USMC. Semper Fi!"
*Semper Fi is Latin for "Always Loyal." He tweeted this photo along with the message.
