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Washington (CNN) – Following the resignations of most of his senior staff and questions about whether he had the commitment to mount a full presidential campaign, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich told supporters Friday he knows what the effort will take and is committed to enduring the rigors in order to get his message out.
"As someone who has been in public life for nearly forty years, I know full well the rigors of campaigning for public office. I will endure them. I will carry the message of American renewal to every part of this great land, whatever it takes," Gingrich said in a message emailed to supporters and posted on his Facebook page Friday.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, may have to fold his efforts to push a measure legalizing online poker in the United States into a tax-cut bill, in light of strenuous opposition from Republicans.
Such a provision would greatly benefit some of Reid's biggest campaign backers - those in the gaming industry, which has been lobbying for the change.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Who might receive the ultimate in White House holiday gifts - a presidential grant of clemency - is one of the hottest Washington guessing games today.
The wait for 16 applicants is over. Fourteen people received a pardon from President George Bush and the sentences of two others were commuted, the Justice Department announced Monday. A commutation reduces a convict's prison term, but the conviction remains on the person's record.
Among those receiving commutations was rap singer John Forte, who was charged with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. He was sentenced to 168 months in prison and five years supervised release. His prison term will now end on Dec. 22 of this year, and his release will still be supervised.
Those receiving pardons were not nationally-known and included persons convicted of marijuana use, unauthorized acquisition of food stamps and bank embezzlement.
Still unknown is how many more pardons and commutations the President may grant before he leaves office.
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(CNN) - John McCain's campaign said Wednesday it has contacted "appropriate authorities" over a report that Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail had been hacked.
"This is a shocking invasion of the Governor's privacy and a violation of law," campaign manager Rick Davis said in a statement. "The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these emails will destroy them. We will have no further comment."
The statement came hours after a user on the Web site WikiLeaks said he had gained access to Palin's Yahoo e-mail account and gained access. Screenshots of the e-mail messages and photos of the Alaska governor's family were published on that Web site and later on gossip Web site gawker.com.
FBI Spokesman Eric Gonzalez in Anchorage, Alaska confirms to CNN an investigation is underway.
"We are aware of the allegations and we are coordinating with Secret Service as far as the allegation that someone has hacked into Governor Palin's personal e-mail account," he said. "We are going to be working a joint investigation with Secret Service on this."
(CNN) – Sen. Ted Stevens is expected to be indicted this afternoon by a federal grand jury, CNN has learned. A government source and a source familiar with the investigation would not tell CNN what charges are expected to be filed against the Alaska Republican.
Stevens has been the subject of a wide-ranging federal investigation focusing on Alaska state lawmakers and an Energy company in the state.
Steven's Alaska home was searched last July.
Watch: Stevens' home gets raided
FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents searched Stevens' Alaska home in July 2007 in connection with the probe, which has already snared two oil-company executives and a state lobbyist. At the time, he urged constituents "not to form conclusions based upon incomplete and sometimes incorrect reports in the media."
The 84-year-old senator is a former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and is renowned for his prowess in steering federal funds to his vast, sparsely populated state. He has represented Alaska in Washington since 1968 and is up for re-election in November.
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