Nation briefs 10/27/05

CIA leak investigation finally winding down

WASHINGTON -- The federal grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA officer's identity met for three hours Wednesday with special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald and his deputies, adjourning for the day without announcing any action. Fitzgerald is putting the finishing touches on a two-year criminal probe that has ensnared President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, and Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby. Away from the federal courthouse, FBI agents conducted a handful of last-minute interviews to check facts key to the case. After the grand jury left for the day, federal prosecutors conferred for about an hour in the grand jury area of the federal courthouse.

Miers told to expect questions on war, Bush

WASHINGTON -- The senator who will preside at Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' confirmation hearings told her Wednesday to expect to be questioned about White House's policies on the war on terror and whether she can be independent of President Bush if confirmed. Senate Judiciary chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told Miers to expect questions on the area of executive authority "especially in light of your close relationship with the president and the key positions you have held in the White House." Miers is the White House counsel, and was also White House staff secretary and deputy chief of staff for policy before being nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

DeLay acknowledges failure to report donations

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Tom DeLay failed to comply with House requirements that he disclose all contributions to a defense fund that pays his legal bills, the Texas Republican acknowledged to House officials. He wrote officials that $20,850 contributed in 2000 and 2001 was not reported anywhere. Another $17,300 was included in the defense fund's quarterly report but not in DeLay's 2000 annual financial disclosure report. Other donations were understated as totaling $2,800, when the figure should have been $4,450. It was during that period that DeLay was the subject of several House ethics investigations.

Schwarzenegger answers immigration questions

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a group of Spanish-speaking voters he opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants and defended his veto of a bill that would have granted driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. The governor said an amnesty program similar to the one the federal government undertook in the late 1980s would be ill-advised today. Schwarzenegger was addressing the group at a studio of Spanish-language Univision television network, trying to drum up support for his special election campaign. Instead, the governor found himself fielding questions about illegal immigration. He said he favors a guest-worker program in which immigrant laborers could obtain work permits.

-- From wire reports