Squeeze Play: Defense lawyer Robert Trout told jurors Wednesday that prosecutors had a "lemon of a case" against former Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), The National Law Journal reports. The sour analogy came in Trout's closing argument in Jefferson's corruption trial, which now is in the hands of the jury. The case, Trout said, is “about the government’s ability to turn something that is not a crime into a crime.... And ladies and gentlemen, that’s power.”
Guantanamo's Possible Minor: Justice Department prosecutors are weighing civilian criminal charges against Mohammed Jawad, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay for more than six years, The Wall Street Journal reports. In the meantime, they're notifying Congress that they plan to move him, or even release him. Jawad's lawyers say he was as young as 12 when he threw a grenade at U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, while the government says he was 17.
Texting Mandate: The Washington Post reports that some senators want to require states to prohibit text messaging by drivers or risk losing 25 percent of their annual federal highway money. The senators introduced legislation Wednesday. Already, the District of Columbia and 13 states, including Virginia, have driver-texting bans in place or scheduled to become effective this year, the Post says. Maryland's ban takes effect Oct. 1.
Physician Lobbying: A physician-owned hospital in Texas that's given generously to Democratic campaigns is getting most of what it wants in the drafts of healthcare legislation, The New York Times reports. Says the Times: "The flood of dollars from just a single interest of modest size illustrates just how high the stakes are in this year’s health care negotiations, and how even sideline issues generate intense lobbying."
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