AP: Clinton acted on concerns of husband's donors  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State appointee Hillary Rodham Clinton intervened at least six times in government issues directly affecting companies and others that later contributed to her husband's foundation, an Associated Press review of her official correspondence found.

Olmert Says He Made Rice Change Vote  —  WASHINGTON — In an unusually public rebuke, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel said Monday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had been forced to abstain from a United Nations resolution on Gaza that she helped draft, after Mr. Olmert placed a phone call to President Bush.

Criticisms, political pressure and Barack Obama  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  Barack Obama's announced intentions on ABC News this Sunday regarding Guantanamo sparked substantial objections from civil liberties and human rights advocates.  The result of those objections?  From today's New York Times:

Meghan McCain Sits Down With MMC To Talk Blogs, Bikers, Politics & Why She Only Takes Off Her High Heels To Swim  —  Meghan McCain is an American blogger and daughter of the 2008 Republican nominee for President, John McCain.  —  Most recently, Ms. McCain spent almost two years …

Where Some See Mistakes, He Sees Disappointments  —  “This is the ultimate exit interview,” President Bush told the White House press corps yesterday as he faced it for a final time in the briefing room.  —  And the interviewee had come with well-rehearsed lines for any question his interviewers could devise.

Senate lets Burris in  —  Democrats relent despite Blagojevich scandal  —  Roland Burris, whose appointment to the Senate was in limbo for nearly two weeks, was accepted Monday by Democratic leaders, and he immediately struck a conciliatory tone with the very people who had tried to keep him out of Congress.

For Senate GOP, 2010 Losses on Top Of the 2008 Losses  —  Voinovich Is Latest to Say He'll Resign  —  A spate of retirement announcements by Senate Republicans this year have further complicated attempts by GOP strategists to begin rebuilding a party devastated by across-the-board losses in recent elections.

Obama Shelves Jobs-Credit Proposal  —  Democrats Said $3,000 Tax Incentive Could Be Abused by Businesses  —  Bowing to widespread Democratic skepticism, President-elect Barack Obama will drop his bid to include a business tax break he once touted in the economic stimulus bill now taking shape on Capitol Hill, aides said last night.

DOJ IG TAKES DOWN SCHLOZMAN  —  The long-awaited inspector general report on the politicization of the Bush DOJ Civil Rights Division has been released, and our old friend Bradley Schlozman is firmly in the cross-hairs: … Interestingly, the report is dated July 2, 2008, but was only released today.

Governor dishes on Caroline  —  ALBANY - Gov. Paterson said Caroline Kennedy “impressed” him in her interview for the U.S. Senate seat, but he's not ready to declare the front-runner just yet.  —  In an exclusive interview with the Daily News, Paterson said he has interviewed 15 people …

Duncan: Smart Is Cooler Than Ever  —  Arne Duncan, the Chicago schools chief, told the Senate on Tuesday that he would work for “real and meaningful change” in the nation's schools if confirmed as education secretary, and he said he hoped president-elect Barack Obama's own example as a model student …

Weighing Reach of Law in Appeals for Clemency  —  WASHINGTON — In an unusually testy argument, the Supreme Court on Monday tried to make sense of a federal law that provides lawyers to poor inmates on state death rows when their cases move to federal court.

O TO ARRIVE IN A ‘LINCOLN’  —  INAUGURAL THEMES WILL HARKEN BACK TO GREAT EMANCIPATOR  —  They're going to party like it's 1861!  —  In what will be a Lincoln-themed inauguration from top to bottom, Obama won't only follow in the footsteps of the former president - he'll also eat like him, it was announced yesterday.

Does “Black Hawk Down” Portray an American War Crime?  —  At least nine hundred people, maybe half of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza so far, the overwhelming majority presumably killed by Israel (some people, more than we probably know right now, have been killed by Hamas, mainly Fatah activists in revenge killings).