Vacationing on the Riviera this week? If you’re going to be in beautiful Monaco, you might want to keep an eye open for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) and maybe Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.).
Loop Fans may recall that we had urged people to hop aboard a codel, tentatively planned to be led by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), to a five-day interparliamentary meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, starting Thursday.
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Smith decided not to go. That left CSCE officials scrambling to find a delegation to represent the United States. McCain is going first to Afghanistan, Lebanon and Egypt and then doing a drop-in at the Monaco gathering for one night, his office said.
But McCain, as he usually does, is flying commercial to Dubai and then taking a military jet to Afghanistan, Lebanon and Egypt, and apparently to France. Then commercial back home. He’s got one aide going with him.
Aderholt is flying commercial, sans staff.
We had heard that the retiring Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) was possibly going to hang out at the conference, but Shuler’s office told us last week that he decided not to attend.
Cardoza’s office didn’t respond to several calls and e-mails. There’s a chance you’ll see him there. Unclear if Cardoza’s wife would come along or how many aides would be forced to attend.
The place to watch is the spectacular Fairmont Monte Carlo. The spa’s terrific, and the hotel has its own casino.
Hitting a roadblock?
Another would-be ambassador bites the dust.
The White House last week withdrew the nomination of Washington lawyer and major Obama campaign bundler Timothy Broas to be ambassador to the Netherlands — 10 days after Broas was charged with speeding, drunken driving and resisting arrest in Chevy Chase.
Broas, 58, a white-collar criminal defense lawyer and partner in the D.C. office of Winston & Strawn, was stopped June 19 at 1:18 a.m. and ticketed for going 47 mph in a 35-mph zone on Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase, not far from his home, according to court records.
The White House has declined to explain the unusual move, except to cite “personal reasons.”
The charge on his citation said he was stopped for “driving, attempting to drive vehicle while impaired by alcohol.” The incident was first reported by the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News.
Broas was a top Obama campaign fundraiser in 2008, raising between $200,000 and $500,000. Before his ambassadorial nomination in April, he had raised more than $500,000 for the reelection effort, the CPI reported.
A trial is set for Aug. 6 in Rockville.
Done. Done. Done.
Nothing like that smell of jet fuel (and burgers on the grill) to increase productivity. After wrapping up an already busy week — but before the beginning of the Senate’s week-long Independence Day break — senators approved a large slate of pending White House nominations.
The list included Allison Macfarlane to chair the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Kristine Svinicki to be a commission member.
The Senate gave the nod to almost a dozen ambassadors, including those to Burma, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It also approved of the nomination of Deborah Jeffrey to be inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a post that became vacant after President Obama fired her predecessor, Gerald Walpin. Walpin later unsucessfully sued the administration for wrongful termination and prompted congressional investigations.
With Emily Heil
The blog: washingtonpost.com/intheloop. Twitter: @InTheLoopWP.
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