Greeley - As you sat through the hours of testimony, it was hard to see Michael McCarthy’s case as anything but a political prosecution that wasted thousands of tax dollars.

After two very long days of witnesses and legal maneuvering, a six-member jury took less than an hour Friday to acquit McCarthy of harassing a sheriff’s deputy and resisting arrest while protesting an October 2004 campaign appearance by President Bush. >> MORE

Analysis by John Aloysius Farrell

Washington - No president would choose to face the kind of ordeal that George W. Bush endured last week. The number of U.S. fatalities in the Iraq war reached 2,000. Bush was humiliated by conservatives and forced to drop the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers, his friend and attorney.
And on Friday, a top White House aide, Lewis “Scooter� Libby, was indicted after a two-year investigation of the leak of a CIA operative’s name, and he resigned his post.

Still, it might have been worse. >> MORE

It’s a good thing, if you are a Republican, that your annus horribili arrived in 2005.

“If this were October 2006 … yes, the Republicans would lose their House majority,� says GOP pollster Frank Luntz.

The Republican Party’s troubles have left next year’s mid-term election looking like a donnybrook, with perhaps double the expected number of fiercely contested House races. >> MORE

By John Aloysius Farrell

Washington - Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff was indicted Friday on charges that he lied to investigators about White House efforts to retaliate against a former U.S. ambassador who challenged the administration’s primary rationale for the Iraq war: Saddam Hussein’s supposed weapons of mass destruction.

Lewis “Scooter” Libby, 55, resigned as Cheney’s top aide after being charged by a federal grand jury with two counts of perjury, two counts of making false statements and one count of obstructing justice. >> MORE

By Anne C. Mulkern

Washington � Colorado congressman Mark Udall called on White House political chief Karl Rove to resign Friday, and Rep. Tom Tancredo said President Bush should consider telling the nation how he plans to move forward after multiple wounds to his presidency.

The two and the rest of Colorado’s congressional delegation reacted to Friday’s indictment of vice presidential aide I. Lewis Libby in the CIA leak probe with responses that ranged from caution to outrage. >> MORE

The Associated Press

Here is the text of the statement by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald at Friday’s news conference on the CIA leak investigation >> MORE

By John Aloysius Farrell

Washington - President Bush, bloodied and bowed by the Republican Party’s conservative base, withdrew the nomination of White House counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court on Thursday.

The White House offered no timetable for announcing a new nominee, and several senators said they doubted that a new justice could be confirmed before the Christmas holidays. >> MORE

By Eric Gorski

In the end, not even one of Harriet Miers’ few supporters among the political power brokers of evangelical Christianity would stand behind her.

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson (pictured) waited until after Miers withdrew her nomination to the Supreme Court on Thursday to reveal that he had developed reservations in recent days about her conservative credentials. >> MORE

By Mike Soraghan

Washington - An investigation of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his dealings with tribal gambling interests is turning to Gale Norton’s Interior Department.

Senate Indian Affairs Committee chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., will hold a hearing next week to delve into Abramoff’s dealings with the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. >> MORE

By Jim Hughes

Gov. Bill Owens has sent a letter to conservative think tanks around the country explaining his support of Tuesday’s ballot measures to suspend provisions of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

Critics say the letter is an effort by the governor - for years a national star in Republican politics - to protect his conservative legacy, which has taken a beating since he helped craft Referendums C and D. >> MORE

Oct. 27, 2005

Dear Mr. President:

I write to withdraw as a nominee to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. >> MORE

Here are comments from Colorado’s U.S. senators reacting to the withdrawal of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers: >> MORE

Here is a statement by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson on Harriet Miers’ decision. >> MORE

By Mike Soraghan

Washington - A key congressional committee Wednesday endorsed a proposal to speed up oil-shale development in western Colorado by dropping requirements for consultation with state and local officials.

The proposal by House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., also would limit environmental review of shale development and cap royalties. >> MORE

Three GOP lawmakers from Colorado have signed a letter to President Bush complaining about new Air Force rules that they say would restrict the religious freedom of military chaplains. >> MORE