Fri, March 21, 2008 - 4:12 PM

Friday, March 21, 4:15 p.m.

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-- Marsha Mercer

A long-running civil suit stemming from the Monica Lewinsky scandal--involving the vicious beating of two anti-BillClinton siblings by pro-Clinton Teamsters outside Philadelphia's City Hall during a 1998 presidential visit--was settled out of court today.

The plaintiffs, Don Adams and Teri Adams, signed an agreement after Teamsters Local 115, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, opted to pay an undisclosed sum in exchange for dropping the suit, which included counts of assault, defamation of character, and malicious prosecution against the unions.

The terms of the settlement are confidential.

-- Billy House

The State Department now says passport files for Clinton, McCain and Obama all were accessed by unauthorized staff.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said this morning she apologized to Barack Obama for State Department employees wrongly looking at his passport records.

“I told him I was sorry and that I myself would be very disturbed if somebody was looking at my passports,” Rice said.

Two contract employees were fired and another was disciplined according to the department.

The Associated Press reports the State Department says the Justice Department is monitoring State's internal investigation into whether three contract workers had a political motive for looking at Obama's passport file.

--Neil Simon

Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his controversial statements and all, may have been a longtime spiritual mentor for Barack Obama, but he apparently held enough esteem in the Clinton circle to be invited to a White House breakfast in honor of religious leaders in 1998.

The New York Times has obtained a photo of Bill Clinton with Wright at the event.

The Times account of President Clinton’s speech that day recalled Clinton delivering an emotional confession to the gathered clerics in the hours before the Starr Report became public and detailed his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign dismissed the photo, saying the former president was photographed with literally tens of thousands of people during his time in office.

--Neil Simon

When Bill Richardson announced a longshot bid for the presidency, it was widely assumed that he was only running to boost his national profile in hopes of becoming vice president or, perhaps, secretary of state under Hillary Clinton. The world-travelling former congressman and current governor of New Mexico was a longtime ally of the Clintons, serving in Bill Clinton's cabinet.

He denied that his run was for anything but the top job, of course. But few bought it. This clip from Saturday Night Live back in October, when Clinton seemed a lock for the Democratic nomination, captures the skepticism. (Fast forward to 33 seconds for the start of the clip).



In case you can't watch YouTube at work, here's part of the sketch transcript. The scene: a Halloween party attended by the Democratic presidential candidates.

Bill Richardson (Horatio Sanz): Hillary. Bill.

Bill Clinton (Darrell Hammond): Who are you supposed to be, Bill?

Bill Richardson: [ deepens his voice ] I'm Al Gore! [ laughs ] I've got the Nobel Prize.. this Oscar..

Hillary Clinton (Amy Poehler): That's great, Bill!

Bill Richardson: Yeah! [ chuckles ] I know! Me, dressed as Vice-President. [ laughs ] It's we-eird! Not that weird, though, right? [ laughs ]

Hillary Clinton: You look great.

Bill Richardson: Yeah. So, hey, uh -- can I help out at all?

Hillary Clinton: Actually, we could use some ice.

Bill Richardson: I'm on it! [ he runs off ]

Hillary Clinton: Okay.

Bill Clinton: That man really does want to be your Vice-President.

So, it was notable that Richardson abandoned the Clintons and officially endorsed Barack Obama today, calling him a "once-in-a-lifetime" leader. It's not completely surprising, though. Though Obama has been hit with several negative news cycles concerning comments made by his former pastor, his path to the nomination is much stronger than Clinton's. That became even more true this week when her campaign's push for revotes in Michigan and Florida failed.

If Richardson really wants to be VP or secretary of state, siding with Obama is more likely to get him there.

--Sean Mussenden