Texans at the top: Dems pick Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson for Science slot; Chairman Ralph Hall offers congrats

A pair of North Texans have taken over the House Science and Technology Committee. Today, House Democrats picked Dallas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson as the ranking minority member -- making her the Democratic counterpart to Chairman Ralph Hall, the Rockwall Republican.

Gillman: http://dallasne.ws/hGYmsd

GOP congressional candidate Stephen Broden says he would not rule out violent overthrow of government

WASHINGTON — Republican congressional candidate Stephen Broden stunned his party Thursday, saying he would not rule out violent overthrow of the government if elections did not produce a change in leadership.
Melanie Mason reports: http://dallasne.ws/9tPtOz

Election foe attacks Eddie Bernice Johnson on scholarship scandal

WASHINGTON – Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson's challenger is unleashing a two-week ad blitz focused on her misuse of scholarship funds – an ad blitz financed largely through donations that began to pour in after reports that the Dallas Democrat steered college aid to grandsons and other ineligible relatives.

Gillman, Mason report http://dallasne.ws/aBrtFY

Broden seizes the spotlight in race with Johnson, but can he capture votes?

In any other election year, Stephen Broden would be destined to be a footnote. Most years, U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson's challengers collect about one in four votes and are quickly forgotten. But this year, in the wake of scandal involving scholarships Johnson awarded improperly to her grandsons and four other ineligible college students, Broden has gotten national attention.

Melanie Mason reports:  http://dallasne.ws/bcLxlY

Sarah Palin endorses Stephen Broden, Eddie Bernice Johnson's challenger

Sarah Palin , whose buzzed-about endorsements have established her as a GOP kingmaker, has weighed in on a race close to home, endorsing Republican Stephen Broden in his challenge against Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson.
Mason reports: http://dallasne.ws/dq1fZs

Letters suggest Dallas lawmaker had direct role in scholarships for relatives

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson apparently asked the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to send scholarship checks directly to her two grandsons and two great-nephews, rather than to their colleges. Gillman and Hoppe report: http://dallasne.ws/ckbGF7

Eddie Bernice Johnson says chief of staff reviewed scholarship applications

WASHINGTON – Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson offered a new line of defense late Thursday, blaming her chief of staff for failing to adhere to Congressional Black Caucus Foundation rules that would have precluded her from awarding college aid to her relatives and those of another top staffer.
Gillman reports: http://dallasne.ws/bNVcHn

Eddie Bernice Johnson: 'I never heard the rules' on scholarships

Gillman reports:
WASHINGTON — Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson broke her silence in a scholarship scandal this morning, insisting that she had no idea the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation had rules against awarding college aide to her own relatives. "I never heard the rules even discussed," she told KRLD-AM (1080). "I can't really blame anyone. I could have researched them myself. But the rules just came to me. One sheet came last year, which I didn't read well, which was my mistake. They were really very ambiguous rules."
http://dallasne.ws/aChfjv

Did you apply for a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarship from Eddie Bernice Johnson?

Gillman:
We've had tremendous feedback from our reporting over the last few days about the scholarships awarded by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson to her grandsons, great-nephews and two kids of her top Dallas aide. There's been a lot of reader input to the effect that her claim to have awarded at least some scholarship money to every single qualified applicant is, in the readers' eyes, dubious. There are some readers who doubt that Johnson is the only lawmaker to have violated the rules.

If anyone out there has relevant information, please contact me.

http://dallasne.ws/dwWC9F

Black Caucus Foundation chair denounces Eddie Bernice Johnson, 'self-dealing' in scholarships

WASHINGTON – The lawmaker who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation issued a scathing denunciation Tuesday of Dallas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, referring to "self-dealing," a shortage of integrity, and "unethical behavior" as he vowed to prevent further violations of scholarship rules. Gillman reports: http://dallasne.ws/aPunsf

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson says she'll repay scholarship funds by week's end

Gillman follows up:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson awarded eight scholarships last year to her grandsons and a top aide's children – bringing to 23 the number of awards she handed out since 2005 in violation of Congressional Black Caucus Foundation eligibility rules. The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday that over the last five years, the Dallas Democrat has awarded up to $20,000 in 15 scholarships to two grandsons, two great-nephews, and aide Rod Givens' children between 2005 and 2008. The 2009 awards – reflected in a previously undisclosed list provided Monday by the foundation – push that above $25,000.
http://dallasne.ws/cXHAXu

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson violated rules, steered scholarships to relatives

Gillman and Hoppe take a close look:
Longtime Dallas congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has awarded thousands of dollars in college scholarships to four relatives and a top aide's two children since 2005, using foundation funds set aside for black lawmakers' causes. The recipients were ineligible under anti-nepotism rules of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which provided the money. And all of the awards violated a foundation requirement that scholarship winners live or study in a caucus member's district.
http://dallasne.ws/aUidR5