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Cop Talk

Note to thin-skinned police officers: Be careful when you ask Donald Kellaher, a top official in the House Sergeant-at-Arms office, for his ID. He’s liable to tell you to stick it where the sun don’t shine. [IMGCAP(1)]

When a police officer recently asked Kellaher for his ID, sources say, he got indignant and told the officer, “Why don’t you shove that ID up your ass?”

The police officer did not shove anything anywhere, but he did call his supervisor to complain about Kellaher’s behavior. The Fraternal Order of Police, the

labor union for Capitol Police officers, then sent a letter to House Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Livingood complaining about Kellaher’s “unprofessional” behavior, one police source told HOH.

Sources say Kellaher — who, ironically enough, is the director of police services in the Sergeant-at-Arms office — was reprimanded privately. Kellaher declined to speak to HOH, but a source in the Sergeant-at-Arms office confirmed that the situation “was investigated and appropriate action was taken.”

It’s not known whether Livingood’s actions included washing Kellaher’s mouth out with soap. But now, sources say, the situation has been resolved and Kellaher is still gainfully employed.

Still Hot. HOH spotted Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) in the Capitol last week and asked, “Excuse me, sir, but aren’t you the ‘Hottest Senator?’”

“Why yes I am,” he beamed. “Can you believe it?”

Technically, Lautenberg, 81, was actually the second-hottest Senator in the “Hot or Not” contest on AdamShoop.org when HOH first wrote about it. But it didn’t take him long to surge past Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and claim first place — even if just briefly.

Though results of the contest constantly change as new players log on, Lautenberg still thinks of himself as the No. 1, King Daddy, Hottest Senator of Them All. “I even beat Obama!” he excitedly informed HOH.

But the Senator said his 9-year-old granddaughter Molly was not amused to hear that her dear “Papa,” as she calls him, is hot.

When he called his daughter in Miami recently to chat, little Molly got on the phone and said, “Papa, they’re writing bad things about Senators. And you’re No. 2. It’s disgusting.”

“What?’ the Senator said he asked Molly.

“Hot and sexy,” she said.

“Oh no,” Lautenberg said he explained to his granddaughter. “That doesn’t have anything to do with sex. I’m just bright and lively.”

Lautenberg says he was in “shock and awe” to learn of his hotness. “I look in the mirror and say, ‘This is sexy?’” He also acknowledged that perhaps his loyal aides had jacked up his score by playing the game repeatedly online. “I figured there was a scheme.”

Lautenberg’s days atop the list are numbered, at least for now. At press time, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) was winning the hottest Senator contest with an average rating of 8. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) followed closely with 7.8. Among the women, Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) were in first and second place, respectively.

Thank goodness the Senate is air conditioned.

Video Angst. House Democratic leadership aides are considering whether to file a complaint with the ethics committee over an online video produced by the House Republican Conference that Democrats call an abuse of taxpayer dollars.

The video, which can be seen at www.gop.gov, mocks the Democratic Party as the “No Party” and is a takeoff on a Capital One credit card ad featuring comedian David Spade.

At first, Republicans bowed to Democratic objections and removed the video from the Conference site. While it was down, they made two minor changes that Republicans say keeps the video permissible under House franking rules that prohibit “partisan, political or personalized” comments about policy and legislation.

They simply blurred out an image of a donkey and a bobble-head doll of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. Removing references to the Democratic Party were the only corrections needed in order to comply with the rules of the House, said Andrea Tantaros, a spokeswoman for the Conference.

The script remained intact, as did images of and references to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

The little movie begins with a Republican actor playing the role of a dorky, badly dressed aide to Pelosi who fields a phone call from a constituent asking whether the Democratic Party will save Social Security, boost the economy, improve health care and strengthen border security. “No” is the response to each question.

A picture of Pelosi sits on the desk and a sign on the staffer’s computer reads “No is the Democrat Policy.”

In the last line of the movie, the staffer tells the angry constituent, “No. That’s Democratic policy, buddy. Start liking it.”

While Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said the video was “way over the line,” Brian Walsh, a spokesman for House Administration Chairman Bob Ney (R-Ohio), called it “perfectly permissible.”

But Walsh says the House Administration Committee does not have oversight over leadership Web sites. He said if any Democrats object, they’ll have to take it up with the House ethics committee.

Pelosi’s office is considering what to do next.

Please send your hot tips, juicy gossip or comments to hoh@rollcall.com.

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