Published 12:23 p.m. ET -- Although stung by attacks from his former Republican colleagues in the Senate, Chuck Hagel is bracing to fight back against his critics and has no intention of withdrawing as the nominee to be Defense Secretary, according to the former senator's brother.  

"He's not going to walk away from this," said Tom Hagel, who spoke to his older brother about the looming confirmation battle on Sunday night. "The way he's responding to this, he's just going to fight harder." 

Tom Hagel's comments to NBC News came Monday just moments before Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, announced the panel will vote Tuesday on Hagel's nomination.

They also came amid mounting signs that some Republican senators are gearing up to try and fight it with a filibuster. On Sunday, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the committee, vowed to put a hold on the nomination -- as well as that of John Brennan to be CIA director -- if the administration does not provide more information about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services panel, said he was weighing a filibuster.

But other Republicans senators, including Arizona Sen. John McCain, Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Susan Collins (R-ME) -- have said they would not support a filibuster. It's not clear Graham would have the votes to go through with one.

There was also speculation the former Nebraska senator might pull his name as a result. Widely respected defense analyst Tom Ricks wrote Friday he believed there was a 50-50 chance Hagel would withdraw.

Tom Hagel, who served with his older brother in the Army during Vietnam and sat behind him during his rocky Jan. 31st confirmation hearing, described Chuck Hagel as "committed" and "optimistic"  that he will be confirmed as Defense Secretary.    

"I don't think there is any possibility" he will withdraw-unless he's asked to do so by President Obama, Tom Hagel said.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Former Senator Chuck Hagel testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of defense on Capitol Hill January 31, 2013 in Washington, DC.

The White House appeared to shoot down any hint of that Monday.

"We are absolutely committed to the Hagel nomination," said Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman.

Tom Hagel said his brother was "shocked" by the level of personal animosity to his nomination from his former GOP colleagues in the Senate.

He also indicated that both he and his brother were upset about the blizzard of TV ads from anonymously funded advocacy groups attacking his nomination, calling the ads "absolutely gutless." He added, "If these people have integrity and believe in what they are doing, why don't they put their names to it?"

But while his brother was "tired" by the ordeal and it has taken a "personal toll," Tom Hagel said his brother was "ready to deal with it" and prepared "to respond to whatever attacks come out."

The self-described Atlanta-based "oppo researcher" who helped broker the release of the secret video that has rocked the Romney campaign got a congratulatory email today from his famous grandfather -- former President Jimmy Carter.

James Carter IV told NBC News in an interview that, starting late last month, he tracked down the source who took the secret Romney video via Twitter --  and then in a series of messages encouraged him to release the full tape to Mother Jones magazine.

After emailing his grandfather the magazine's story about the tape -- under the subject, "Huge campaign news," and calling it "my biggest story yet" -- the former president wrote back at 7:16 am Tuesday: "James: This is extraordinary. Congratulations! Papa."

"I'm proud of my role in being able to track him down," James Carter, 35,  said about the source who took the video. "I'm a partisan Democrat. My motivation is to help Democrats get elected. If there is anything I can find in any race, I try to do that."

Related: Leaked video is the latest hit for Romney

But Carter also confirmed there is a personal side to the backstory of the campaign video: he was especially motivated, he said, because of Romney's frequent attacks on the presidency of his grandfather, including the GOP candidate's comparisons to the "weak" foreign policy of Carter and Barack Obama.

"It gets under my skin -- mostly the weakness on the foreign policy stuff," Carter said. "I just think it's ridiculous. I don’t like criticism of my family."

Carter said he is currently unemployed and has not been paid for his work by the Obama campaign or any other political organization. What motivated him at first was Romney's role at Bain Capital and the controversy over whether the GOP candidate as a businessman had invested in companies that outsourced jobs overseas.

Carter had focused, in particular, on Bain Capital's 1998 investment -- while Romney was still chief executive -- in Global Tech Appliances, a Chinese manufacturing company. Carter was listed as providing "research assistance" to a July 11 story about the investment by David Corn, Mother Jones' Washington bureau chief and an MSNBC contributor.

Related: Romney: Secretly recorded remarks 'not elegantly stated'

Then, in late August, just before the Republican convention, Carter spotted a YouTube link to a brief video clip in which Romney talks about his investment in a Chinese company. The link was posted under the name "Rachel Maddow" but was quickly taken down because the poster had no relationship to the MSNBC host.

The video then reappeared on YouTube under a different account -- "Anne Onymous." Carter said he was fascinated by the video -- and figured there had to be more to Romney's talk.

"It was just weird video to all of a sudden come across,” he said. “It was all very strange and it piqued my curiosity," he said.

Carter Tweeted a link to the video -- and then soon noticed he had a new follower named "Anne Onymous."

"I recognized it" -- and then messaged the follower back, resulting in a series of exchanges in which he encouraged the poster to come forward and give the full video to Corn.

The source who took the video has confirmed to NBC News that it was taken at a May 17 $50,000-a-plate fundraiser at the Boca Raton, Fla., home of private-equity mogul Marc Leder, chief executive of Sun Capital Advisors.

Leder has given $225,000 to Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney Super PAC, in addition to raising money for Romney's presidential campaign. He has also been the subject of controversy after a report in the New York Post last year -- under the headline "Nude Frolic in Tycoon's Pool" -- about a wild party at his Bridgehampton mansion in which, according to the Post's account, "guests cavorted nude in the pool" and scantily clad Russian dancers performed on platforms.

Leder has not responded to a request for comment from NBC News.

A former Florida congressman who has been a top campaign bundler for President Obama said Wednesday he is taking immediate steps to de-register as a lobbyist for a Florida-based airline so he can continue to raise funds for the president.

Ron Klein, who has raised between $200,000 and $500,000 for the president, was registered as a lobbyist last month for Spirit Airlines, a low-cost airline that has been fighting new Obama administration airline regulations. But the Obama campaign has a rule against accepting campaign contributions from federally registered lobbyists.

After the Washington Free Beacon website reported on his lobbyist role today -- noting that he is listed on the Obama campaign's website as one of its bundlers -- Klein told NBC News that his registration with the Secretary of the Senate last month was a "clerical error" by an employee of Holland & Knight, the Washington law and lobbying firm where he currently works. He will "de-register" with the Secretary of the Senate today, he said.

Klein said he had brought in Spirit Airlines as a client for Holland & Knight in keeping with his role of "business development" for the firm. But, he added, "I'm not a lobbyist" even thought he was listed as one of the three Holland & Knight lobbyists who were registered last month to work on issues relating to "Department of Transportation aviation regulations" and "customs and border protection" at Ft. Lauderdale airport.

The case illustrates the fuzzy rules of what constitutes lobbying in Washington. Spirit Airlines recently launched a campaign to overturn a new Transportation Department regulation allowing passengers to change flights within 24 hours of booking without paying a penalty.

The airline has launched a website to fight the new rule -- KeepMyFaresLow.org -- urging customers to contact their congressmen and senators and imposed a $2 fee on its customers it calls the "Department of Transportation Unintended Consequences Fee."

Klein said he knew Spirit Airlines, because it's located in his former district, resulting in his recruitment of the company for Holland & Knight.

"They want to express their story on Capitol Hill," he said.

When first contacted about Klein, an Obama campaign official said by email, "All of the funds he raised for the campaign were raised last year. At the moment, he became a federal lobbyist he stopped raising for the campaign."

But Klein said he had not heard from anybody in the Obama campaign. And, he added, he fully expects to continue raising money for the president's re-election. 

"I understand the rules," he said.

*** UPDATED AT 1:15 PM WITH COMMENT FROM PRIORITIES USA ***

A top campaign watchdog group today is calling for a Justice Department criminal investigation into Super PACs supporting President Obama and GOP front runner Mitt Romney.

Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a group sharply critical of Super PACs, said Priorities USA Action, the Obama Super PAC, and Restore Our Future, a similar group backing Romney, are both "illegal operations" because of their close ties to the candidates they are backing.

In the wake of reports that the White House has signed off on plans to urge wealthy donors to contribute to the group, Wertheimer said he is writing a letter to the Justice Department today urging criminal probes of both groups.

"In order to believe that the Super PACs supporting President Obama and Mitt Romney are 'independent' from the presidential campaigns they are supporting, you must believe in the tooth fairy," Wertheimer said.

Bill Burton, Obama's former deputy press secretary and 2008 campaign spokesman, set up Priorities USA Action last year along with another former Obama political aide, Sean Sweeney. Burton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Restore Our Future, which has spent millions in the GOP primary so far, was set up by former Romney aides Charlie Spies, who was Romney’s general counsel during his 2008 bid, and Carl Forti, who was Romney’s political director. Forti is also the political director for American Crossroads.

The White House plan to steer wealthy donors to give money to Priorities USA Action was disclosed in a blog posting on the Obama campaign website, saying that the move was needed to "neutralize the avalanche of special interest spending" being mounted on the GOP side to defeat President Obama.

"The stakes are too important to play by two different sets of rules," Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager wrote.

The New York Times reported that the White House plans to dispatch top officials, including senior advisers David Plouffe and Valerie Jarrett to meet with donors. Romney himself has appeared at Restore Our Future fundraisers, something he defended on MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown, saying he’d acted within the law.

“They can help in terms of fundraising, but cannot in any way communicate a course of advertising, suggest when ads run, where they run, what's in the content of the ads,” Romney said of candidates and campaigns and whether or how much they can coordinate with Super PACs supporting them. “Those are things that are prohibited so we're being very careful in that regard.”

A top strategist who works with Democratic Super PACs told NBC News that the White House decision came after mounting worries within party circles that spending by a phalanx of GOP Super PACs could reach $1 billion by election day -- including $100 million from the conservative oil magnate Koch brothers -- drowning out the president's message

"When you see numbers like that, it starts getting a little spooky," the strategist said.

He also said most big Democratic donors have so far been gun shy of the Super PACs, because of Obama's past criticism of such groups. In the 2010 election, Obama charged that GOP groups, fueled with “special interest” money, were threatening to “hijack” democracy.

"We need some of our big birds to get off the wire," the strategist said, noting that some wealthy donors have expressed concerns that they'll be "demonized" if they give to one of the Democratic Super PACs.

So far, Priorities USA Action has had relatively little success in raising funds, reporting last week that it had collected just $4.4 million through the end of last year. A Priorities official said it had raised another $2.3 million via a 501(c)4 arm that doesn’t have to disclose donors. (The Karl Rove-Ed Gillespie-led groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS have a similar set up and has raised far more money.)

That $6.7 million is compared to the $30 million raised by Restore Our Future and the $51 million reported raised by American Crossroads and its non-profit, non-disclosed affiliate Crossroads GPS.

The pro-Obama group did report a handful of big checks, including $2 million from Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, $1 million from the SEIU labor union, $100,000 from director Steven Spielberg, and others.

While individual donors can only give $2,500 a piece to official campaign committees, the Super PACs can collect unlimited donations from individuals, corporations, and labor unions. Priorities USA Action also reported last week that $215,000 of its operating expenses were being paid by its non-profit affiliate -- called Priorities USA -- which like Crossroads GPS, does not disclose its donors.

"As much as [David] Axelrod hates to give up this part of the president's message,” the strategist said, “most voters are pretty cynical about this stuff and don't much care.”

*** UPDATE *** Priorities spokesman Bill Burton disputes the notion that Priorities is an "illegal operation."

"We of course are abiding by all appropriate rules and laws," Burton said.

Newt Gingrich's former consulting company will release his contracts with Freddie Mac this evening before the NBC debate, a spokeswoman confirmed. Gingrich was reportedly paid $1.6 million under the contracts and Romney had made disclosure of the contracts a major issue in the last day.

The spokeswoman for the Center for Health Transformation said she documents will be released by 7 p.m.

A wealthy Wyoming financier and conservative philanthropist confirmed today that he is one of the principal backers of a new Super PAC that spent more than $530,000 on TV ads in Iowa supporting Rick Santorum and figures to play prominently in South Carolina and elsewhere.

Foster Freiss, the founder of a hugely successful mutual investment fund, told NBC News that he is "one of a number of contributors who have rallied" to the Red, White and Blue Fund, the new super pac supporting Santorum.

He declined to give precise figures on how much he has put into the Super PAC. " I don't dare let my wife know that," he joked, but said he wouldn't object to a report that he was the major financial backer of the Super PAC.

"If I put up a million bucks, it doesnt' compare...to the kind of commitment" the country's Founding Fathers made or American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan make, he said.

Freiss' funding of the Red, White and Blue Fund, which has not yet been publicly disclosed, is the latest example of how wealthy donors are pouring funds into Super PACs to influence the presidential election.

In the days before this week's Iowa caucus, the Red White and Blue Fund began doing a rash of media buys on Iowa TV stations, running ads touting Santorum as a "dedicated defender of the unborn" and "a resolute leader of the fight against radical Islam" ending with the words, "Rick Santorum, a real conservative America can trust."

The Red, White and Blue Fund registered with the Federal Election Commission on Oct. 1, 2011, but is not due to file any reports disclosing its contributors until the end of this month. Christopher Marston, a former Bush administration official, who is listed as Treasurer of the Super PAC, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Freiss, who is based in Jackson Hole, Wyo., is the founder of an investment fund called Freiss Associates, which includes on its website a quote from a Business Week article touting him as "the longest surviving successful growth stock picker."

He has a long history of backing Santorum, having donated $250,000 to a conservative group, Softer Voices, that ran ads on behalf of Santorum during his unsuccessful 2006 reelection campaign. He also has been a major donor to other GOP and conservative causes over the years, having given $250,000 to the Republican Governors Assocation last year as well as pumping a reported $3 million into The Daily Caller, a conservative website run by former MSNBC anchor Tucker Carlson.

Freiss said one of the main reasons he is attracted to Santorum is his positions on national-security issues. "He's incredibly versed in one of the No. 1 issues of our time -- and that is violent Islamic extremism," he said. "And, as a result," he contended, "he'll be able to appeal to the Jewish vote, which last time went 68 percent for Obama."

But he said Santorum's appeal went beyond that because of his working-class roots and ability to work with Democrats in the Senate. When "you wrap the total package, in terms of electability," Freiss boasted, "Santorum will be able to appeal to so many different constituencies -- the blue-collar worker that wants to go back to work, the evangelical commuity, the Jewish commuity, the Catholic community."

A major conservative advocacy group, funded by Koch family oil interests, says it is reviewing its "financial dealings" with a Wisconsin charity headed by Herman Cain's campaign manager, raising fresh questions about the source of tens of thousands of dollars in funds that were used to pay expenses for Cain's presidential campaign. 

The Center for Public Integrity reported late Thursday that Americans for Prosperity, one of the largest and most prominent of conservative political groups, has confirmed unspecified financial transactions with two closely linked Wisconsin non-profits -- Prosperity USA and Wisconsin Prosperity Network -- that were founded by Mark Block, Cain's campaign manager. 

One of those groups, Prosperity USA, paid for $37,000 in expenses, including iPads, charter flights and items, for Cain's presidential campaign, according to financial documents disclosed this week by the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.

Non-profits are barred by law from paying for campaign expenses, and when the allegations  first surfaced this week -- at the same time as the sexual harassment charges against the presidential candidate -- Cain said he would order an investigation of whether there were improper campaign violations. 

Cain's campaign lawyer, Steve Bienek, declined to answer questions from NBC about the transactions between the Wisconsin charities headed by Block and the campaign, saying only that the campaign  has retained an outside law firm to review them.

"We take these allegations very seriously," he said. 

But the Center for Public Integrity report by Peter Stone raises additional questions as to whether Americans for Prosperity (AFP) funds were used by Block to pay Cain campaign expenses. AFP had "financial dealings with Prosperity USA and/or the Wisconsin Prosperity Network," Levi Russell, the spokesman for AFT is quoted as saying. 

(Russell confirmed the transactions to NBC News, but declined to elaborate, and added that the group had no reason to believe there was any wrongdoing on its part.) 

Some of those transactions are hinted at in the documents released by the Journal-Sentinel: They show a $5,000 expense in February 2011 for Cain to attend a meeting of a group called RightNation "at request of AFP" and that Block made a trip to Washington to meet with AFP's president Tim Phillips and David Koch."

Koch and his oil industry brother Charles Koch were the founders of Americans for Prosperity, but the group -- like most non-profits -- declines to identify its donors. The group is having a major conference in Washington starting Friday at which Cain and other presidential candidates are scheduled to speak.

AP

President Barack Obama (left) campaigning for former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (right) in Holmdel, N.J., July 16, 2009. Corzine lost reelection to Republican Chris Christie.

Jon Corzine, now the center of an FBI investigation into the handling of hundreds of millions of dollars invested in his securities firm, was one of the leading Wall Street fundraisers for President Obama’s campaign and suggested to investors that he might take a top administration post if the president were re-elected.

His new legal troubles, sparked by the bankruptcy filing of his investment firm, MF Global, could complicate the president’s efforts to raise money from the financial community given Corzine’s central role in those efforts.

A recent list of top “bundlers” or elite fundraisers released by Obama’s campaign listed Corzine in the highest category -- reporting that he had raised more than $500,000 for the campaign. A substantial chunk of those funds were collected at a $35,800 per ticket fundraiser that Corzine hosted at his wife’s spacious Fifth Avenue apartment last April -- an event that was touted at the time as part of a concerted effort by the president’s campaign team to reach out to well-heeled Wall Street donors who had been alienated by some of his policies and previous public comments.  

Just a few months after that event, Corzine’s firm, MF Global, surprised many Wall Street investors by issuing highly unusual securities notes that appeared to highlight Corzine’s close relationship with the White House: The notes suggested that the former New Jersey governor might be in line for a top administration post should the president get re-elected.

The notes promised to pay an extra 1% in interest rates in the event of “the departure of Mr. Corzine as our full time chief executive officer due to his appointment to a federal position by the President of the United States and his confirmation…by the United States Senate prior to July 1, 2013.”

Some veteran Wall Street analysts said they couldn’t recall ever seeing such a contingency written into securities notes. “It was bizarre,” said Christopher Whalen, a Wall Street analyst.

There was speculation in the financial press at the time that Corzine might be a candidate to replace Tim Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury. But today, an Obama campaign official declined to comment on Corzine’s legal troubles -- or whether Corzine was ever being considered for an appointment.

“He’s one of our volunteer fundraisers,” said the campaign official when asked about Corzine, adding that the president’s is the only presidential campaign that discloses the identities of its bundlers.

The investigation into Corzine’s firm, MF Global, was triggered by reports of hundreds of millions of dollars in missing funds and findings by regulators that MF Global may have broken rules requiring it to keep client’s money and company funds in separate accounts.

Ironically, on the same day that Corzine’s legal troubles were erupting -- posing potential problems for the president’s Wall Street fundraising efforts -- GOP rival Mitt Romney was holding one of his biggest New York fundraisers yet at a midtown Manhattan hotel.

A copy of the invite shows the fundraiser had more than 100 co-chairs, many of them top executives on Wall Street such as hedge-fund billionaire John Paulson, who has already donated $1 million to a “Super PAC” backing Romney’s candidacy. 

Mitt Romney and some of his top congressional supporters are gathering Wednesday morning at the Capitol Hill offices of the American Trucking Association for a power breakfast fundraiser co-hosted by a line up of Washington’s most influential lobbyists.

An invitation for the  event -- obtained by NBC News -- provides a glimpse into how the capital’s Republican power figures are coming together behind the Massachusetts governor despite his less than commanding position in the polls.

“It’s the Washington establishment coalescing behind him,” said one lobbyist who asked not to be identified about the trucking association fundraiser. “What this means is all the guys talking to their clients and their corporations and telling them, ‘Mitt is the guy.’”

The breakfast event is part of a quick D.C. buckraking tour for Romney that is expected to rake in over $500,000. On Tuesday night, Romney swung by the home of technology executive Bobbie Kilberg for a fundraiser whose guests included Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association (and often mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate.)

Among the congressional co-hosts for the Wednesday event are several top GOP leaders who are now backing Romney, including House Oversight and Government Reform chair Rep. Darrell Issa, Armed Services Committee chair Buck McKeon, Intelligence Committee chair Rep. Mike Rogers, Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Orrin Hatch of Utah. Also on the list is freshman Arkansas Rep. Tim Griffin, a protégé of former Karl Rove who recently endorsed Romney and agreed to head up his campaign in Arkansas.

But even more interesting are the twelve D.C. lobbyists are also co-hosting the event: Among them: superlobbyist Wayne Berman (a national finance co-chair of the Romney campaign) and his partner at Ogilvy Government Relations Drew Maloney (clients include the American Petroleum Institute, Chevron and Verizon), Jeff Choudhry of the Nickles Group (Eli Lilly, Walmart, Comcast) , Philmore Anderson of Navigators Global (AT&T, General Motors) and Mark Isakowitz of Fierce, Isakowitz (Coca-Cola, Apple, American Gaming Association) and Ron Kaufman of Dutko Worldwide (Allergan, American Pacific and In Situ Oil Sands Alliance.)

Why the American Trucking Association office? Its convenience, explained First Read’s lobbyist source. Its right off Capitol Hill -- easy for members and next door to the Republican National Committee’s Capitol Hill Club. (The trucking group’s president is Bill Graves, a former governor of Kansas.)

And next week, Romney has what may be his biggest Wall Street fundraising yet -- a mega event at the Grand Hyatt hotel with over 100 co-hosts, including many from Wall Street investment and banking firms.

While still proclaiming it is "independent," the new powerhouse super PAC called "Make Us Great Again" has launched a website filled with photos of Rick Perry and campaign bullet points about the governor’s record creating jobs and lowering taxes in Texas.

"Rick Perry Can Make America Great Again," reads the headline on the group’s home page.

The pro-Perry message isn’t a surprise: The group was co-founded by Austin super lobbyist Mike Toomey, who was Perry’s chief of staff (and shares ownership of a New Hampshire island with David Carney, Perry’s campaign manager.)

But it marks one more step removing the illusion of "independence" surrounding super PACs, which are proliferating this year because of their ability to collect unlimited amounts of money from corporations and wealthy donors….

"Restore Our Future," the website founded by three former political aides to Mitt Romney, has no photos of the former Massachusetts governor even though the group’s organizers are three former Romney political who have explicitly said their goal is to elect Romney president (and Romney has appeared at its fundraising dinners.)

Similarly, Priorities USA Action the super PAC created this year by two former White House aides to President Barack Obama, including Bill Burton, his former spokesman, has no photos or explicit references to the president on its home page (although it does have a YouTube video attacking Republicans for criticizing his policies.)

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.

NBC's Michael Isikoff's piece on msnbc.com on whether "enhanced interrogations techniques," a.k.a. torture, led to the finding of Osama bin Laden provides good context and details. Excerpts below.

VIDEO: Did enhanced interrogation find bin Laden?

Here are some excerpts:

The behind-the-scenes story of how bin Laden was finally located is yet to be fully told, but emerging details seem likely to reignite the debate over whether “enhanced interrogation” techniques and other aggressive methods that have been widely criticized by human rights groups provided useful – or timely -- intelligence about al-Qaida. While some current and former U.S. officials credited those interrogations Monday with producing the big break in the case, others countered that they failed to produce what turned out to be the most crucial piece of intelligence of all: the identity and whereabouts of the most important figure in bin Laden courier's network. ...

While Liz Cheney and other conservatives on Monday tried to portray the bin Laden raid as vindication of the intelligence community’s tough interrogations of “high-value” detainees, other details suggest that the most aggressive “enhanced interrogation” techniques -- including waterboarding, against other detainees, particularly 9/11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed -- proved useless in learning the identity of the bin Laden courier. ...

“They waterboarded KSM (Khaled Sheikh Mohammed) 183 times and he still didn’t give the guy up,” said one former U.S. counterterrorism official who asked not to be identified. “Come on. And you want to tell me that enhanced interrogation techniques worked?" ...

In the end, U.S. officials say, it took years of patient intelligence work -- including information gleaned from multiple detainees and other sources of intelligence -- to enable the CIA to figure out who the courier was.

“Four years ago, we uncovered his identify,” said a senior U.S. official. Two years later, the U.S. officials were able to trace the courier and his brother to the area in Pakistan where they finally found bin Laden.

NBC's Michael Isikoff reports: Jim Messina, the president’s former deputy chief of staff, who left the White House last month, recently began a series of meetings aimed at courting-- and reconnecting with -- Democratic “bundlers,” the elite fundraisers whose ability to package large numbers of checks are crucial to any presidential campaign. Within days after leaving the White House, the Center for Public Integrity's Peter Stone reports, Messina began a nationwide tour, starting off with a Feb. 3 cocktail party at the swank Park Ave. apartment of investment banker Ralph Schlosstein and attended by several Wall Street moneymen. The larger story is that the role of the big party “bundlers” -- the ones Messina is courting-- may be more important than ever. Obama’s 2008 campaign was best known for its ability to bring in enormous amounts of cash from small donors via the Internet. But that is expected to be harder to pull off this time around because of the sputtering economy—and possibly because the grassroots enthusiasm that drove the first Obama campaign is likely to be much more difficult to replicate. As one big Democratic bundler, Peter Buttenweiser of Philadelphia, who raised more than $500,000 for Obama in 2008, tells Stone, the president’s re-election campaign will “need to rely more on the large givers and raisers” because “I don’t think they have as lively an Internet presence as they did before.”

The other big wild card on the Democratic side is whether outside political groups (liberated, largely thanks to the Supreme Court, from any limits on the size of contributions and the burdens of disclosing the names of donors) can duplicate the fundraising prowess that such groups on the Republican side demonstrated in the 2010 cycle. Several Democratic-leaning political groups are starting to get off the ground for the 2012 campaign to compete with such GOP juggernauts as American Crossroads and its non-disclosing affiliate Crossroads GPS, both of which are spearheaded by Karl Rove. Among some of the new Democratic groups: American Bridge 21^st Century headed by Media Matters chief David Brock and another called Majority PAC (which will focus on Senate races) led by Harry Reid’s former chief of staff Susan McCue. These – and most likely other—newly formed Democratic-leaning political committees are expected to have non-profit affiliates, registered under 501 C 4 section of the IRS code, that will allow them to take in huge gobs of money without reporting who is doing the giving. The irony couldn’t be any richer: After bashing the Republicans for flooding the airwaves with “secret money” in the 2010 cycle, it now appears the Democrats are getting ready to do the same thing in 2012.

“President Barack Obama's advisors are telling potential donors that he is in a weaker position heading into the 2012 election than he was in 2008 and are detailing potential vulnerabilities of likely opponents, according to people who have seen their presentation,” the Wall Street Journal writes. “The centerpiece of their pitch to donors is a 10-page slide show, which features the slogan ‘Change that Matters’ and offers an early glimpse into the thinking of the president's re-election team.”

The president's hands-off approach to the budget negotiations has a lot to do with his re-election -- a strategy that risks leaving some Senate Democrats up for re-election hanging out to dry, some Democrats grumble. “I imagine the president doesn’t want to really get his hands dirty with this until he can walk away with an agreement, which isn’t helping the leadership at the moment,” one Democratic strategist told The Hill newspaper. “Now, does that have something to do with 2012? Sure it does.”

The Washington Post's Wallsten notes Obama's efforts to court young voters again.