House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers appears to have, um, rather interesting reading tastes, as the Michigan Democrat was eyed on a flight to D.C. perusing the pages of Playboy, the Detroit News reported Wednesday.

Video and pictures of Conyers flipping through the naughty magazine apparently were taken by an anonymous airplane passenger and were originally posted to the Facebook page of Detroit News reporter and New York Times Pulitzer Prize winner Charlie LeDuff. Henry Payne, writing for the News’ political website “The Michigan View,” further explains:

“Conyers — in his aisle seat — is shown flipping though pages showing two nude gal pals in the August issue of Playboy. And he also apparently reads [Hugh] Hefner’s product for the articles. The pages he lingers on appear to feature an article entitled ‘La Chatte’ by Maureen Gibbon, [an] article exploring lesbian sex.”

A Conyers spokeswoman could not be immediately reached Wednesday morning.

Sarah and Ted 

Between writing about family, freedom, faith and a bunch of other non-cuss words that begin with the letter “F,” former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) also writes in her latest book that the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) provided encouragement to her in her political life.

It comes at the conclusion of “America by Heart,” in which Palin writes she was wrapping up the book when news came that Stevens died in a plane crash in Alaska. While Palin reflects that “Ted and I had healthy disagreements over political angles,” she says the Senator often offered support to her.

Palin recalls one “sunny Saturday afternoon” two years before Stevens’ death when the pair had lunch at Palin’s home in Wasilla to discuss developing Alaska’s natural resources. 

“That day, he brought me a U.S. Senate coaster, which he had signed and inscribed with the encouraging words ‘Keep up what you are doing!’” Palin writes. “I knew then, as I know today, that his heart was always with the people of the last frontier. Ted Stevens spent his life in a worthy cause and inspired others.”