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The Congressional Spectator
Behind Closed Doors
"Staff doesn't speak for the committee," a source on Capitol Hill explained last week. "The committee speaks for the committee."
That's the practical meaning of Senate Rule 29, which has been invoked regarding the Homeland Security and Government Oversight Committee investigation into last month's firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin.
The committee's chairman, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, is entirely within his prerogative to protect the integrity of the investigation via Rule 29, which reads, in part:
Any Senator, officer, or employee of the Senate who shall disclose the secret or confidential business or proceedings of the Senate, including the business and proceedings of the committees, subcommittees, and offices of the Senate, shall be liable, if a Senator, to suffer expulsion from the body; and if an officer or employee, to dismissal from the service of the Senate, and to punishment for contempt.
Staffers therefore discuss the investigation at peril of termination and prosecution, and are understandably skittish when a reporter walks in the door. (For the record, the deputy press secretary for the committee revealed nothing more sensitive than the fact she plays catcher on Lieberman's staff softball team, which had a game Friday afternoon at an undisclosed location.)
Rule 29 is in some sense standard operating procedure for Senate investigations, but it is one of several factors fueling a palpable distrust between Democratic and Republican staffers on the Hill as congressional inquiries into the apparent crackdown on watchdogs move forward -- or don't.
Republicans on both sides of Capitol Hill express skepticism of whether Democrats are genuinely interested in investigating anything except allegations of wrongdoing by the long-gone Bush administration. Not all of this skepticism is off-the-record, and it is by no means limited to the cases of Walpin and two other former inspectors general.
"You would think the majority would be just as vested as we are at exposing who knew what and when," Kurt Bardella, spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), told a reporter for the Hill last week, regarding a slow-moving House investigation of the controversial merger between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. "What exactly is the majority afraid we'll find?"
Sharp public criticism of colleagues -- in this case, Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, on which Issa serves as ranking Republican -- is not particularly rare in the fractious House of Representatives. Decorum and dignity are more the norm on the Senate side of the Hill, but the fact that Senate Republicans aren't publicly denouncing Joe Lieberman doesn't mean they're happy with the pace of his investigation into Walpin's firing.
The most favorable GOP view of how the Lieberman committee is proceeding was expressed Friday by a Hill source who used the word "methodical," saying that Lieberman and the committee's ranking Republican, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, aren't "looking for a press hit." They're not chasing headlines or, as prosecutors like to say, they don't want to try the case in the media.
One Republican clearly unhappy with the Lieberman-Collins "methodical" approach is Gerald Walpin himself, who made headlines Friday by filing a lawsuit seeking reinstatement as IG, accusing the Corporation for National and Community Service -- the agency that oversees AmeriCorps -- and three of its officials of violating federal law in the process of firing him.
Win or lose, the Walpin lawsuit definitely adds a new angle to the story, primarily through the legal process known as "discovery," whereby the defendants can be required to disclose…well, just about anything, really. If there is some document that the plaintiff can convince a judge is relevant to the case, the defendants will be ordered to hand it over, and then there are the sworn depositions. These requirements expose the defendants to legal jeopardy -- for perjury, obstruction of justice and other such "process crimes" -- if they don't fully and honestly cooperate.
If all this sounds vaguely familiar, perhaps the reader is recalling a lawsuit, Jones v. Clinton, which led to the momentous deposition in which the defendant, William Jefferson Clinton, committed perjury about "that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
Of course, as Americans were lectured for months on end, "everybody lies about sex," but does everybody lie about firing a government watchdog whose job is to keep an eye out for "waste, fraud and abuse" in federal agencies?
Asked about the practical consequences of Walpin's lawsuit, one former federal prosecutor familiar with such cases said that unless the suit is dropped or dismissed, it will eventually push new information about the case into the public record. "Eventually" is the key word, as the wheels of justice grind slowly.
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Deborah D| 7.20.09 @ 7:59AM
Great, thorough job on this seedy, sickening abuse of power by the Obama administration and the covering up that is going on. The more I read about politics and politicians the more I see why they'd have to be sociopaths or narcissists (or both) to be in that line of work. I don't lie well...don't think I'd make it! Thanks for the spotlight on the all the rats running for cover.
ds80| 7.20.09 @ 8:23AM
Turn the lights on and watch the cockroaches scurry. What are the Democrats afraid of? What are they hiding? I'd place bets that not a single Lib responds here, in support of this thuggery.
Aaron| 7.20.09 @ 9:07AM
I can certainly see why the Republicans are slow to lean on Lieberman, with that guy you just never know when he might throw a bone to our side of the aisle. The IGs now know full well that all eyes are on them and that if they find dirt they will be sure to have all bases covered before it comes to light... and they will find dirt, they always do with dems.
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Is that a Second Shoe I See Dropping? links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Michael Tomlinson| 7.20.09 @ 9:33AM
Speaks volumes about the lack of transparency and integrity in the Obama administration. So much for that set of promises. While Richard Nixon may have been guilty of an "imperial Presidency" it is clear Obama in his heart wants to be Hugo Chavez del Norte.
msfreeh| 7.20.09 @ 9:55AM
to view a partial list of crimes committed by FBI agents over 1500 pages long see
http://www.forums.signonsandiego.com/showthread.php?t=59139
to view a partial list of FBI agents arrested for pedophilia see
http://www.dallasnews.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3574
msfreeh| 7.20.09 @ 9:57AM
to view a partial list of crimes committed by FBI agents over 1500 pages long see
forums.signonsandiego.com/showthread.php?t=59139
to view a partial list of FBI agents arrested for pedophilia see
dallasnews.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3574
Deborah D| 7.20.09 @ 10:28AM
Hey msfreeh -- How about sticking to the subject? What, are Dems not satisfied with going after the CIA? Are they now targeting the FBI?
rdman| 7.20.09 @ 11:08AM
The Only Solution
Time is overdue for We, the People to tell the socialist/fascist democrats and the spineless RINOs that we’ve had enough their deceptive deceit and corruption. Its time to stand up, find these career-politician tyrants in gross violation of their Constitutional Oaths and purge them from the halls of our government.
Eliminate the Washington DC snake-pit of entrenched appeasing, expediency, placating and crab-walking despots by voting these delusional, parasitic, megalomaniac realpolitiks out of government… they are not worthy to represent We, The People of this magnificent Country.
1) Start this process by requiring your State’s Elected Representatives to convene a Constitutional Convention for the sole purpose of modifying in pertinent part, Amendment XVII to read, “Representatives and Senators of the U.S. Congress, elected by the people thereof, for two years and six years respectively for a maximum of two terms…”
2) Reject all career-politicians running for re-election… they speak with ulterior motives, hidden agendas, deceit, duplicity and deception… they have become corrupt and no longer qualified for Leadership or Statesmanship. They are, in fact, a scourge upon the land.
3) Recruit and elect true representatives of We, the People… Citizen Professionals who have demonstrated excellence in management, performance, integrity, patriotism, pride and optimism, chivalry and civility for a maximum of two terms to re-establish the public service model of our Founding Fathers… Leadership, Statesmanship, Dignity, Honor and Duty.
Summation
Over 100 years ago, the great Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull, after dealing with government lawyers, proclaimed with eloquent simplicity and clarity, “Whiteman Speak with Forked Tongue.”
Contemporarily stated, despite their duplicity and deviousness, the career-politician-bureaucrat may trip themselves up because part of their need for vindictive triumph includes the desire for their opposition to know who victimized them. Their need for attention may become their nemesis. However, the career-politician-bureaucrat doesn’t care. Public adoration by the unaware or condemnation and notoriety gives them the attention they crave… being admired, feared or despised affirms that they exist with godly power and control.
Terry Ott| 7.20.09 @ 11:16AM
I'm not worried about the slow pace of an investigation, frankly, for three reasons:
(1) The White House claimed to have fully investigated already, despite claims by several key people (and Walpin) that no one conducting an investigation had spoken with them about the matter. So now we can ask, "if Congress required X weeks to investigate, and the White House only X hours/days, how was the White House able to reach a legitimate , studied conclusion? Is there another term to describe the kind of review done earlier --- like "whitewash", maybe?
(2) The longer this is in the air, the more people will become aware of the odor, AND the more likely the parallel FBI probe into obstruction of justice related to the IG will become widely known.
(3) Now that Walpin has filed suit, the investigation cannot afford to overlook things that will come out via legal discovery.
I want this done RIGHT. Fast is fine, if it's thorough, but better right than quick.
Tim| 7.20.09 @ 12:10PM
This thing isn't going anywhere. You heard it here first. I will happily eat these words if events prove me wrong.
Marc Jeric| 7.20.09 @ 1:32PM
What we all need is more clarity:
1) all investigations into the Democrat misdeeds and crimes will come to naught - as the last recourse AG Holder will shut them down;
2) when a hear or read something said by a Democrat, liberal, progressive, left, or MSM - I translate that as being said by a commie-nazi person; after that translation everything gets to be much clearer.
Pork N. Beans| 7.20.09 @ 2:13PM
Gee, I hope this doesn't come to a head at a time when the administration is trying to justify their stimulus of the ham producing industry.
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Peace through strength: a Reagan lesson for Barack Obama « Jim Blazsik links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Richard Baker| 7.20.09 @ 3:00PM
Michael Tomlinson:
Good name for El Jefe at 1600 Pennsylvania.
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VIDEO: Miami to Protest Against Taxes & Gov. Spending – 7/21/2009 (Miami Protesta Con links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
J| 7.20.09 @ 5:49PM
Chris Dodd...resign NOW
There are voters coming after you. We don't want you writing the healthcare legislation.
For Fannie and Freddie...resign NOW
For lying about your role in AIG bonuses...resign NOW
For your pay for play irish cottage...resign NOW
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Joe Leberman the Homosexual| 7.20.09 @ 7:05PM
On March 16, 2003, on the eve of the United States' invasion of Iraq, Pastor John Hagee took to the pulpit to warn of the coming Antichrist. In his sermon, "The Final Dictator," Hagee described the Antichrist as a seductive figure with "fierce features." He will be "a blasphemer and a homosexual," the pastor announced. Then, Hagee boomed, "There's a phrase in Scripture used solely to identify the Jewish people. It suggests that this man [the Antichrist] is at least going to be partially Jewish, as was Adolph Hitler, as was Karl Marx."
This "fierce" gay Jew, according to Hagee, would "slaughter one-third of the Earth's population" and "make Adolph Hitler look like a choirboy."
The End of An Empire| 7.20.09 @ 7:35PM
A country that claims Religion, and the rest spends their time worshiping Homosexual, Peadophiles, people should be ashamed voting for these degenerates.
No wonder America is falling apart, damned to hell with economic problems, from thieves in high places, and sexual predators.
Robert Belvedere| 7.20.09 @ 9:04PM
Quoted from and linked to at:
http://www.thecampofthesaints.com/2009.07.19_arch.html#1248099340904
and linked to at:
http://www.thecampofthesaints.com/wwuam.html#unwelcome_distractions
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Obama violates his own law, fires Inspector General - Page 6 - PennJersey.info Forum links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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hank| 7.22.09 @ 5:04PM
News story not long ago was how the aadministration was so amazed of how Obama Lies so why should we listen to him about health care.. Is he lieing again I believe so
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