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Audacity of Truth
"Change" You Can Believe In:
"Nixon didn’t try to do that. They couldn't control (the media). They didn’t try. [...] What the hell do they think we are, puppets?"
- Liberal opinion writer Helen Thomas, describing the Obama admin's penchant for heavily scripting public appearances & press conferences - 7/1/09
Feds were ready to take a stand in Jefferson case
Via the NYT:
WASHINGTON, May 26 — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, and senior officials and career prosecutors at the Justice Department told associates this week that they were prepared to quit if the White House directed them to relinquish evidence seized in a bitterly disputed search of a House member’s office, government officials said Friday.
Mr. Gonzales was joined in raising the possibility of resignation by the deputy attorney general, Paul J. McNulty, the officials said. Mr. Gonzales and Mr. McNulty told associates that they had an obligation to protect evidence in a criminal case and would be unwilling to carry out any White House order to return the material to Congress.
The potential showdown was averted Thursday when President Bush ordered the evidence to be sealed for 45 days to give Congress and the Justice Department a chance to work out a deal.
The evidence was seized by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents last Saturday night in a search of the office of Representative William J. Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana. The search set off an uproar of protest by House leaders in both parties, who said the intrusion by an executive branch agency into a Congressional office violated the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine. They demanded that the Justice Department return the evidence.
The possibility of resignations underscored the gravity of the crisis that gripped the Justice Department as the administration grappled with how to balance the pressure from its own party on Capitol Hill against the principle that a criminal investigation, especially one involving a member of Congress, should be kept well clear of political considerations.
It is not clear precisely what message Mr. Gonzales delivered to Mr. Bush when they met Thursday morning at the White House, or whether he informed the president of the resignation talk. But hours later, the White House announced that the evidence would be sealed for 45 days in the custody of the solicitor general, the Justice Department official who represents the government before the Supreme Court. That arrangement ended the talk of resignations.
Can’t say as I blame anyone in the Justice Dept. or the FBI who would have resigned in protest over this. The bottom line is that fear of a Congressional hissy fit shouldn’t prevent law enforcement – even on (gasp!) Capitol Hill – from doing thier jobs.
House Speaker Denny Hastert, who still hasn’t taken the time to tell us exactly what was ‘unconstitutional!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ about the FBI’s seizure of documents from Jefferson’s office, issued a statement Thursday on the controversy surrounding this:
In more than 219 years, the Justice Department has never found it necessary to use a search warrant to obtain documents from a congressional office. These issues have always been resolved without the necessity of a search warrant, and prosecutions have gone forward.
Justice Department officials now insist that this specific case required them, for the first time, to conduct a search. I regret that when they reached this conclusion, they did not work with us to figure out a way to do it consistently with the Constitution. But that is behind us now. I am confident that in the next 45 days, the lawyers will figure out how to do it right.
Get real. The statement clearly implies that the feds went about this wrong. On the contrary, Speaker Hastert, the feds did what they had to do: they obtained a legal warrant from a judge and searched Jefferson’s Congressional office accordingly. Hastert continues to make statements he can’t back up, and I wish someone in Washington would call on him to explain himself. His official statement missed the mark.
Hey, here’s an idea: if only the President would rescind his intial order for the evidence to be sealed for 45 days, then maybe Reps. Hastert and Pelosi would resign in protest. I, for one, wouldn’t object to that one bit.
Read more commentary via Outside The Beltway, Liberty and Justice
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I am not a fan of “I will quit in protest” attitudes. (Nor, the I will not vote in November, but that’s another story!) These people earned their jobs because of their talent and knowledge. The govt will continue to function even if a resignation is handed in. How about instead of quitting, you roll up your sleeves and fight a good fight based on the law. How about you sit the POTUS, possibly the Speaker, down and explain what you are doing, how you got to the point of doing what you are doing and let the chips fall where they may. Gonzales has the law on his side….he didn’t do anything wrong that various legal scholars can determine. Quitting is childish. Come on Gonzales..you can’t fight Hasert, who legal scholars have concluded, hasn’t a legal leg to stand on? Puhleeeze!
NO ONE,absolutely no one, including presidents, senators, representatives, and the judiciary, is above the LAW!!! That’s the bottome line! And it really bothers me how so many in our country today are being shielded from prosecution for being what they are or who they are. I question the rule of “how much justice can you afford” by being one of the rich or one of the powerful.
Here, here Betty! That entire attitude of we know better than thee therefore are above the frey, has never worked in all of recorded history.
Which is why one of the most important things I hope to teach my little wrestlers, is about developing the right attitudes to guide one through life. There’s little room for moral relevancy in the game of life, if the plan is to have a long term success.
The NSA program does not need a warrant. So, the idfference might be that for physical paper documents a warrant is needed, for other types of documents and communication, no warrant is needed, it’s an existing program.
I’ll tell you why Pam. Because their boss is wimping out. I’m seeing a whole lot of Conservatives that are tired of the spinless reactions of the Whitehouse over things that are made issues that are clearly not. There’s no reason for Bush to play wuss on this, anymore than theres any reason for the hacks in Washington, both sides of the aisle, go right on ignoring the wishes of the majority of the American electorate on the border issue. I think both parties have lost contact with we the people.
- If the Senate version of the immigration bill is any indication of Washington thinking in general, its time to clean house.
- Bang
The difference is in the type of data, pen trap data that shows numbers is considered different than actual conversations, same with e-mails, routing and IP address information is different than the actual contents, and protected to different degrees. The differentiating factor is that with one, address and other such data, you have already agreed to allow the phone company have access to this information in order to be able to bill you or because, as is the case with IP addresses, it’s needed to allow the company to actually route your communications, but they don’t need to have access to the contents in order to determine how to route or bill.
Physical papers are treated differently than, say the address on an envelope. Since the post office has to see the address in order to deliver your mail, it’s not protected to the same extent that the actual letter inside the sealed envelope is. Physical papers that are never sent by mail or intended to be distributed get the full protection as well of course.
There really are rational, logical reasons these different types of data are treated differently, despite what the bedwetters in the press and the Democratic party would have you believe.
Quitting will not change anything. Someone else will replace him…so the only real option is to stay and do your job and butt heads if you must…more tends to get done that way. It wasn’t a bad decision for Bush to seal those records. He didn’t order them returned..he ordered them sealed for a period of 45 days…We are talking about the AG of the US who has the law on his side in this case. Quitting won’t win the case, nor will it make a bit of difference in government.
The amnesty bill is a totally seperate issue, that could potentially turn into a legal action.