easyt65
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2005
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(D) Jefferson takes $100K in rolls of $100 from an FBI under-cover agent, all caught on film. They then get a search warrant and raid his house, finding the cash hidden in the freezer, stored in various food containers. He says it is all the FBI's fault, that it is a mis-understanding, and that he is innocent.
Have no fear, though - The Senate Ethics Committee, the self-policing ethics 'watch-dog' panel of the Senate and Congress, was johnny-on-the-spot - taking SWIFT action.....criticizing the FBI and calling the investigation/search and seisure an "outrageous intrusion into the separation of powers between the executive branch and the congressional branch." :shock:
Lawmakers decry search of D.C. office
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/22/jefferson/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. William Jefferson vowed Monday to stay in Congress and fight allegations that he took bribes and hid $90,000 of allegedly ill-gotten funds in the freezer of his Washington home.
In concerns echoed by the Republican House and Senate leaders, the Louisiana Democrat blasted an apparently unprecedented weekend search of his office by FBI agents as an "outrageous intrusion into the separation of powers between the executive branch and the congressional branch."
You see, in 1998, the members of both parties, and thus the Ethics committee itself - the palnel responsible for policing the actions of its members, agreed NOT TO DO ITS JOB, agreed that neither side would take action to police its members activities. Basically, as one new member of Congress put it, "it's not about the 'DNC versus the GOP' anymore as much as it is the 'Criminals versus the rest of us'!"
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/12/8/171912/291
The Ethics Truce Lives On
Since 1998, there has been an ethics "truce" in the House of Representatives, under the terms of which no member will file an ethics complaint against another member. Because outsiders are prohibited from filing complaints with the House ethics committee, this has effectively shut down the ethics process.
…despite the numerous ethics scandals surrounding DeLay and other Members of Congress, the truce remains intact. Although Democrats talk about the "culture of corruption" in Washington and the need for ethics committee investigations, they don't take the one step that guarantees such inquiries: filing ethics complaints.
Indeed, despite cries that they have everything under control, they have nothing under control, as evident by their own chairman, Alan Mollohan, having to step down.
Top Democrat on house Ethics Panel Steps Down
WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the House ethics committee, Alan Mollohan, will leave the panel — at least temporarily — while he defends his own financial conduct, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192662,00.html
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Trusting Senators and Congressmen to police themselves in matters of ethics as well as criminal matters is like entrusting a Fox to guard a Hen house! The Department of justice believes enough is enough as well, throwing down the gauntlet before the Ethics Panel -- "Police yourselves or WE will step in and do it!"
Would Justice Clean the House?
If Congress doesn't start policing itself more seriously, federal prosecutors say they might step in:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1167705,00.html
The Justice Department has a message for Congress: clean up your house or else we may have to do it for you. A senior federal law enforcement official told TIME that the paralyzed and often lax House ethics committee has created a vacuum that prosecutors won't hesitate to fill. The House’s internal mechanism for keeping corruption in check is "broken," says the official.
But in a body that likes to think it can police itself, some wonder if prosecutors are overreaching. The Justice Department has “every right to investigate when a law is being broken,” says a senior House GOP aide, “However, there is a feeling that they may be crossing boundaries into where the ethics committee should be performing. And it's just another reason why the ethics committee needs to get up and running.”
[* I could not agree MORE that the ethics committee should be doing it, but they sold out their integrity and responsibility in 1998 when they agreed to turn a blind eye to ALL ethics and criminal violations, calling the betrayal a 'truce'!]
Staff of the ethics committee—which is only beginning to get up and running after a partisan deadlock that's lasted for 13 months—did not return phone calls Friday for comment. Jan Baran, an attorney who has often represented elected officials caught in ethics cases, said Justice may be “saber rattling” since the ethics panels cover congressional rules and not criminal offenses, which are Justice's province alone. But if Justice is really just trying to warn Congress to crack down on sleazy conduct, “I think they're correct.... Not only the Department of Justice, but I think the public is telling Congress: if you're going to have some rules make sure people obey them.”
Nancy Pelosi was right about there being a Culture of Corruption in Washington, but it stems from a disease that has infected both sides of the aisle! I say to the justice Department, "Full steam ahead, boys! These politicians should never have been allowed to police themselves due to the threat of a conflict of interest that has evolved into a FACT of conflict of interest, allowing rampant unethical and criminal activity among the ranks of our politicians! CLEAN HOUSE!" :2usflag:
Have no fear, though - The Senate Ethics Committee, the self-policing ethics 'watch-dog' panel of the Senate and Congress, was johnny-on-the-spot - taking SWIFT action.....criticizing the FBI and calling the investigation/search and seisure an "outrageous intrusion into the separation of powers between the executive branch and the congressional branch." :shock:
Lawmakers decry search of D.C. office
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/22/jefferson/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. William Jefferson vowed Monday to stay in Congress and fight allegations that he took bribes and hid $90,000 of allegedly ill-gotten funds in the freezer of his Washington home.
In concerns echoed by the Republican House and Senate leaders, the Louisiana Democrat blasted an apparently unprecedented weekend search of his office by FBI agents as an "outrageous intrusion into the separation of powers between the executive branch and the congressional branch."
You see, in 1998, the members of both parties, and thus the Ethics committee itself - the palnel responsible for policing the actions of its members, agreed NOT TO DO ITS JOB, agreed that neither side would take action to police its members activities. Basically, as one new member of Congress put it, "it's not about the 'DNC versus the GOP' anymore as much as it is the 'Criminals versus the rest of us'!"
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/12/8/171912/291
The Ethics Truce Lives On
Since 1998, there has been an ethics "truce" in the House of Representatives, under the terms of which no member will file an ethics complaint against another member. Because outsiders are prohibited from filing complaints with the House ethics committee, this has effectively shut down the ethics process.
…despite the numerous ethics scandals surrounding DeLay and other Members of Congress, the truce remains intact. Although Democrats talk about the "culture of corruption" in Washington and the need for ethics committee investigations, they don't take the one step that guarantees such inquiries: filing ethics complaints.
Indeed, despite cries that they have everything under control, they have nothing under control, as evident by their own chairman, Alan Mollohan, having to step down.
Top Democrat on house Ethics Panel Steps Down
WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the House ethics committee, Alan Mollohan, will leave the panel — at least temporarily — while he defends his own financial conduct, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192662,00.html
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Trusting Senators and Congressmen to police themselves in matters of ethics as well as criminal matters is like entrusting a Fox to guard a Hen house! The Department of justice believes enough is enough as well, throwing down the gauntlet before the Ethics Panel -- "Police yourselves or WE will step in and do it!"
Would Justice Clean the House?
If Congress doesn't start policing itself more seriously, federal prosecutors say they might step in:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1167705,00.html
The Justice Department has a message for Congress: clean up your house or else we may have to do it for you. A senior federal law enforcement official told TIME that the paralyzed and often lax House ethics committee has created a vacuum that prosecutors won't hesitate to fill. The House’s internal mechanism for keeping corruption in check is "broken," says the official.
But in a body that likes to think it can police itself, some wonder if prosecutors are overreaching. The Justice Department has “every right to investigate when a law is being broken,” says a senior House GOP aide, “However, there is a feeling that they may be crossing boundaries into where the ethics committee should be performing. And it's just another reason why the ethics committee needs to get up and running.”
[* I could not agree MORE that the ethics committee should be doing it, but they sold out their integrity and responsibility in 1998 when they agreed to turn a blind eye to ALL ethics and criminal violations, calling the betrayal a 'truce'!]
Staff of the ethics committee—which is only beginning to get up and running after a partisan deadlock that's lasted for 13 months—did not return phone calls Friday for comment. Jan Baran, an attorney who has often represented elected officials caught in ethics cases, said Justice may be “saber rattling” since the ethics panels cover congressional rules and not criminal offenses, which are Justice's province alone. But if Justice is really just trying to warn Congress to crack down on sleazy conduct, “I think they're correct.... Not only the Department of Justice, but I think the public is telling Congress: if you're going to have some rules make sure people obey them.”
Nancy Pelosi was right about there being a Culture of Corruption in Washington, but it stems from a disease that has infected both sides of the aisle! I say to the justice Department, "Full steam ahead, boys! These politicians should never have been allowed to police themselves due to the threat of a conflict of interest that has evolved into a FACT of conflict of interest, allowing rampant unethical and criminal activity among the ranks of our politicians! CLEAN HOUSE!" :2usflag:
