IGNORING THE REAL LEAK

Nealz Nuze ^ | November 9, 2005 | Neal Boortz

[FreeKeys]

IGNORING THE REAL LEAK

For months and months we have heard how outrageous it was that somebody in the Bush administration leaked Valerie Plame's name to the media. A special prosecutor was appointed...and no crime was found to have been committed regarding the "outing" of Plame. All indications are that her identity was an open secret, and even her husband was running around telling people she worked for the CIA. But since the imagined "scandal" involves a Republican president, we will never hear the end of it.

So it is with a bit of hypocrisy that we see the Democrats jump up and down about the national security implications of the leaking of Plame's name....but when it comes to somebody leaking the existence of secret CIA prisons...well, they don't care about that as much. The CIA has started an investigation into who leaked the information about the prisons to the Washington Post. One could assume there are covert operatives working in those prisons at some point....having their locations outed would put them in danger.

Not that anyone on the left cares. They're more concerned with debating the existence of the prisons themselves. Suddenly their outrage about leaking classified information has disappeared. What happened? Liberals only care about national security when it serves their political purposes. As outraged as the left was over the leaking of the name of one pencil-pusher at the CIA, they just can't seem to work up an ounce of indignation over the outing of an entire operation abroad.

And what if it is found that a Democrat leaked the information to the Washington Post about the prisons? Will Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi take to the floor of the House and the Senate and demand they be fired? I wouldn't hold my breath, though I would like for them to hold theirs.

HARRY REID'S BIG DEMANDS

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to the White House and demanded that President Bush promise not to pardon Scooter Libby. He then made the most ridiculous statement that shows either a.) he has no grasp of the facts in the Plame investigation or b.) he is capitalizing on the general public's ignorance and he knows the media won't call him on it. Here's what he said:

"We're demanding President Bush make a commitment to the American people that he will not pardon Scooter Libby, who was involved in this mess, nor will he pardon anyone involved in this mess. Unless a pardon is ruled out by President Bush, the American people will certainly not learn the truth." What?

Not learn the truth about what? Does he not know that Fitzgerald found no evidence that a crime was committed regarding the outing of Valerie Plame? The truth has been learned, Senator Reid. Of course, he knows that. Furthermore, it is an outrageous request that they never made of Bill Clinton.

Where was the letter to Clinton asking him not to pardon his cronies? What about his last-minute pardon of Henry Cisneros...his former HUD secretary convicted of lying to the feds? They seem to have forgotten about that one. Well ... they haven't actually forgotten, but their hatred of George Bush overpowers all other emotions, including love of country and concern over the threat of Islamic terrorism.

[FreeKeys]

This contrast highlights the in-your-face, unashamed, naked, blatant hypocrisy of the libs.

[Mr. K]

good post!

[Angelas]

Did Reid get a presidential pardon on this?

May 13, 2005

VIA FACSIMILE & HAND DELIVERY:

The Honorable George V. Voinovich
The Honorable Pat Roberts
The Honorable Craig Thomas
The Honorable Tim Johnson
The Honorable Daniel Akaka
The Honorable Mark Pryor
United States Senate
Select Committee on Ethics
220 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Re: Ethics Complaint Against Senator Harry Reid of Nevada

Dear Distinguished Members of the Committee:

The Center for Individual Freedom hereby submits this complaint against Senator Harry Reid of Nevada for violating the Standing Rules of the Senate.

In discussing one of President George W. Bush’s nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Senator Reid stated on the Senate floor: “Henry Saad would have been filibustered anyway. He is one of those nominees. All one needs to do is have a Member go upstairs and look at his confidential report from the FBI, and I think that we would all agree that there is a problem there.” (Cong. Rec., May 12, 2005, p. S5030) (emphasis added).

According to Section 5 of Rule XXIX of the Standing Rules of the Senate:

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.

Senator Reid explicitly violated Section 5 of Rule XXIX when he made reference to what he considers negative marks contained in Judge Saad’s “confidential report from the FBI.”

Indeed, it is unclear why Senator Reid would have been privy to information contained in a confidential FBI report on Judge Saad. It is our understanding that only Members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and home-state Senators and their staffs who possess relevant clearance have access to such confidential FBI reports. Senator Reid is not a member of the Committee on the Judiciary, nor was he elected by the people of Michigan where Judge Saad resides and where he is a state appellate judge. Nonetheless, irrespective of the propriety of Senator Reid’s access to Judge Saad’s confidential FBI report, Senator Reid clearly violated the Senate Rules the minute he publicly made reference to the contents of that confidential report. Section 5 of Rule XXIX of the Standing Rules of the Senate leaves no room for debate on this issue, as it expressly prohibits any Senator from “disclos[ing] the secret or confidential business or proceedings of the Senate.” Senator Reid did just that.

Moreover, not only did Senator Reid violate the Standing Rules of the Senate, his unsubstantiated public comments were intended and could serve to significantly damage the reputation of Judge Saad, a sitting state judge and nominee to the federal bench. Judge Henry Saad is a distinguished public servant who currently sits on the Michigan Court of Appeals. Beginning in 1992, he has been nominated several times by two Presidents to serve as a federal judge. As such, Judge Saad has been through the thorough FBI vetting process on multiple occasions consistent with the standard practices of federal judicial nomination and confirmation process.

It is safe to assume that, since Judge Saad was first nominated to the federal judiciary more than a decade ago by President George H.W. Bush and again re-nominated on multiple occasions by President George W. Bush to a higher court, there is nothing in Judge Saad’s background — much less in confidential FBI reports — that should disqualify him from serving on the federal bench. Regardless, Senator Reid’s May 12 comments disclosing secret and confidential business and proceedings of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary are not only unconscionable, but they blatantly violate longstanding Senate rules.

Senator Reid is the Minority Leader of the United States Senate. As the leader of his party, he has a heightened obligation to respect and abide by the rules that ensure civility and guard the integrity of the Senate. For the forgoing reasons, we respectfully request that the United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics fully investigate the aforementioned actions of Senator Reid and impose the appropriate disciplinary action.

Sincerely,

/s/

Jeffrey Mazzella
President

Enclosures

cc: Majority Leader Bill Frist
Minority Leader Harry Reid
Chairman Arlen Specter