“We are Democrats. Above all Law. ”
Posted on 03/31/2011 8:11:19 AM PDT by opentalk
More Hope and Change…
A key congressional committee accused the Obama Department of Homeland Security of non-cooperation, witness tampering and even attempted theft of committee documents. The report claims that DHS Attorney Reid Alan Cox attempted to leave a committee hearing room with the Committee’s exhibits in his bag.
FOX News reported
A key congressional committee on oversight is accusing the Department of Homeland Security of non-cooperation, witness tampering and even attempted theft of committee documents.The 152-page report comes on the eve of hearings on transparency about DHS by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The accusations were met with a swift condemnation from a DHS spokesman, who accused Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., of reaching conclusions before the hearing got under way.
”While the Committee’s report spends a good deal of space making allegations of politicization and obstruction, the facts simply do not support these claims. Ironically, the report itself is full of selective omissions and redactions that appear to have been made to support these allegations,” said DHS spokesman Amy Kudwa.
The Oversight Committee released the report on their website yesterday.
..... Committee staff asked Cox if he had the exhibits in his bag, and he confirmed that he did. Cox was admonished by Republican and Democratic staff that he was not permitted to leave with the exhibits. Democratic staff advised Cox that the exhibits are Committee documents and as such, they are the property of the Committee and cannot be removed without permission. Cox explained that the Department disagreed with that position and he moved toward the door. Republican staff advised Cox to leave the exhibits and contact the Committee to discuss the matter. Cox had a counter-proposal: “How about I take the exhibits, and you call me?”
(Excerpt) Read more at gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com ...
Based on past Democrat responses to cases involving witness tampering and document theft, I’m guessing their response will be: “This is just about sex”.
I think Franklin said a Republic would never continue without moral (or religious .. I forget) men.
We need Sarah Palin if for no other reason than I believe she would root out evil and replace whom she can with moral/religious people.
It worked during the Clintoon era when Sandy Burger stuffed his pants full of documents and smuggled them out to save Bill’s bacon. We’ve seen this movie before...and the Republicans should watch BO’s Chicago thug-buddies like hawks.
“We are Democrats. Above all Law. ”
ping
Just because Big Sis and BS like to get their freak on, doesn’t mean that they can steal documents. Start investigations and impeachment hearings immediately if not sooner.
Frankly, I’m surprised the Republicans had the GUTS to stop him and take the stuff back!!!! That’s generally the time for Republicans to begin diving under their desks or heading for the “mens” room.
"...the facts simply do not support these claims. Ironically, the report itself is full of selective omissions and redactions that appear to have been made to support these allegations,” said DHS spokesman Amy Kudwa
Hmmm..they do it all the time in these crime/feds,CIA movies where an official's response falls under : "Idontwanttoknowwhereyougotit" moments.
So who's the bad guys here?
Dept.of Homeland Security? or the Report Builder[s]: Congressional Committee on Oversight?
The Plot thickens..
..plus this draws more public Notice to the report under scrutiny by the helpful media.
“It worked during the Clintoon era when Sandy Burger stuffed his pants full of documents and smuggled them out to save Bill’s bacon.”
The difference is that Berger wasn’t nearly so brazen as to say: “How about I take the exhibits, and you call me?”
He initially lied about what he’d done and only after extensive investigation confessed what actually happened.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_rpt/berger.pdf
This administration’s attitude of being above the law and accountable to no one is unparalleled. Clinton and company knowingly tried to EVADE the law, but recognized they would be held accountable if caught. Obama and his minions have a much more disturbing attitude: “We won, so the rules don’t apply to us.”
Anybody who has dealt with any government agency at either state or federal level has known this was all going on. As I read this I felt my head nodding in recognition of what was being said, and I could just picture you and a few other people doing the same.
To have somebody basically say, “How about I steal these documents and you call me later?” is beyond the stupidity level even I imagined these people to have. They’ve gotten away with this crap for so long they think they’re invincible.
If there aren’t serious repercussions and a reversal of this crap, this nation is toast. Go, Issa!
from the article:
Political appointees conduct their own searches. Documents and witness testimony show political appointees run weak and incomplete searches for their own documents. They were allowed to choose their own search terms despite lacking basic understanding of the statute.
Guess what you won’t hear on the news tonight.
Great graphics - sums it up.
Very astute observation.
“it creates an extremely sensitive situation.”
Yea, DHS will “take care” of that offending source.
Cox absolutely tried to blatantly walk out the door with the evidence against . . . who? I would be on that like a hawk.
Also…
The Secretary’s political staff stopped using e-mail.
Political appointees stopped using e-mail to clear response packages in the second quarter of 2010. Instead, they contacted the career staff in the FOIA Office by telephone.
Big red flag.
.
Yeah, like searching the computerized records for 1978 and later when looking for records from 1965 and earlier.
But hey, as long as a FEDERAL JUDGE is willing to buy that as a “reasonable search” it’s no wonder this dude would think he could just walk out of a hearing stealing the documents.
It reminds me of when I asked what search term the HDOH uses when they refer to “President Obama” and got the response that they didn’t have to answer questions and since Obama is the President, “President Obama” is an honorary term. Well, yeah, but that wasn’t my question. I wanted to know what letters they typed in when they looked for records for that guy.
They’re currently just not responding at all, to anything I request. I asked for copies of UIPA requests and responses, certified for admissibility as evidence in a US and Hawaii court of law (necessary because the 2-year retention period is coming up in July, after which time it will be destroyed), and within days they had deleted their e-mail account and listed only a web form for their contact. So I sent them a web form request and took a screen shot of it to prove that I had sent the request. They will not respond to me. They wouldn’t answer the phone when I tried.
On another request that I sent by snail-mail, they asked a stupid question to clarify what was already clearly stated in my request. I responded via fax to Okubo’s office and waited the obligatory 10 business days they added just by asking their stupid question. No response at all. These requests are way overdue. I left a message after the HDOH wouldn’t answer the phone; later that day, after hours, a supervisor at the Vital Records Office called me back. It was an interesting call, but my husband was a bit freaked-out about it being after business hours in HI. Haven’t heard anything back from him either.
I appealed to the OIP and haven’t heard back from them either, though today is the 8th business day since I contacted them regarding the certified copies. I suppose I better hound them.
It’s ridiculous.
The Archives Office is turning bad now too. Earlier I had gotten timely, decent answers. No more. I asked if they had an index of microfilms that they store for the Vital Records Office. I would think the Archives Division would need to document what they have in their archives so they can account for what is or isn’t missing in an audit. She wouldn’t say if they have an index or not.
I did find in the OIP’s RSS site that agencies are required to have a list of the materials they have in Archives storage, so I suppose I have to do a phone call. Maybe I can ride them for their last 5 weeks of totally ignoring me at the same time as I put in a request for that list of records in Archives storage.
3 years ago I would never have imagined little mild-mannered me hounding people like this, but then I would never have imagined them lying, breaking rules and laws, and manipulating their records either so I guess it’s even. lol.
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