The Most Corrupt Administration Ever [Free Republic]

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The Most Corrupt Administration Ever: Crime/Corruption Opinion (Published) Keywords: CLINTON CORRUPTION, CLINTON TREASON, CLINTON DEMAGOGUERY
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Published: January 13, 2000
Posted on 01/13/2000 04:22:00 PST by Mia T

The Most Corrupt Administration Ever

January 13, 2000

The Wall Street Journal
These are excerpts from a televised address by Sen. Orrin Hatch, a
Republican presidential candidate, due to air this week in New
Hampshire and Iowa:

We need to look at what happened right after the Clinton-Gore
administration's re-election in 1996. In fact, even before the campaign was
over, the revelations started. More word of attempts by the administration
to politically misuse the power of federal agencies like the FBI, the Secret
Service, the Immigration Service and even the Census Bureau. Disturbing
allegations that the IRS was retaliating against political opponents of the
administration. Questionable practices or abuses of power at the
Commerce Department, the Interior Department and Housing and Urban
Development. . . .

And then came still more revelations . . . including allegations of the
misuses of government power to raise millions upon millions in illegal
campaign contributions. Not just that the Lincoln bedroom had a political
purpose and a price. Not just that the White House was open to
suspicious characters--despite official warnings--who purchased access to
the president and various federal departments with their checkbooks. Even
beyond that, the White House saw frequent visits by a bagman for the
Riady family of Indonesia [which is] tied to Chinese business and
government interests and--hard as this is to believe--another fund-raiser
who was indirectly tied to a high official of the Chinese army. . . .

The administration's answer was a frightening echo of the Watergate
scandal: "Everybody does it." But the fact is, that isn't true. No
administration in our history has ever had a political fund-raiser in such a
high position in government who was so closely tied to foreign interests,
allowed him not only repeated access to the White House but [to] CIA
briefings and top-secret clearances, and then made him privy to the United
States' positions in trade negotiations. The administration had also altered
those positions in ways that were favorable to these foreign interests. And,
finally, all this occurred as allegations cropped up of missile technology
transfers and a massive breach of U.S. nuclear secrets by the Chinese
government. . . .

Faced with an astonishing range of allegations about illegal activities, from
perjury by administration officials before Congress to damaging missile
technology transfers and even theft of nuclear secrets, the Justice
Department did not pursue corruption but thwarted its own lead attorney in
the investigation as well as FBI Director Louis Freeh. After refusing to
follow the dictates of law and appoint an independent counsel to
thoroughly investigate the illegal fund-raising . . . the department arranged
highly questionable, even sweetheart, plea bargains with key wrongdoers
who might have provided damaging testimony. . . .

After assessing the investigations, indictments and numerous top-level
resignations covering a gamut of departments in this administration, we
have to confront the possibility--however sad, however tragic--that when
those investigations are finally over, this administration may be remembered
as the most deceitful and corrupt in our nation's history.

Just ask yourself: What other administration has ever, to this extent, used
the awesome power of the White House and federal departments to assure
its political survival even when this meant politically intervening with civil
and criminal investigations? What administration refused to hold
accountable so many officials and political allies--most of them
lawyers--for casually defying congressional committees with the false
testimony of chronic memory loss? What other administration seemed to
get away with diligently fighting and discrediting not just a court-appointed
independent counsel investigating corruption, but even punishing one of its
own Justice Department lawyers, Charles LaBella, for urging vigorous
investigation? And what other administration has so callously defied
subpoenas and held back documents and, when forced to disclose them,
routinely released them on Friday afternoons--and then all but openly
gloated at their ability to thwart any real media attention? . . .

The first step in putting all this right and setting out to rescue the democratic
process is reasserting this: There is an antidote to all the blab, falsehood
and duplicity of modern political campaigning. It's the biggest
breakthrough, the greatest technological marvel ever invented in politics.
It's called the truth. The power of the truth. Telling the simple unvarnished
truth. And counting on the people to recognize it, feel its magnetic pull,
signal their approval and rally to its support. . . .

I am disturbed that the current frontrunner in the race for the Republican
nomination for the presidency doesn't really want to speak to this issue.
And the second-place candidate in the polls wants to make simplistic
charges about "special interests" and calls for even more rules and
restrictions on political speech and activity that would make it impossible
for an opposition party to raise the issues of corruption. We must point out
how "the corrupt system" is really about a unique and historic brand of
wrongdoing by a new class of elitist liberals and political power-seekers
who appear to think themselves above the people and unaccountable to
them.