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Complete title: Judicial Watch Statement on Court Ruling in Sexual Harassment Lawsuit against Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton today issued a statement in response to a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Judicial Watch’s sexual harassment lawsuit filed on behalf of Winsome Packer, a female federal employee who alleges that she was repeatedly subjected to “unwelcome sexual advances,” “unwelcome touching” and retaliation from Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) ( Packer v. US Comm. On Security & Cooperation in Europe, and Hastings and Turner (CV No. 11-00485)). On February...

The Democrats are chomping at the bit to reclaim Florida’s 22nd Congressional District seat, snatched from them in 2010 by Allen West, R-Plantation. Although they need someone with the mental agility to match West’s talent for thinking on his feet, they also want someone free of corruption and controversy. For example, they don’t need another Congressman Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar. While serving as a federal judge, a Hastings go-between accepted $25,000 as a down payment to a $150,000 bribe in exchange for a favorable ruling. Former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel claims to have the moxie to confront West. Unlike...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressman Alcee Hastings asked a court Saturday to throw out claims that he subjected a former employee to sexual harassment and retaliation when he was co-chairman of an independent U.S. agency. The Florida Democrat said the case should be handled according to congressionally-approved administrative and judicial remedies - and not the U.S. District Court in Washington, where the plaintiff, Winsome Packer, lodged her complaint. Packer says Hastings asked several times to stay at her apartment or to get her to visit his hotel room in Vienna, Austria, when she worked as staff representative and he was co-chairman...

WASHINGTON (AP) — An independent U.S. agency is denying claims that a former co-chairman, Rep. Alcee Hastings, made sexual advances toward a staff member and sought to retaliate when she refused. In a court filing Saturday, the Helsinki Commission disputed the sexual harassment allegations by Winsome Packer, the commission's staff representative in Vienna from 2008-2010 when Hastings, a Florida Democrat, was co-chairman. The commission's filing said that specific instances in which Hastings hugged Packer, gave her a music box or asked to see her apartment were out of general benevolence toward staff. *** Hastings' response to the complaint was expected...

Hours after Rep. Anthony Weiner's resignation became official, a sexual harassment case involving Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) resurfaced. Gary Fields and Brody Mullins report for the Wall Street Journal that the independent Office of Congressional Ethics is now investigating a claim that Hastings sexually harassed a woman working on his staff. Fields and Mullins write that the Office investigation was opened after conservative group Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit in March as the legal counsel for Republican staffer Winsome Packer. Packer, who served on the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe--a group headed by the congressman--alleges that Hastings...

From The National Journal: The House’s independent ethics office is looking into sexual-harassment claims leveled months ago against Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., the Wall Street Journal is reporting. Citing sources familiar with the inquiry, the investigation, which began at least a month ago, is being conducted by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics and not the House Ethics Committee.

Maarch 7, 2011-News Release Rep. Alcee Hastings Sued by Employee for Sexual Harassment: 'Unwelcome Sexual Advances' and 'Unwelcome Touching' Hastings Allegedly Retaliated Against Victim for Complaining About Conduct WASHINGTON, March 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it filed a lawsuit on March 7, 2011 against Florida Democrat Congressman Alcee Hastings on behalf of a female employee who was repeatedly subjected to "unwelcome sexual advances," "unwelcome touching" and retaliation. The alleged harassment and retaliation began in 2008, when Hastings was Chairman of the United States Commission on Security...

Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings is being accused of sexual harassment by a former staffer who worked with him on the Helsinki Commission in Washington, D.C.A former female employee who worked for Rep. Alcee Hastings filed a sexual harassment lawsuit on Monday against the Florida Democratic congressman. In the suit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., the victim, Winsome Packer, said the alleged harassment took place from 2008-10, while she and Hastings were working on the U.S. Commission on Cooperation and Security in Europe, which is also known as the Helsinki Commission. He co-chaired the commission, which is an...

This Sunday, at a retirement home in Belle Glade, Florida, a United States congressman threatened the life of his opponent in front of an entire group of senior citizens. For those familiar with the entitlement mentality that has so sullied the left, the party of the esteemed Congressman can be left without saying. For all others, I’ve included it in the title. Sunday’s riff was par for the course with Alcee Hastings. During the 2008 cycle (three days before the election), Democrat Hastings, a member of Congress since 1993 and the only impeached judge ever to be elected to higher...

Bernard Sansaricq, the Republican candidate for Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, says term limits should be implemented in Congress. “When you have congressmen with nine terms [such as Sansaricq’s Democratic opponent, Alcee Hastings], that’s when you have entrenched corruption,” he told Newsmax.TV. Sansaricq, a Haitian-American who was once president of Haiti’s Senate, also says members of Congress need to set an example by cutting their own spending first. “I will trim my budget to one-third of what they’re giving congressmen now and will try to do the same for everyone in Congress,” he said. “We are borrowing 40 cents on every...

No kidding.

With key House Republicans narrowing in on key House races in a growing attempt to regain the majority in this year’s midterm elections, GOP candidates who have met key benchmarks are beginning to receive initial checks from their House leadership. Bernard Sansaricq was singled out for this honor after confirmation of his having qualified for the ballot. A day after qualifying for the ballot, House Leader John Boehner sent Sansaricq a kickoff check of $4,500. These checks are only being sent to key districts where candidates have achieved unprecedented grassroots support or have achieved other defined milestones. Florida’s 23rd district...

“I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.” -- William F. Buckley At this point, I would go Buckley one better: I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 254 people we could pull out of a minimum security prison rather than the Democrats who are currently in Congress. In all fairness to the Democrats we have in charge now, that change probably wouldn't make Congress any less corrupt (not much more corrupt either), but at least...

Congressman Alcee Hastings is no stranger to controversy. After his appointment as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida by President Jimmy Carter, Hastings was arrested on charges of accepting a bribe from the Mafia. According to the indictment filed against him, the judge agreed to enter a judgment returning nearly $1 million forfeited to the government in exchange for a six figure payment. After a criminal trial in the Federal Court where he once presided, Hastings was found not guilty. His defense was that William Borders, a long-time friend and associate, had used Hastings’ name...

Saturday, March 20, 2010 Rules? This. Is. Congress! [Daniel Foster] Yes, Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings (Fla.) just said this in the most powerful committee of the United States House of Representatives. The people's house: "There ain't no rules here, we're trying to accomplish something. . . .All this talk about rules. . . .When the deal goes down . . . we make 'em up as we go along."

Alcee Hastings has offered an amendment that would keep "hate groups" out of the military. The Attorney General would get to define what a "hate group" is, and it wouldn't just include those who are violent but "extremists" who are "engaged in online discussion groups or blog or other postings".

Congressional Candidate Bernard Sansaricq issued a statement denouncing the Democratic double standard that has permeated the debate over the nomination of Appellate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court. “The rush to confirm Judge Sotomayor prior to her being properly vetted is premature. But far more disturbing are the accusations of racism that many Democrats have made toward those who take pause at certain past statements made by the nominee. It should be noted that many of these same Democrats, including President Obama, tried to prevent so much as an up or down for the nomination of Justice...

Key to victory is that Republicans develop a 435 strategy, fielding candidates in every seat. The need to take the fight to Democrats should be obvious to anyone who’s ever watched as much as a little league game in which one team has a great offense while the other plays a fine defensive strategy. Team offense wins 10-1. Fielding a candidate in each congressional district also allows us to gain some real stars who want to do amazing things for their district. Few if any have ever run with a more unique story than 2010’s Republican candidate for Florida’s 23rd...

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., has introduced to the House of Representatives a new bill, H.R. 645, calling for the secretary of homeland security to establish no fewer than six national emergency centers for corralling civilians on military installations. The proposed bill, which has received little mainstream media attention, appears designed to create the type of detention center that those concerned about use of the military in domestic affairs fear could be used as concentration camps for political dissidents, such as occurred in Nazi Germany. The bill also appears to expand the president's emergency power, much as the executive order...

Illinoise Governor Rod Blagojevich claims that the Illinois Senate Rules of Impeachment 8(b) and 15(f) essentially deny him the right to due process in the upcoming Illinois Senate impeachment trial. Is he correct? Does he have a constitutional right to challenge the accusations against him and call witnesses for his defense? Is he incorrect? Is he simply an employee of the State of Illinois and therefore subject to being fired for cause? The Illinois Senate contends that the impeachment trial is not a criminal proceeding. What say you?Rule 15(f) It is never in order to request a subpoena for the...

Florida police are investigating an allegation that Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., directed a death threat at his Republican challenger, Marion Thorpe, at a candidates forum on Thursday. Thorpe, a former state chief medical officer, filed a report with the Boca Raton Police Department on Thursday night after the forum, alleging he was threatened by the eight-term congressman during the event at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton. The two are vying for the congressional seat in Florida's 23rd District, which includes Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Click here to see the police report. "We had a very unfortunate interaction...

At a candidate forum in Boca Raton last night, the G.O.P. candidate running against Rep. Alcee Hastings, former Chief Medical Officer for the state of Florida Dr. Marion Thorpe, filed a police report claiming the congressman threatened his life.

Alcee Hastings used to be a federal judge. Then he got impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. Now he's a congressman from Florida. People have a right to vote for whomever they want, even one of the six federal judges in America ever to be removed by Congress. But with friends like Hastings making the case for him, Barack Obama doesn't need enemies. Participating in a panel discussion in Washington this week sponsored by the National Jewish Democratic Council (I don't even want to ask why they invited him — maybe everybody else was busy trying to...

(CNN) - An African-American congressman from Florida is apologizing for his comment that black and Jewish voters should not support Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin because "anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks." "I regret the comments I made last Tuesday that were not smart and certainly not relevant to hunters or sportsmen," Rep. Alcee Hastings said in a statement issued Monday. -snip-

Rallying on behalf of Barack Obama, a Florida congressman impeached as a federal judge for perjury and bribery suggested that Sarah Palin is a racist anti-Semite. Democrat Alcee Hastings, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, told a Washington D.C. crowd that Palin "don't care too much what they do with Jews and blacks." Referring to Palin's support of gun rights and fondness for hunting, the disgraced federal judge said that "anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks." Hastings has the dubious honor of being one of only six...

Rep. Alcee Hastings told an audience of Jewish Democrats Wednesday that they should be wary of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin because “anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.”

From a man who’s no stranger to abject disgrace comes one of the purest examples of racial demagoguery we’ve seen from either side during this very long campaign, duly laughed at and applauded by the same group that worked so hard last week to get Palin disinvited from the anti-Iran rally. His party will love him for it, I assure you. Rep. Alcee Hastings told an audience of Jewish Democrats Wednesday that they should be wary of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin because “anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and...

Per "Florida congressman points to Palin to rally Jews to Obama," Rep. Alcee Hastings denounced hunters and gun owners as racists and anti-Semites, and by implication beer-swilling NASCAR-watching pickup-truck-driving redneck white trash. This is consistent with Obama's own description of Pennsylvanians as "bitter" small down people who "cling to guns and religion," and the common reference to working people as "white trash" on Obama's own Web site. Rep. Alcee Hastings told an audience of Jewish Democrats Wednesday that they should be wary of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin because “anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about...

ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: Florida Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings pointed to Sarah Palin on Wednesday to rally Jews to Obama. "If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention," said Hastings. "Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through." Hastings, who is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, made his comments in Washington, D.C., while participating in a panel discussion sponsored by the...

Rep. Alcee Hastings told an audience of Jewish Democrats Wednesday that they should be wary of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin because “anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.” “If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention,” Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida said at a panel about the shared agenda of Jewish and African-American Democrats Wednesday. Hastings, who is African-American, was explaining what he intended to tell his Jewish...

They are not natural politicians, but people from all walks of life who have a grounded understanding of the issues and propose well thought out and common sense solutions. One of them is significantly worthy of mention. He’s Dr. Marion Thorpe Jr., former Chief Medical Officer of the State of Florida. Dr. Thorpe is a community leader and finds himself in a rare seat that the GOP can realistically pick up (The district, while heavily Democratic and currently being served by Democratic Representative Alcee Hastings for 16 years , has a very low voter turn out. Recent migration of large...

U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, takes to the House floor on Thursday to decry oil industry profits and rail against the idea of offshore drilling. A few highlights: “Let it be clearly understood by everybody in this House of Representatives, I will be the last man standing, saying that you will not drill off the coast of Florida beyond the limits of the law that all of us agreed to, “All of us know the buzz words, but let’s stop kidding Americans. The solutions are costly, and the energy companies are the ones that are most likely to do this...

My friends, I have just read the most disturbing words from someone purporting to be an American Congressman, Alcee Hastings, an impeached Federal judge. His words, regarding the soaring price of gasoline, "There ain't no answer, OK? ... All the talk is feel good talk.", is the most pathetic and abyssmal response I have heard, recently. Perhaps I can offer Congressman Hastings, and his cohorts, a lesson from American history. On the second day at Gettysburg, a young Professor of Rhetoric from Bowdoin College in Maine, LTC Joshua Chamberlain, was told he was the end of the Union line along...

"There are no short-term answers. And I know that there's going to be long-term pain. I predict to you that gas prices will be as much as $5 before the end of this year and they will go to $6 at some point next year," he said during an interview with reporters and editorial writers at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "When they go to $6 it will fluctuate between $5 and $6 and more for some time to come. That's the harsh reality no matter what law we pass," he said. "I get tired of hearing people, politicians, friends of...

... While a lot of predictions are being made about Florida’s congressional races, as usual, the conventional wisdom is superficial and wrong. ... Republican Pick Ups? – Probable. But Not Where Initially Expected First of all, there is a possibility for some Republican pick ups. It won’t be in the District everyone expects that it might be, FL-16... (Foley's). Where Republicans can pick up is in FL-22. Ron Klein won in 2006 with only 51% of the vote against a good incumbent, but one who was loathe to campaign. Klein hasn’t caught on and most of his support comes solely...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has appointed two national co-chairs for her presidential campaign -- including a former U.S. District Court judge who was impeached. U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Alcee Hastings, both Florida Democrats, will be two of several co-chairs who will help direct Clinton's effort to win the White House in 2008. "We need a leader with a clear vision and sound judgment, who can work with a Democratic Congress to renew the promise of America. Hillary is that leader," Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. Hastings said a second Clinton in the White House would make the...

June 8, 2007 The Culture Of Corruption, Presidential Version The midterm election theme of the "culture of corruption" functioned as an argument for Democratic control of Congress, after several scandals rocked the Republican caucuses. The Democrats apparently like the theme so much that they plan to incorporate it into their presidential campaign -- but perhaps not in the manner some might expect (via Big Lizards): The Clinton Campaign today announced that Florida Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Congressman Alcee Hastings have been named national Campaign Co-Chairs. "We need a leader with a clear vision and sound judgment, who can work...

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2006 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” The list, in alphabetical order, includes: 1. Jack Abramoff, Former Lobbyist – 2. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) 3. Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) 4. Former Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) 5. Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) 6. Rep. Denny Hastert (R-IL) 7. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) 8. Rep. William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson (D-LA) 9. Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) 10. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) 6 Dishonorable Mentions: 1. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) 2....

Reyes Testimony Stirs Concern For EP Dems February 8, 2005 -- El Paso County Democrats say they are in disbelief after watching the testimony of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes before the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations. "What he was saying doesn't make any sense," said Carmen Duarte, County Chair for the Democratic Party in El Paso. Duarte says they are concerned Congressman Reyes is downplaying the seriousness of border incursions, including the January 23rd incident in Hudspeth County where Hudspeth Sheriff deputies were at a stand-off with Mexican militants during a drug smuggling operation along the Rio Grande. "He wasn't...

Have you ever had a teacher in school who was just so flat out nuts that her/his decisions made no sense whatever? I know I did. In the ninth grade I had a wacko Spanish teacher who perceived all sorts of minor slights she was receiving from both the school and society in general. She never ceased blabbering about how horrible the USA was and how WONDERFUL Fidel's Cuba was in comparison. What made this especially NUttie is that the teacher was a Cuban-American. Anyway, we students kept telling her that if she thought things were so great in...

Despite continuing reports that Speaker of the House-designate Nancy Pelosi intends to name Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings as chairman of the important House Intelligence Committee, I do not think she will do so. Mr. Hastings, before winning his congressional seat, was a federal judge accused of bribery. He was acquitted of these charges in a trial, but the House of Representatives, based on these accusations, then impeached him, and the Senate removed him from office by convicting him. Both the House and Senate at that time were controlled by the Democrats. Mr. Hastings subsequently won a Florida congressional seat, and...

Memo to the national news media: Please, in all future stories about Rep. Alcee Hastings, stop referring to “the FBI agent” who set him up in a bribery sting when Hastings was a federal judge. The guy who brought down Hastings wasn’t just an FBI agent, you know. He was also a gangster. He died in 2004 under guard, in custody, indicted for the murder of his boss two months before he bagged Alcee Hastings. Meet H. Paul Rico, dead almost three years now and still involved, not just in one, but in two unfolding scandals. You’re familiar with the...

Alcee Hastings, Bribery, and the House Intelligence Committee Will Democrats overlook the next chairman’s past? By Byron York Eighteen years ago, Democratic Rep. John Conyers came to believe that Alcee Hastings, at the time a federal judge in Florida, was guilty of impeachable offenses. Hastings stood accused of conspiring to take bribes, and, although it is little remembered today, Conyers served as the chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee that investigated Hastings and unanimously recommended his impeachment. After the House voted 413 to 3 to impeach Hastings, Conyers went on to serve as one of the House impeachment managers who...

Pelosi, Hastings and the Future of House DemocratsNovember 17th, 2006 There have been but 17 federal officials impeached by the House of Representatives since 1787 when the framers included the process in the U.S Constitution.  Of these were two presidents, one cabinet member, one senator, and one Supreme Court Justice.  The remaining defendants were all federal judges, seven of whom were subsequently convicted by the Senate and removed from the bench.  Statistically, in a field of thousands of past and present federal judges, this represents quite the rare and dubious distinction, indeed.And yet, one of the mere 7 federal judges...

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is in line to make history as the first female Speaker?and second in line of succession for the presidency?when the new Congress convenes in January. As with any election, a wide variety of issues factored into the dynamics of this year's midterms. For us, however, the just-concluded campaign, like every federal election, was fundamentally about national security. The federal government's principal task is providing for the defense of the nation, without which justice, welfare, and all the other blessings of liberty enjoyed inside the various states are, at best, aspirations. With majority status in the "people's...

<p>The case is a spin-off of a probe that has already led to charges under the Espionage Act against two AIPAC lobbyists, whose case is still pending, and to a 12-and-a-half-year prison sentence for former Defense Intelligence Agency official Lawrence A. Franklin. Franklin pleaded guilty a year ago to three felony counts involving improper disclosure and handling of classified information about the Middle East and terrorism to the two lobbyists, who in turn are accused of passing it on to a journalist and a foreign government, widely believed to be Israel. The two lobbyists, who have denied any wrongdoing but were dismissed by AIPAC in April of 2005, were indicted on felony counts of conspiring with government officials to receive classified information they were not authorized to have access to and providing national defense information to people not entitled to receive it.</p>

If they're serious about national security issues -- as something other than simply a political tool, that is -- perhaps the Democrats would answer two questions: (1) Why would Nancy Pelosi consider denying moderate, bipartisan Jane Harman the opportunity to chair the House Intelligence Committee, and replace her with liberal Rep. Alcee Hastings, a former federal judge who was impeached for and convicted of bribery? (2) How did Senate Democrats – who claimed that dissident Republican Senators Warner, Graham and McCain had their proxy to negotiate with The White House on procedures for interrogating and trying terrorist detainees – come...

I’ll be brief this time about Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans. Due to stupidity and incompetence, he did not carry out the evacuation plan for his city. As a result, more than a thousand of his constituents died, and tens of thousands suffered personal disaster, and had to be rescued by the Coast Guard and the National Guard. There was an established evacuation plan for Southern Louisiana, dated 1 January, 2004. Local and national media were incompetent in not reporting this plan and its details. The salient point was that the mandatory evacuation had to be called early, to...

A year after Sept. 11 attacks, fate of detainees in Cuba remains unknown By IAN JAMES, Associated Press Writer GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - When the men accused of links to terrorism arrived in Cuba, some were forced to kneel, their hands and feet in shackles and their eyes covered with blackened goggles. Photographs of their arrival prompted U.S. allies to demand explanations — and British newspapers to speak of torture. A year after the Sept. 11 attacks, criticism of the detainees' treatment has lessened, but questions are increasingly being asked about what will happen to them. At least...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wants Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings, who was impeached as a federal judge in 1989, to be vice chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Time magazine's Joe Klein reported on Sunday. "There's an ugly fight brewing in the House among Democrats about the House Intelligence Committee, which may have larger implications about the Democrats and national security," Klein told NBC's "Chris Matthews Show." "Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, wants to dump Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat who is a moderate, and replace her with Alcee Hastings," Klein said. Appointed to the bench by President Carter in...