Capitol cops open a probe into leak (COVERUP!)

www.thehill.com ^ | November 18, 2003 | Alexander Bolton and Geoff Earle

[jmstein7]

A complaint filed by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) with the Senate sergeant at arms caused the Capitol Police to confiscate computer records of the Senate Judiciary Committee after sealing off the room.

Durbin’s complaint to William Pickle, the sergeant at arms, focused on memos written by Durbin’s staff in late 2001 about the opposition of liberal groups to President Bush’s conservative nominees to the federal bench.

The memos were cited last Friday in an editorial that ran in The Wall Street Journal and in The Washington Times.

In a letter to Pickle, Durbin said that his office “did not release these documents, nor did we authorize their release to anyone. Other than the original paper copies of these memos which are locked away in a file cabinet in my staff’s Judiciary Committee offices, the only other copies are stored electronically on the Judiciary Committee’s computer server in an allegedly secure file area.

“Therefore, it appears that the documents in question were taken without authorization and possibly illegally. This constitutes a serious breach of security and calls into question the [confidentiality] of Senate internal documents in both electronic and hard copy form.”

Joe Shoemaker, Durbin’s spokesman, said the panel’s majority and minority staff, accompanied by Capitol Police, removed the backup files of the committee’s server.

They also sealed the office where the server was located and moved a staffer who normally worked in the area.

Both staffs share a single server, Shoemaker noted.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the committee’s chairman, said there was “no indication” that the memos in question were either stolen or pilfered.

The leaked memos are the second set of private documents to cause a furor in the Senate. Earlier this month, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) saw a confidential political memo laying out a critical approach on President Bush’s handling on Iraqi intelligence matters leaked to Fox News.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) is drafting a letter to the Justice Department seeking a probe of that leak.

[jmstein7]

Love this line:

" The leaked memos are the second set of private documents to cause a furor in the Senate. Earlier this month, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) saw a confidential political memo laying out a critical approach on President Bush’s handling on Iraqi intelligence matters leaked to Fox News."

Blame the cops for catching the robbers.

visit www.intelmemo.com

[jmstein7]

I wonder if the Dems would agree to an investigation into the leak of the "Pentagon Papers". How about grilling Woodward about "Deep Throat"?

Scumbags.

[stands2reason]

Okay, wait...which memos were these again?

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

Somewhere last week somebody said that the dems would try to turn this around and make the main issue be the leaking of the documents being the Republicans' fault, instead of the stuff that's actually in the documents. Looks like they were right.

[doug from upland]

The reaction to getting caught in a traitorous act. Are any of us suprised?

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Pot. Kettle. Black. This is disgusting if the Senate Pubbies let the RATS get away with it.

[Mo1]

If you ask me .. The dems are worried about more memos being leaked

But my gut tells me it's too late

According to Hannity, the memo he rec'd didn't come from a Pubbie

Seems like there is a Dem out there that doesn't like the direction their party has taken

[dts32041]

Dickie durbin daley hack is lieing, how do i know his lips are moving, and bobbi kkk byrd has his hand up dickie's butt.

[Southack]

This works in our favor by bringing the Memogate issue back up in the press again, as well as by letting us get a similar investigation into which Dem leaked Rumsfeld's Iraq memo.

Maybe we can put Woodward/Bernstein into jail for leaking Watergate, ditto for an investigation into the Pentagon Papers. Senator Leahy needs to be jailed for getting one of our agents killed, too.

The Left won't like where all of this leads, not one little bit.

[Mo1]

Somewhere last week somebody said that the dems would try to turn this around and make the main issue be the leaking of the documents being the Republicans' fault, instead of the stuff that's actually in the documents. Looks like they were right

Maybe so .. but at the same time they are bringing more attention to an issue the media has been avoiding

IMO .. the Dems are afraid of what still may come out

[Mo1]

The Left won't like where all of this leads, not one little bit.

I'm thinking the same thing ...

[MJY1288]

The leaker is John Edwards..... I will bet some serious dough on this one.

Here is my reasoning:

Howard Dean is the anti-war candidate and way out in front. No democrat can take this guy out, only Bush proving the dems wrong about the intel that lead up to the war and the democrats playing politics with the war in Iraq. Only John Edwards stands to benifit from leaking these past documents and look at his latest comments on HardBall where he basically said he considered Saddam a serious threat and would have done exactly what George W. Bush had done.

John edwards is the only Presidential candidate on the Senate Select Intel Committee :-)

[kattracks]

Memos of special interest on Hill

[goodnesswins]

"The Left won't like where all of this leads, not one little bit.

Oh, what a weird, and wily web they weave......too bad...maybe it'll all finally catch up to them....

[Mo1]

Only John Edwards stands to benifit from leaking these past documents and look at his latest comments on HardBall where he basically said he considered Saddam a serious threat and would have done exactly what George W. Bush had done.

Good Point

On another note .. Did you see the blow off that Hellary gave Edwards at the end of the Iowa rally this weekend?

She huged and smiled for pictures with all the Dem clowns .. but with Edwards it was a quick hand shake and she walked away

[goodnesswins]

HHMMMMM....bump

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

This complaint is helpful. We do in fact need an investigation, and full disclosure of all of the facts, to the public. In fact, I would be in favor of televised hearings. The cynical duplicity of the Dims must get as much disclosure as possible. Nonetheless, the Dimo's hypicrisy knows know bounds.

[Diddle E. Squat]

How about Dem Martin Frost's aid stealing a redistricting map from a conference room?

The Dems are going to try and portray this as the start of some kind of Watergate, we need to throw back in their face tons of examples of their own sticky fingers...

[MJY1288]

That's because Hillary is complicant, Edwards has nothing but ex-Clinton campaign people working for him and none of these Democrats think they have a chance, and the last thing they want is Dean to win in 2004. She can not afford to be seen as someone who might be involved in this memo gate scandal.

Their only chance is 2008 and they know it. Why else wouldn't Dean be involved with the DLC? The DLC does not want Dean and they also know that when Zell Miller, Ed Koch, and several other leading democrats are supporting Bush right now, there is not much hope for 2004, so they are laying the groundwork for 2008

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Leaks that would seem to harm Republicans are 24/7 newsworthy by the print, broadcast, and cable news outlets. Leaks that would seem to harm Democrats aren't.

The mainstream media's Hypocritic Oath is "do no harm" to democrats.