FR NETWORK FILES ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS OVER LEAKED MEMO

Free Republic Network and Intelmemo.com ^ | 12/15/03 | FRNetwork

[diotima]

 

NEWS RELEASE

===============================================================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 15, 2003

CONTACT: Joe Giganti,Veritas Media 540-735-8050

FREE REPUBLIC NETWORK FILES SENATE ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST SENATOR JAY ROCKEFELLER AND INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS OVER LEAKED MEMO

(Washington, D.C.) The Free Republic Network announced today that it has filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics alleging improper and unethical conduct by Senator Jay Rockefeller and Democrat members of the staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

The complaint alleges that a memo drafted by committee staff and provided to Democrat members of the Committee, and subsequently leaked to Fox News, documents efforts by Democrat committee members to abuse their positions on the historically non-partisan Intelligence Committee to obtain privileged intelligence information and misuse it to help elect the 2004 Democrat Presidential nominee.

The Senate Ethics complaint states:

The contents of this memo are frightening and disturbing. The actions contemplated by it, besides the obvious legal and ethical considerations, have created mistrust among SSCI members, within the Intelligence agencies responsible for our nation's security, and among the American people to whom they are responsible.

The Chairman of the SSCI has threatened to shut the committee down or to significantly limit its activities. As the ability of Executive branch intelligence agencies to confidently share information and adequately advise the SSCI on matters of critical national importance has been compromised, our country has been put in a clear and present danger of grievous harm. Ultimately, the war on terror is at risk.

The complaint specifically requests the Ethics Committee to address three specific questions:

• Whether Senator Rockefeller, Democrat staffers, or Democrat Senate members of the SSCI used, or conspired to use, the resources of the SSCI to engage in political activities in violation of the Senate Rules of Ethics;
• Whether Senator Rockefeller, Democrat staffers, or Democrat Senate members of the SSCI impermissibly used official resources to engage in what is effectively campaign work;
• Whether Senator Rockefeller, Democrat staffers, or Democrat Senate members of the SSCI violated Rule 9.6 of the SSCI by impermissibly disclosing, or conspiring to disclose, the contents of any papers or materials or other information received by the Committee, mandating referral to the Select Committee on Ethics pursuant to Section 8 of S. Res. 400.
  

The Free Republic Network (www.freerepublic.net) has created a website at www.intelmemo.com to document the progress of the scandal referred to as "Memogate". --30--

[rface]

I hope to see some fruit. Great Job.

[Congressman Billybob]

FANTASTIC!

I know that the House quietly changed its Rules about seven years ago so that complaints against Members can ONLY be made by other Members. I hadn't checked the Senate Rules, because I ain't runnin' fer the Senate.

I'm glad the Senate Rules still allow outsiders to file complaints. Hats off to the FR Network for taking advantage of that open door.

Congressman Billybob

Click here for discussion thread on latest column, "Saddam Captured; O'Connor Still on the Loose."

[Beck_isright]

Good luck against the Roman Imperial Senate!

[Arrowhead]

Not if their actions are criminal.

Arrowhead------big government---->

[TheOtherOne]

They were not secure, otherwise the documents would have been inaccessible.

I guess nothing called secure is ever broken into, ehh?

[visualops]

I may have mixed up the two memo incidents.
However, in the case of the Judiciary committee memos, the Democrat portion of the Senate file servers were not secure for quite some time. That much was admitted by Senate IT staff.
As far as the "Hannity" memo, I don't think any definitive information has come out over how the document was obtained.

[ClintonBeGone]

Not if their actions are criminal.

Then wouldn't the proper place to complain be a US attorney. When was the last time a congressional ethics panel put a member in jail?

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Clearly laws were broken, ethics were violated...

Ethics? Surely you jest in using the word ethics and Democrats in the same catagory.......... ;^)

[NEPA]

Thought you might be interested in this in case you haven't seen it already.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040207/D80I2SFG0.html

Ex-Frist Staffer Files Ethics Complaint

Feb 6, 7:15 PM (ET)

By ROBERT GEHRKE

WASHINGTON (AP) - A former aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist who resigned amid an investigation into Democratic strategy memos leaked to the media filed a Senate ethics complaint Friday alleging "public corruption" by Democratic senators and staff.

Manuel Miranda said in a letter to Robert Walker, the Senate Ethics Committee's chief counsel, that the memos show "a violation of the public trust in the judicial confirmation process on the part of Democratic senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee."

"This includes evidence of the direct influencing of the Senate's advice and consent role by the promise of campaign funding and election support in the last midterm election," wrote Miranda, who handled judicial nominations for Frist.

[RottiBiz]

This was also reported on Fox news yesterday. Hope it has some legs.