Erasure
By Thomas JeffreyArticle Posted: Thursday October 19, 2006
As predicted, former Enron founder and CEO Ken Lay has been absolved of both his indictment as well as the 10 counts of fraud and other charges that he was convicted on from earlier this year, due to his untimely death on July 5.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake ruled on Tuesday that due to the fact the Lay died prior to a hearing on the appeal of the ruling against him, that the dismissal of all charges as the defendant were warranted, as the case could not go forward due to his death.
This concept, known officially as the Abatement Doctrine, was most recently reinforced by a 2004 ruling in the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that found “a defendant’s death pending appeal extinguished his entire case because he hadn’t had a full opportunity to challenge the conviction and the government shouldn’t be able to punish a dead defendant or his estate.”
Tuesday’s ruling may prove to be something of a blow to the government’s attempts at seizing the Lay estate and returning those assets to the Enron company shareholders, most of whom had their life savings wiped out by the company’s collapse.
Lay’s co-conspirator, Jeffrey Skilling, learns his fate on Monday for his role in the energy giant scandal.
Note to self: bring popcorn.
Sources:
Judge Vacates Conviction of Ken Lay—Forbes.com
Late Enron boss’s verdict quashed—BBC News
Oops He Did It Again
By Thomas JeffreyArticle Posted: Thursday October 19, 2006
You know the campaign season is in full swing when you can’t listen to the radio or watch the television without being bombarded by political attack ads from both sides. And with the GOP having to answer some tough questions as of late over the actions of some of their members, it was really only a matter of time before the Republicans pushed back in an attempt to share the love of the corruption spotlight.
Last week I reported on how Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid was in a bit of pickle over failing to report the transfer of land he owned to an LLC years before it was sold in his name for some $700,000 in profit. But recognizing a growing storm on the horizon, Reid choose to amend his ethics report to the Senate this past Monday, not only accounting for the transfer of the land but also two additional property transactions that had also occurred, but had never been reported, to the Senate.
But if Reid thought the uncomfortable press scrutiny over his own private White Water land deal was over, then Tuesday’s AP story must have really come as a shock.
The Associated Press, the same news organization that Reid hung up on last week when he was originally questioned about the land deal, broke another unflattering story about how the minority leader has allegedly used campaign funds to award his staff with holiday bonuses. And as you may or may not be aware my dear readers, federal election law prohibits political candidates from utilizing any campaign contributions for their own personal use.
But Mr. Reid seems somewhat nonplused over the revelations, blaming the error on both his own attorney and clerical errors, and has already reimbursed his campaign for the $3,300 out of his own pocket to “prevent this issue from being used in the current campaign season to deflect attention from Republican failures.”
But the fact that tips regarding both the land deal and the holiday bonuses both found there way onto the desk of an AP reporter via a former staffer should be enough to give even the most forthright public servant pause. Because in this current climate of finger-pointing and shadowy accusation, especially with control of the entire congress in the balance, the GOP will be looking for anything that would keep themselves from being portrayed as the only snakes in the grass up on The Hill—even if there is a bit truth to that rumor.
Come on guys, keep your noses clean. You’re better than that.
AP: Reid used campaign funds for Christmas bonuses—CNN.com
Reid Decides to Amend Ethics Reports AP via Breitbart.com
On The Tax Payer's Dime
By Thomas JeffreyArticle Posted: Monday October 16, 2006
Former Florida Republican Congressman Mark Foley, who resigned in disgrace last week after it was revealed that he allegedly had inappropriate contact with an underage congressional page, is getting ‘clean and sober’ at the taxpayer’s expense—all courtesy of the “temporary continuation of coverage” provision included in his federal health insurance plan.
According to a spokesperson for the House of Representatives clerk’s office, Mr. Foley will get to enjoy the same health care benefits that his former colleagues get to enjoy for the next 18 months—including rehabilitation coverage for alcohol or drug dependency—completely free of charge.
The coverage is available to all members of congress, whether they resign their position or leave office at the end of an elected term.
Now this Leftwing Nutjob doesn’t know about you, but I’ve never had a job where the health care coverage is provided for you after you leave, let alone if you resign. But I guess that why the boys and girls up on The Hill get paid the big bucks—they’re sneaky enough to come up with these little perks in the first place.
Source:
Foley’s rehab paid for by taxpayers—United Press International
The Bottle Made Me Do It
By Thomas JeffreyArticle Posted: Monday October 2, 2006
Taking a page from former Ohio Republican Bob Ney, disgraced Florida Republican Mark Foley has announced on Monday that he is entering rehab for alcohol abuse, stating that his problems with ‘the bottle’ may have played a role in his alleged preoccupation with underaged congressional pages.
“Painfully, the events that led to my resignation have crystallized recognition of my longstanding significant alcohol and emotional difficulties,” Foley wrote. “I strongly believe that I am an alcoholic and have accepted the need for immediate treatment for alcoholism and related behavioral problems.”
In a letter faxed to WPBF-TV, West Palm Beach, Florida’s ABC affiliate, Foley stated that he had made plans to check himself in to “a renowned in-patient facility to address my disease and related issues.”
The news comes as the House leadership has effectively washed their hands of the matter by referring it to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, a bipartisan dysfunctional body that has been in limbo since allegations of abuses by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay sent the group into petty squabbles over procedure rules.
The action has caused several members of Congress to ask the House leadership to appoint an independent investigator to look into the matter.
Sources:
Florida Law Enforcement Agency Examining Foley E-Mails—WPBF.com
As sex e-mail allegations swirl, Foley enters rehab—CNN.com
Speaker calls for inquiry on Foley—Boston Globe
Oh Snap!
By Thomas JeffreyArticle Posted: Monday October 2, 2006
When word broke on Friday about alleged misconduct between a 16-year old male page and Representative Mark Foley, most the of the fallout appeared to be limited to the Florida Republican’s re-election campaign that he effectively ceded to this opponent upon his resignation from the US House. However, over the ensuing weekend, more information has come to light that could have serious repercussions all the way up into Speaker Dennis Hastert’s office and beyond.
Representative Foley’s world began to fall down when the purported existence of several emails between himself and an underage congressional page surfaced over the past few weeks, forcing his own campaign to acknowledge that the correspondences did exist, but maintained that there was nothing inappropriate about them.
However, after the contents of the exchanges were revealed on the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s web site, Foley, who was in the midst of campaigning for a seventh term in the House, resigned, expressing regret for letting his constituents down in a statement that included the following statement:
“I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent,” he said in a statement issued by his office.
But hopes for the GOP containing the damage to just the Foley campaign were all but lost on Saturday, when word began circulating that there was much more to the story than the Florida Representative was letting on. The other shoe dropped when it was announced that the Republican leadership in the House had been aware of the exchanges between the page and Foley since 2005, when the page’s sponsor, Representative Rodney Alexander, reported them to New York Republican Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Reynolds, in a effort to deflect criticism that he had not done enough regarding the matter, stated that even though the boy’s parents did not want the matter pursued, he did his own due diligence and reported the incident directly to Speaker Hastert.
However, the GOP is nothing if not quick to react to a potentially damaging situation that could cost them their majority status in Congress. For just hours after this new wrinkle emerged, Speaker Dennis Hastert, backtracking on previous claims that he knew nothing of the scandal, acknowledged that he had, in fact, been informed of the situation by Reynolds and had referred it on to the proper authorities.
That action would have effectively put the matter in to the realm of the office of the House clerk and John Shimkus, but according to Michigan Democrat Dale Kildee, a member of the House Page Board, no investigation was ever made into the allegations.
On Sunday, flanked by House Majority Leader Roy Blunt and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Hastert appeared before the cameras and stated that he had asked the Justice Department to look into who knew what and when they knew it, including “what actions such individuals took, if any, to provide them to law enforcement.”
The speaker also announced the creation of a hot-line for former pages and others that may or may not have had inappropriate advances from other members of congress.
This development came after a former page told ABC news that he and several of his friends were told by a Republican supervisor in the House Clerk’s office to avoid Foley and “don’t get too wrapped up in him being too nice to you and all that kind of stuff.”
And, in an indication as to just how serious this issue might just be for the GOP, President Bush on Sunday expressed his own disgust at he actions of Foley and maintained that he knew nothing of the scandal before he heard about it in the press.
But even as every Republican within a stones’ throw of Capitol Hill is actively putting as much distance between themselves and Mark Foley as is humanly possible, this Leftwing Nutjob was beaten to the punch by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid when he began floating allegations early Sunday that the Republican leadership in the House knowingly kept problems with Foley on the down low in order to maintain their tenuous majority going into the fall elections.
And if that conspiracy of silence is eventually given weight by the results of the multiple investigations now getting underway—including a newly announced FBI probe—then the American people need to come to grip with a harsh truth—that the Republican Party will do anything, ANYTHING, to maintain their grip on power in Congress.
Sick.
Source:
READER DISCRETION STRONGLY ADVISED: Foley’s Exchange With Underage Page—ABC News.com
Congressman resigns after e-mails questioned—CNN.com
GOP Staff Warned Pages About Foley in 2001—ABC News
GOP Leaders Knew of Foley E-Mail in ‘05—AP via Myway.com
Hastert Requests Criminal Probe of Foley—AP via Myway.com
FBI Opens “Preliminary Investigation” of Foley—ABC News
Podcast #117
By Thomas JeffreyArticle Posted: Tuesday April 15, 2008
Leftwing Nutjob Podcast, Episode 117, for Sunday, April 13, 2008
Penn hits the bricks, Iran in the spotlight again, the Obama money machine, al Qaeda’s rising star and more!