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Post by PBAHoFer on Oct 28, 2005 14:22:46 GMT -5
What's up with 2nd term presidencies and the scandals that ensue?
Monica Lewisnki...
CIA scandal...
I guess Presidents feel bullet proof after being reelected and the natural greed, pettiness and crookedness of the entire political environment comes to a head....
What's your take perfect?
Is this another Democratic Party Witchhunt into this CIA leak stuff?
I read where this is going to put more focus and investigation into President Bush's "race to war"...
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Post by MrPerfect on Oct 28, 2005 14:31:11 GMT -5
Just listen to Rush, he can spell it all out for you.....
There was no indictment of Rove today, only Libby and it wasn't even about the leak of the CIA agent.....
The Dems are trying anything to bring Bush down and they can't even come close to him.....lol... I love it.....
The Dems heart had to hit the ground today not getting Rove's indictment......
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Post by PBAHoFer on Oct 28, 2005 14:40:59 GMT -5
Just listen to Rush, he can spell it all out for you..... There was no indictment of Rove today, only Libby and it wasn't even about the leak of the CIA agent..... The Dems are trying anything to bring Bush down and they can't even come close to him.....lol... I love it..... The Dems heart had to hit the ground today not getting Rove's indictment...... Here's a News article concerning the indictment of Libby to day. While you want to spin this as not even close to Bush, I would consider the Vice President's Chief of Staff as high ranking and close to Bush... Cheney Adviser Resigns After Indictment By JOHN SOLOMON and PETE YOST, Associated Press Writers
17 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The vice president's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr., was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in the CIA leak investigation, a politically charged case that casts a harsh light on President Bush's push to war.
Libby, 55, resigned and left the White House.
Karl Rove, Bush's closest adviser, escaped indictment Friday but remained under investigation, his legal status casting a dark cloud over a White House already in trouble. The U.S. military death toll in Iraq exceeded 2,000 this week, and the president's approval ratings are at the lowest point since he took office in 2001.
Friday's charges stemmed from a two-year investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into whether Rove, Libby or any other administration officials knowingly revealed the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame or misled investigators about their involvement.
In the end, Fitzgerald accused Libby of lying about his conversations with reporters, not outing a spy.
"Mr. Libby's story that he was at the tail end of a chain of phone calls, passing on from one reporter what he heard from another, was not true. It was false," the prosecutor said. "He was at the beginning of the chain of the phone calls, the first official to disclose this information outside the government to a reporter. And he lied about it afterward, under oath, repeatedly."
Libby's indictment is a political embarrassment for the president, paving the way for a possible trial renewing the focus on the administration's faulty rationale for going to war against Iraq — the erroneous assertion that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.
It could also mean that Cheney, who prizes secrecy, will be called upon as a witness to explain why the administration launched a campaign against Plame's husband, diplomat Joseph Wilson, a critic of the war who questioned Bush's assertion that Iraq had sought nuclear material.
The indictment said the vice president advised Libby that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA but the vice president was not the first administration official to tell him about it.
At a news conference, Fitzgerald said the inquiry was substantially complete, though he added ominously, "It's not over." He declined to comment about Rove's involvement. Asked about Cheney, he said: "I'm not making allegations about anyone not charged in the indictment."
The grand jury indictment charged Libby with one count of obstruction of justice, two of perjury and two of making false statements. If convicted on all five, he could face as much as 30 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines.
Democrats suggested the indictment was just the tip of the iceberg. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the case was larger than Libby and "about how the Bush White House manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to bolster its case for the war in Iraq and to discredit anyone who dared to challenge the president."
Cheney and several other officials were mentioned by title in the 22-page indictment, but no one besides Libby was charged.
Libby is considered Cheney's alter ego, a chief architect of the war with Iraq. A trial would give the public a rare glimpse into Cheney's influential role in the West Wing and his behind-the-scenes lobbying for war.
Bush ordered U.S. troops to war in March 2003, saying Saddam's weapons of mass destruction program posed a grave and immediate threat to the United States. No such weapons were found.
After the indictment was announced, Libby submitted his resignation to White House chief of staff Andy Card. It was accepted and Libby left the grounds. Card notified Bush.
Cheney issued a statement saying he had accepted Libby's resignation "with deep regret." He added that Libby was entitled to a presumption of innocence in the case and praised his longtime aide as "one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known."
Rove's lawyer said he was told by special prosecutor Fitzgerald's office that investigators would continue their probe into the aide's conduct.
The lack of an indictment against Rove was a mixed outcome for the administration. It keeps in place the president's top adviser, the architect of his political machine whose fingerprints can be found on virtually every policy that emerges from the White House.
But leaving Rove in legal jeopardy keeps Bush and his team working on problems like the Iraq war, a Supreme Court vacancy and slumping poll ratings beneath a dark cloud of uncertainty.
Sen. Edward M Kennedy, D-Mass., said the indictment marked a "signifying a new low since Watergate in terms of openness and honesty in our government." Sen. John Kerry, who ran unsuccessfully against Bush last year, called the case "evidence of White House corruption at the very highest levels."
Hoping to contain the damage, Republicans turned against Libby. Several welcomed his resignation. Others said the legal system should run its course.
"It's time to stop the leaks and spin and turn Washington into one big recovery meeting where people say what they mean and mean what they say," said Rep. Jim Ramstad (news, bio, voting record), R-Minn.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said through a spokesman that the Senate won't investigate the CIA leak.
The indictment alleges that Libby began digging for details about Wilson, Plame's husband and an Iraq war critic, well before the former ambassador went public July 6, 2003, in a newspaper opinion piece with his criticism of the Bush administration's use of faulty prewar intelligence on Iraq's nuclear ambitions.
Libby made his first inquiries about Wilson's travel to Niger in late May 2003 — a trip the government sent him on in early 2002 to check on reports that Saddam was trying to buy uranium — and by June 11 Libby was informed by a CIA official that Wilson's wife worked for the agency and might have sent him on the trip.
On June 12, 2003, the indictment alleges, Libby heard directly from Cheney that Plame worked for the spy agency.
"Libby was advised by the vice president of the United States that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA in the counterproliferation division. Libby understood that the vice president had learned this information from the CIA," Fitzgerald said.
A short time later, Libby began spreading information to reporters, starting with The New York Times' Judith Miller on June 23.
The indictment says a substantial number of people in the White House knew about Plame's CIA status before the publication of Robert Novak's column on July 14, 2003, including former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.
Rove's potential legal problems stem in part from the fact that he failed initially to disclose to prosecutors a conversation in which he told Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper that Plame worked for the CIA. Rove says the conversation slipped his mind. |
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Post by MrPerfect on Oct 28, 2005 14:52:10 GMT -5
Whatever..... The news papers and media are in the pocket of the dems.... indictments is one thing, let's see what sticks?.....
And how does the revealment of a CIA agent, have anything to do about Iraq?...
Clinton, Gore, Albright, and the New York Times said that Saddam had WMD's.... back when they were in office.... Clinton just chose not to act on it... Bush just decided to act on it, because the UN wasn't doing anything about it.....
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Post by MrPerfect on Oct 28, 2005 14:56:54 GMT -5
But I'll add this, if Libby is guilty, than give him the max. sentence....I'm not trying to defend him, I just want to give everyone, even Dems. the benefit of the doubt and innocent, till proven guilty....
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Post by PBAHoFer on Oct 28, 2005 14:58:45 GMT -5
Whatever..... The news papers and media are in the pocket of the dems.... indictments is one thing, let's see what sticks?..... And how does the revealment of a CIA agent, have anything to do about Iraq?... Clinton, Gore, Albright, and the New York Times said that Saddam had WMD's.... back when they were in office.... Clinton just chose not to act on it... Bush just decided to act on it, because the UN wasn't doing anything about it.....  Seing "what sticks" will be easier for some of us than others... |
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Post by MrPerfect on Oct 28, 2005 15:17:16 GMT -5
Whatever..... The news papers and media are in the pocket of the dems.... indictments is one thing, let's see what sticks?..... And how does the revealment of a CIA agent, have anything to do about Iraq?... Clinton, Gore, Albright, and the New York Times said that Saddam had WMD's.... back when they were in office.... Clinton just chose not to act on it... Bush just decided to act on it, because the UN wasn't doing anything about it..... Seing "what sticks" will be easier for some of us than others... Wasn't that a holdover picture from the Clinton scandals depicting the Democratic Party and they're constituents? |
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Post by PBAHoFer on Oct 28, 2005 15:21:33 GMT -5
Seing "what sticks" will be easier for some of us than others... Wasn't that a holdover picture from the Clinton scandals depicting the Democratic Party and they're constituents? Actually, I got it from the State of Michigan website, and it was concerning something going on up there... There is another link on my homepage stating that the indictments don't directly address the CIA leak. But, since the press and the media is in the Democrat's pocket, I didn't feel the need to copy and post it... |
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Post by MrPerfect on Oct 28, 2005 15:27:46 GMT -5
Wasn't that a holdover picture from the Clinton scandals depicting the Democratic Party and they're constituents? Actually, I got it from the State of Michigan website, and it was concerning something going on up there... There is another link on my homepage stating that the indictments don't directly address the CIA leak. But, since the press and the media is in the Democrat's pocket, I didn't feel the need to copy and post it... It still smells of a political witch hunt to me..... The Dems are out of power..... and there is NOTHING they won't do to try and get it back..... That should scare any US citizen.... even if the rolls were reversed.... I'll say it again, I'm an American first and what's best for all of us, not what's best for any political party..... |
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Post by WineUdotKing on Oct 28, 2005 15:57:37 GMT -5
All I can say about all these indictments is that untill they are guilty, they should be presumed innocent and the MEDIA should say that, but you will not hear the MEDIA say that. The MEDIA is going to presume they are guilty unless the courts find them innocent. It's a shame that the MEDIA has to blow up every story against the Republican party the way they do, but not against any Democrat that may be in trouble.
Just like the Hurricane Katrina problems, the MEDIA tried to blame all the problems on the President and not the Democrat Mayor or the Democrat Govrenor.
Therefore, you can't tell me that the mainstream media is not in the Democrat's pocket and they will help do anything to get the ratings of the President as low as they can get.
#soapbox# #grrr# #crashburn_fou# #smileys-gif-127_0# #MadSmlyGun# #SmileyNoNo# #throwrock# #nsrtrts_104#
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Post by MrPerfect on Oct 28, 2005 16:03:16 GMT -5
All I can say about all these indictments is that untill they are guilty, they should be presumed innocent and the MEDIA should say that, but you will not hear the MEDIA say that. The MEDIA is going to presume they are guilty unless the courts find them innocent. It's a shame that the MEDIA has to blow up every story against the Republican party the way they do, but not against any Democrat that may be in trouble. Just like the Hurricane Katrina problems, the MEDIA tried to blame all the problems on the President and not the Democrat Mayor or the Democrat Govrenor. Therefore, you can't tell me that the mainstream media is not in the Democrat's pocket and they will help do anything to get the ratings of the President as low as they can get. #soapbox# #grrr# #crashburn_fou# #smileys-gif-127_0# #MadSmlyGun# #SmileyNoNo# #throwrock# #nsrtrts_104# PBA just hooked him a big fish....lol... hook line and sinker....lol... |
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Post by WineUdotKing on Oct 28, 2005 16:16:56 GMT -5
PBA just hooked him a big fish....lol... hook line and sinker....lol... Yup. ;D |
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Post by PBAHoFer on Oct 28, 2005 19:06:40 GMT -5
Therefore, you can't tell me that the mainstream media is not in the Democrat's pocket and they will help do anything to get the ratings of the President as low as they can get. Well, US Residents are polled about the President's job performance. If mainstream media is reporting the results of those polls is that how they are helping? I mean, I watch the news, when Bush's rating was at his all time highest, I don't remember mainstream media reporting the numbers with remarks such as "Can you believe it?", or "We have no idea why, but the President's approval rating is..." As for why Bush's numbers are plummeting... well, I can't explain that. I guess many Americans are sick of an increasing deficit, energy prices spiraling out of control, and 2,000 soldiers dying needlessly in the Middle East. That's just my opinion. I respect yours. But, I don't think being a good American means standing 100% behind your political leaders and not questioning their actions, policies and results. Now, get off that hook, it was cast out for the "perfect" catch, not a "wine-colored mullet".... lol |
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Post by WineUdotKing on Oct 29, 2005 14:29:56 GMT -5
I agree that is probably why his ratings are going down, but the mainstream media did try and help by adding the Katrina problems to the list of why his ratings were going down by trying to blame the Katrina problems on him instead of the Govrenor and Mayor. But yes, I don't agree with alot of what he is doing, but not everything is his fault.
I will now get off the hook...lol
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Post by PBAHoFer on Nov 28, 2005 18:36:50 GMT -5
Calif. Rep. resigns over bribes
By Jill Serjeant
11 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a California Republican, fought back tears as he resigned on Monday after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for help in securing Defense Department contracts.
Cunningham, 63, an eight-term congressman and decorated Vietnam War pilot, admitted taking cash, antiques, a yacht, vacation expenses and money for his daughter's graduation party from several defense contractors between 2000 and 2005.
"I am resigning from the House of Representatives because I've compromised the trust of my constituents," Cunningham told reporters after a hearing in San Diego federal court.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, bribery and tax evasion, as well as one count of failing to report more than $1 million in income in 2004.
Cunningham's fall was the latest scandal to hit the Republicans who have controlled Congress for over a decade.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, was indicted in September on charges of breaking his state's campaign finance laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating stock sales by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, and vice presidential aide Lewis Libby was charged last month with perjury over the leaking of a CIA operative's name.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said in a statement that the Cunningham case was "just the latest example of the culture of corruption that pervades the Republican-controlled Congress."
Cunningham, who denied any wrongdoing in July, said he was deeply sorry and ashamed and would cooperate in the government investigation of at least four defense contractors.
"I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office. I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, most importantly, the trust of my friends and family," he said, choking back tears.
Cunningham had already said he would not seek re-election in 2006. He will be sentenced on February 27 when he faces up to 10 years in prison.
His guilty plea followed several months of investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, the criminal investigative arm of the Pentagon, the FBI and federal prosecutors.
Cunningham is a member of the House intelligence committee and the appropriations sub-committee that controls defense spending.
"Yes, your honor," Cunningham said when Judge Larry Burns asked him if he had accepted bribes in return for influencing the award of tens of millions of dollars in defense contracts.
No contractors were named in the plea agreement but prosecutors said some months ago they were investigating the $1.6 million sale in 2003 of Cunningham's home in Del Mar, California, Mitchell Wade. Wade was until recently the chief executive of Washington-based defense contractor MZM, Inc.
Wade quickly sold the home for a $700,000 loss in the midst of San Diego's booming housing market.
The U.S. Attorney's office in San Diego said another, unnamed, defense contractor paid off the mortgage on Cunningham's new multimillion dollar home in the San Diego area, while a third contractor provided a $200,000 downpayment on a condominium in Virginia.
Cunningham also received a yacht, a Rolls-Royce, jewelry, rugs and travel expenses, according to court documents.
As part of the plea agreement, Cunningham agreed to forfeit more than $1.8 million in cash, his interest in his San Diego homes and more than a dozen antiques and pieces of furniture.
A crooked Republican politician gets caught and no word about Democrats in the entire article...
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