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Saturday, May 14, 2005

Bush Justice Department Smears Reid

Posted by Bob Brigham

The GOP political assassination push leading up to the filibuster is now being financed by your tax dollars. From the AP:

The Justice Department is edging into the Senate controversy over judicial nominees, writing key lawmakers after Democratic Leader Harry Reid publicly referred to an FBI file on one of President Bush's controversial appointees.

"The letter expressed concern about recent remarks on the floor of the Senate which alluded to an FBI background investigation file provided by the Department of Justice to the Senate Judiciary Committee on a confidential basis in connection with a judicial nomination," a department official said Friday night.

The official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the letter did not refer specifically to Reid, or to 6th Circuit Court nominee Henry Saad.

1. For years, everyone has known about this (public knowledge in the public domain).

2. This is a politically motivated "leak" by a Justice Department "anonymous source" -- total partisan politics.

3. No where does the letter mention Reid, but the "leak" brings Reid into the story, not Orin Hatch who has also spoke on this.

This is disgusting.

UPDATE: Matt Singer has more...Bush Admin Still Trying to Push Story, Going Into Violate Separation of Powers Mode:

Where was this concern a year ago, when Carl Levin, Debbie Stabenow, and Charles Hurt all referred to these materials? It was nowhere. This isn’t concern about what’s going on. It’s the Bush Administration trying to hijack democracy by meddling in the legislative process, inferring that the legislative branch must defer to the executive, and generally ransacking the principles of our Constitution.

Posted at 12:10 PM in Nuclear Option, Republicans | Technorati

Comments

What Reid did in referring to a classified FBI report on the Senate floor is both unprecedented and highly unethical. He's trying to smear a judicial nominee by referencing a file he knows the media doesn't have access to. There's no way to disprove his allegation. It's slimy lowball politics. Reid has no class, just last week he told a group of students the President was a "loser." He's called Alan Greenspan a "political hack." Reid's actions are why Democrats continue to lose elections. In the arena of ideas, Harry Reid and other Dem leaders can't compete, so they call names and obstruct. The American people see through this garbage.

Posted by: B4B at May 14, 2005 06:53 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Try to keep up here, B48.

Drag yourself away from Charlie Hurt's current column and the clowns on Fox to check out Hurt's previous column where he referenced the same FBI charges - see the post here on that. Was that "slimy lowball politics" when Hurt wrote about it?

You betcha Reid's playing hardball, but what a bunch of pansies the right has become - the GOP lies and lies and then whines when Reid hits back.

"The American people see through this garbage."

Apparently they do, but not in the way Rush has led you to believe. Poll after poll show the American people are against Frist and the theocons attempts to subvert the Senate rules.

Posted by: Glic at May 14, 2005 08:44 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Good job repeating the talking points, B4B. Of course, the fact that questions about this FBI file have been public knowledge for a year kind of eviscerates everything you've said, but I'm sure that when you phone in your comments to Rush or Hannity, they'll just lap it up. After all, things like "context" and "facts" don't matter in that universe, right?

Heh. I fed a troll! I apologize.

Posted by: DavidNYC at May 15, 2005 12:35 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment