An Ass By Any Other Name

As if the debate in the Senate was not bad enough, Sen. Reid has to go off and make an ass of himself, while breaking the rules of the Senate. Yesterday, during the debate on the floor of the Senate, Reid made a big mistake. (Hat-tip to Captain’s Quarters and the Washington Times.)

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/

Reid cites FBI file on judicial pick
By Charles Hurt

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

May 13, 2005
Minority Leader Harry Reid strayed from his prepared remarks on the Senate floor yesterday and promised to continue opposing one of President Bush's judicial nominees based on "a problem" he said is in the nominee's "confidential report from the FBI."

Those highly confidential reports are filed on all judicial nominees, and severe sanctions apply to anyone who discloses their contents. Less clear is whether a senator could face sanctions for characterizing the content of such files.

"Henry Saad would have been filibustered anyway," Mr. Reid said on the floor yesterday, about the Michigan Appeals Court judge who is nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.

"All you need to do is have a member go upstairs and look at his confidential report from the FBI, and I think we would all agree that there is a problem there," Mr. Reid continued.

Republican staff members and supporters of Mr. Bush's nominees were outraged.

"Can you think of a better way to trash someone's reputation?" Sean Rushton of the conservative Committee for Justice asked after seeing a transcript of the remarks. "Say that there is bad stuff from an FBI investigation in a file somewhere and leave that hanging. This is character assassination of the lowest order and completely improper."
Republicans on Capitol Hill weren't saying much publicly, but several denounced the action privately as an "underhanded smear" or worse.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee when Judge Saad faced his latest background investigation, declined to discuss the matter.

"As important as Senator Hatch thinks these comments are, he never comments on FBI reports or anything pertaining to them, and he doesn't believe anybody else should either," Hatch spokesman Peter Carr said.

Republican aides pointed to Standing Rule of the Senate 29, Section 5: "Any Senator, officer, or employee of the Senate who shall disclose the secret or confidential business or proceedings of the Senate, including the business and proceedings of the committees, subcommittees, and offices of the Senate, shall be liable, if a Senator, to suffer expulsion from the body; and if an officer or employee, to dismissal from the service of the Senate, and to punishment for contempt."

Furthermore, a "Memorandum of Understanding" covering the use of FBI background reports limits access to committee members and the nominee's home-state senators. Mr. Reid would fall into neither category. Reid spokesman Jim Manley referred to an incident in June when the Senate Judiciary Committee met behind closed doors to review Judge Saad's file and inadvertently left a microphone turned on that broadcast part of the secret hearing onto the Internet.

"The fact that there's an issue regarding Henry Saad's background is well-known," said Mr. Manley, who noted that Mr. Reid did not disclose any specifics from the file. "It's been discussed both in committee and on the floor before."

Still, Mr. Reid's comments weren't part of his prepared remarks.
"One of the three 6th Circuit nominees who were previously filibustered -- Henry Saad -- would have been filibustered anyway because there are serious concerns about his suitability to be a federal judge," said his prepared statement, provided by his office.

Furious Saad supporters said they had never heard about the previous committee leak and called Mr. Reid's remarks an "unfounded smear" indicative of how nasty the debate over judges has become.
"Harry Reid is a disgrace to the Senate and to [his] Church of Latter-day Saints," said Manuel Miranda, who was forced to resign as a Republican Senate staffer after downloading files on judicial nominees from Democratic computer servers.

"Both bodies should censure him," said Mr. Miranda, who leads a private advocacy group for Mr. Bush's judicial nominees.

Michael Bouchard, sheriff of Oakland County in Michigan and a personal friend of Judge Saad, said he is "absolutely" certain that the FBI file doesn't contain anything damaging.

"I think Harry Reid is lying," he said. "He's hiding behind something he knows he'll never be asked to show. Harry Reid is a coward."
Confidants of Judge Saad said yesterday that the judge would release the file but that he has never seen it, let alone obtained copies of it. Judge Saad is not permitted to see the file, Senate staffers said.

This act by Reid is reprehensible. An ethics investigation should be launched on Reid, and at the very least he should be censured. The worst that should happen is that he should be forced to resign. The GOP has stood up and taken this long enough. It is time to take a stand. The Constitutional Option is part of that stand, and now Reid’s censure should go hand-in-hand with it.

What is worse is that the GOP cannot defend him. To do so would mean that they break the same security clearance rules that Reid did, thereby making them just as guilty. These constant and consistent attacks on these nominees are unacceptable. Reid and his Democrat minions have engaged in the same style of attacks that Joe McCarthy engaged in. And yes, I am aware the McCarthy did more good than his revisionists would prefer, and the Venona Papers vindicated the man, however, the style of attacks cannot be forgiven.

Reid and the Democrats have decided that if they cannot beat these people in committee, and they cannot beat them on the floor of the Senate, that they will filibuster or slander them. It is disgraceful, and these people should be punished. Many will be in the next election. And that is good, provided they are shown the same door that Tom Daschle was.

But for Harry Reid, right now, what he did was wrong. It is a censurable offense, and that is what should happen. Further, it lends to the public a level of scrutiny on Saad. The way that Reid stated this yesterday vaguely insinuated that Saad might be under investigation by the FBI; a falsehood, as Saad’s clearance investigation was done over two years ago. And had anything popped a reed flag, the FBI would have contacted the judiciary committee and the White House. Neither of which have acknowledged such a notice.

Mr. Bouchard is correct. Reid is hiding something. He is hiding the mere fact that his side cannot prevent these judges from reaching the bench, if they play by the rules. The Democrats do not play by rules. Their rules are based on moral relativism, not set-in-stone, black-and-white principles that guide this nation, and the august body they serve in.

Instead of opposing these people on their merits and accomplishments (A fact that makes Reid green with envy) the Democrats have decided to slander these people. They oppose Pryor not on his decisions, but on his faith; he is a Catholic that has a strong aversion to abortion. The same goes for Owens who has been known to side against any further attempts to legislate abortion through the bench—as in the case of parental notification. Janice Rogers Brown is a Democrat’s worst nightmare. She is black, and a Libertarian. (God forbid! A black woman that is not liberal. The Democrat’s world just crumbled.) They have nothing to oppose these nominees on except their personal beliefs, which has never been a factor in ANY of their decisions.

This sort of character assassination should no longer be tolerated. Sen. Frist should make a motion to have Reid censured, immediately, and announce that an ethics investigation is being launched against Reid—one in which, in the end, Reid should be forced to resign. What he did was wrong. He knew it, and he went ahead with it anyway. It is time that the GOP leadership does more than just chastise. Yes, speech on the floor of the Senate is protected, however, breaking the rules of the Senate gives one no protection. It is time for Reid to go.

The Bunny ;)