Exclusive: Taxpayers Paid $220K to Settle Case Involving Rep. Alcee Hastings

Roll Call ^

[springwater13]

The Treasury Department paid $220,000 in a previously undisclosed agreement to settle a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment that involved Florida Democrat Alcee L. Hastings, according to documents obtained by Roll Call.

Winsome Packer, a former staff member of a congressional commission that promotes international human rights, said in documents that the congressman touched her, made unwanted sexual advances, and threatened her job. At the time, Hastings was the chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, where Packer worked.

Hastings has called Packer’s charges “ludicrous” and in documents said he never sexually harassed her.

“Until this evening, I had not seen the settlement agreement between the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and Ms. Packer,” the congressman said in a statement Friday night. “This matter was handled solely by the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment. At no time was I consulted, nor did I know until after the fact that such a settlement was made.”

Hastings said that the lawsuit that Packer filed against him and an investigation by the House Ethics Committee were ultimately dismissed.

“I am outraged that any taxpayer dollars were needlessly paid to Ms. Packer,” he said.

[Artemis Webb]

Winsome Packer??

[Tax-chick]

Duh.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Related...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3611971/posts

[Jacquerie]

Its unfortunate that as a consequence of his impeachment and conviction that judge Hastings wasn’t banned from future government employment. Dirtbag.

[manc]

will the Dems force him to step down since we have a republican Gov, nah course not.

[SpaceBar]

for reference...

Alcee Lamar Hastings (born September 5, 1936) is the U.S. Representative for Florida's 20th congressional district, serving in Congress since 1993. The district, numbered as the 23rd District from 1993 to 2013, includes most of the majority-black precincts in and around Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. He is a member of the Democratic Party. - wikipedia

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

CONSIDER A DAILY CHANGE JAR TO OPERATE FR

Click The Pic

You won't even miss the 25 or 50 cents, but at the end of the month
you will have at least $5 to donate so FR can operate smoothly,
or you will moan and groan and go into withdrawal
when it is down, because of broken parts,
or over loaded servers during crisis events.

[Albion Wilde]

[joshua c]

The settlement was paid without even talking to the accused? Seems pretty unbelieveable.

[for-q-clinton]

House seats go unfilled until the next election. Only senate seats get filled.

[manc]

OK thank you for that info

[EarlyBird]

How do you do that?

I mean, find the duplicate posts so fast?

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Nope! The ends justify the means. As always.

[KSCITYBOY]

btt

[Brown Deer]

The Impeachment Trial of Alcee L. Hastings (1989) U.S. District Judge, Florida

In 1981, a federal grand jury indicted Judge Alcee L. Hastings, appointed to the federal district court in 1979, along with his friend William A. Borders, a Washington, D.C. lawyer. Hastings was charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice for soliciting a $150,000 bribe in return for reducing the sentences of two mob-connected felons convicted in Hastings’ court. A year after Borders was convicted of conspiracy, the result of an FBI sting effort, Hastings's case came before the criminal court. Despite Borders’ conviction, and the fact that Hastings had indeed reduced the sentences of the two felons, he was acquitted in a criminal court in 1983 and returned to his judicial post.

Subsequently, suspicions arose that Hastings had lied and falsified evidence during the trial in order to obtain an acquittal. A special committee of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals began a new probe into the Hastings case. The resulting three-year investigation ended with the panel concluding that Hastings did indeed commit perjury, tamper with evidence, and conspire to gain financially by accepting bribes. The panel recommended further action to the U.S. Judicial Conference, which, in turn, informed the House of Representatives on March 17, 1987, that Judge Alcee Hastings should be impeached and removed from office.

On August 3, 1988, following an investigation by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, the House of Representatives voted 413 to 3 to adopt H. Res. 499, approving 17 articles of impeachment against Hastings, the greatest number of articles in any impeachment proceeding to date. Charges included conspiracy, bribery, perjury, falsifying documents, thwarting a criminal investigation, and undermining the public confidence "in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary." The Senate received the articles on August 9, 1988.

Following the precedent set in the 1986 Claiborne impeachment case, the Senate again chose to refer the matter to a special committee as authorized by impeachment rule XI. On March 16, 1989, the Senate rejected a motion by Hastings to dismiss the case, and adopted S. Res. 38, creating a 12-member trial committee to hear evidence and then report to the full Senate on contested and uncontested facts. The committee was not tasked with making a recommendation on guilt or innocence. Committee hearings continued from July 10, to August 3, 1989. Consisting of six Republicans and six Democrats, the committee heard evidence for and against Hastings, and took testimony from 55 witnesses, including Borders. The House managers presented convincing evidence that Hastings had, indeed, conspired with Borders to solicit the bribe. Hastings, who appeared in his own defense, objected to the use of the committee, insisting that the full Senate should be required to hear evidence. His motion failed. Hastings also insisted that the Senate trial amounted, in legal terms, to "double jeopardy" since he had already been acquitted in a court of law.

The trial committee presented its report on October 2, 1989. Sixteen days later, the trial began in the U.S. Senate, with prosecution and defense given two hours to summarize their cases. The Senate deliberated in closed session on October 19, 1989. The following day, the Senate voted on 11 of the 17 articles of impeachment, convicting Hastings, by the necessary two-thirds vote, on 8 articles (1-5, 7-9). On two articles (6, 17) the vote fell short of the required majority to convict. On article 11, the Senate voted 95 not guilty to 0 guilty. Having achieved the necessary majority vote to convict on 8 articles, the Senate’s president pro tempore (Robert C. Byrd) ordered Hastings removed from office. The Senate did not vote to disqualify him from holding future office.

Four years later, Hastings was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the term beginning January 3, 1993. As a member of that body, on December 19, 1998, Hastings voted (on four articles of impeachment) against impeaching President William Jefferson Clinton.

[jmaroneps37]

One by one all of these payoffs will be exposed and non disclosure agreements will stop nothing because no one will have the nerve to enforce them.

[gatorhead]

Mine and my family’s money paid to this outlaw government in taxes. Outrageous! I’m shaking with rage.

[Brown Deer]

Hastings Ousted As Senate Vote Convicts Judge

By DAVID JOHNSTON, Special to The New York Times
Published: October 21, 1989

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20— In a solemn two-hour proceeding, the Senate today removed Federal District Judge Alcee L. Hastings from the bench by convicting him of eight impeachment articles, including one charging that he had conspired to obtain a $150,000 bribe.

[Fungi]

This impeached, convicted, and removed former judge was guilty for taking a $150,000 bribe, and who once said “we have no rules, we make them up as we go along.” This dude? Corrupt as hell and nary a trace of repentance.