Free Republic

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. has backed off his plan to investigate wrongdoing by the liberal activist group ACORN, saying "powers that be" put the kibosh on the idea. Mr. Conyers, Michigan Democrat, earlier bucked his party leaders by calling for hearings on accusations the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN) has committed crimes ranging from voter fraud to a mob-style "protection" racket. "The powers that be decided against it," Mr. Conyers told The Washington Times. The chairman declined to elaborate, shrugging off questions about who told him how to run his committee and give the...

DETROIT (WXYZ) - The Synagro investigation involving Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers may be starting to cause trouble for Conyers' husband, John, who heads the House Judiciary Committee in Washington. A government watchdog group says it is "ironic and unseemly" that Rep. Conyers is leading impeachment action on the House floor against a federal judge while his wife is under federal investigation in connection with bribes allegedly paid to her for a $1.2 billion sewage sludge contract. Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, says Conyers shouldn't have oversight over the Justice Department, which reportedly is engaged in plea bargaining...

If something like this happened to the wife of a Republican it would be headline news. But since it involves a high-ranking Democrat, the media is happy to sweep it under the rug. Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, the wife of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., is seeking a plea deal in connection to bribery charges. Court papers say she was paid off to vote in favor of a $1.2 billion sludge hauling contract with Synagro Technologies. It’s obvious the only ones “hauling sludge” for crooked Democrats are the media. “The new privileged class – above question, above...

Paraphrased from today's Detroit News: ... Federal agents indicate they have evidence of Conyers accepting payments totaling at least $6K in exchange for Conyers changing her vote on a $1.2 billion contract from Synagro Technologies in 2007. Conyers would not discuss the case with reportes but did say that those who are not praying for her are "just adding to the problem".

Congressman’s wife snarled in bribe probe Detroit councilwoman caught in scandal over sludge contract payoffs DETROIT - City Council member Monica Conyers, the wife of a prominent congressman, sought political support from Baptist pastors and prayers from constituents Tuesday as her re-election bid collided with a corruption probe involving cash bribes handed over in fast-food parking lots. A person told The Associated Press that Conyers is the "Council Member A" listed in a court document as receiving more than $6,000 for her fall 2007 vote on a multimillion-dollar sludge contract. She has not been charged. The information comes from a...

City Council member Monica Conyers, the wife of a prominent congressman, sought political support from Baptist pastors and prayers from constituents Tuesday as her re-election bid collided with a corruption probe involving cash bribes handed over in fast-food parking lots. A person told The Associated Press that Conyers is the "Council Member A" listed in a court document as receiving more than $6,000 for her fall 2007 vote on a multimillion-dollar sludge contract. She has not been charged. The information comes from a person with knowledge of the investigation who asked not to be named because the person was not...

Reports: Wife of Rep. Conyers threatened with indictment @ 3:42 pm by Michael O'Brien Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, the wife of longtime Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) received a letter Tuesday indicating a pending indictment from federal authorities on corruption-related charges. Conyers received a pre-indictment letter instructing her to reach a plea deal with prosecutors by the end of the week or face charges, according to Detroits two papers, the Free Press and News. The investigation involves whether Conyers took bribes to switch her vote on a $1.2 billion contract with Synagro Technologies to handle disposal of Detroit's sludge. Conyers,...

RICO Probe of ACORN Needed Now by Matthew Vadum (more by this author) Posted 05/25/2009 ET A federal racketeering probe into the activities of the radical activist group ACORN is all the more urgent after the recent filing of felony election fraud charges against the group and ex-employees this month in Nevada and Pennsylvania. And this time the spin doctors at ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), known for its bank sit-ins and illegal squat-ins at homes slated for foreclosure, can’t hide behind the specious excuse that Republicans were behind the push to prosecute because, this time,...

[T]he House Judiciary Committee chairman's May 4 statement exonerating ACORN couldn't have come out at a worse time. "Based on my review of the information regarding the complaints against ACORN, I have concluded that a hearing on this matter appears unwarranted at this time," Conyers said in a statement aired that night on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight." Just hours earlier his fellow Democrats in Nevada, Secretary of State Ross Miller and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto dropped a bombshell. ACORN and two former senior ACORN employees in the state, they announced, had been charged with a total of 39 felony...

FYI: The org "World Can't Wait" is an "anti-war" front for the Revolutionary Communist Party. The RCP, on their website, calls for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Former Abu Ghraib Brigadier General, Janis Karpinski, is listed as an "endorser" of the WCW movement on the World Can't Wait website. House Judiciary Committee chairman/chief Bush administration "torture investigator", democrat John Conyers Jr of Michigan has also given his endorsement to the Revolutionary Communist Party movement/organization, "World Can't Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime" (they'll probably be dropping the "Drive Out the Bush Regime" portion of their name soon). Click on...

Victory! Because of your calls, the House Judiciary Committee has agreed to hold a hearing on hate crimes bill, H.R.1913! The original plan of the chair of the committee, Representative John Conyers, was to move this bill quietly out of the committee without a hearing, then on to the full House and get it passed with as little fan fare as possible. The hearing is scheduled for 10:15 AM Wednesday of this week. Call the judiciary committee members and tell them to vote NO on hate crimes. For a list see the link below. Nations where these kinds of "hate...

Conyers to hold hearings on 'torture' memos By Jared Allen Posted: 04/21/09 06:07 PM [ET] House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) on Tuesday announced that he will soon hold hearings on the Bush administration’s legal memos justifying the use of numerous enhanced interrogation techniques. Conyers and other Democrats have labeled as torture the techniques explained in the memos, which provide a legal framework for the use of controversial interrogation practices such as waterboarding. President Obama recently declassified the memos written by Bush administration lawyers, which also detail for the first time a number of additional interrogation techniques approved for...

John Conyers, Jr. (born July 11, 1912 - ) has represented the state of Detroit in the United States House of Representatives since 2002. Prior to his election into congress, Conyers was a Marxist and served as a member of the Black Panthers from 1969 until 1995. Contents [hide] 1 Biographical Information 2 Involvement With The Black Panthers 3 House of Representatives 4 See Also [edit] Biographical Information Born and raised into a wealthy aristocratic family in Connectthedots, Conyers went to Harvard University on a full-ride scholarship given to him by the university in order to fill their minority quota....

Barack Obama had better prepare himself for just as much skepticism on Afghanistan at home as he got from Europe. Obama wants $75 billion more allocated for the efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, but his own caucus in the House appears to be balking. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) called Obama’s plans “embarrassingly naive”, and may put Obama in Bush territory on the wars — looking for Republican cover (via Jim Geraghty):

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will likely be central to Thursday’s congressional hearings on local immigration enforcement. But Arpaio won’t be there. The sheriff was not formally invited. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Michigan and chairman of the U.S. House judiciary committee, called on Arpaio to testify at the hearings in public statements to the media. “When I get invited, someone either has to call me or write a letter,” Arpaio said. “I never got anything. I don’t care what the media says.” Instead, Mesa Police Chief George Gascón and seven others will testify before the U.S. House judiciary committee. The...

Uber-liberal House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers (D-Michigan) reaffirmed that he still plans to launch a congressional probe into the wrongdoings of the radical direct-action group ACORN. The Washington Times reports Opponents of the liberal activist group ACORN have found an unlikely champion in House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., who is clashing with his own party to pursue hearings on accusations that the group has committed crimes ranging from voter fraud to a mob-style "protection" racket. "I still want to do it and I probably will," Mr. Conyers, Michigan Democrat, told The Washington Times on Tuesday. He dismissed...

To acknowledge the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery in the U.S. and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865, and to establish a commission to examine the institution of slavery, subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans, to make recommendation to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.

Conyers weighing probe of ACORN S.A. Miller (Contact) Opponents of the liberal activist group ACORN have found an unlikely champion in House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., who is clashing with his own party to pursue hearings on accusations that the group has committed crimes ranging from voter fraud to a mob-style "protection" racket. "I still want to do it and I probably will," Mr. Conyers, Michigan Democrat, told The Washington Times on Tuesday. He dismissed the argument made by fellow Democrats that accusations of voter fraud and other crimes should be explored by prosecutors and decided in court,...

Just five months ago uber-liberal House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers called radical direct-action group ACORN "a longstanding and well regarded organization that fights for the poor and working class." But not anymore. Yesterday the outspoken left-winger called for a congressional probe of ACORN. Conyers's proposal came on the same day as Judiciary's subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties received testimony from lawyer Heather Heidelbaugh about the extent of ACORN's corrupt activities, the Washington Times reports. [...]

In an startling partisan shift, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. on Thursday proposed holding hearings on claims the liberal activist group ACORN engaged in a pattern of crimes ranging from voter fraud to a mob-style “protection” racket. Mr. Conyers, Michigan Democrat and fierce partisan, suggested a congressional probe after scathing testimony about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) during a hearing on various voting issues related to the 2008 presidential election. Mr. Conyers called the accusations “a pretty serious matter.” “I think that it would be something that would be worth our time,” he said...

Sheriff Arpaio Has ‘No Intention’ of Testifying Before Conyers Committee on Alleged Immigration Enforcement Abuses Monday, March 16, 2009 By Nicholas Ballasy, Video Reporter (CNSNews.com) – House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D.-Mich.) told CNSNews.com he is going to invite Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff Joe Arpaio to testify in his committee about alleged abuses by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in its enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. But a spokeswoman for Arpaio told CNSNews.com that the sheriff--who has not yet received an official invitation to testify--currently has “no intention” of appearing before Conyers’ committee. The spokeswoman said, however, that Arpaio “welcomes”...

The pro-amnesty/illegal-immigration brigade (lead by Nadler and Conyers) is no doubt feeling its oats now that the Donkeys control the executive branch. Target #1 -- an extremely popular Sheriff who actually has the nerve to enforce immigration law. But Joe is one target that shoots back. ...with precision.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department over allegations of discriminatory practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures.... In February, four Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate possible civil rights violations based on complaints that Arpaio's deputies are targeting people based on their skin color during neighborhood crime sweeps and raids at work sites....

There are some things science needs to survive, and to thrive: eager, hardworking scientists; a grasp of reality and a desire to understand it; and an open and clear atmosphere to communicate and discuss results. That last bit there seems to be having a problem. Communication is key to science; without it you are some nerd tinkering in your basement. With it, the world can learn about your work and build on it. Recently, government-sponsored agencies like NIH have moved toward open access of scientific findings. That is, the results are published where anyone can see them, and in fact...

Cobo convention center, one of the many aging buildings downtown, is threatening to become the latest tinderbox in resurgent racial hostilities between the mostly black city and its predominantly white suburbs. With calls for self-determination in how the venue operates, members of Detroit's embattled City Council have reopened wounds more than four decades old. (snip) Last week, Council President Monica Conyers, who is black, told a white Teamsters' union official during a contentious meeting on whether to accept the deal that most of the people who work at Cobo during the annual North American International Auto Show "don't look like...

DETROIT -- The Detroit City Council has rejected the Cobo deal. The deal would have sold Cobo Center to a regional authority. Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed off on the plan back in December to create a panel to own and operate Cobo.

TITLE I--ELIGIBILITY AND BENEFITS SEC. 101. ELIGIBILITY AND REGISTRATION. (a) In General- All individuals residing in the United States (including any territory of the United States) are covered under the USNHC Program entitling them to a universal, best quality standard of care. Each such individual shall receive a card with a unique number in the mail. An individual’s social security number shall not be used for purposes of registration under this section. ... SEC. 103. QUALIFICATION OF PARTICIPATING PROVIDERS. (a) Requirement To Be Public or Non-Profit- (1) IN GENERAL- No institution may be a participating provider unless it is a...

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is asking for two more weeks to weigh in on whether former Bush White House officials must testify before Congress about the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. The request comes after an attorney for former Bush political adviser Karl Rove asked the White House to referee his clash with the House of Representatives over Bush's claim of executive privilege in the matter. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., has issued a subpoena requiring Rove to appear next Monday to testify about the firings and other allegations that the Bush White House let politics interfere...

More federal government interference, more violations of the 10th Amendment. Maybe Conyers should investigate himself House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and three fellow Democrats want the Department of Justice to investigate civil rights complaints against controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio. The lawmakers, in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sent Friday, are seeking a probe into reports Arpaio has used skin color as a basis to search for illegal immigrants in Arizona. Exactly what skin color do illegals crossing the southern border tend to have, John? As the saying goes, isn’t...

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and three fellow Democrats want the Department of Justice to investigate civil rights complaints against controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio. The lawmakers, in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sent Friday, are seeking a probe into reports Arpaio has used skin color as a basis to search for illegal immigrants in Arizona. Conyers and Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) want to end a federal agreement that allows the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to enforce immigration laws if the allegations turn...

SNIPPET: "Two of Congress's most radical members believe George W. Bush's America was the equal of apartheid South Africa. Last week, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy proposed that Congress establish a “truth commission” to investigate alleged Bush misdeeds. In the House, Judiciary committee chairman John Conyers seconded Leahy's request." SNIPPET: "If the investigation exposes the ongoing, covert measures Bush has taken to keep America safe, Leahy will only smile as they are revealed. He has a long history of exposing the most vital secrets of our nation. At least one operative was murdered after Leahy publicly leaked a 1985 intercept that...

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and three fellow Democrats want the Department of Justice to investigate civil rights complaints against controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio. The lawmakers, in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sent Friday, are seeking a probe into reports Arpaio has used skin color as a basis to search for illegal immigrants in Arizona. Conyers and Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) want to end a federal agreement that allows the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to enforce immigration laws if the allegations turn...

Yesterday Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) re-introduced the Fair Copyright in Research Works Act.  This year it's H.R. 801 (last year it was H.R. 6845), and co-sponsored by Steve Cohen (D-TN), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Robert Wexler (D-FL).  The language has not changed.  The Fair Copyright Act is to fair copyright what the Patriot Act was to patriotism.  It would repeal the OA policy at the NIH and prevent similar OA policies at any federal agency.  The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where Conyers is Chairman, and where he has consolidated his power...

111th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 40To acknowledge the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to examine the institution of slavery, subsequently de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJanuary 6, 2009Mr. CONYERS (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the...

Strippers and Sewage Sludge Scandal in Detroit Implicates Wife of Dem Chairman of House Judiciary CommitteeMore Pay for Play the Democrat Way! And you thought Democrat politics in Illinois was stinky and sleazy? Well, move over Blagojevitch. Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers, wife of House Judiciary Committee John Conyers (DEMOCRAT-MI) (famous for accusing Republicans of wrongdoing), is in hot water… Detroit News: A lawyer for a strip club official says his client told a federal grand jury Wednesday that a top aide to then-City Councilwoman Monica Conyers offered to deliver her vote on a permit transfer for $25,000.

Can only post link to story, http://www.freep.com/article/20090127/NEWS01/301270003/1008/NEWS06/Kilpatricks++Conyers+among+8+named+in+FBI+bribery+probe

Conyers Wants Rove In, Abu Jamal Out http://www.thebulletin.us/articles/2009/01/30/news/nation/doc4982887813fc3971641108.txt

DETROIT (WXYZ) - A sludge-hauling executive's account of greed and bribery has linked former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, and City Council President Monica Conyers as the major figures in the Synagro scandal, according to a story on the Detroit Free Press web site.

Rove subpoenaed by Conyers By: John Bresnahan and Andy Barr January 26, 2009 06:31 PM EST House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) has subpoenaed Karl Rove, the former top political advisor to President George W. Bush, to question what Rove knows about “politicization” of the Justice Department. The Senate Judiciary Committee had subpoenaed Rove during the last Congress, but relying on an executive privilege claim by Bush, Rove refused to appear. Conyers had previously subpoenaed former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten, Bush former White House chief of staff, seeking any information they had. Conyers is also...

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has proposed extending to 10 years the statute of limitations on war crimes, torture, and domestic surveillance in the event an investigation into the Bush administration’s controversial policies turns up prosecutable evidence against former officials after statute of limitations laws currently on the books expire. Congress should immediately consider “extending the statute of limitations for potential violations of the torture statute, war crimes statute, laws prohibiting warrantless domestic surveillance, or for crimes committed against persons in United States military custody or CIA custody to ten years.” The recommendation by the Michigan Democrat was one...

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed former White House adviser Karl Rove to testify about the Bush administration's firing of U.S. attorneys. The subpoena Monday by Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers continues a long-running legal battle. Rove previously refused to appear before the panel, contending that former presidential advisers cannot be compelled to testify before Congress. Conyers also wants him to testify on whether politics played a role in the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Democrat. "I have said many times that I will carry this investigation forward to its conclusion, whether in Congress...

Modern liberalism shows remarkably little concern for freedom, democracy, and the will of the people if it's not politically expedient, but now some of the most influential members of the Democratic Party are starting to drift towards outright fascism with the suggestion that members of the Bush Administration should be jailed once they leave power. For example, we have Paul Krugman caterwauling that Bush should be investigated for his policy on the environment, voting rights issues, political appointees, contracts in Iraq, and because ludicrously, Krugman claims Bush "deliberately misled the nation into invading Iraq." Furthermore, John Conyers has spoken of...

It's payback time. Democrats are calling for investigations, congressional committees-of-inquiry—a special prosecutor, even, to hunt down those complicit in the more unsavory elements of President Bush's "global war on terror." Party leaders on Capitol Hill, like Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, have urged "an independent criminal probe" into, by Conyers's reckoning, virtually everything controversial the Bush administration did. President-about-to-be Obama is reluctant. But he needs the support of congressional Democrats to pass his agenda. He would be well advised to take a pass, even if he loses some votes from his party's caucus along the way....

Judiciary Chairman Conyers Issues Report Documenting Bush Abuses, Calling For Further Committee Investigation, Blue-Ribbon Panel, and Criminal Probes For Immediate Release January 13, 2009 Contact: Jonathan Godfrey, Lillian German (Washington, D.C.) -- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. released a nearly-500 page report documenting numerous abuses and excesses of the Bush administration. The report, titled "Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the presidency of George W. Bush," contains 47 separate recommendations designed to restore the traditional checks and balances of our constitutional system. Recommendations include calls for continued committee investigation, a blue ribbon commission...

Gone, not forgotten: Dems go after Bush By: Patrick O'Connor January 17, 2009 07:23 AM EST For the last eight years, Democrats have been counting the days until George W. Bush leaves the White House. Now some of them can’t seem to let him go. On Friday, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) distributed a video showing “how the policies of the Bush Administration have failed the nation and continue to affect our ability to confront the current economic crisis.” Earlier in the week, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr., (D-Mich.) released a 486-page report documenting a litany of...

This week, I released "Reining in the Imperial Presidency," a 486-page report detailing the abuses and excesses of the Bush administration and recommending steps to address them. Arthur Schlesinger Jr. popularized the term "imperial presidency" in the 1970s to describe an executive who had assumed more power than the Constitution allows and circumvented the checks and balances fundamental to our three-branch system of government. Until recently, the Nixon administration seemed to represent a singular embodiment of the idea. Unfortunately, it is clear that the threat of the imperial presidency lives on and, indeed, reached new heights under George W. Bush.

The days are dwindling down to a precious few. The clock is ticking. Like sands through the hourglass, so are the . . . DAYS TO IMPEACH! Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) DEMANDS that the Dems IMPEACH BUSH NOW!!! But they haven't. And they won't. And whom do the DUmmies blame for this abject failure of nerve? Oh, yes, the usual suspects: Pelosi, Reid, even Obambi. But the man who has been revealed--and thus reviled--for the political grandstander he always has been is the erstwhile Champion of Chimpeachment, none other than Rep. John Conyers (D-Troit). Yes, one and the same!...

There is obviously no limit to the political left's bloodlust for all things George W. Bush, as witnessed by two news items this week. If Barack Obama is as levelheaded and pragmatic as his supporters insist, he'll have his work cut out for him dealing with these avengers on his side of the ideological spectrum. On Tuesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers issued a 500-page report, whose executive summary boasts "was drafted to itemize and document the various abuses that occurred during the Bush Administration." The report recommends "that the new Administration conduct an independent criminal inquiry into whether...

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) is leading an effort to remove CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta from consideration as the next U.S. surgeon general. The senior Democrat, a major proponent of universal healthcare, is infuriated that Gupta, who opposes such a plan, would be appointed by President-elect Obama to serve in the incoming administration. Conyers intended to call Obama directly Thursday afternoon to voice his concern. On Wednesday night, he sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to gather support for his cause.

Barack Obama's aunt, who lives in a Boston housing project, has made illegal donations to his campaign this year, the campaign acknowledges. The donations are against the law because Zeituni Onyango, a half-sister of Obama's father, is a citizen of Kenya, The Times of London reported. Campaign laws require all donors to U.S. political campaigns to be U.S. citizens. The Obama campaign said Onyango contributed a total of $265 and all the money would be returned, CNN reported. In his book, "Dreams From My Father," Obama described his meeting with Onyango in Kenya in 1988. "'Welcome home', Zeituni said, kissing...