Posted on 04/06/2005 7:53:03 PM PDT by Crackingham
Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, said Wednesday that a senior member of his staff had written an unsigned memorandum about the partisan political advantages of intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo that became a controversial footnote to the debate over the wisdom and motives of Congress's actions.
In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr. Martinez said that he had just learned that the memorandum originated in his office and that its author had resigned. He did not name the author, but aides said it was Brian Darling, his counsel.
Mr. Darling could not be reached for comment.
"It is with profound disappointment and regret that I learned today that a senior member of my staff was unilaterally responsible for this document," Mr. Martinez said. "It was not approved by me or any other member of my staff, nor were we aware of its existence until very recently."
Mr. Martinez added: "This type of behavior and sentiment will not be tolerated in my office. As the senator, I am ultimately responsible for the work of my staff and the product that comes out of this office. I take full responsibility for this situation."
The anonymous memorandum, which was distributed to news organizations by Democratic aides and first reported by ABC News, became widely cited in news reports as evidence that at least some Republicans were applying a political calculus to the case of Ms. Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman. Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the majority leader, and many other Republican Senators quickly disavowed the document, saying they had never seen it and that they condemned it.
In his statement, Mr. Martinez said that on March 9 he had mistakenly and unknowingly handed the document to Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, on the floor of the Senate. Mr. Martinez said that he had meant to reach for a different document and that he did not know how it had entered his possession.
"Senator Harkin was kind enough today to call me and tell me this afternoon that he believes the memo he received was given to him by me," Mr. Martinez said. "Until this afternoon, I had never seen it and had no idea a copy of it had ever been in my possession."
Well, I'm glad he came clean. Honesty hurts sometimes, but it is the best policy.
This is why some animals eat their young. Republican cannabalism.
It took Martinez to rat him out!
He just finds out now??
Hard to believe.....
Ah...The Stupid Party strikes again. How many ways can GOP Senators implode so that we end up with a bunch more leftist judges appointed to the bench?
"...and that's why I am announcing my resignation..."
Oh, wait...that went out when Janet Reno came in.
She's got some major crow to eat.
Stupid, stupid aide. It never, ever, occured to me to think in terms of political advantage in regards to Terri.
Laura's been complaining about the press running with it before authenticating it. She has no crow to eat. You're sore with her because she was stridently pro-life on the Terri issue.
So it's true? ABC wasn't lying? Is that right?
Not the stupid party,the stupid Senator. What an idiot, he did not read the memo obviously or it would have never gotten this far. I have never liked Martinez,and held my nose to vote for him.
Actually, I listen to her for an hour a day, until Glen Beck comes on.
She's a sloppy talk show host. Talks way too much about herself, and uses the garbage filler "I mean" an average of 12 times every five minutes.
Glenn Beck?
Now there's an amateur.
Before writing a memo, every congressional staffer should ask himself/herself: what will this look like on the front page of the Washington Post and what affect will it have on my boss?
He's funny. Very funny.
Beck also doesn't take himself seriously, nor does he drag grungy, obscure musicians on his show to ramble on about what motivates them to twang out a few chords on a guitar.
Does that seem believable? Pardon my tin foil, but is it at all possible that Martinez is for some reason trying to help the Washington Post maintain what's left of its credibility or to hurt the credibility of blogs by admitting to something he didn't do?
That being said, Tom Harkin should have, once having seen what the document said, and that it had clearly been written for the Repubs., given it back to Martinez with the simple comment "I don't think you meant to give this to me." That he didn't do that makes me wonder about Sen. Harkin in this matter.
He's a talentless hack. Pathetic voice impersonations, embarrassingly tedious 'comedy.'
This, after hearing earlier today that 55 Republican Senators disavowed creating the memo.
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