Posted on 05/19/2005 3:51:22 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Advocacy Group Says Minority Leader Guilty of Gross Violation: Leahy and Levin Also Named
ALEXANDRIA, VA - The American Conservative Union, the nations oldest and largest conservative grassroots organization, yesterday filed an ethics complaint against Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). The complaint comes in response to Sen. Reid's May 12th reference to judicial nominee Henry Saad's confidential FBI file on the floor of the United States Senate.
"Henry Saad would have been filibustered anyway…," said Reid on the floor of the Senate. "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."
According to Senate rules, Reid was prohibited from even accessing the FBI file, let alone publicly discussing the information held within. ACU filed the complaint with Ethics Committee Chairman George Voinovich (R-OH). The complaint also cites recent improper referencing of confidential materials by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Carl Levin (D-MI).
"Harry Reid, Patrick Leahy and Carl Levin's references to judicial nominees confidential FBI files are gross violations of Senate rules and ethics," said ACU Chairman David Keene. "On behalf of the American Conservative Union and its more than one million members, I urge Senator Voinovich and the Ethics Committee to quickly and fully investigate this egregious behavior and end this pattern of systematic abuse."
According to Senate Rule 29, which governs Senate confidentiality matters, "any Senator, officer, or employee who shall disclose the secret or confidential business or proceedings of the Senate…shall be liable to suffer expulsion from the body."
"Confidential FBI files are just that - strictly confidential," continued Keene. "Henry Saad himself isn't allowed to access his file to defend himself. The Democrats blatant violations of Senate ethics are a dangerous and desperate attempt at character assassination and must not be tolerated.
Official Ethics Complaint Documentation
"I urge Senator Voinovich and the Ethics Committee to quickly and fully investigate this egregious behavior and end this pattern of systematic abuse"
Ditto!
Patrick Leahy disclosing confidential informaton?
Who'd have thought he'd be stupid enough to do it again? He got removed from a committee years ago for doing the same thing!
YAWn, he is one of the MSM's own, he will skate, for the RINO's certainly do not have the intestinal fortitude for this sort of trench warfare.
So what is the punishment upon "conviction"?
Voinovich does not have the guts required to take on any of the three democrats named.
"Houston..."
http://conservative.org/ACU_EthicsComplaint_05182005.doc
Senate Rule 29(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;..."
Shouldn't we also tear up the jerk who illegally got it and showed it to Reid?
BTTT!
FBI files?
You must mean The One That Shall not be Named, right?
I agree, it is a jerk - in so many ways.
LVM
Where is a good 'bar bouncer' to protect these files?
This is truly an outrage.
Oh, wait, we are talking about Democrats breaking the rules.
Nevermind.
Nothing to see here, movealong.org now.
LVM
You mean Hillary?
You read my mind.
If this were done by a Republican it would be non-stop in the news 24X7. In fact the ACLU instead of the ACU would be filing suit. Since he's a Democrat, no rules apply. No one is to be censured, no one punish. Expelled? He won't even get a sideways glance. Over in the House, McDermRat broke the law publishing an illegally-recorded converstation and still hasn't been punished.
Did y'all see this yet PING
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