Posted on 12/16/2005 6:49:49 AM PST by doesnt suffer fools gladly
Report Could Torpedo Hillary Clinton's Prez Plans
Two Washington pundits are warning that Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential plans may depend on whether congressional Democrats can continue to keep Independent Counsel David Barrett's final report on IRS abuses during the 1990s under wraps.
"Prominent Democrats in Congress have spent much of the last decade in a campaign to suppress Barrett's report," columnist Robert Novak reported yesterday. "Its disclosures could dig deeply into concealed Clinton administration scandals."
Notes Fox News Radio's Tony Snow: "By all accounts, the 400-page Barrett report is a bombshell, capable possibly of wiping out Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential prospects. At the very least, it would bring to public attention a scandal that would make the Valerie Plame affair vanish into comical insignificance."
When he launched his probe in 1994, Mr. Barrett's initial focus was former Clinton Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros. But his investigation quickly zeroed in on allegations that the Clintons were using the IRS to persecute their political enemies - including scandal witnesses against them.
Reports Novak: "An IRS whistleblower told Barrett of an unprecedented coverup. The informant said a regional IRS official had formulated a new rule enabling him to transfer an investigation of Cisneros to Washington to be buried by the Justice Department. Barrett's investigators found Lee Radek, head of Justice's public integrity office, determined to protect President Bill Clinton."
Though the Clinton White House dismissed it as "coincidental," one witness after another against the then-first couple found themselves under IRS scrutiny - with a particular focus on Mr. Clinton's female accusers.
Before the 1990's were over, Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Juanita Broddrick and Elizabeth Ward Gracen had all been targeted by audits. Mrs. Jones, whose sexual harassment lawsuit led to Mr. Clinton's impeachment, even had her confidential tax returns leaked to the press in 1997.
At the time of the Jones audit, Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry insisted that it was crazy to suspect any political connection.
"We may do dumb things from time to time," he told reporters, "but we're not certifiably insane."
Advance word on the Barrett report, however, suggests suspicions at the time were right on the mark - and that would mean that the Clinton White House had perpetrated one of the worst abuses of power in presidential history.
Hillary is said to be particularly vulnerable to the Barrett report's exposure, since her old college chum, Margaret Milner Richardson, ran the IRS at the time.
But Novak reports that "hardly any of Barrett's allegations will remain" in the report when the final version is released, thanks to maneuvering by Senate Democrats - despite a previous agreement to the contrary.
Longtime IRS critic Sen. Charles Grassley had hammered out a deal with Sen. Byron Dorgan to amend a Treasury appropriations bill that would have closed down Barrett's office - as long as "all portions of the final report" were made public.
But the Senate-House appropriations conference slipped through a critical change that authorized the three judge panel overseeing Barrett's probe to keep most of his findings under wraps.
Sen. Grassley, says Novak, is the last hope to get critical information that could change the course of the next presidential race into the public domain.
"A stubborn Iowa farmer who often drives the White House and Republican leaders to distraction, he has said that if the Barrett report finally emerges as a mutilated remnant in order to protect the IRS, he will press for legislation to change that."
Bill Clinton classifies as a sociopath, in my opinion. I think both Clinton's have something wrong with their wiring.
Will someone please have this report released? If the Republicans let this go, that's it - I'm not voting for any of them in 2006. They don't deserve it.
My confidential sources tell me that Robert Novak surely knows what's in the report and he should tell the public immediately!
Does anything EVER Torpedo Hillary's Plans?
To paraphrase another FReeper:
That's a big, fresh, hot, steaming barrel of DUH!
I commend Senator Grassley for pushing to make this report public, we may not know who the exact people are that are trying to cover this report up, but we now know who is trying to have this report see the light of day.
While everything alleged may be (and probably is) true, one would have to have evidence that the white house directed these actions to implicate the clintons.
Novak has become as trustworthy as the Clintons of late.
In order for this to get out, the media will have to put it out there. And we all know that ain't gonna happen.
Report will never see the light of day. It will be buried right next to the Tookie's two children's books.
With that defeatist attitude, I am surprise you even joined FR.
There's a lot of that going around.
I am a realist. Coward republicans will never stand up against hillary.
When have the repubs ever stood up to the clintons?
I am looking at history. I will buy you a 6 pack of your choice if this report is released without being cut down to a one page summary with every reference to the klintons removed.
I'll be surprised if it sees the light of day too. Remember all of those FBI files that Hillary has on her congressional colleagues.
Why is it that you can never find a "leaker" when ya need one?
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