Posted on 05/04/2006 4:48:15 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had had no alcohol before the accident.
Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports.
"I was involved in a traffic accident last night at First and C Street SE near the U.S. Capitol," Kennedy said in a written statement released by his office. "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake."
Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated when he crashed his car into a barrier on Capitol Hill early Thursday morning, said Louis P. Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Cannon, who was not there, said the officers involved in the accident were instructed by an official "above the rank of patrolman" to take Kennedy home. No sobriety tests were conducted at the scene.
A letter written by a Capitol Police officer to Acting Chief Christopher McGaffin said Kennedy appeared to be staggering when he left the vehicle after the crash about 3 a.m. The letter was first reported by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.
Kennedy said he was late for a vote, officer Greg Baird said in the letter to McGaffin. Baird is acting chairman of the Capitol Hill chapter of the FOP police union. The last vote of the night had occurred almost six hours earlier.
Kennedy, the son of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and his staff declined to discuss any further details of the accident. The congressman took part in House votes Thursday.
Capitol Police did not immediately return phone calls for comment. They issued a one-line statement saying they were investigating a traffic violation that occurred early in the morning at that location. Baird wrote McGaffin that two sergeants who responded to the accident conferred with the watch commander and were ordered to leave the scene.
He said that after the officers left, Capitol Police officials gave Kennedy a ride home.
Kennedy spent time at a drug rehabilitation clinic before he went to Providence College. He has been open about mental health issues, including being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
The kennedys have such a close relationship with alcohol...from old joe on down.
He had his lights out?
I wonder how many of our esteemed congress-critters are lushes and/or abusers of other substances. There are 535 of them (senate/house combined). Some percentage must imbibe like fish and/or partake of stuff they pass laws to keep the rest of us from doing.
The kennedy Spin Machine has had a great deal of practice! I imagine that they have weekly cover-up drills to make sure that they stay in shape.
I don't like it either. Congress thinks they are the protected class, I guess.
This makes me think his comment about being late for a vote was part of his Kennedy training.
"And he should be disciplined by the House for wrongfully and dishonestly invoking it."
Probably. but he has recently come out about his bipolar condition so my prediction - he'll turn it into a mental health causation everyone will wish it go away.
The Kennedy Culture of Intoxication rears it's ugly head again.
In my state, Washington, if you refuse the sobriety test, your drivers license is automatically revoked.
I don't know how you would handle corrupt officers though, who make sure you don't take the test.
Well, of course not.
Democrat Congressman from Rhode Island was elected again even though he had a run in with a woman on his sailboat. She summoned the Coast Guard because he was acting up and scared her. The Coast Guard picked her up and everyone shut up about the incident. Kennedy also trashed an expensive sailboat he leased. He left it like a pig sty and he refused to pay to have it cleaned. They sued him. Rhode Island elected him again. Rhode Island deserves that condescending nitwit
Apparently doing the wrong thing is better for one's career than doing the right thing in this department. What a great message. Perhaps the supervisors will get some free yachts or something.
Not so. They are very strict. It's merely that they apply to everyone else involved.
The Capitol Hill Fraternal Order of Police is calling for higher-ups in the department to allow patrol officers to complete their investigation.
The head of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1, Lou Cannon, told W*USA 9 News Reporter Stacey Cohan that he’s concerned that Kennedy may have received special treatment and this could be a case where “rank has its privilege.”
Capitol police Officer Greg Baird wrote a letter to acting Chief Christopher McGaffin saying how the investigation was handled calls the department's integrity into question.
According to Rollcall.com, Baird -- acting chairman of the Capitol Police Fraternal Order of Police –- said Kennedy’s Mustang had its lights off when it narrowly missed crashing into a police cruiser and smashed into a security barrier at 1st and C streets Southeast about 2:45 a.m.
According to sources, Kennedy told police that he was late for a Congressional vote.
http://www.wusatv.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=49033
"The last vote of the night had occurred almost six hours earlier."
Patches (along with the other Kennedy's) are on their own time zone. Here's a great read on Chappaquiddick if you have ten minutes to spare:
www.ytedk.com
Looks like Daddy bought son's seat just like Big Daddy bought Teddy's seat in the senate....
What a shame to have a Kennedy anywhere near politics....
This kennedy punk and all the cops who covered for him should all be in jail for a long time.
According to Roll Call, Baird wrote in his letter that the driver got out and “was observed to be staggering.”
He told officers he was a congressman late for a vote. Baird wrote that patrol officers at the scene were prohibited from performing field sobriety tests.
Then two sergeants arrived, conferred with a watch commander and “ordered all of the patrol division units to leave the scene … that they were taking over.”
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