Posted on 06/04/2006 10:59:35 PM PDT by Utah Girl
The grand jury investigation of 4th District Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney enters its third month today with no hint from the federal prosecutor about how much longer it will take to settle a case that legal experts said should have been wrapped up in a matter of days.
McKinney was accused of striking a Capitol Hill police officer March 29, and the case was referred to the grand jury April 5. The drawn-out process of deciding whether she should be charged with assault has police fuming that the DeKalb County Democrat is getting preferential treatment from a politically motivated prosecutor.
"Right from the start this U.S. attorney has handled this case differently from every other case," said Chuck Canterbury, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police. "And it's because she is a sitting congresswoman."
McKinney's office and the office of U.S. Attorney Ken Wainstein declined to comment.
The case comes at a time of heightened tensions in Washington. A series of arrests, indictments and criminal investigations involving at least five members of Congress have fueled disputes between Capitol police and Congress and between Capitol Hill and the Justice Department.
Republicans and Democrats alike furiously denounced a recent FBI raid on the office of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) as a violation of the constitutional separation of powers.
And Capitol police, already angry over McKinney's case, bristled when superiors ordered them last month to drive Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) home rather than investigate the possibility that he'd been drinking after he crashed his car into a barricade near the Capitol. Kennedy later blamed the incident on prescription drugs he'd been taking and checked into a rehabilitation facility.
What most angers the police about the McKinney case is that it involves an assault — no matter how minor — of a police officer. Police reported that McKinney hit an officer in the chest after he failed to recognize her as a member of Congress and tried to stop her from going around a security checkpoint, something members of Congress and their aides are typically allowed to do.
"It's obviously frustrating for us," said Andy Maybo, head of the Capitol Hill police union. "This sends out the message that it's OK to hit a police officer — and it's not, regardless of who you are."
In legal terms, McKinney's case "is as simple as you can get," said George Washington University legal expert Jonathan Turley. Usually anyone who hits a police officer is immediately arrested on felony charges, police and legal experts said.
In political terms, however, Mc-Kinney's case is far from simple. "It is loaded with emotion, and I think the U.S. attorney is being very, very conservative in how they approach this."
Given the political sensitivity — made all the more delicate by Mc-Kinney's early accusations that she was the victim of racial profiling — legal experts said it's understandable that no decision has been made.
"That would be unusual for a run-of-the-mill case, but this isn't a run-of-the-mill case," said Frank Carter, former head of the public defender service in Washington whose clients included White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
He said many cases like McKinney's never reach a grand jury because they're settled quietly and privately, avoiding a public spectacle. "This ... begged for that," he said.
I agree totally.
ping
And a ping back to you.
Another great backhoe post in #25. Follow the link! Once again, we are not worthy.
We have a new royal class. It may be time to get out our muskets and march on Washington.
"It may be time to get out our muskets and march on Washington."
Leave out the muskets but otherwise i agree.
It's a security check point set up to protect not just mc kinney and her "sideshow bob hair do", but the Peoples House, during a time of war.
The fact that she benefits from this security should be enough to make her a bit tolerant of the wait. She in no way, shape or form has the right to act like some pampered rap star in a tizzy 'cause she and her possee are held up! Screw her.
Hey Hastert, your in charge up there get out in front and get rid of her, Jefferrs, and little pat Kennedy along with anyone else that demands to be above the law!
Oh wait sorry, your too busy blocking F.B.I. investigations to do the right thing.
i'm guardedly confident that within 2 years we will have a resolution of this matter....
Seems Janet Reno is still AG!
Anti-freedom, Democrat Crime Syndicate alert.
I know the wheels of justice turn slowly....but this is ridiculous...
I believe that McKinney is above the law because of her gender and color, not to mention that she is a socialist Democrat. Nothing will come of this probe, except maybe the officer who was simply doing his job will be reassigned to North Dakota or something like that, IMHO.
This is the world we live in today.
Not really... but it's a good foil for the author of the article. It's because she's a racist, foul-mouthed black woman. Weak-spined, federal officials are scared to death of these beasts.
Yesh, he would have had the cop up on rape charges long ago!
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