Posted on 05/21/2008 7:19:18 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
If Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) is unable to reach a deal with prosecutors on his DUI arrest, he will likely have to serve five days in jail before the end of the year, making him only the fourth sitting member of Congress to be locked up following a criminal conviction and dragging his troubles back into the spotlight just as Republicans were counting on them having vanished.
Not since Rep. John Dowdy (D-Texas) was sent to prison for his 1972 conviction for bribery, obstruction of justice and perjury has a sitting member of the House been sentenced to jail or prison following a criminal conviction, according to the House historian.
If Fossella has to serve jail time and steps down to avoid forcing House Republicans to deal with having a member of their conference locked up, he could trigger a special election in his district.
Under state law, any resignation before July 1 gives New York’s Democratic Gov. David Paterson the option of calling a special election. And Republicans have lost three special House elections since March. If Fossella resigned after July 1, there would be no special election and the seat would remain empty for the remainder of the term.
Fossella’s Staten Island seat is seen as a traditional GOP stronghold in the New York City area.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Drunk with power.
Throw him in jail - sick of these jerks.
But he’s gonna finish his term.
Because he’s irreplacable. Right?
He seems to know no shame.
I agree. Wait until July 2 and then resign. Then spend the five days in jail.
Jefferson will never see the inside. He is a Dem
Had to be a Republican - party affiliation mentioned within the first 5 words of the article.
he’s gotta hurry up and get to rehab- take a page out of Pat Kennedy’s book.
Hell - take a page from Ted’s and skip the punishment altogether.
Let's just ignore all the ones who resigned or were forced out before being incarcerated just so we don't have to mention the Democrats in much more recent history who were convicted of much worse. Names like Dan Rostenkowski, James Trafficant, Mel Reynolds, Walter Tucker III, Mario Biaggi, and a few others. All Democrats convicted of bribery, extortion, fraud, etc.
Well I can’t say I’m sorry about that. He was the one who decided to break the law and the conesequences are on him. We need better Republicans, we’re never going to be able to get voters to believe that Republicans are different than Democrats if our politicians are just as sleazy as theirs are. I’m not happy about the guy we ended up with in Oregon this week either. Hopefully it’s all just lies about him but he didn’t do a very convincing job denying it in my opinion.
btt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.