Posted on 06/25/2002 9:36:57 AM PDT by kattracks
Clinton sex scandal lawyer Robert Bennett has been recruited to sit on a review board set up to monitor how Catholic bishops respond to sexual abuse allegations against priests.
Just three years ago, Bennett represented ex-President Clinton in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, which also came to include charges of sexual assault and even rape against his client.
On June 14 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops named former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating to help implement a policy of mandatory reporting of sexual abuse and removal from the ministry of priests who have sexually abused minors, reported USA Today on Monday.
"Keating met Thursday and Friday with three new members of the national board, all Catholics: President Clinton's former defense lawyer Robert Bennett, Justice Anne Burke of the Illinois Appeals Court and Michael Bland, an abuse victim and former priest who now counsels other victims in Chicago," the paper reported.
Given Bennett's past history of trashing victims when sex abuse allegations were leveled against his client, is he really the best choice for the priest sex abuse panel?
When the Jones case was first filed, Bennett dismissed it as "tabloid trash with a legal caption."
Later he participated in a strategy with the lawyer for Jones case codefendant, Arkansas State Trooper Danny Ferguson, to let Ferguson's lawyer do the dirty work of damaging Jones' reputation by deposing witnesses who detailed her sexual history.
Bennett then informed Jones' case Judge Susan Webber Wright that she would be receiving "sensitive information of a sexual nature" about Ms. Jones.
Then, when a claim that Clinton had sexually assaulted White House volunteer Kathleen Willey surfaced, Bennett described the development as "a behind-the-scenes effort by the plaintiff's counsel to embarrass and humiliate the president by placing untrue stories in the press."
Of Sexgate whistleblower Linda Tripp, who first went public with details from the Willey assault, Bennett insisted that she "is not to be believed."
And when Jones lawyers unearthed an accusation that Clinton had raped Arkansas businesswoman Juanita Broaddrick, Bennett called it "outrageous and false" and an "attempt to taint the jury pool."
Shortly before announcing Bennett's appointment to the bishop's sex abuse review board, Gov. Keating observed, "If someone obscures, absolves, that criminal act, arguably they are obstructing justice, and arguably they are also accessories to the crime."
If Mr. Bennett suddenly now endorses of that principle as well, perhaps he better find himself another review board to sit on.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
First, Keating was quoted as saying that -- indeed -- he would be seeking to have the Pope ask for the resignation of certain bishops. Later, when asked specifically about Cardinal Law, Keating said that -- yes -- Law should be "forced" out.
Forced?
I also did note the news of Bennett's inclusion on the panel as well as the remark that "other" faithful Catholics would be asked to join the commission.
"Other?"
Keating may have made a name for himself in tangling with the insufferable Eusebius Beltran (my father appears hopeful even if I'm not exactly a Keating fan) but I find it hard to believe a "faithful" Catholic would defend the likes of Clinton. Doesn't add up.
It's like having "faithful" Bishops defend the practices of homosexuals and dissidents who've no particular regard whatsoever for morality, truth or the "meaning of is".
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