Posted on 12/13/2001 6:02:13 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:39:12 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
06:57 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush has invoked executive privilege for the first time to keep Congress from seeing documents of prosecutors' decision-making in cases ranging from decades-old Boston murders to the Clinton-era fund-raising probe, The Associated Press has learned.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Prosecutors are not heads of departments and their papers are not under the President alone. Prosecutors are way down the food chain, and their papers are under many people. I agree that the President can keep communications between himself and top officials like cabinet members secrete. He cannot keep communications between low level bureaucrats secrete.
It seems clear that Washington was talking about Presidential communications between high ranking officials, not communications between low level bureaucrats.
Bush Justice Department Seeks to Halt Wen Ho Lee Testimony
Ashcroft Orders Full FBI Review After Blunders - But Just Couldn't Find Anything
Ashcroft Winding Down Justice Department Chinagate Probe - "Moving On"
"We’re going to go after all crime, and we’re going to make sure people get punished for the crime."
George W. Bush - Presidential Debate at Wake Forest University - Oct 11, 2000.
Hopefully Bush doesn't join the list of criminal-cover-ups and instead is being shrewd. As one poster below said, "He's playing it close to the vest."
Here is the reason I believe Bush is doing this for the right reason and not to misuse it.
Aware the White House was considering such a new policy, members of Congress have raised concerns that it will hinder lawmakers from giving proper oversight to federal prosecutions, noting scandals in the past would never have been exposed if Congress had been kept from sensitive documents.
If members of Congress don't like it, that tell's you something. If having access to these documents allowed exposure of scandals by Congress, why do scandals have to be exposed by everyone else but Congress? And why when Congress has full access to these scandals, do they go stick their head in the sand ??????
I have a feeling the words "giving proper oversight" means deciding what they want to keep buried to cover their own asses!
Maybe we'll see drilling in ANWR now.... :)"
The Rule of Law can be subverted by a "deal"?
Justice is all just a "deal" away from non-existant?
When you're in Politics you don't need to consider "Equal Justice" as long as you've got enough good cards in your hand?
To: FreeTally
I am soooo glad we have someone on Free Republic
who has insider knowledge as to what and why
the president does what he does.
# 34 by elephantlips
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Insider knowledge?
We can only work with the information we have.
To me, from the information I have,
I see a repeat of the same type of violations
that Clinton performed on us.
If only people who have "insider" information should post,
the pickings would be pretty slim around this site.
How about you, elephantlips?
Do you have "insider knowledge"
that FreeTally doesn't have insider knowledge?
If not, by your own rule,
you should keep your un-informed opinion to yourself.
The Democrats, Leahy in particualr, have proved themselves untrustworthy. They are on a power trip and do not have the best interest of the country at heart. They would stop at nothing to see Bush or Ashcroft fail.
Didn't you notice how careful the administration has been to avoid characterized Walker as a traitor, thus prejudicing any jury? But not Hillary, she went on Meet the Press and stated flat out, that she thinks that Walker is a traitor. She knows better than to make that sort of statement. She is supposed to be a lawyer. Her only purpose could have been to damage the case, while taking credit for being on the side of the people.
sinkspur: You have no evidence of that,
Where have I heard this before? Hummm?
This is, by the way, a serious question.
I'll restrain myself on this. But you are a party bandwagonriding, myopic, apologist for this matter.
Bush Loses! Dan Burton Wins!!! (BTW, they're both in the same party:-) How's that for keeping it in the same party? There's a difference between Dan Burton an Jr., and that's the Fact that Burton did the Right Thing. Jr. did not.
How's my punctuation on this one?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! There's no more "meaningful oversight" of ANYTHING anymore. Phrases like that may work in Constitutional Republics, but they're meaningless in What's Left of America. The powers that be do whatever they wish. They ignore the Constitution itself, let alone "Congressional oversight." LOL
To: Diddle E. Squat
"...There may be those in Congress that may be the suspects
or in bed with the suspects..."
# 36 by meducksguy
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That's easily done, meducksguy.
Bush would say, I'm going to invoke Executive Privilege,
because certain members of Congress are referred to in the documents.
After the abuses of the last President,
I want a good reason for the privilege claim.
"National security" is too broad a category.
Yep, I sure do, Triple. And I think the American people need to be very, very clear on this: ONLY CONGRESS has been constitutionally empowered to make laws binding on the people. And they have no latitude or discretion to pass any law in conflict with clear constitutional provisions and requirements. There is a difference between "legal" and "lawful." Constitution is LAW. Period. A non-conforming act of the legislature is -- simply -- an unconstitutional usurpation of the power of the people, and (technically) a nullity.
We need to be crystal clear on this point, IMHO, or we have absolutely zero standing to object to the next act of Congress that trashes the meaning and intent of the Framers, or the next overreaching Executive Order, or the next act of (judicial) "legislation" from the Bench.
You want to "take back the Constitution?" You will not succeed unless you understand -- clearly -- how it "got lost." See where I'm going with this? best, bb.
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