Berry Receives Ultimatum From Congress

NewsMax.com ^ | January 10, 2002 | wire report

[tdadams]

WASHINGTON - A House committee issued an ultimatum Wednesday in its running battle with the dictatorial chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

Fail to seat President Bush's nominee to the panel and you could be removed, the committee told Mary Frances Berry. Use taxpayer money to hire a lawyer and you could face criminal penalties, it warned.

"Your actions in this instance, which have impeded and continue to impede the proper functioning of the commission, may be sufficient to justify your removal from the commission for malfeasance in office," wrote Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, chairman of the subcommittee on the Constitution.

A commission spokeswoman said Berry had not yet seen Chabot's letter and could not comment.

Last month, Berry, a Clinton appointee and partisan supporter of Al Gore, led a majority of Democrat and "independent" members in rejecting Bush's nominee, Cleveland lawyer Peter Kirsanow. Bush chose Kirsanow to replace Victoria Wilson, who was appointed last January by Bill Clinton to fill a seat left empty by the death of Judge A. Leon Higginbotham.

The White House notes that Higginbotham's term ended Nov. 29, 2001, and that Wilson's appointment was only good until then. Berry and other commission members claim that a 1994 law says every appointee to the commission, no matter what the cause, has a six-year term.

The eight-member commission investigates alleged cases of discrimination and makes recommendations to Congress and the president. The commission is dominated by partisan in-fighting. A government report charged widespread financial and administrative mismanagement within the agency.

Signaling her intent to dig in for a legal battle, Berry hired the powerful law firm Paul, Wieiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison to represent her, a move Chabot said raised "serious and legal ethical concerns" even though it was not being paid.

Hiring staff pro bono, Chabot said, violated commission statutes prohibiting the use of free services.

Berry's Latest Hypocrisy

Chabot added that if the attorneys were paid with government money, Berry could be subject to criminal penalties of up to two years in prison and $5,000 in fines. Berry used the same argument when she didn't allow Republicans to use John Lott, a Yale University legal scholar, to review findings in the commission's Florida election report, Chabot said.

Tensions between Berry, the White House and Chabot's committee have escalated since summer, when the House judiciary subcommittee, which acts as the oversight body for the commission, demanded Berry turn over supporting documents used to compile a partisan report on voting irregularities in the 2000 presidential election. The request came amid growing concerns that the statistical data was flawed.

Berry initially refused, saying, "The commission cannot exercise its statutory mandate to act as a watchdog over the enforcement of our civil rights laws, if it is not free to choose its own experts, write reports without interference and publish conclusions without fear of reprisal."

But in August she turned over the documents. The committee called the documents insufficient and inconsistent.

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

[tdadams]

Welcome to the real Clinton legacy. I'd love to see this woman removed in handcuffs by federal marshalls.

[goldstategop]

I'd like to see Steve Chabot introduce legislation to shut her ridiculous circus down for good. This is one government agency that deserves to be sunset NOW.

[leadpenny]

You just gotta love this. Could be great summertime entertainment.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Whenever I see stories like this I think of what would happen if the roles were reversed. What if this were a republican with a democratic Congress? It would be a lead in on every nightly newscast until the nut resigned under the pressure.

No double standard here though. Just a fair, balanced news media reporting the "facts".

[Corporate Law]

Great move by my former (and probably future when I move back across town) Congressman.

[YaYa123]

I'm just glad to find out there is strong congressional oversight over this committee. Where have I been that I didnt know? Maybe the republican house can get rid of MFB without President Bush having to take the stink you know the unelected-to-anything, black leadership will raise.

I bet Jackson and Sharpton are already licking their chops over the chance to attack President Bush as a racist...again.

[randog]

I don't think the Poverty Pimp Bros. will have a chance to smear Bush....it looks like the strategy is to tie Berry up in a legal mess of her own making and give her just enough rope to hang herself. Remember--don't get in your enemy's way when he's busy destroying himself. ;>)

[ken5050]

I think that she's stage managing this whole thing, and will end up quitting, in a huge flap designed to give her lots of publicity, and smear W. look, she knows she's gonna lose, she will lose control over the commission, the staff will be fired, and there will be an audit..her party is over..so, she'll go out in a blaze of glory....hold a press conference with Jesse and Al by her side...

[aristeides]

I think any House move to get rid of Berry would have to receive the support of the Dem Senate, which I'm sure it would not get. However, the House has to originate all funding bills. I wonder if the House by itself could cut off Berry's salary and office funding.

[nina0113]

ping - ha ha ha

[tdadams]

Berry initially refused, saying, "The commission cannot exercise its statutory mandate to act as a watchdog over the enforcement of our civil rights laws, if it is not free to choose its own experts, write reports without interference and publish conclusions without fear of reprisal."

In other words, MFB wants carte blanche to be wholly unaccountable to anyone and use her well-paid position to issue scathing, but unfounded, criticisms of Republicans that will get picked up and reported as gospel truth on the nightly news.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

""Your actions in this instance, which have impeded and continue to impede the proper functioning of the commission, may be sufficient to justify your removal from the commission for malfeasance in office," wrote Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, chairman of the subcommittee on the Constitution."

And that my friends, says it all.
Oh please, please, please let this troll thumb her nose at Congress.

[goldstategop]

The House just has to refuse to appropriate money for the U.S Civil Rights Commission and there's not a damn thing the Senate can do to keep it going. If there's no money it will have to shut its doors. Which is possibly just the best thing that could come out of this whole mess. Let Mary Berry go back to her academic sinecure and leave the rest of us alone.

[FreedomPoster]

This is great. Let a Congressional committee handle the dirty work of getting this MFB removed, and Bush stays above the fray. Smart pubbie politics, for once.

[LS]

In the truest sense of the term, this woman needs to be bitch-slapped.

[Twodees]

Spending bills originate in the House, but must still pass the old boy's club - oops, I meant to say Senate.

[PogySailor]

Welcome to the real Clinton legacy.

Good as that sounds, this stink-bomb goes all the way back to the Carter day's.

[MUDDOG]

When there's too much of nothin', no one has control.

[gulfcoast6]

She over extended her Master Charge card and can't afford to leave.

[TC Rider]

I think that she's stage managing this whole thing, and will end up quitting, in a huge flap designed to give her lots of publicity, and smear W. look, she knows she's gonna lose, she will lose control over the commission, the staff will be fired, and there will be an audit..her party is over..so, she'll go out in a blaze of glory....hold a press conference with Jesse and Al by her side...

This woman will never quit voluntarily. They'll have to drag her out kicking and screaming. You are probably right thought about what happens once she is evicted.