Corruption

Announce Vote to Authorize RNC Subpoena

July 10, 2007 -- (Washington, DC) - Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. and Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee Chairwoman Linda Sánchez confirmed that former White House counsel Harriet Miers will attend Thursday's hearing concerning the U.S. Attorney firings.    » read more »

July 11, 2007 -- Just when you didn’t think the incompetence could get any worse, it appears that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales misled Congress when he “assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers.” According to today’s Washington Post, “six days earlier, the FBI sent Gonzales a copy of a report that said its agents had obtained personal information that they were not entitled to have.” Whether it is illegally firing US Attorneys, limiting voting rights, or selecting partisan judges, the Justice Department under Alberto Gonzales contin    » read more »

11 July 2007 -- The top U.S. food safety official says he believes the Chinese government is serious about improving the quality of its food products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's David Acheson spoke Wednesday following a series of scandals involving tainted products from China.

The safety of a wide range of Chinese products is global headline news these days.    » read more »

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, July 10) - Below is Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy’s comment on reports that the Attorney General misled the Senate regarding the timing of his knowledge of widespread abuses by the FBI that resulted in violations of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties.    » read more »

07/10/2007 -- Washington, DC - Senator John Kerry today announced that he will co-sponsor legislation aimed at preventing the President from writing so-called "signing statements" when he signs bills - a little known measure that allows the White House to effectively circumvent Congress. Under the bill, a president could not issue a signing statement if it substantially altered the original legislation. Kerry co-sponsored the legislation with Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn) and the measure could be voted on as early as this month if it is added as an amendment to the defense spending bill.    » read more »

July 9, 2007 -- Dear Chairman Leahy and Chairman Conyers:

I write in response to your letter of June 29, 2007.    » read more »

07/03/2007 -- WASHINGTON D.C. - Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) made the following statement today on President Bush's decision to commute Scooter Libby's prison sentence:

"President Bush's eleventh hour commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence makes a mockery of the justice system and betrays the idea that all Americans are expected to be held accountable for their actions, even close friends of Vice President Cheney," Senator Kerry said.    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- Despite assuring the American people that anyone within his Administration involved in the leaking of classified information would be “taken care of,” President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence -- a conviction he received for lying about matters of national security.    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- People across the country are outraged that President Bush has commuted the sentence of a loyal Republican insider, Scooter Libby. Once again, Bush has sent the message that the rules that apply to ordinary Americans don’t apply to his cronies or staff in the White House.    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- Today’s announcement that President Bush commuted the sentence of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a crime since the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s, will have a significant impact on the 2008 presidential race. With 72 percent of Americans saying that President Bush “should not” pardon Scooter Libby, the Republican presidential candidates will have a tough time on the campaign trail defending their position. [Time magazine/SRBI poll, March 9-12]    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- Washington, D.C. -- THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. General, thank you very much for your hospitality. It's a true honor to come to Walter Reed to be able to see the docs and nurses, the physical therapists who are working with our wounded soldiers. The care here is remarkable. There has been some bureaucratic red-tape issues in the past that the military is working hard to cure. But when it comes time to healing broken bodies, this is a fabulous place.    » read more »

July 2, 2007 -- “We have known for a long time that this Administration has contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law, but today’s action by the President to intervene to save a high-ranking member of his Administration – who was found by a jury to have broken the law and obstructed justice, on behalf of the Vice President – is a new low.

It shows that this President believes there is one set of rules for his friends, and another set for everyone else.    » read more »

July 2, 2007 -- Washington, DC — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today after President Bush commuted the prison sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby for obstruction of justice:

“The President's decision to commute Mr. Libby’s sentence is disgraceful.

Libby’s conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq War.

Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone.    » read more »

July 02, 2007 -- Barack Obama today released the following statement on President Bush's decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby.

"This decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law.    » read more »

7/2/2007 -- Senator Hillary Clinton issued the following statement on President Bush’s decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby:

"Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law.

This case arose from the Administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies.

Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House's efforts to quell dissent.    » read more »