Pelosi says no to Hastings heading up intelligence committee

[sabra]

http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2006/11/pelosi-says-no-to-hastings-heading-up.html

Pelosi says no to Hastings heading up intelligence committee

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, D-California, will not name Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Florida, the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, a Democratic aide tells CNN.

Pelosi met with Hastings earlier Tuesday to inform him he will not be named chairman, the aide said.

...

Pelosi has already indicated she will not hand the chairmanship to Rep. Jane Harman of California -- the current ranking Democrat on the committee.

Reps. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Norm Dicks of Washington, and Rush Holt of New Jersey remain in the running for the intelligence post.

[Demit]

1. Sounds like a great move. Especially about Harman. Go Nancy!

[IndianaGreen]

12. So far, so good.

I want that douche bag Harman OUT!

[jaysunb]

16. I second that !

I'm going to be seeing her in about an hour. Hope I don't say something ugly ! :evilfrown:

[maxrandb]

2. Faux News is already spinning it as a loss for Pelosi

Sorry, but it's all we have on at work. As if the military hasn't suffered enough, we have to deal with Faux News on every TV.

Anyway, it appears that Pelosi rejected Hastings, but the right wing and MSM will spin it as more "terrible, bloody Dem infighting".

What are the chances we at DU won't help enable them?

Nah! Let the blood-letting and knife-fighting begin.

[fujiyama]

6. I'm glad she didn't appoint him

That would have been an EXTREMELY idiotic move.

[MGKrebs]

3. Bishop is an African-American Dem, but

voted for torture anyway.
He's a Blue Dog Dem.

[Freddie Stubbs]

4. A smart move by the next Speaker

People need to see that she is serious about ending the culture of corruption. This is certainly a step in the right direction.

[goforit]

8. Here,here!!!

[BlueCaliDem]

13. Yes it is. Although I was for Pelosi's first choice, Hastings, because...

...if she had voted first for his impeachment (although six years after he was acquitted of all charges in the bribery case), and then perhaps saw some info we're not privy to in able to support him for Chair, I would trust her judgment on this.

However, Speaker-Elect not only wants to end the culture of corruption, but in Hasting's case, also any hint of any culture of corruption.

That was what was the problem with Hastings. He was impeached, then removed from the bench and although the devil's in the details, your average American doesn't pay any attention to it, and it appears Pelosi didn't want to waste time having to defend Hastings against a hostile, republican corporate propaganda media.

I was also disappointed to read somewhere that Hastings had voted for the Iraq War Resolution, although he voted against the (un)Patriot Act.

However, I read here that both Silvestre Reyes and Holt voted against BOTH.

Either, in this case, would be better.

I'm just happy Jane Harman's not going to get the Chair no matter how hard AIPAC is rumored to be lobbying for her within the House.

[Show_Me _The_Truth]

19. Funny thing though, his partner was convicted with the same evidence.

You need two to tango. Rich white folks aren't the only ones who have been screwing the system for awhile.

[BlueCaliDem]

20. Not true. William Borders Jr. had direct contact with an undercover FBI agent...

...whom he thought was one of the defendants, Frank Romano.

Hastings never had.

Read here: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002023.php

William Borders Jr. has also been pardoned by Bill Clinton in 2001, did you know that? Read here: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1066080426784

Yet, no matter the full pardon, he can't get his license to practice law back. Funny thing, huh?

Rich white folks aren't the only ones who have been screwing the system for awhile.

Nope. But they try real hard. Below, an exerpt of a piece by Justin Rood at http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002028.php {scroll down):

Why a federal judge with a lifetime appointment would need to demonstrate his potency to the local mayor -- and break a law, and compromise several ongoing investigations -- was never answered.

Also, Hastings' lawyers pointed out, Mayor Clark had an unusual group of friends beyond "Waxy." Clark regularly played golf with Tony Amoroso, an FBI agent with direct access to the same investigative files from which Hastings was accused of leaking. Amoroso would have provided another avenue for Clark to have learned of Waxy's trouble, and one at least as plausible as Hasting's alleged brush-pass.

Clark's golf group also included H. Paul Rico, the "undercover FBI agent" who set up Hastings' alleged extortion accomplice, William Borders, in the 1981 bust that eventually led to Hastings' criminal prosecution. (He was acquitted, as we've reported.) It has since come out that Rico was a corrupt agent who set up murders for mob boss Whitey Bulger.

Hastings' defenders, including his former chief defense counsel Terence Anderson, maintain that the congressman is innocent, and Mayor Clark was put up to lying about him by his FBI pals.

Rico and the mayor's other pals had tried to get Hastings on bribery in 1981 and failed,

Oh, and FYI? It's you who seem to accuse me of thinking only "rich white folks screw the system" when I never made any mention of anyone's financial status nor ethnicity in my former post. Just wanted to make that clear.

[warrens]

5. My money's on Reyes nt

[BlueCaliDem]

21. Reyes seems like the perfect choice to me. eom

[David Zephyr]

7. This certainly signals the removal of Harman from the committee.

Well, this move completely nails the coffin closed for Jane Harman.

I'm glad that Pelosi is moving swiftly to get this story out of the news cycles. A quick announcement of Harman's replacement is now needed.

[David Zephyr]

9. In case some don't know, both Holt & Reyes voted against the IWR.

Either is fine with me.

[bklyncowgirl]

18. Holt has a background in intelligence work and is a nuclear physicist to boot.

I think he's rather junior on the committee but he has the right stuff and is as clean as they come.

[flyarm]

22. i am for Holt 100%!!!!!!!!!!!...please let Nancy pick Holt!! n/t

[Judi Lynn]

10. Washington Post: Pelosi Passes Hastings for Intel Chair

Pelosi Passes Hastings for Intel Chair

By KATHERINE SHRADER
The Associated Press
Tuesday, November 28, 2006; 5:55 PM

WASHINGTON -- In a decision that could roil Democratic unity in the new House, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi passed over Rep. Alcee Hastings Tuesday for the chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee.
(snip/...)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/28/AR2006112801203.html

[magellan]

11. That's good news!

Reyes or Holt, please, please, please....

[robcon]

14. I'm not sure it matters who the next chair will be...

as long as it's not Hastings.

[Doctor_J]

15. A good move - must our squeaky cleanest in focus

I hope that Holt gets something big.

[nealmhughes]

17. Amen. The leadership must be like Caeser's wife...beyond reproach.

O Calpurnia!