How in the bloody hell can Hastings even be considered for the Intel Committee chairmanship??

[tritsofme]

First we have a botched leadership contest, then we get Rangel spouting off about restarting the draft, possibly the least popular position in American politics, right behind eating the heads of newborn babies, and now it seems as though Alcee Hasting is poised to take control of the House Intelligence Committee chair because of bad blood between Pelosi and the current ranking Democrat Jane Harman.

This guy Hastings is an impeached federal judge that Nancy Pelosi herself voted to impeach, along with more 400 other congressmen.

This is a face our new Democratic majority wants to put up in front of an imporant committee like Intelligence, right after it rode in on a tidal-wave of widespread voter disallusionment with the disgusting corruption of the Republican Congress?

I don't care if Hastings has changed, I don't care if the CBC likes the guy, stunts like this are an exercise in finding the most efficient way to dispose of our hard fought majorities in two years time.

[cali]

1. I don't agree with you about Rangel, but

I do think that Alcee Hastings chairing the Intelligence committee is a disaster. Hope it doesn't come to pass.

[lalajohns]

4. If GWBush can be pResident

I don't see why Mr. Hastings can't chair over a committee.

Duh!

[tritsofme]

8. I hope you're not serious.

nt

[tritsofme]

2. kick

because I would really like someone to explain the logic of why an impeached federal judge should chair the Intelligence Committee.

[slackmaster]

3. I guess you aren't very familiar with Nancy Pelosi yet

;-)

[BringEmOn]

5. I think he said the chairman's "near"

*Blazing Saddles

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. Agreed.

Every article I've read on the topic talks about the challenge of parsing out chairmanships while satisfying each gender/racial constituency.

Since Pelosi rejected a woman, and the next in line is an african-american man, then the next logical choice is a hispanic man, provided that the whip is african-american.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Why_Pelosi_so_tough_on_Harman_1113.html

But on MSNBC, Mitchell said that Hastings may not be Pelosi's pick to head the committee.

"Speaker Pelosi, Speaker-designate Pelosi is not going to yield on Jane Harman on the intelligence committee, and a little-known decision by Rahm Emanuel not to challenge an African-American congressman for the whip post means that the Congressional black leadership will feel that they have already been mollified," Mitchell claimed. "This will take Alcee Hastings, an African-American off the waiting list for intelligence and they're going to go to an Hispanic for intelligence."

Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), who is Hispanic, is the third-ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee.

I swear, it's like we're trying to embody the right's worst stereotypes.

[tritsofme]

7. Any Democrat besides Hastings

must be 1000 times better.

Putting him there would just be a bonehead move.

[scarletlib]

9. There is more to the story than currently being reported

Mr. Hastings was acquitted in criminal proceedings and found not guilty. Then the impeachment proceedings were taken up by the House of Representatives. (Of course, we all know that any impeachment proceedings undertaken by the House of Representatives are always politically non-motivated in any way. See: Bill Clinton/Impeachment.)

After he was impeached and removed from office, several years later it came out and was news for a while that one of the FBI guys working in the FBI lab was inept/corrupt and had falsified evidence not just on Hastings but on several other cases as well. While supposedly this did not 'affect' the final judgment on the impeachment still false testimony/evidence was presented against Hasting to the Senate.

Finally, if you haven't read "The Innocence Project" I would recommend you do so. The guy who concocted the entire case against Hastings was an informant, already a convicted felon, who had current pending charges against him when he came up with the Hastings story. He offered up the Hastings information in return for lessening his sentence. In the "Innocence Project" which is about innocent people sentenced to prison for crimes they did not commit, one of the most egregious methods used to get convictions is that of an informant or snitch who gives information about a another person for the snitch/informant to get a lighter or reduced sentence. It is really a very discredited and unreliable method of determining guilt or innocence.

I live in Palm Beach Fl. At one time I was in Hastings district (but got gerrymandered into ex-congressman Foley's district.) I have met Mr. Hastings although briefly. He has been overwhelming ly reelected by his constituents. I personally find him to be credible and believe he was set up as do most of the people in his district.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:S26OC9-40:

"Judge Hastings' activities in the crucial period involved in this case appear innocent, but could also be consistent with a very clever conspiracy. The impeachment case involved allegations that the judge conspired to solicit a bribe from defendants in a criminal case before his court in return for mitigation of sentences and return of certain property. The judge's actions in court, however, regarding return of property were consistent with appellate decisions governing his court; and the judge never did anything to reduce the sentences of the defendants in question.

A Florida jury acquitted the judge on these charges of conspiracy using a test of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. A judicial conference panel later reviewed the case and recommended impeachment proceedings be conducted by the Congress.

The background evidence in this case shows it started from information given to the FBI by an FBI informant, a former convicted felon named Dredge. Dredge had serious criminal charges pending against him and agreed to cooperate. He had conversations with William Boarders, a former head of a national bar association, who was a Washington, DC, attorney and a friend of Judge Hastings. Mr. Boarders has since been convicted on charges similar to those brought against Judge Hastings.

There was not a single government circumstantial charge in the case that was not disputed by the judge and therefore, the entire case rested on the inference or conclusion that one drew from what the judge did in his independent actions and what Mr. Boarders did in his independent actions. In my mind, there was not clear and convincing evidence to support impeaching a judge with an unblemished record, who had served well, was regarded as an excellent, hard-working judge by his associates, and who had no direct involvement with the FBI informant, money or any other direct connection with Mr. Boarders' illegal activities."


http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/9704a/20sbtobi.htm

"In the Alcee Hastings case, we find that Michael Malone falsely testified that he had himself performed a tensile test on a purse strap and also testified inaccurately and outside his expertise concerning the test results. The misstatements concerning the test results, Tobin acknowledged, did not affect the conclusion that the strap had been partially cut. After Tobin raised concerns about Malone's testimony in 1989, then-SAS Chief Kenneth Nimmich failed to assure that the serious allegations of examiner misconduct were appropriately investigated and addressed."

[chimpymustgo]

10. Thank you so much for sharing the FACTS. Unfortunately it will kill this thread.

Though maybe that's not a bad thing.

[tritsofme]

11. Try getting that blurb in on the evening news.

Politics in the 21st century is all about appearances, whether we like it or not.

All anyone will ever hear or understand is that an impeached and convicted federal judge is the running the Intelligence Committee.

Not a good message to send after we just rode in on a wave of promises of ethical reform.