Re: [CTRL] Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part V
-Caveat Lector- On 21 Aug 99, at 9:45, AOL User wrote: > -Caveat Lector- > > I received Part 2, 3 & 5, where can I locate Parts 1 &4? > Congress: America's Criminal Class: Part I http://www.capitolhillblue.com/Aug1999/081699/criminalclass1- 081699.htm Congress: America;s Criminal Class - Part IV http://www.capitolhillblue.com/Aug1999/081999/criminalclass4- 081999.htm You'll have to type in the parts of the URL's that appear on the second line. Kathleen "One way to really destroy the evidence carried by the corpse is to let a nincompoop do the autopsy." -- Anonymous This signature was made by SigChanger. You can find SigChanger at: http://huizen.dds.nl/~phranc/ DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substancenot soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
Re: [CTRL] Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part V
-Caveat Lector- I received Part 2, 3 & 5, where can I locate Parts 1 &4? DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substancenot soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part V
-Caveat Lector- Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part V A long tradition of corruption and ambivalence Part I -- Rep. Corrine Brown: A trail of lies & deceit Part II -- Rep. Jim Moran: Virginia's bombastic Congressman Part III -- How Newt Gingrich took care of his own Part IV -- Sen. Bob Byrd: Playing the Congressional immunity game By Doug Thompson Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue >From the time they arrive in Washington, newly elected members of Congress are told they are something special, an elite class. "You have reached a special place in life and in American history," Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi told a recent class of freshmen Senators and Congressman. "Treat it with respect." But too many members of both the House and Senate treat their "special place in life and in American history" as a license to steal, living large at taxpayer expense, ignoring laws that apply to ordinary Americans and betraying the trust of the public that put them there. Does the heady atmosphere of Congress turn honest men and women into a criminal class? Or is elected office simply a magnet for those who lie, cheat and steal for a living? It could be a little bit of both, say political scientists and Constitutional scholars. "There's no doubt that politics attracts the glib, the fast talker and the con artist," says retired Southern Illinois University political scientist George Harleigh. "It's a natural place for those who think fast on thei r feet." Congress has always had its share of rogues and scoundrels: · Adam Clayton Powell, the fast-talking Harlem Congressman who was re-elected even after Congress expelled him in 1967. Powell had survived charges of income-tax evasion (with a hung jury) even before his first election t o Congress. · Wes Cooley, the Oregon Congressman who lied about serving in the Korean War, quit Congress under a cloud in 1996, and was later convicted of falsifying VA loan applications. · California Congressman Walter Tucker, who quit Congress in 1996 just before his conviction for accepting $30,000 in bribes and sentenced to 27 months in the federal pen. Congressmen have gone to jail for child molestation, bribery, fraud, misuse of public funds and various crimes and misdemeanors. Some have resigned in disgrace: Wayne Hayes because he put his mistress on his payroll as a secretary (she couldn't type) or Wilbur Mills because he messed around with a stripper. Yet Gary Studds of Massachusetts seduced a young male House page, defied the House when it censured him and was re-elected several times. But Dan Crane of Illinois had sex with a female page, cried and begged forgiveness on the floor of the House and lost his next election. Rep. Barney Frank, also of Massachussets, is the most openly-gay member of Congress and shared his Washington townhouse with a male prostitute who ran a homosexual whorehouse out of the residence. But that didn't stop him from winning re-election easily or serving as the primary Democratic defender of Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. "Congressional corruption has no party, no ideology and no gender," says Constitutional Scholar Alan Baker. "It's bipartisan and soaked in history and tradition. It also often defies logic." Sociologist Sandra Reeves believes public perception of widespread corruption among elected officials is one of the reasons for the widespread ambivalence over Bill Clinton's sex and money scandals. "If the public felt Congress was an honest institution, there might have been more outrage over the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal," Reeves says. "But many people felt that the people investigating the President were just as di rty." Harleigh agrees. "Right when the Republicans were trying to prove malfeasance on the part of the Clinton administration in accepting campaign contributions from foreign sources, they have one of their own (Congressman Jay Kim of Californi a) convicted of doing the same thing," Harleigh says. "But instead of sending him packing, they embrace him and talk about what a great guy he is and how important he is to Congress and the party. What kind of message doe s that send?" Congress is nearly always slow to act against its own. It took the Senate three years to investigate and finally get rid of serial sexual harasser Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon. Many of Packwood's Republican colleagues d efended him right up until the end. "The leadership of both Houses of Congress needs a serious wake up call," says Baker. "You can't preach morality and family values while you wink and look the other way when one your own breaks the law." Andrea Wamstead knows far too well how Congress works. She worked on the Hill for nearly 20 years before leaving to get married earlier this year. "It's a game to a lot of members," she says. "Under the House rules, a Congressman doesn't have an expense account, per se. But he can be reimbursed for constituent expenses, so he simply tabs his regular
Re: [CTRL] Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part IV
-Caveat Lector- It is interesting to see how we often forget the original purpose of a provision of the Constitution and begin to think it is supperfolous. Fortunately, it would take an amendment to the Constitution to change this, but it has a more important purpose than to get drunk Congressmen off. I had a friend who was a political activist in Miami back in the 60s. He was constantly arrested on frivilous charges. Imagine what might happen in Washington to an honest Congressman in Washington these days if it weren't for this provision in the Constitution. Howard Davis -- >From: K <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [CTRL] Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part IV >Date: Thu, Aug 19, 1999, 9:24 PM > > -Caveat Lector- > > http://www.capitolhillblue.com/Aug1999/081999/criminalclass4- > 081999.htm > > Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part IV > Sen. Robert Byrd: Invoking an ancient rule to avoid a modern law > Part I -- Rep. Corrine Brown: A trail of lies & deceit > Part II -- Rep. Jim Moran: Virginia's bombastic Congressman > Part III -- How Newt Gingrich took care of his own > By the staff > of Capitol Hill Blue > In early May, Senator Robert C. Byrd, a longtime and powerful > Democrat from West Virginia, was following a van too closely on > U.S. Route 50 in Fairfax, Virginia, when the van stopped for traffic. > Byrd's 1999 Cadillac slammed into the rear of the van. It took a tow > truck more than an hour to pry the vehicles apart. > Byrd's car was not drivable and suffered an estimated $7,000 in > damage. The driver of the 1990 Ford Econoline van, Chris Lee, 42, > a house painter from Fairfax, said he didn't hear any sounds > indicating that Byrd hit the brakes or swerved. > "Just boom," Lee said. > The Fairfax County police officer who investigated the accident had > started to write the 81-year-old Senator a traffic ticket when Bryd > pulled a copy of the U.S. Constitution out of his pocket and pointed > to a section that he said the cop prevented the cop for ticketing > him for anything because he, as a member of Congress "shall in all > cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be > privileged from arrest" both while attending a session and traveling > to or from the Capitol. > Byrd spokeswoman Ann Adler says the Senator, an acknowledged > Constitutional scholar, "almost always has one (the Constitution) in > his pocket." > Byrd was taken to the nearby Fair Oaks police station where the > shift commander put in a quick call to Fairfax Commonwealth's > Attorney Robert F. Horan. Horan told the cop that if the Senator > wanted to claim Congressional immunity for the ticket, the cops > would have to honor it. With everything else that had happened in > Washington in recent months, a traffic accident probably couldn't > be classified as "treason, felony or breach of the peace." > Horan said he was familiar with the immunity clause -- Article 1, > Section 6, of the Constitution -- because he had encountered it > once before during his 32 years in office. Another member of > Congress, also from West Virginia, invoked the clause to escape a > speeding ticket 20 years earlier. > The constitutional provision was written in 1781 to protect members > of Congress from harassment as they traveled across the country > (usually by horseback), and to discourage people from trying to > prevent the members from casting unpopular votes. > Constitutional scholars say that while the law has little use in > modern times, it is often used by Washington area police as a way > to avoid arresting members of Congress. > "It's a common misconception that it (the law) prevents ticketing," > says Georgetown University professor Paul Rothstein. "Police > departments in this area are frequently under that > misapprehension. I think it's a way to do a favor for people of > influence and stature, but it does smack of unequal treatment > under the law." > And such unequal treatment is often invoked. A study of public > records with police departments in the District of Columbia, > Maryland and Virginia show 217 members of the House and > Senate escaped ticketing and arrest last year for a variety of traffic > offenses ranging from speeding to driving while intoxicated. > In the 1998 Congressional session, 84 Representatives and > Senators were stopped for drunken driving and released after they > claimed Congressional immunity. > "I've stopped Senators who were so drunk they couldn't remember > their own name," says one Fairfax County police officer. "And I was > ordered to let them drive home." > During lat
[CTRL] Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part IV
-Caveat Lector- http://www.capitolhillblue.com/Aug1999/081999/criminalclass4- 081999.htm Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part IV Sen. Robert Byrd: Invoking an ancient rule to avoid a modern law Part I -- Rep. Corrine Brown: A trail of lies & deceit Part II -- Rep. Jim Moran: Virginia's bombastic Congressman Part III -- How Newt Gingrich took care of his own By the staff of Capitol Hill Blue In early May, Senator Robert C. Byrd, a longtime and powerful Democrat from West Virginia, was following a van too closely on U.S. Route 50 in Fairfax, Virginia, when the van stopped for traffic. Byrd's 1999 Cadillac slammed into the rear of the van. It took a tow truck more than an hour to pry the vehicles apart. Byrd's car was not drivable and suffered an estimated $7,000 in damage. The driver of the 1990 Ford Econoline van, Chris Lee, 42, a house painter from Fairfax, said he didn't hear any sounds indicating that Byrd hit the brakes or swerved. "Just boom," Lee said. The Fairfax County police officer who investigated the accident had started to write the 81-year-old Senator a traffic ticket when Bryd pulled a copy of the U.S. Constitution out of his pocket and pointed to a section that he said the cop prevented the cop for ticketing him for anything because he, as a member of Congress "shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest" both while attending a session and traveling to or from the Capitol. Byrd spokeswoman Ann Adler says the Senator, an acknowledged Constitutional scholar, "almost always has one (the Constitution) in his pocket." Byrd was taken to the nearby Fair Oaks police station where the shift commander put in a quick call to Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan. Horan told the cop that if the Senator wanted to claim Congressional immunity for the ticket, the cops would have to honor it. With everything else that had happened in Washington in recent months, a traffic accident probably couldn't be classified as "treason, felony or breach of the peace." Horan said he was familiar with the immunity clause -- Article 1, Section 6, of the Constitution -- because he had encountered it once before during his 32 years in office. Another member of Congress, also from West Virginia, invoked the clause to escape a speeding ticket 20 years earlier. The constitutional provision was written in 1781 to protect members of Congress from harassment as they traveled across the country (usually by horseback), and to discourage people from trying to prevent the members from casting unpopular votes. Constitutional scholars say that while the law has little use in modern times, it is often used by Washington area police as a way to avoid arresting members of Congress. "It's a common misconception that it (the law) prevents ticketing," says Georgetown University professor Paul Rothstein. "Police departments in this area are frequently under that misapprehension. I think it's a way to do a favor for people of influence and stature, but it does smack of unequal treatment under the law." And such unequal treatment is often invoked. A study of public records with police departments in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia show 217 members of the House and Senate escaped ticketing and arrest last year for a variety of traffic offenses ranging from speeding to driving while intoxicated. In the 1998 Congressional session, 84 Representatives and Senators were stopped for drunken driving and released after they claimed Congressional immunity. "I've stopped Senators who were so drunk they couldn't remember their own name," says one Fairfax County police officer. "And I was ordered to let them drive home." During late-night Congressional sessions, Representatives and Senators often spend time between votes in the private Republican and Democratic clubs or any of a dozen other Capitol Hill watering holes. One Capitol Hill police officer says he has had to jump out of the way more than once to avoid being run down by a drunken member of Congress roaring out of a House office garage. "But there's not a damn thing I can do about it," he says, "Not if I want to keep my job." Sgt. Joe Gentile of the D.C. police admits city police do not issue traffic tickets to senators and representatives while Congress is in session. Alexandria and Montgomery County claim members of Congress receive no special treatment for traffic violations, but records show 47 members were released without tickets last year. Arlington and Prince George's county refuse to reveal their policies, but records show members are rountinely released without charge in both counties. Members of Congress feel no compulsion to obey the law. District of Columbia police issued 2,912 parking tickets to cars owned by members of Congress in 1998. None were paid. The financially strapped District, which actively pursues and "boots" cars belonging to ordinary citizens, does not go after members of Congress. But
[CTRL] Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part II
-Caveat Lector- http://www.capitolhillblue.com/Aug1999/081799/criminalclass2- 081799.htm Congress: America's Criminal Class - Part II Virginia's bombastic Congressman Jim Moran: "I like to hit people" (EDITORS NOTE: This is the second in a five-part series on how the laws which apply to ordinary Americans are often successfully ignored by members of Congress.) Part I -- Rep. Corrine Brown and a record of lies and deceit By the staff of Capitol Hill Blue Neighbors in the prosperous Del Rey residential area of Alexandria weren't surprised earlier this year when police cars showed up at the home of Democratic Congressman James Moran and his wife of 11 years. It wasn't the first time the cops had shown up. "There was always a lot of screaming going on there," said one neighbor. "They fought like cats and dogs." Mary Moran called the Alexandria police that June night and said her husband was attacking her. The police came, talked to both, and left. No charges were filed. The next day, Mary Moran filed for divorce, saying - among other things - that the five-term Congressman had abused her. Moran claimed the charges were "trumped up" and filed a counter suit for divorce the following month. But the incident is just the latest violent act by the bombastic Virginia congressman who has a history of bar brawls, physical assaults, threats, intimidation and even fistfights on the floor of the House of Representatives. And he has a history of getting away with it. Jay Armington remembers his first and only encounter with Moran, then mayor of Alexandria, in a bar near the Potomac River in 1988. "He and another guy went from arguing to shouting to fists in just a few minutes. One of my buddies pulled the other guy away and I grabbed the mayor," Armington recalls. Moran, he said, wheeled around and slammed him against the bar. "His cheeks were bulging and he was snorting like a bull," Armington said. "I realized I was looking into the eyes of a madman." Arne Wilkens tended bar in Alexandria, where Moran served as mayor of the city from 1985-1990. He says the Mayor often got into fights. "He was a bully and a thug," Wilkens said. "We'd call the cops, but they wouldn't do anything." Jonathan Schnapp, a former Alexandria resident, tried to file a criminal complaint with the Alexandria police after the Mayor threatened him following an argument outside a city council meeting. The cops just laughed. "They said they weren't going to risk their jobs by trying to arrest the Mayor," Schnapp said. Schnapp said he moved out of Alexandria because he felt both the Mayor and the police department were corrupt. Alexandria police refuse to discuss Moran's tenure as Mayor publicly, but several officers admitted privately that his behavior would have led to the arrest of "ordinary citizens." "The Mayor was clearly guilty of assault on more than one occasion," said one officer, who refused to be identified out of fear for his job. "But the word came down. The Mayor was off limits. Ordinary citizens go to jail. Not the Mayor." Winning a seat in Congress in 1990 didn't change Moran's violent ways. He got into more than one shoving match with other members of Congress, including Indiana Republican Dan Burton and California Republican Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Moran was an amateur boxer in his youth and told Washingtonian Magazine that had he not become a politician, he might have tried professional boxing because "I like to hit people." Supporters of the temperamental Congressman say he is just a "typical Irish rogue," charming one minute, belligerent the other. "Alexandria likes rogues," says one political supporter. "The city has a long, colorful history of flamboyant politicians. But political opponents say Moran is a "violent man, a time bomb who is always ticking and ready to go off." "He's always boiling," says Sam Asrets, a former Alexandria activist who opposed Moran on many issues during his term as mayor. "He knows he can get away with this because there's never any accountability," Asrets says. "He gets breaks that ordinary people don't get. Had he learned early on that there would be punishment for his behavior, he would have been a lot better off." Supporters say Moran deserves a break because his daughter, Dorothy, was diagnosed with brain and spinal cancer six years ago. The daughter, now 8, has gone into remission, but the Morans spent more than $15,000 on alternative care on top of $200,000 in insured treatment. However, Moran, who was also a stockbroker before becoming mayor of Alexandria, is nearly a million dollars in debt from failed investments and out-of-control spending patterns that go far beyond what the couple spent on their daughter. The financial problems have become a central part of the increasingly nasty divorce proceedings between Moran and his wife. Mary Moran, 44, went heavily into debt buying gifts and antiques the year her daughter was diagnosed with cancer. Moran also lost $120,000 in high-risk stock op
[CTRL] Congress: America's Criminal Class
-Caveat Lector- http://www.capitolhillblue.com/Aug1999/081699/criminalclass1- 081699.htm Congress: America's Criminal Class Rep. Corrine Brown and her long trail of lies, deceit and unpaid bills By the staff of Capitol Hill Blue America, Mark Twain once said, is a nation without a distinct criminal class "with the possible exception of Congress." If anything, the Congress of today is even worse than it was in Twain's time more than a century ago. The 535 men and women who make up the House and Senate of the United States include, at best, a collection of rogues, con artists, scofflaws and bad check artists. At worst, they comprise, as Twain once observed, a distinct criminal class. Over the past several months, researchers for Capitol Hill Blue have checked public records, past newspaper articles, civil court cases and criminal records of members of the United States Congress. We have talked for former associates and business partners who have been left out in the cold by people they thought were friends. What emerges from this examination is a disturbing portrait of a group of elected officials who routinely avoid payment of debts, write bad checks, abuse their spouses, assault people and openly violate the law. They include current Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla), whose trail of bad debts, lies to Congress and misstatements to the Internal Revenue Service have spawned a number of investigations. Then there is Rep. James Moran (D-Va) whose wife has charged him with abuse, who has assaulted other members of Congress on the floor of the House and is a former stockbroker whose judgment in trades is so bad that he is broke from poor investments. The list also includes Joe Waldholtz, a con man and husband of former Rep. Enid Greene Waldholtz (R-UT) who kited more than a million dollars in bad checks and ended up in prison. Others, like former Ohio Senator John Glenn, have driven creditors into bankruptcy because of unpaid debts leftover from aborted Presidential campaigns. Even millionaire Senator Ted Kennedy has left a trail of unpaid debts from past campaigns. In recent years, members of Congress have gone to jail for child molestation, fraud and other charges. Our research found 117 members of the House and Senate who have run at least two businesses each that went bankrupt, often leaving business partners and creditors holding the bag. Seventy- one of them have credit reports so bad they can't get an American Express card (but as members of Congress, they get a government-issued Amex card without a credit check). Fifty-three have personal and financial problems so serious they would be denied security clearances by the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy if they had to apply through normal channels (but, again, as members of Congress they get such clearances simply because they fooled enough people to get elected). Twenty-nine members of Congress have been accused of spousal abuse in either criminal or civil proceedings. Twenty- seven have driving while intoxicated arrests on their driving records. Twenty-one are current defendants in various lawsuits, ranging from bad debts, disputes with business partners or other civil matters. Nineteen members of Congress have been accused of writing bad checks, even after the scandal several years ago, which resulted in closure of the informal House bank that routinely allowed members to overdraw their accounts without penalty. Fourteen members of Congress have drug-related arrests in their background, eight were arrested for shoplifting, seven for fraud, four for theft, three for assault and one for criminal trespass. Over the next five days, Capitol Hill Blue will take a closer look at some of the more notorious members of America's Criminal Class - the Congress of the United States. We will not run lists of every member who has written a bad check, punched somebody out or been charged with slapping a spouse. Rather, we will examine those whose pattern of behavior suggests a blatant disregard for both law and propriety. Part I: Rep. Corrine Brown - running on a record of fraud In just seven years in Congress, Rep. Corrine Brown has eluded creditors, filed false financial disclosure reports and lied to the Internal Revenue Service. "She cons people, pure and simple," says Sheryl Wilson, a former travel agency owner in Tallahassee who knew Brown. "I don't think she has an honest bone in her body." Rep. Brown has a poor memory when it comes to remembering her business dealings. The financial records that every member of Congress is required to file shows the Jacksonville, Florida Democrat failed to disclose the $40,000 sale of her Tallahassee travel agency and improperly reported the sale of her Gainesville agency. And she has omitted other required details from her reports. Brown has left a trail of unpaid bills from businesses she owned in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Tallahassee during the early 1990s. In 1994, a consortium of airlines sued Brown for $94,
