Roberts tied to Bush-Quayle campaign (88 Opposition Research)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05242/562295.stm

Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. provided "opposition research" for the Bush-Quayle-election campaign in 1988, according to an application form that Roberts completed when he sought appointment as deputy solicitor general in the first Bush administration the next year.

<snip>

Both forms asked the applicant to indicate any involvement in the 1988 Bush-Quayle campaign. On the handwritten form, Roberts answered: "Lawyers for Bush/Quayle (D.C.), Exec. Comm., Opposition Research." On the typewritten form that came through the Justice Department, the same answer cites "legal opposition research," suggesting that Roberts looked into legal positions taken by Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis.

Roberts disclosed his 1988 role as a member of the Executive Committee of D.C. Lawyers for Bush/Quayle in a questionnaire he completed for the Senate Judiciary Committee several weeks ago. But in his answer to a question about "services rendered ... to any political party or election committee," he did not specify "opposition research."

The official responsible for the Justice Department when Roberts was considered for the deputy solicitor general post scoffed at any suggestion that Roberts' role in the 1988 campaign was crucial to his advancement to the position of the U.S. government's No. 2 litigator. Murray Dickman, an aide to then-Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, the former Pennsylvania governor, told the Post-Gazette yesterday that the paperwork for Roberts' appointment was "pro forma."

[MisterP]

1. an Ailes devotee? Rove for the SCOTUS by a different path

[Erika]

2. Just another Bushbot

These people are really tiring.

[Gloria]

3. This guy is no judge, he's simply an enabler for Bushco....

Such an obvious political hack..and our Democrats will vote for him, you can bet.
I am so disheartened. We are being picked apart by the GOP and our own Democrats. Women are really getting it in the states, in preparation for getting it from the Supreme Court. It's really heartbreaking to see sell-out Dems go along.

[punpirate]

4. There's already enough to verify that this...

... brilliant bozo is just another pimp for the far right. Everything from now on, including this, is just icing on the cake.

M'self, I don't think Bush could have found a better Nazi.

[davidinalameda]

5. he's a party hack

wonder what he has on Bushie

[Demeter]

8. Bush Funded Roberts' Fortune--He Ain't Gonna Squeal

It costs money to adopt white, you know. Not to mention a tidy portfolio.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. kick

[Massachusetts]

7. "Roberts tied to Bush-Quayle campaign (88 Opposition Research)"

Can you spell Potato(e)?

[Demeter]

9. So Much for the Grammar Nazi

Maybe they brought Roberts on after that charming faux pas?

[patcox2]

10. I've done oppo research for a dem political campaign.

I was director of research.

Does that disqaulify me from appointment to any judicial position should a democrat be elected president?

Am I an Ailes devotee and a partisan hack?

Just wondering.

[Tesha]

11. Quite honestly, yes, it ought to disqualify you. (NT)

[patcox2]

12. If you think so, you don't know what oppo research is.

I analyzed every vote my opponent had made during his career in congress. I analyzed the public records concerning his property transactions and businesses, public contracts he had received, and public statements he had made.

Its not about hiring PIs and stalking and dredging up personal mud.

[Tesha]

13. If you're working for a political party, you should be disqualified.

And I know precisely what oppo research is.

Tesha

[patcox2]

14. I worked for a campaign, not a party.

And I am amazed that you suggest that I am forever barred from a judicial appointment. Thats news to me and to quite a few sitting judges. More than quite a few, in fact.

How about executive branch jobs? Am I forever barred from pubic service? Thats an amazing revelation to me, as I am an attorney who has gone into the field of public policy, with the ultimate goal of going into public service. And I am a democrat too. Too bad I am unfit, apparently, to work for the government.

[Tesha]

15. Some jobs, yes.

> Am I forever barred from pubic service?

I have no opinion on that issue. ;-)

And you're welcome to most jobs in public service certainly including
jobs in the Executive Branch.

But I feel *STRONGLY* that this country would be better off if
its judiciary did not have even the appearance of partisanship
so yes, I would bar you from the Judiciary if you worked for
a campaign in any serious, grown-up capacity.

Tesha