Bush White House improperly held political briefings, report says (violated Hatch Act)

[kpete]

Source: USA Today

Bush White House improperly held political briefings, report says

By Ross D. Franklin, AP

A federal agency is reporting that officials in President George W. Bush's White House improperly conducted political briefings on government property, and encouraged employees to get involved in campaigns, meaning that taxpayers footed the bill for political activity.

"As the 2006 election drew nearer, OPA (the White House Office of Political Affairs) became a partisan political organization," reported the Office of Special Counsel, an advisory agency that reviews applications of the federal Hatch Act.

The Hatch Act forbids federal employees from engaging in election activity.

It should be noted that Bush's Republican Party lost control of the House and Senate in the 2006 congressional elections.

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/01/bush-white-house-improperly-held-political-briefings-on-government-property-report-says/1

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Report: George W. Bush aides violated Hatch Act
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48072.html#ixzz1C0Kzhlqq

[grasswire]

1. hell, didn't Rove run an election night coup in the WH?

So is it too late to send these people to jail?

[sofa king]

4. Why send 'em to jail?

By following the precedents they established, you should be able to kidnap Karl Rove and torture him to death in your basement.

[Demeter]

8. But I Don't HAVE a Basement!

Let me see if I can find something sufficiently gruesome....

[Thor_MN]

16. Perfect, put him in the space where your basement would be, if you had one.

[sofa king]

17. Oh, man. I wish I hadn't said that.

I forgot that you have to have money and power to get away with those things.

Now I'm gonna be the guy in the basement.

[rhett o rick]

28. Wrong. The ruling class can torture the lower classes, not the other way round. nm

[bleever]

24. Looked a little something like this:

[democrank]

2. Junior Bush didn`t worry about condoning torture so

I don`t imagine he`ll lose any sleep over this.

[ejbr]

3. Why bother reporting this?

"we're looking forward, not backward."

[thanks_imjustlurking]

33. Really.

If nothing has happened for the other crimes, why expect anything to come out of this>

[seafan]

5. Bush cheated with our tax money to elect more Republicans?? You know not!

Bush White House improperly held political briefings, report says, January 24, 2011

Glad the Office of Special Counsel finally noticed.


From October, 2008:

A draft Committee report circulated by Chairman Waxman finds that in the months before the 2006 elections, the White House Office of Political Affairs “enlisted agency heads across government in a coordinated effort to elect Republican candidates to Congress,” directing them “to make hundreds of trips – most at taxpayer expense – for the purpose of increasing the electability of Republicans.”
LINK, October, 2008

Remember Lurita Doan?, March, 2007


Why aren't these people in jail?


But, this is merely another prime example of IOKIYAR.


(For the newbies... 'it's OK if you are Republican.')

[TygrBright]

6. REALLY? I'm Sho... oh, never mind. n/t

[Fearless]

7. Betcha there won't be so much as a hearing about it either. Thanks Barack. Thanks Nancy. n/t

[sakabatou]

9. Yet another thing they won't be held accountable for

[Demeter]

10. The tables in Washington Are shaped Like Pyramids

Nothing can be put on them...

Someday, though, those tables will be turned!

[justgamma]

11. Want to see the hearings?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz-VfbJZ3fg&feature=related This is a bad video, but listen to the first 1.30 minutes of the nitwit. I loved that she was forced to resign.

Bruce Braley "Do you find this amusing?"

Doan "Did you say abusing?"

Here is the main questioning if you're interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wri62hYXN24&feature=related

[lastone]

12. a nation based on the rule of law

my ass...

[markpkessinger]

13. Q.: And what will the Obama Justice Department do about it?

A: Zip. Nada. Zilch. Nullo. Nicht. Nothing.

[udbcrzy2]

31. That's what really pisses me

Why even bother paying to have the investigation if they are not going to do anything? If they are merely looking for political trash to use during the upcoming elections, then they also can be guilty of not doing anything about it.

[Solly Mack]

14. Yeah?

Oh well...

[husky92]

15. Big &&*$%&$ Deal!

I get so pissed about all this stuff that continues to come out of the previous administration. So what does anyone do about it? NOTHING!

Instead we get that flaming ass hole Issa wanting to do investigations of Pres. Obama's administration. What the hell is wrong with this country. Bush and Company did so many illegal things and skate on everything. Yet, Issa wants to investigate Pres. Obama's staff.

Where the hell are the balls with Democrats??? We have about 5-6 people who speak out and the rest run around doing squat.

[Lorien]

25. Obama has no interest in investigating ANY GOP crimes

and the reason is...????

[blackspade]

18. They can 'note' it all they want but

they still violated the Hatch act.
Repercussions? None.

[Lorien]

26. Laws are for us "little people". nt

[blackspade]

29. No doubt.

[47of74]

19. I'm not holding my breath waiting for any prosecutions

[No Elephants]

20. They did this EVERY election, but we're looking only forward.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

27. Every fucking time I watched a video of Condisleaza after Sept 11 she seemed to be doing just that.

[Javaman]

21. And what will happen to them? nothing.

The rich get the breaks while we get broken.

[progressoid]

22. Another day, another Bush crime exposed.

And another day that nothing will come of it.

[LiberalEsto]

23. What are they going to DO about it?

Nada.

[Major Hogwash]

30. Well!! They better not do that again. And I mean it!

Or next time, maybe, they won't like the consequences.
Perhaps.

[Blue Owl]

32. Folks here at DU were onto this 5 fucking years ago

Just how many "get out of jail free" cards does the GOP have?

[csziggy]

34. GWB's campaign manager RAN the elections in Florida in 2000

And Republican political operatives assisted her in state offices during the entire election debacle.

Kathrine Harris, Florida Secretary of State, was either chairman or co-chairman of Bush's 2000 campaign in Florida at the same time she was the Florida Cabinet Secretary in charge of Florida elections. Evidence came out after the election that Harris not only did campaign activities out of her state office, using state workers and resources, during the recount furor she got advice and assistance from Republican operatives as to how to handle the mess politically, not administratively. These operatives used state office space and state workers to aid them in their political activities.

While it was a local story with lots of corroborative evidence, not much came out in the national press about this. And with George's brother Jeb in charge of the state with his political appointees and cronies running nearly every major state department, no investigation of this mix of state business with political campaign activities was ever done.

It is too long ago to post links, but I saved numerous articles about this mix back in 2000 and in 2001.

There was also the *unconfirmed* rumor that Harris was having an affair with Jeb around the time of the 2000 election...