WaPo: Senate Does Battle Over Rove's Role in Plame Leak

[steve2470]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/14/AR2005071401962.html


Dueling Republican, Democratic Amendments Fail

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 15, 2005; Page A04

In bitingly partisan exchanges yesterday, lawmakers plunged into the dispute over Karl Rove's hand in leaking a covert CIA operative's identity, as the Senate rejected a bid to strip the White House aide of his security clearance.

A day of dueling news conferences ended with a Senate debate that turned unusually personal. It began when Democratic leaders proposed an amendment, aimed at Rove, to deny access to classified information to any federal employee who discloses a covert CIA agent's identity.


Republican leaders retaliated with a measure designed to strip the security clearances of the chamber's top two Democrats. Even as he urged support for his amendment, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) acknowledged the blatantly political tone of the debate. "This is a sad and a disappointing afternoon here in the United States Senate," he said.

Frist's amendment failed, 64 to 33, when 20 Republicans joined all present Democrats in voting against it. The Senate then rejected the Democrats' measure aimed at Rove, by a 53-to-44 vote along party lines. Both items were offered as amendments to a homeland security appropriations bill.

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[steve2470]

1. more from the article

<snip>

Senate Republicans responded with their own news conference. "I have seen nothing so far that would indicate that there was any law broken by Karl Rove," Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (Tex.) said. Sen. Christopher S. Bond (Mo.) said: "Joe Wilson's attacks were a political sham. They were then, and they still are today."

<snip>

[orleans]

2. I just heard about this today

and am totally horrified!

how can those fu*king repukes vote against something that says: "to prohibit federal employees who disclose classified information to persons not authorized to receive such information from holding a security clearance"?????

how do you vote against that?

so the same asshole who leaks "classified information" can turn around and keep doing it???

what about fu*king homeland security??? so we can keep leaking out secrets until we're completely wide open for anything?

(i understand it was all about rove--but i am so dumbfounded and angry about this--i can't believe they have the blatant audacity to vote against it. they are all SO married to rove and bushie and i guess that's what really matters in life. party (bending over) loyalty. well, i think we all are getting majority SCREWED!!!)

(thanks for letting me vent--and why the hell hasn't anyone been posting about this? or have they and i've overlooked it. my god! i would hope people give a shit about this.)

[BeFree]

3. Why?

Because: Republicans are soft on Treason.

[jazzjunkysue]

4. At least it made it to the floor: That's more than the GOp expected,

I'm sure.