***Official Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing thread TWO********

[Eurobabe]

Thread one is here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=349143&mesg_id=349766

[Roland99]

1. Thanks for feeding us cube rats!

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Thank you! n/t

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. Repeating my thanks!

These threads are such a gift for We Who Can Not Stream. :toast:

[liberal N proud]

4. Well what is it? the time is 12:03

[Eurobabe]

6. no verdict out yet, watching TV too

:crazy:

[Norquist Nemesis]

12. FOUR GUILTYS!!!

[Eurobabe]

5. Whitehouse still questioning

Lam: re: chilling effect. Not in best interest of the country fto have US Attorneys who want to play it safe.

McKay: VIOLATION of separation of powers, political pressure results in less independence

[originalpckelly]

13. Absolutely a frightening account.

My oh my.

[Beelzebud]

7. Is it just me or is Schumer in a hurry to hear the verdict? :)

He practically ran out of the room! lol

[Hepburn]

10. LOL, my exact thoughts. n/t

[Hepburn]

8. Break in hearing....

....just in time to watch the Libby verdict.

OMG...what a day!

[Mind_your_head]

9. They're taking a 10 minute break so that they can listen to the LIbby verdict too? n/t

[Norquist Nemesis]

11. 4 counts GUILTY, 1 not guilty!!!!

[MiniMe]

14. Break is for a vote, at least that is what Schumer said

[Norquist Nemesis]

15. All of their blackberries were humming in unison!

:rofl:

[DemReadingDU]

17. Awesome timing!

[Eurobabe]

16. WTF, so they now have the Conservative PAC shit up during break?

Someone at C-SPAN trying to twist our hairs?

[Norquist Nemesis]

18. Oh Dear God! They picked that awful ACUPAC event to air during break!

Disgusting!!!

[Eurobabe]

19. DEF-CON DAMAGE CONTROL LEVEL 5

LOL

[Eurobabe]

20. Vote on the floor of the Senate according to C-SPAN message

Hearing in recess.

[cascadiance]

21. Sessions session to be delayed...

Committee back in session now!

Asking about Battle stepping down now.

[cascadiance]

22. Talking about Battle's conference call to all of them about losing their jobs...

At first they thought it was a joke since they were all being asked as one.

[Norquist Nemesis]

23. Trying to get back on task

with Libby verdict and all. WH is giving press briefing, Les is on it!! LOL!

[tanyev]

60. They were fired via a conference call?

:wow:

Tacky. Even by Republican standards.

[Eurobabe]

24. BACK ON - Schumer questioning DI

[Eurobabe]

25. Schumer: re contact with McNulty

Lam not enough re-entry prosecutions. Met their needs?

Met with Issa and Sensenbrenner, re: re-entry prosecutions

[cascadiance]

26. Carol Lam met with Issa and Sensenbrenner...

So it sounds like Sensenbrenner was also along with Issa one of those responsible for bad mouthing her.

Sessions up now.

[MiniMe]

27. Lindsey Graham up

:puke:

[Norquist Nemesis]

29. ugh! Sessions

Looks like they're doing the Democrats first, then the Cons? :shrug:

[Eurobabe]

30. Sessions up now

Bloviating about how they serve at the pleasure of the pResident

[MiniMe]

31. Oops, they mentioned Graham, thought it was him

they both sound equally repulsive.

[Eurobabe]

28. Wrapping up: do you believe you were fired for performance failure

Cummings: no
McKay: no
Lam: no

[Eurobabe]

32. Prosecutors flatly refuse to prosecute crimes?

WTF is he talking about? Gun prosecutions? Bread and butter charges

Ms Lam: looked at the numbers you brought, prosecuted 24 cases in 2002

What a DICKHEAD!

[Norquist Nemesis]

39. pssstttt! She's from California and Feinstein pushed a lot of this

based on her firing.

[Eurobabe]

33. Sessions: AG concerned about your not

prosecuting gun cases?

Lam: firearms initiative, joint federal and state initiative.

[cascadiance]

34. He's being totally rude to her and cutting her off all of the time!

[Eurobabe]

35. Lam

very satisfied with firearms cases, very well handled by her organization. Half of her resources devoted to taking criminals off the streets.

Sessions: arguing with Lam.

Lam: Zero sum game in our district, less prosecutions of criminal alien cases.

[Norquist Nemesis]

37. Sounds to me like he's trying to attack her "San Francisco Values"

the key being "Hey! It's the LIBERAL bastion of the world!!!"

[Hepburn]

36. Sessions is a dick. n/t

[Eurobabe]

38. Sessions: US attorney free to have policy unreviewable?

Lam: never a disagreement with AG on her policies.

Sessions is just such a dick carrying water for Bush.

Lam: questions a few years ago, explained the situation in her district re: firearms vs. alien prosecutions

[Eurobabe]

40. Graham up

how long have you been US attorneys?

Lam: since 2002
McKay: 2001
Iglesias: 2001

Graham, those are long stints? Employment at will job?

[Norquist Nemesis]

42. He's basically saying "It's your fault so shut up"

Now Graham.

[Norquist Nemesis]

41. Good for Schumer reminding him of his time

Sessions: okay ah sawr a gerreen lauwt

[cascadiance]

43. Playing the same card that Specter did...

Saying that Iglesias should have complained about the pressures from Domenici and Wilson earlier to higher ups and "it would have been dealt with" then. So that would appear to be the talking points of their defense against Iglesias' claims.

[riderinthestorm]

49. "It" would have been dealt with? How about THEY would have been dealt with a lot sooner! nt

[cascadiance]

68. I probably shouldn't have put that in quotes...

... I don't recall specifically what verbage he used, but it does appear that Specter and Sessionas are taking the administration line that unless these "influence" issues are escalated, then they can't be a) trusted as necessarily credible, and b) deemed not as important as they are being made to sound now.

Someone should follow up though and find out how those congress people's pressures may have ultimately affected higher ups. Definitely on the lists to ask Gonzo if they ever get him on the stand!

[Norquist Nemesis]

44. Graham inferring they'ld been in the job too long

:eyes:

[Eurobabe]

45. Graham playing the we need to have young

up and comer card.

Cummins: we know that we serve at the pleasure of the pResident.

[Eurobabe]

46. Graham not your job to play politics

(memo to Lindsay -- you fucking ASSHOLE!!!)

[cascadiance]

47. I guess only the president and Gonzo can "play politics" with the attorneys...

... though we won't call it that. Only the Democrats in congress calling for hearings is "playing politics"!

[Oreo]

48. Graham " We're just going to have to work through this"

You've been there 6 years.
My point is that there's a lot of politics going on here and I don't want you to get caught up in it.

Lindsey you fucking idiot!

[Eurobabe]

50. Graham going after Iglesias

DI: when you got the contact from Domenici, did you report up the chain of command? DI: no I did not.

Have you been contacted before by politician

Lam: never about specific case

Graham saying alot of politics going on here...telling chairman not to change rules of the game.

[Eurobabe]

51. Schumer blasting Graham

if this was the policy then they should say that people only serve for 4-6 yrs. They didn't.

[Eurobabe]

52. Arlen has a going problem, potty break

how embarrassing!!

[Norquist Nemesis]

53. He had to finish getting hit points from Domenici n/t

[never cry wolf]

54. LOL, "nature has called"

Shumer asked if Specter was coming back and got work that nature called, a minute later I could hear a faint flush.... Then a respectible amount of time lapsed to wash his hands.

[Eurobabe]

55. Specter back and he doesn't look happy

interruptions we just can't avoid :rofl:

McKay: received call from chief of staff in midst of election brouhaha, asked about status of case: recede any complaints re: voter fraud, etc. pushed conversation beyond what I could communicate with him. Stopped him, don't ask about case that is not yet public. Ended conversation. Felt that it was sensitive, stopped call before it crossed the line.

[DemReadingDU]

58. thanks for keeping this thread going

Some of us are being interrupted by listening to Fitzgerald, then a jury person on the Libby trial.

[Eurobabe]

56. Specter you were protecting the record

McKay: no Senator that is not true

AS: arguing with him, if the conversation had gone further, if you thought the call had been improper, would you have reported to DOJ?

McKay: yes, I would have reported the contact. I took no further action on the call.

AS: If there had been improper contact you would have reported to DOJ

MCkay: I think so.

AS: Do you think DI should have reported calls to DOJ? I believe DI testified he wished he had done that.

Mr. Cummins I've gone over your email, searching for specifics that Ellston said to you, could you show where what you said reflected what Ellston said to you?

Cummins: I forget there was an email. (??) Sent email to others within an hour after Ellston called him.

AS: You have given your reactions and impressions to what Ellston was trying to do, get precise on what he said

Cummins: Ellston made comment, intended to observe

[Eurobabe]

57. Specter, don't think Ellston constituted obstruction of justice

Ellston stopping you from testifying? re: WaPO article

Cummins: Ellston, stop us from talking to the newspapers, if people keep talking to the newspapers, then more info will be released to defend the DOJ's position

[Eurobabe]

59. WaPO story, Rove's aide to replace Cummins

2/4/07.

[Eurobabe]

61. Specter wrapping up, what an ass

[cascadiance]

62. Schumer "this is not grandstanding"...

Message to the administration... "This is NOT going to go away..."

[cascadiance]

63. Should we stay on the same stream for the house committee testimony later?...

[Norquist Nemesis]

66. Are they having a hearing on this today?

I don't know if I can bear to listen to Senslessbringer.

[cascadiance]

67. I think it was actually Conyers that issued the subpoenas...

... for the House Justice committee he heads.

As Schumer notes, the Senate DIDN'T issue subpoenas. They were just scheduling hearings for "convenience" to allow all participants to save time, etc. so they wouldn't subpoena them later.

I'm guessing that Conyers will give us some good stuff later when he asks questions. I'm hoping they ask the questions I forwarded their office yesterday, namely, was Carol Lam's office told to delay investigations into folks like Duncan Hunter/Brian Bilbray until after the election. We here in San Diego have reasons to believe that both were under grand jury investigation (Bilbray for residency fraud, Hunter for many different things).

It was interesting the way that Carol qualified her answer that she wasn't pressured by outside calls on any "specific case". I wonder though if she might be trying to allow for someone asking her to back off of Hunter in general, which that statement wouldn't take issue with!

[Eurobabe]

70. Yes, but I don't know what time, maybe 2pm, Schumer kept referring to that time

And there are two stories in the NYTimes regarding the resignation of Mike Battle http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/washington/06inquire.html
and another prosecutor in MD who says he was fired for investigating Erlich's administration
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/washington/06prosecutor.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

What is going on here???

[Eurobabe]

64. Schumer, thanking witnesses

#1. Cummins friendly interpretation of the memo

#2. ?

#3. threat is used.

Administration called them grandstanders.

This is not going to go away. Administration cannot get away with name calling. Integrity of US Attorney's office is vital to the country.

[Eurobabe]

65. I'm off to watch the TV on Libby verdicts,

thanks everybody! See you later at the House hearings :hi:

[Norquist Nemesis]

69. Thanks 48!!!

:hi:

[Eurobabe]

71. Were there more hearings online yesterday?

At the House? I couldn't find anything either on TV or at C-SPAN, were the hearings postponed?

Inquiring minds want to know. :hi: