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Senators Call for Congressional Plame Investigation

Press release out today....26 Senators have written a letter to the House Speaker and Majority Leader of Congress calling for a Congressional investigation into the outing of Valerie Plame. Here's part:

The United States Congress has a constitutional responsibility to provide oversight of the executive branch, whether a law has been broken or not. It is time for Congress to fulfill that constitutional responsibility in this matter by initiating a thorough investigation.

We recognize that a criminal investigation is underway and that a special prosecutor continues to present testimony before a grand jury. These actions in no way preclude Congress’ responsibility to provide oversight. We urge you to exercise your authority as Congressional leaders by requesting the appropriate committees to begin oversight hearings and an investigation immediately.

The Senators named in the letter

Senators Kerry, Levin, Stabenow, Schumer, Lautenberg, Rockefeller, Reed, Feinstein, Dorgan, Harkin, Kohl, Durbin, Carper, Salazar, Boxer, Inouye, Corzine, Wyden, Mikulski, Obama, Murray, Bayh, Johnson, Clinton, Sarbanes, and Landrieu.

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    Re: Senators Call for Congressional Plame Investig (none / 0) (#1)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:36 PM EST
    Two years and only 26 Dems signed this? Pathetic

    Whaddya know? Ken Salazar took time off from giving conservative judges a free pass to ask Congress to do its job. Irony, anybody?

    Re: Senators Call for Congressional Plame Investig (none / 0) (#3)
    by swingvote on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:36 PM EST
    Congress also has a Constitutional duty, as well as a legal obligation, to pass 13 appropriations bills before October 1, something they have failed to do year after year. An investigation might be helpful or interesting, but shouldn't they do the things they are actually required to do before they venture off on fishing expeditions?

    Re: Senators Call for Congressional Plame Investig (none / 0) (#4)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:36 PM EST
    justpaul, right, and WHO controls congress and has for some time? the repubs are reaping what the have sown, and only have themselves to blame. the sh*t is hitting the fan WHEN THEY ARE IN CHARGE!! that says all you need to know. were the shoe on the other foot, i doubt you'd be worried.

    Re: Senators Call for Congressional Plame Investig (none / 0) (#5)
    by swingvote on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:36 PM EST
    Dadler, You don't know me well enough to make such assumptions, but go ahead and make an ass of yourself (as the saying goes) if you wish. I would be equally concerned about the failure of Congress to do its actual job regardless of who is "in control". Anyone who has bothered to read the majority of my comments here would know that. If these Senators desire an investigation to waste time on, they should instigate one on why Congress is incapable, regardless of who is in control, to get its job done on schedule, and why those who have sworn to do those jobs instead waste their time calling for politically biased investigations of issues that are already the subjects of actual criminal investigations. I thought this was the kind of stuff we complained about during the Clinton administration. Funny how things change "when the shoe is on the other foot".

    Re: Senators Call for Congressional Plame Investig (none / 0) (#6)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:36 PM EST
    Justpaul, I'm not fan of either party, of the way congress is run. Hope that didn't need to be stated, but I am stating it now. But, my fellow American, if you don't see a difference between the Clinton sex nonsense and the Plame case, all your attempts at claiming to be unbiased don't fly. How can you possibly expect to be treated seriously when you try to compare apples and a-bombs? Of course we need better representation, we can always get better, but that doesn't mean you ignore things that must be addressed. This kind of abuse of power, done for purely political and personally vindictive reasons (much like Nixon), cannot be tolerated. And Congress should do the nation a favor, investigate it immediately, clean house if neccessary, and move on -- allowing the criminal investigation to continue as long as it needs to, without the appearance and reality of Congressional denial that exist now.

    Re: Senators Call for Congressional Plame Investig (none / 0) (#7)
    by swingvote on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:36 PM EST
    Dadler, Your obvious love of the Democratic party, regardless of what you say, is made clear by your assumption that my reference to the Clinton administration was necessarily about the Lewinsky stupidity. If that is the only "investigation" you remember from those 8 years, you spent most of it with your head in the sand. It is also made clear by your inability to comprehend that I clearly said an investigation such as the one being called for might be helpful or interesting, which is pretty hard to take as a statement saying no such investigation is warranted by the issues involved. Go back and re-read the original comment if you need to. My point was that these same Senators have sworn obligations to uphold, obligations that they have not yet fulfilled, and which they have a history of not fulfilling on schedule. I believe they should do their jobs before they seek extracurricular activities to fill their days with. And as I pointed out, there is a real criminal investigation underway as it is. Do you really think these self-anointed fact finders will do anything but grandstand for the cameras and get in the way of the real investigators? Is this how you think our tax money should be spent? I did like the "my fellow American" bit though. Nice folksy touch.

    Re: Senators Call for Congressional Plame Investig (none / 0) (#8)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:38 PM EST
    JP, You reply to Dadler that focusing on Lewinski ignores other Clinton investigations. You mean the ones that were found to have no merit? Come on, Monica led to impeachment, travelgate, Whitewater, et al, were witch hunts that were baseless.