Rove Gets Probed

[str8line]

SHIT! I meant to post this in The Padded Room-my bad, sorry.



Unfortunately it's not anally by a slivery old oar... or a silvery old whore(with a LS9000).

I know, I know, another political thread. What can I say, I fucking despise this administration.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18295584/?GT1=9246

Rove's White House political activity probed
Bush spokesman insists informational briefings 'entirely appropriate'

Special counsel looking into Rove


Updated: 3:00 p.m. MT April 24, 2007

WASHINGTON - A little-known federal investigative unit has launched a probe into allegations of illegal political activity within the executive branch, including a White House office led by President Bush's close adviser, Karl Rove.

The new investigation, which began several weeks ago, grew out of two other investigations still under way at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel: the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias from New Mexico and a presentation by Rove aide J. Scott Jennings to political appointees at the General Services Administration on how to help Republican candidates in 2008.

"We're in the preliminary stages of opening this expanded investigation," Loren Smith, a spokesman for the special counsel's office, an independent investigative and prosecutorial agency, said Tuesday. "The recent suggestion of illegal political activities across the executive branch was the basis we used to decide that it was important to look into possible violations of the Hatch Act."

The office, led by Scott J. Bloch, enforces the Hatch Act, a 70-year-old law that bars federal employees from engaging in political activities using government resources or on government time.

Whether politics played an inappropriate part in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, including Iglesias, was at the heart of the controversy that has threatened Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' job. Whether executive branch employees violated federal laws that restrict them from using their posts for political activity also is at the center of the controversy about the January meeting at GSA.


'Help our candidate'
"Six participants have confirmed that, at the end of the presentation, GSA Administrator Lurita Doan asked all present to consider how they could use GSA to 'help our candidates' in 2008,'" 25 Democrats wrote in a letter of complaint on Monday to White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten.

Among questions the senators asked Bolten:

-"Why did Mr. Jennings and his staff communicate the presentation materials which bear the White House seal, via a private e-mail account affiliated with the Republican National Committee?"

-"Does the White House consider the preparation and delivery of such a presentation to be an appropriate use of taxpayer funds?"

The Los Angeles Times, which first reported the wider inquiry, said Doan doesn't recall making such comments.

'Entirely appropriate'
The White House said it had not yet been contacted by the Office of Special Counsel on the matter.

White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said Tuesday that it was entirely appropriate for the president's staff to provide informational briefings to appointees throughout the federal government about the political landscape in which they implement the president's policies. The White House said there have been other briefings at other agencies.

"People take great care to make sure that they don't violate the Hatch Act," Perino said, "and the Hatch Act doesn't prohibit the giving of informational briefings to governmental employees."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.




Bonus political quote:


From Blurred:

"Despite the ignorance of a lot of American people, Bush is saving the country. Also, you don't really need a plan for rebuilding when the real money maker (Cheney) is tied to Haliburton."

From this thread:

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...ight=bush+suck




Has anyone seen the PBS documentary called The Darkside about Cheney?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/


Guantanamo would be a great retirement home for all the crooks in this administration.

[gamma]

rove is slimy. cheney is self serving and evil, pretty obvious to me both have been profiteering on tax dollars. what about the attorney general? did anyone listen to his testimony? he could even recall what he did or what he said. whats wrong with our country?

[spook]

i wouldn't get my hopes up for anything real coming from bloch. since when does the osc do something it rarely does for this reason:
.......
The growing controversy inspired him to act, Bloch said.

"We are acting with dispatch and trying to deal with this because people are concerned about it … and it is not a subject that should be left to endless speculation," he said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics...home-headlines
.....

CREW: OSC wrong choice for Bush, Rove investigation
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/CREW_O...Bush_0424.html

But as editor for The Nation David Corn noted, OSC head Scott Bloch, a presidential appointee, has been marred with scandal himself. The Washington Post reported in February that the Office of Personnel Management's inspector general has been investigating Bloch for alleged intimidation of career appointees. In May 2005, the Post reported on Bloch's refusal to enforce a discrimination ban within his office. And in April 2005, Bloch's office was accused of political bias.

CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan commented, “Having transformed OSC into a virtual black hole for legitimate complaints of retaliation, Bloch is decidedly not the right person to tackle the issues of misconduct and illegality that surround top White House officials.” Sloan continued, “There is a serious question as to whether Bloch will just provide cover for an administration that has been covering for him."

...

Originalists, Federalism, and Scott J. Bloch
http://www.counterbias.com/307.html
...

Scott J. Bloch
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php...Scott_J._Bloch

Scott J. Bloch was nominated by President George W. Bush as Special Counsel in the Office of Special Counsel on June 26, 2003.....

"The President intends to nominate Scott J. Bloch of Kansas, to be Special Counsel, Office of Special Counsel, for a five-year term. He currently serves as Deputy Director and Counsel to the Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Justice. Previously, Mr. Bloch was a Partner with Stevens & Brand, LLP, where he practiced in the areas of civil rights law, employment law, and legal ethics...."
...

Who Is Scott J. Bloch, Special Counsel and Rove Investigator?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/4/24/112227/576

[Buck Fin Laden]

Hillary Clinton was spending the morning at a primary school in Ithaca, New York to talk to the children about her job as a US Senator. After her talk, she offered question time. One little boy puts up his hand, and the Senator asks him what his name is. "Kenneth."

"And what is your question, Kenneth?"

"I have three questions:
First - Whatever happened to your medical health care plan?
Second - Why would you run for President after your husband shamed the office?
And third - Whatever happened to all the stuff you and President Clinton took when you left the White House?"

Just then the bell rang for recess. Hillary Clinton informed the kids that they would continue after recess.

When they resumed, Hillary said, "Okay, where were we? Oh, that's right, question time. "Who has a question?"

A different little boy raised his hand; the esteemed Senator from New York pointed him out and asked him what his name is.
"Larry."

"And what is your question?"

"I have five questions:
First - Whatever happened to your medical health care plan?
Second - Why would you run for President after your husband shamed the office?
Third - Whatever happened to all the stuff you and President Clinton took when you left the White House?
Fourth - Why did the recess bell ring 20 minutes early?
And fifth - What happened to Kenneth?"

[ill-advised strategy]

you ain't down with MC Rove?

so whack

[Steepdeepnlong]

Hillary Clinton was spending the morning at a primary school in Ithaca, New York to talk to the children about her job as a US Senator. After her talk, she offered question time. One little boy puts up his hand, and the Senator asks him what his name is. "Kenneth."

"And what is your question, Kenneth?"

"I have three questions:
First - Whatever happened to your medical health care plan?
Second - Why would you run for President after your husband shamed the office?
And third - Whatever happened to all the stuff you and President Clinton took when you left the White House?"

Just then the bell rang for recess. Hillary Clinton informed the kids that they would continue after recess.




When they resumed, Hillary said, "Okay, where were we? Oh, that's right, question time. "Who has a question?"

A different little boy raised his hand; the esteemed Senator from New York pointed him out and asked him what his name is.
"Larry."

"And what is your question?"

"I have five questions:
First - Whatever happened to your medical health care plan?
Second - Why would you run for President after your husband shamed the office?
Third - Whatever happened to all the stuff you and President Clinton took when you left the White House?
Fourth - Why did the recess bell ring 20 minutes early?
And fifth - What happened to Kenneth?"

Jong!

That joke circulated when W was first elected, only it was Ashcroft instead of Hillary. Typical revision of history from a Clinton-Hater.