Hang Right Politics

Posted by Kathy on April 4th, 2007 in Justice, Dirty Politics, Dirty Tricks, Democrats

Senator Schumer having delusions of grandeur:

“The purpose of today’s hearing is not to find a smoking gun,” said Schumer at the Judiciary Committee hearing. “The purpose is to build a factual base and to continue to figure out what went on. The purpose is not gotcha. The purpose is, as they said in Dragnet, just the facts, ma’am.”

Of course the purpose is gotcha. Too bad there is no there, there. And too bad nobody is fooled:

But Schumer’s emphasis on gathering information while television cameras and reporters for the nation’s largest newspapers were present shows that managing publicity has become as much a part of congressional investigation as gathering facts. Because he is also chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Schumer’s media focus has opened him to criticism that he is seeking political gain from the controversy.

Flogging a dead horse takes a cooperative media:

Schumer and fellow Democrats have worked to keep the U.S. attorneys’ controversy in the news. On Friday, Schumer sent a public letter to Gonzales demanding that the attorney general clear Iglesias’s name. On Sunday, Schumer talked about the larger controversy on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Also on Sunday, Leahy appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to discuss his panel’s investigation. Leahy also recently sent a public letter to Gonzales “asking the Department of Justice to establish appropriate safeguards to avoid potential conflicts of interest as the Judiciary Committee continues its ongoing investigation into the dismissals and replacements of several U.S. attorneys,” according to a press release advertising the letter.

If there was no cooperation by the media, there would be no story. Even a preening Schumer can do the math. Clinton fired the same amount of prosecutors nine times over. There was no investigation then, and no call for one in the press. The Constitution is the ultimate victim here. Prosecutors serve at the pleasure of the President. Period.

Someone turn off the cameras, and watch, Schumer will just go home.

Does anyone else see a glaring conflict of interest with Schumer’s leadership on this issue? It’s at least as large as the one that forced Feinstein to step down from the committee that enriched her family.

As far as democrats are concerned the only interest they have in justice or national security or defense is a conflict of interest.