Thread: Pelosi & a "question of ethics"

The House passed the resolution this afternoon. Details from The Hill: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...ledge-on-massa

The House voted Thursday to open an ethics investigation into what and when House Democratic leaders knew of allegations of sexual harassment against former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.).

The House overwhelmingly backed a privileged resolution offered by GOP Leader John Boehner (Ohio) that will have the Ethics Committee look into what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and other Democratic leaders and staffers knew about allegations of sexual harassment against Massa, and when they became aware of the situation.

Boehner offered the resolution early Thursday afternoon, and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) called quickly for a vote.

Members of both parties voted overwhelmingly to support the resolution, which passed 4[0]4-2. No Democrats voted against the resolution, while two Republicans voted against it. The members of the Ethics Committee, which would conduct the investigation, voted “present,” as is custom.

During the GOP Mark Foley scandal, I condemned the apologists for Foley who pooh-poohed sexual predation on Capitol Hill. http://michellemalkin.com/2006/10/02...-in-the-house/

Now, we have liberal media buffoons doing the same. I agree with Tommy Christopher: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/countdown...ophobic-jokes/

As the Eric Massa story continues to unfold, the media’s wall-to-wall coverage of it becomes thinner and thinner. On last night’s Countdown, fill-in host Lawrence O’Donnell spent 3 entire segments on the Massa story, alternately cracking wise about the Navy and obsessing over the sexual slang term “snorkeling.”

…Lost in all of this, however, is the fact that there are big parts of this story that aren’t funny at all. The things that Massa is accused of are revolting abuses of authority. I have two sons of an age where someone like Massa could exert this kind of pressure, and you’d better believe I wouldn’t be laughing if someone tried to molest one of them as they slept. This isn’t a gay thing, it’s a predator thing.

While the absurdity of Massa’s public performances are undeniably funny, where is even an iota of outrage over what this guy is accused of doing?

I haven’t seen it anywhere else, and I didn’t see it during last night’s Massa Opus.

That is a disgrace.

So is the silence of Massa’s many tacit enablers over the years — including the sanctimonious Speaker of the House who promised us nothing less than “the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history.”

***


Democrat Rep. Fattah was the only “no” vote. House Ethics Committee members did not vote, as is protocol. 12 other members voted “present.”

Here’s the Roll Call vote – 402-1. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll107.xml


***


What did Nancy know and when?

Via the NY Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...e_shared_.html

Disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Massa insists he never sexually abused anyone, but he filled his Capitol Hill rowhouse with low-paid male staffers in an arrangement ripe for trouble. “It’s like he had people trapped,” said a Hill source.

Sordid new details emerged yesterday of a pattern of behavior that went back to his 20 years as a naval officer, as ex-shipmates came forward to describe incidents of groping and perhaps worse.

After resigning, Massa called his “inappropriate” behavior a carryover from his Navy days.

At the house on E St. Southeast yesterday, which Massa had shared with five of his staffers, clothes were piled on the floor and half-a-dozen pairs of shoes mingled with dirty towels next to an open pink suitcase in the living room.

A male staffer in his 20s who mans the front desk of Massa’s decommissioned House office appeared late in the day and went inside. He declined to comment, citing strict orders from the staff’s temporary employer, the House clerk.

In hindsight, Democratic insiders wondered about activities that before had just seemed odd. They said Massa hired a surprisingly large percentage of young gay men, and paid them so little that staffers were forced to live in the house with him. “It’s not the gay part that’s a problem, it’s the abuse, if it’s true,” said one Hill source.

“The guy’s a freak,” a close friend of one embattled Massa aide told the Daily News.

Even as ethics officials apparently decided yesterday to drop their investigation of Massa because he is no longer in Congress, numerous new reports and interviews suggested there is much more to learn about the Navy vet.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Nancy Pelosi so confident that Democrats will retain majorities after midterms that she's desperately raising money for legal defense funds

Runner-up headline: The turn of the shrew.

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/201...dent-that.html

It wasn't but a few months ago that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was "laughing off" suggestions that Democrats might lose their Congressional majorities. In an interview with Roll Call, Pelosi stated Democrats would "definitely" retain control with "much more than a simple minority." http://www.rollcall.com/news/43160-1.html

"We will not be taken by surprise," she said, "I am not yielding one grain of sand. My responsibility is to protect and preserve my incumbents and that’s what I intend to do... I’m fighting for every seat."

So confident, however, is Pelosi that today's The Hill reports that the Speaker is trying to build a legal war-chest to fend off investigations by a GOP majority. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...investigations

In a fundraising letter for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Pelosi says if Republicans take back the House, they'll initiate "endless investigations against President Obama" and "bring back the days of Ken Starr and the politics of personal destruction."

"Remember a Republican-controlled Congress that devoted more time to subpoenas and investigations than to solving our country's problems?" Pelosi asks. "There is far too much at stake for our country now to allow it to happen again."

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, has shown himself willing and eager to be a thorn in the side of the Obama administration on everything from the BP oil spill to the Joe Sestak job offer. Few doubt that he would use a chairmanship to ramp up those efforts.

I'll alert the media: it turns out that Nancy Pelosi is a two-faced hack, in addition to the most radical Speaker in American history. Her legacy: economic destruction.

And if Americans can take back the House, investigations will be the least of her concerns. http://directorblue.blogspot.com/201...-heats-up.html

Harry Reid's son avoids surname in governor bid
By Oskar Garcia, Associated Press Writer Fri Jun 25, 5:27 pm ET

LAS VEGAS – The Democratic nominee in the Nevada governor's race is the son of one of the most powerful politicians in America, but you wouldn't know it by his campaign.

Rory Reid is going to great lengths to keep his distance from his famous father — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — in an election year when the elder Reid is the anti-incumbent movement's public enemy No. 1.

Rory Reid's campaign banners say "Rory 2010." Campaign releases call him Rory on second reference. His first TV ad — "Paid for by Rory 2010" — doesn't utter or display his last name. Rory Reid's biography on his website makes no mention of Harry Reid.

The fact that Rory Reid is avoiding his surname as he runs for governor shows how topsy-turvy this election year has become.

Harry Reid's battle for a fifth Senate term against GOP challenger and tea party darling Sharron Angle is the country's headline race this midterm election. Republicans are salivating at the prospect of unseating the man they believe embodies all that is wrong with Washington.

The elder Reid is also dogged by unfavorable ratings among Nevada voters angry over soaring unemployment rates and record numbers of foreclosures and bankruptcies.

Rory Reid said picking Nevada's next chief executive isn't about family ties. "People I'm sure have an opinion about my father," Rory Reid told The Associated Press on Friday. "What they have yet to do, many of them, is develop an opinion about me. And that's what this campaign is about."

Rory Reid serves on the Clark County Commission, the state's largest and most powerful local government. He coasted to the Democratic nomination earlier this month and will face Republican Brian Sandoval in November.

In any other year, he would be able to ride the coattails of his father throughout the election season. But with anti-Harry Reid sentiment running high, Republicans are attempting to make the governor's race just as much about the senator than the actual candidate.

Republicans were quick to pounce on the ad released this week that features kids asking about qualities they'd like to see in their next governor — but nary a reference to the Reid name. The GOP charged Reid with trying to run away from his father and his damaged political legacy. "If Nevadans are happy with Harry Reid's failed record then they will be in for a real treat if Rory Reid takes hold of Carson City," said Republican National Committee spokesman Jahan Wilcox.

Reid said he considers the Republican response to his ad a "distraction" and that voters he has spoken to haven't wanted to talk about his dad. "They never want to talk about my genealogy. They want to know what the next governor is going to do to create more jobs, to improve our schools and to make their lives better," Reid said. "Ultimately I don't think that people are going to vote for me for any reason other than I'll make their life better."

It's not clear if the Reids will campaign together before the November election. So far the famous political family's father and son who share the top of the ticket have gone their separate ways and avoided joint appearances.

Harry Reid's campaign did find time Friday to show where he stands in the race. "Senator Reid loves his son very much and believes he would make an excellent governor," said Kelly Steele, Harry Reid's campaign spokesman.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100625/...NsawNwcmludA--

Rory Reid said picking Nevada's next chief executive isn't about family ties. "People I'm sure have an opinion about my father," Rory Reid told The Associated Press on Friday. "What they have yet to do, many of them, is develop an opinion about me. And that's what this campaign is about."

What is he trying to hide? since he won't use his last name. Not very upfront from politician. I'm sure he'll win.

Rory Reid said picking Nevada's next chief executive isn't about family ties. "People I'm sure have an opinion about my father," Rory Reid told The Associated Press on Friday. "What they have yet to do, many of them, is develop an opinion about me. And that's what this campaign is about."

Sounds like a weasel-in-training... use the family name when the connections will be an advantage - distance from the same if it looks like it is going to work against you. Seems like he is assisting in people forming their opinions about him.

Pelosi calls for ethics probe into Wu sex report
By KEVIN FREKING - TIM FOUGHT - Associated Press | AP – 15 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Oregon Democratic Rep. David Wu faced increased pressure Monday after House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called for an ethics investigation over an 18-year-old woman's claim of an "unwanted sexual encounter" with him.

Pelosi sent a letter Monday to leaders of the House Ethics Committee, saying an investigation is warranted.

"Recent press reports and statements attributed to our colleague, Representative David Wu, indicate that he may have engaged in inappropriate activities," Pelosi wrote.

Meanwhile, lawmakers will find it harder to avoid questions about their position on Wu's future, a scenario similar to six weeks ago when they had to deal with the distraction of former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who had sent lewd photos of himself to women online. Unlike the media frenzy that ensued in the Weiner case, Wu's situation has prompted little attention so far because of the intense focus on lawmakers' struggle to reach a deal on raising the national debt ceiling.

Wu and Pelosi had a telephone conversation Saturday but neither politician has disclosed details.

Wu's only response so far has been a brief statement late Friday: "This is very serious, and I have absolutely no desire to bring unwanted publicity, attention or stress to a young woman and her family."

The Oregonian, citing an unidentified senior Democrat official, said that Wu did not intend to resign but would complete his term and retire in 2012.

Wu would have faced an extremely difficult primary challenge, likely the most difficult of his career. One of the candidates challenging Wu in next year's primary, state Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, said Wu should see Pelosi's calls for an ethics investigation as a signal to step down immediately.

"An ethics investigation would result in a long drawn-out distraction and prolong the public pain" for the unidentified woman who has accused Wu, Avakian spokesman Jake Weigler said. "For the sake of our community and this young woman and her family, as well as his own family, David Wu should do the right thing and step aside now."

Another Wu challenger in the Democratic primary, state Rep. Brad Witt, said an ethics investigation is needed so "we get to the bottom of the allegations and determine what the facts are."

Oregon Democrats have been waiting for word on how Wu plans to respond further to the allegation and the resignation demands.

Spokesmen for both Gov. John Kitzhaber and the state party said Wu hadn't reached out to top Democrats in Oregon.

"At this point, I don't believe those conversations have happened," said Trent Lutz, executive director of the state party.

Lutz and other party members said they hoped Wu would respond directly to the allegation reported by the Oregonian newspaper. The paper quoted sources who said a young woman left voicemail at Wu's Portland office earlier this year accusing him of an unwanted sexual encounter three weeks after last year's election.

Citing anonymous sources, The Oregonian reported that Wu told senior aides that the sexual encounter with the young woman in California was consensual. The paper reported Facebook notes indicate she graduated from high school in 2010 and that she registered to vote in California last August.

The paper said the woman decided not to press changes because there were no witnesses and it would have been her word against Wu's.

The newspaper said its information came from multiple sources familiar with the allegation.

In Wu's district stretching from downtown Portland to the Pacific Ocean in northwest Oregon, county-level leaders said they, too, were hoping for more from Wu.

"I'm waiting for more details to come out," said Cris Land, party chair in Columbia County.

The heart of the 1st Congressional District is Washington County, a center of high tech and suburban development and the home of David Robinson, a former Navy officer and municipal official who lost by a margin of 4-1 to Wu in the Democratic primary last year.

Robinson said he will ask fellow activists in Washington County on Wednesday to approve a vote of no confidence in Wu, calling the woman's allegation "just another in a long line of disappointments and improprieties."

Wu has won seven terms. In 2004, he won despite acknowledging a decades-old college incident in which he tried to force a former girlfriend to have sex. Voters said they disliked an opponent's attempt to use that against Wu.

In January this year, seven staffers resigned because of behavior that included sending a photo of himself in a tiger costume to a staff member and an angry public speech. Wu attributed those to a period of mental health challenges that began in 2008 as marital issues led to separation from his wife.



http://news.yahoo.com/pelosi-calls-e...031935761.html

Oregon lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct will not run
By Teresa Carson | Reuters – 2 hrs 37 mins ago

PORTLAND, Ore (Reuters) - Oregon Democratic Congressman David Wu, accused of an unwanted sexual encounter with the teenage daughter of a campaign contributor, has decided not to run for reelection next year, a spokesman said on Monday.

The decision by Wu, 56, not to seek an eighth term, came as Nancy Pelosi, the top-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, referred the matter to the House Ethics Committee and pressure mounted for him to resign.

Beyond saying that Wu, the first Chinese-American elected to the House, will not run in 2012, his press secretary, Erik Dorey, declined to comment.

Wu publicly acknowledged earlier this year that he was undergoing psychiatric treatment after his staff complained of erratic behavior, including his e-mailing of a picture of himself dressed in a tiger costume.

"Recent press reports and statements attributed to our colleague, Representative David Wu, indicate he may have engaged in inappropriate activities," Pelosi wrote in a two-sentence letter to the ethics panel.

"An investigation by the Ethics Committee to determine if rules of the House of Representatives have been violated is warranted," it said.

In response to media reports that the daughter of an old high school friend and campaign donor had accused him of misconduct, Wu himself issued a statement over the weekend calling the allegation against him "very serious."

"I have absolutely no desire to bring unwanted publicity, attention or stress to a young woman and her family," he added.

NO CONFIDENCE VOTE EXPECTED

The Portland Oregonian newspaper reported that Wu's accuser is from Orange County, California, and graduated from high school in 2010. It said the alleged encounter occurred around Thanksgiving of last year when the woman was 18.

The newspaper said several of Wu's staff earlier this year listened to a distraught voice mail left by the woman, accusing Wu of aggressive and unwanted sexual advances. Details of the alleged encounter have not been disclosed.

Local party officials said the allegation amounted to the last straw for a politician whose career has been marked by a number of instances of questionable behavior.

"Many people in the 1st Congressional district and in Washington County are very upset with him and want to see him resign," said Mike Bohan, Democratic chairman in Wu's district. "It is hard to picture how he can be an effective congressman."

Democrats in Washington County were expected to hold a "no confidence" vote on Wu on Wednesday. County Democratic Party chairwoman Karen Packer expected it will pass. "The prevailing feeling among members is that Wu should resign," she said.

In 2007, Wu raised eyebrows with a speech on the House floor comparing Bush administration officials to members of a fictional alien race on "Star Trek," saying, "There are Klingons in the White House" sending "real Americans to war."

His conduct also came under scrutiny after the Oregonian reported he had delivered an angry, ranting speech to supporters in his home district in late 2010. Two days later, according to the paper, Wu talked his way past airport security to the arrival gate to pick up his two children, and then began to campaign there.

Several of his staff members resigned following the 2010 election, citing what they believed was bizarre behavior.

At the time he said, "I sincerely regret some of the things I said and did" and promised to "manage stress more appropriately going forward" with the help of medication and counseling.

http://news.yahoo.com/oregon-lawmake...005500971.html

comments

Eighth term ? We need term limits!

~~~

No next term? He needs to step down NOW

~~~

If this were you or I, Duke students or French diplomats---we would have been arrested and perp walked 3 days ago------Why are Americans soooo angry at politicians who THINK they are above the law---because of -hit like this----------Justice is coming and bringing her friends---Got Rope?

Liberal Sisterhood of the Plundering Hacks
By Michelle Malkin • August 17, 2012 11:08 AM

Hey, remember when Nancy Pelosi and a gaggle of Democratic women vowed to eradicate Washington’s culture of corruption? Tee-hee. Instead of breaking up the Good Ol’ Boys Club, Capitol Hill’s leading liberal ladies have established their very own taxpayer-funded Sisterhood of the Plundering Hacks.

This week, the names of two of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s gal pals surfaced in a mortifying, Animal House-style scandal. If the allegations of whistleblowers pan out, DHS may soon be known as DSH: The Department of Sexual Harassment.

According to FoxNews.com’s Judson Berger, DHS chief of staff for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Suzanne Barr put herself on voluntary leave after details of her lewd behavior were disclosed as part of an ongoing discrimination and retaliation lawsuit. In “newly emerging affidavits,” Berger reported, “one of the employees claimed that in October 2009, while in a discussion about Halloween plans, the individual witnessed Barr turn to a senior ICE employee and say: ‘You a sexy (expletive deleted).’”

Striking a blow for equal opportunity pervs everywhere, Barr “then looked at his crotch and asked, ‘How long is it anyway?’ according to the affidavit.”

Barr is accused of numerous other acts intended to “humiliate and intimidate male employees.” Yet another account from the lawsuit detailed Barr’s vulgar text messages to a colleague while on a boozy trip to Colombia. On the same junket, Barr allegedly offered to perform oral sex on another DHS employee. Barr, a lawyer who previously served as Napolitano’s director of legislative affairs when the DHS secretary was governor of Arizona, had no law enforcement experience before ascending the federal ranks.

A few months after Barr followed Napolitano to DHS in 2009, another crony tagged along. Dora Schriro, who served as director of Arizona’s Department of Corrections under then-Gov. Napolitano, was appointed by her BFF to head the Detention and Removal Operations office despite zero experience in that critical homeland security policy area. The suit claims that Schriro had a “longstanding relationship with (Napolitano)” that resulted in preferential treatment.

A few plum posts here, a few plum posts there. Pretty soon, the sleaze piles up.

But DHS has nothing on the public relations slush fund created by Obamacare — and forked over to Obama on-air surrogate Kiki McLean. The longtime Democratic operative and self-described “true D.C. insider” heads up the global public affairs division at Porter Novelli, which secured a $20 million contract to peddle Obamacare to the public. The firm claims it struck gold after a “competitive bidding process.” But members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have called for probes into that and other shady business-as-usual PR contracts. And HHS, headed by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, is dragging its feet on meeting information requests.

Such obstructionism is nothing new to Sebelius, whose tenure as Kansas governor is still the subject of an ongoing criminal court case against Planned Parenthood and the Sunflower State’s health officials. Last year, the plaintiffs discovered that health bureaucrats presided over the “routine” shredding of “documents related to felony charges the abortion giant faces.” Sebelius doggedly fought transparency motions in the proceedings for years.

Are Obama’s female inspectors general watching out for taxpayers any better than their male counterparts? As the boys in my family like to say: negatory.

Interior Department acting IG Mary Kendall is knee-stocking-deep in a conflict-of-interest scandal, which alleges that she potentially helped White House officials cover up their doctoring of scientific documents that led to the fraudulent, job-killing drilling moratorium of 2010.

Acting Department of Justice IG Cynthia Schnedar, a longtime employee and colleague of now-Attorney General Eric Holder, has an ethics imbroglio all her own. As I reported in June, she worked under Holder in the 1990s and co-filed several legal briefs with him. Schnedar recklessly released secret Fast and Furious audiotapes to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix before reviewing them. The tapes somehow found their way into the hands of the local ATF office. Both remain targets of congressional probes.

Over on Capitol Hill, Democratic women are too preoccupied with their own nest-feathering and backside-covering to police the Obama administration:

California Democratic Rep. Laura Richardson, a tax dodger and loan defaulter, received a House ethics wrist slap two weeks ago after investigators concluded she had “improperly pressured her congressional staffers to work on her campaign, verbally abused and intimidated them, used taxpayer-funded resources for personal and political activities, and obstructed the investigation,” as the Los Angeles Times summed it up.

Fellow California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters still hasn’t faced an ethics trial over her meddling in minority-owned OneUnited Bank. The financial institution, in which her husband had invested, received $12 million in federal TARP bailout money after Waters’ office personally intervened and lobbied the Treasury Department in 2008.

Nevada Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley faces a formal House ethics investigation into charges that she abused her position to benefit her husband’s business interests.

And investigative author Peter Schweizer exposed House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and her husband’s smelly insider deals involving the initial public offering of credit-card company Visa.

Out: Drain the swamp. In: Last one in is a rotten egg. Kick off your pumps and 3, 2, 1 … cannonball!

http://michellemalkin.com/2012/08/17...ndering-hacks/

ICE chief of staff quits over sexual harass claims
Out over harass claims: ICE chief of staff Suzanne Barr
AP - Last Updated: 5:38 PM, September 1, 2012

A senior Obama administration political appointee and longtime aide to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano resigned Saturday amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior lodged by at least three Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees.

Suzanne Barr, chief of staff to ICE Director John Morton, said in her resignation letter that the allegations against her are "unfounded." But she said she was stepping down anyway to end distractions within the agency. ICE, a division of the Homeland Security Department, confirmed Barr had resigned. The Associated Press obtained a copy of Barr's letter.

Barr is accused of sexually inappropriate behavior toward employees. The complaints are related to a sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by a senior ICE agent in May.

In her letter to Morton, Barr said she has been the subject of "unfounded allegations designed to destroy my reputation" and is resigning "with great regret."

"Of greater concern however, is the threat these allegations represent to the reputation of this agency and the men and women who proudly serve their country by advancing ICE's mission," Barr wrote. "As such, I feel it is incumbent upon me to take every step necessary to prevent further harm to the agency and to prevent this from further distracting from our critical work."

Barr went on leave last month after the New York Post reported on the lawsuit filed by James T. Hayes Jr., ICE's special agent in charge in New York. Additional employees came forward with their allegations around the same time.

In one complaint, Barr is accused of telling a male subordinate he was "sexy" and asking a personal question about his anatomy during an office party. In a separate complaint, she is accused of offering to perform a sex act with a male subordinate during a business trip in Bogota, Colombia. She's also accused of calling a male subordinate from her hotel room and offering to perform a sex act. The names of two of Barr's accusers were censored in affidavits reviewed by AP.

Homeland Security's office of professional responsibility and inspector general have been investigating the allegations.

Prior to the lawsuit, there were no complaints about Barr, according to a homeland security official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

In the lawsuit, Hayes described a "frat house" atmosphere at ICE designed to humiliate male employees under Barr's leadership. Hayes, who was transferred to New York from ICE headquarters in Washington, is asking for more than $4 million that, among other things, would cover compensation he believes he is owed for relocation expenses and financial losses associated with his transfer.

Hayes' lawyer, Morris Fischer of Silver Spring, Md., has declined to comment.

The Justice Department is seeking to dismiss Hayes' lawsuit on the basis that he did not state a claim for retaliation.

Barr, a 1995 graduate of the University of Arizona, was among Napolitano's first appointments after she became secretary in 2009. Barr started working for Napolitano in 2004, while Napolitano was governor of Arizona. Prior to that, Barr worked for Arizona Republican Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/nationa...#ixzz25GFsoUxr

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

Called Into Question

Here are a few examples from the Congressional Record of questionable intersections between Feinstein's legislative duties and her financial interests:

*At a MILCON hearing in 2001, Feinstein interrogated defense officials about the details of constructing specific missile defense systems, which included upgrading the early warning radar system at Cobra Dane radar on Shemya Island, Alaska. In 2003, Perini reported that it had completed a contract to upgrade the Cobra Dane radar system. It has done similar work at Beale Air Force Base in California and in the United Kingdom. URS also bids on missile defense work.

*In the 2002 MILCON hearings, Feinstein questioned an official about details of the U.S. Army's chemical demilitarization program. URS is extensively involved in performing chemical demilitarization work at key disposal sites in the United States.

*At that same hearing, Feinstein asked about the possibility of increasing funding for anti-terrorism-force protection at Army bases. The following year, on March 4, 2003, Feinstein asked why the anti-terrorism-force protection funds she had advocated for the year before had not yet been spent. On April 21, 2003, URS announced the award of a $600 million contract to provide, among other services, anti-terrorism-force protection for U.S. Army installations.

*Beginning in 2003, both Perini and URS were awarded a series of open-ended contracts for military construction work around the world, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under Feinstein's leadership, MILCON regularly approved specific project "task orders" that were issued to Perini and URS under these contracts.

*At a March 30, 2004, MILCON hearing, Feinstein grilled Maj. Gen. Dean Fox about whether or not the Pentagon intended to prioritize funding the construction of "beddown" maintenance facilities for its new airlifter, the C-17 Globemaster. After being reassured by Fox that these funds would soon be flowing, Feinstein said, "Good, that's what I really wanted to hear. Thank you very much. Appreciate it very much, General." Two years later, URS announced a $42 million award to build a beddown maintenance facility for the C-17 at Hickam Air Base in Hawaii as part of a multibillion dollar contract with the Air Force. Under Feinstein's leadership, MILCON approved the Hickam project.

*In mid-2005, MILCON approved a Pentagon proposal to fund "overhead coverage force protection" in Iraq that would reinforce the roofs of U.S. Army barracks to better withstand mortar rounds. On Oct. 13, 2005, Perini announced the award of a $185 million contract to provide overhead coverage force protection to the Army in Iraq.

*In the 2005 MILCON hearings, Feinstein earmarked MILCON legislation with $25 million to increase environmental remediation at closed military bases. Year after year, Feinstein has closely overseen the environmental cleanup and redevelopment of McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento, frequently requesting that officials add tens of millions of dollars to that project. URS and its joint ventures have earned tens of millions of dollars cleaning up McClellan. And CB Richard Ellis, a real estate company headed by Feinstein's husband Richard Blum, is involved in redeveloping McClellan for the private sector.

This investigation examined thousands of pages of documents, including transcripts of congressional hearings, U.S. Security and Exchange Commission filings, government audits and reports, federal procurement data and corporate press releases. The findings were shared with contracting and ethics experts at several nonpartisan, Washington, D.C.-based government oversight groups. Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit organization that analyzes defense contracts and who examined our evidence says, "The paper trail showing Sen. Feinstein's conflict of interest is irrefutable."

On the face of it, there is nothing objectionable about a senator closely examining proposed appropriations or advocating for missile defense or advancing the cleanup of a toxic military base. Blum profitably divested himself of ownership of both URS and Perini in 2005, ameliorating the conflict of interest. But Feinstein's ethical dilemma arose from the fact that, for five years, the interests of Perini and URS and CB Richard Ellis were inextricably entwined with her leadership of MILCON, which last year approved $16.2 billion for military construction projects.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington, remarks, "There are a number of members of Congress with conflicts of interest. [California Republican Congressman John T.] Doolittle, for example, hired his wife as a fundraiser, and she skimmed 15 percent off of all campaign contributions. Others, like [former] Speaker [Dennis] Hastert and Cong. [Ken] Calvert, were earmarking federal money for roads to enhance the value of property held by their families.

"But because of the amount of money involved," Sloan continues, "Feinstein's conflict of interest is an order of magnitude greater than those conflicts."

Family Matters

Californians elected San Francisco's former Mayor Dianne Feinstein to the Senate in 1992. She was overwhelmingly re-elected in November 2006. She is well liked by both liberals and conservatives. She supports abortion rights and gun control laws. She politicked this year for renewal of the Patriot Act and sponsored a constitutional amendment to ban American flag burning. She is currently calling for President Bush to set a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq, but she strongly supported the invasions, occupations and "reconstructions" of both Iraq and Afghanistan. She sits on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee and the Senate Intelligence Committee, and she is a consistent hawk on matters military.

And she is wealthy. In 2005, Roll Call calculated Feinstein's wealth, including Blum's assets, at $40 million, up 25 percent from the year before. That made her the ninth wealthiest member of Congress. Feinstein's latest Public Financial Disclosure Report shows that in 2005 her family earned income of between $500,000 and $5 million from capital gains on URS and Perini stock combined. From CB Richard Ellis, Blum earned between $1.3 million to $4 million. (The report allows for disclosure of dollar amounts within ranges, which accounts for the wide variance.)

A talented financier and deal-broker, Blum, 70, presides over a global investment empire through a labyrinth of private equity partnerships. His flagship entity is a merchant banking firm, Blum Capital Partners, L.P., of which he is the chairman and general partner. Through this bank, Blum bought a controlling share of Perini in 1997, when it was nearly broke. He named his close associate, the attorney Michael R. Klein, to represent his interest on the board of directors. Blum declined to comment for this story. Perini CEO Robert Band deferred to Klein for comment.

In 2000, according to public records, Perini—which partly specializes in erecting casinos—earned a mere $7 million from federal contracts. Post-9/11, Perini transformed into a major defense contractor. In 2004, the company earned $444 million for military construction work in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as for improving airfields for the U.S. Air Force in Europe and building base infrastructures for the U.S. Navy around the globe. In a remarkable financial recovery, Perini shot from near penury in 1997 to logging gross revenues of $1.7 billion in 2005.

In December 2005, Perini publicly identified one of its main business competitors as Halliburton. The company attributed its growing profitability, in large part, to its Halliburton-like military construction contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the company warned investors that if Congress slammed the brakes on war and occupation in the Middle East, Perini's stock could plummet.

According to Klein and to public records, Blum's firm originally paid $4 a share for a controlling interest in Perini's common stock. After a series of complicated stock transactions, Blum ended up owning 13 percent of the company, a majority interest. In mid- and late 2005, Blum and his firm took their profits by selling about 3 million Perini shares for $23.75 per share, according to Klein and reports filed with the SEC. Klein says Blum personally owned 100,000 of the vastly appreciated shares when they were sold. Shortly thereafter, Feinstein began calling for winding down the Iraq war while urging that the "global war on terror" continue indefinitely.

( conitnues ... )

See also http://www.bigbigforums.com/news-inf...ity-leaks.html

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

Perini's Payday

It is estimated that Perini now holds at least $2.5 billion worth of contracts tied to the worldwide expansion of American militarism. Its largest Department of Defense contracts are "indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity" or "bundled" contracts carrying guaranteed profit margins. As is all too common, competitive bidding was minimal or nonexistent for many of these contracts.

In June, U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, released a report by the House Committee on Government Reform criticizing the Pentagon's growing use of bundled contracts. Waxman complained that these contracts give companies an incentive to increase costs. One of the "problem contracts" identified by Waxman was a no-bid, $500 million contract held by Perini to reconstruct southern Iraq's electrical grid.

In fact, bundled military construction contracts fueled Perini's transformation from casino builder to major war contractor. As of May 2006, Perini held a series of bundled contracts awarded by the Army Corps of Engineers for work in the Middle East worth $1.725 billion. Perini has also been awarded an open-ended contract by the U.S. Air Force for military construction and cleaning the environment at closed military bases. Perini shares that $15 billion award with several other firms, including URS.

Perini regularly performs military construction jobs from Afghanistan to Alaska. It built a biological warfare laboratory for the Navy in Virginia. It built fuel tanks and pipelines for the Navy in North Africa. Details of these projects are typically examined and approved or disapproved by MILCON.

At a 2001 MILCON hearing, Feinstein, attending to a small item, told Maj. Gen. Earnest O. Robbins that she would appreciate receiving an engineering assessment on plans to build a missile transport bridge at Vandenberg Air Force Base. He said he would give it to her. She also asked for and received a list of unfunded construction projects, which prioritize military construction wish lists down to the level of thousand-dollar light fixtures. While there is no evidence to point to nefarious intent behind Feinstein's request for these details, it is worth noting that Perini and URS have open-ended contracts to perform military construction for the Air Force. The senator could have chosen to serve on a subcommittee where she had no potential conflict of interests at all.

In 2003 hearings, MILCON approved various construction projects at sites where Perini and/or URS are contracted to perform engineering and military construction work. The sites included: Camp Lejeune; the Underwater Systems Lab in Newport, R.I.; Hill Air Force Base, Utah; the Naval facilities at Dahlgren, Va.; projects at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Ind., and Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; and military bases in Guam, Diego Garcia and Crete.

There are some serious problems with Perini's work in Iraq. In June 2004, the Government Accountability Office reported that Perini's electrical reconstruction contract in southern Iraq suffered from mismanagement and lack of competition. In 2006, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction found that Perini was paid to construct multimillion-dollar electrical substations in the desert that could not be connected to the electrical grid. And the company was billing the government for purchasing and subcontracting costs that were not justified, according to the Defense Contract Audit Agency. An October 2005 audit by the Defense Department's Inspector General criticized the execution of Perini's cost-plus military construction work in Afghanistan, saying, "The contractor had an incentive to increase costs, because higher costs resulted in higher profit."

Debate her opponent? Diane Feinstein won’t even debate reporters asking if she’ll debate her opponent
By Doug Powers • September 9, 2012 12:27 PM

In July, a Los Angeles Times editorial urged Sen. Diane Feinstein to debate her Republican rival Elizabeth Emken. Polls show Feinstein maintaining anywhere from a 15 to 20 point lead on Emken, so there’s a better chance Jerry Brown will be convinced to scrap the Train to Nowhere than of Feinstein agreeing to a debate that she obviously believes would offer nothing but downside.

At the Democratic convention in Charlotte, a reporter asked Feinstein about her refusal to debate Emken, and Feinstein responded the way any comfortably entrenched incumbent would — she walked out on the question:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=09gDvV_zHHk

Suggested Feinstein 2012 slogan: Dismissiveness we can believe in.

A comment on this story at The Blaze says Emken should go ahead with a debate but have Feinstein represented by an empty chair. Heh. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/ca-d...bate-opponent/

**Written by Doug Powers http://michellemalkin.com/2012/09/09/diane-feinstein/