Thinkin’bout Stuff

You’re the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and have access to some of the most sensitive data regarding our nation’s security. You are millions of dollars in debt with reported assets of less than $15,000. You are approached by a clean cut young man representing Mideast interests looking for information he says will be used to facilitate discussions with the President in the hope of securing peace in the region. 

He assures you that the information will only be used to further the cause of peace and will not fall into “the wrong hands”; no one need know the source. In exchange for insight into US plans for addressing the situation in Iran, information that will be used to reduce the potential for war by helping to provide insight into how far Iran can go before the US reacts and what the likely reaction will be, this nice young man will arrange for $8 million to be deposited in an offshore account.

If you agree, it’s a win-win. You’ve helped to ensure peace in the region while climbing out from beneath a crushing debt that you could not hope to repay in your lifetime. You make the deal.

Impossible? Are you willing to bet our lives on it? Consider what we already know (from WAPO):

One political hurdle for Hastings to overcome in chairing such a sensitive panel as the intelligence committee stems from his long-standing legal debts, which, according to his most recent financial statement, amounted to between $2.1 million and $7.35 million last year. Hastings listed assets worth less than $15,000 in the statement, filed in May.

Black Caucus Chairman Melvin Watt said the Hastings decision should be a done deal. “The leadership told us a long time ago that it was going to happen, and I believe it’s going to happen,” he said.

Hastings is haunted by accusations that, as a judge, he accepted a $150,000 bribe in exchange for a lenient sentence in a perjury case.

The House impeached him in 1989, and the Senate later removed him from the bench.

To summarize:

• Alcee Hastings was accused (although not convicted) of taking a bribe in a perjury trial
• He was impeached by a Democrat House and removed from the bench by the Senate
• He is millions of dollars in debt
• He is currently the likely Chair of the House Intelligence Committee

Counted among his supporters… Nancy “Drain the Swamp” Pelosi who appears to be embracing candidates with less than pristine records in an effort to surround herself with allies without any regard to qualifications or ethics.

Although her fellow Dems have rejected her preferred candidate for the House Majority Leader, John Murtha, Nancy Pelosi continues to assert he was the best person for the job. Listed among his credentials: He’s the only congressman snared in the 1980 Abscam sting who was not indicted. Should he have been? Check out the video at The American Spector, or the transcript, which is excerpted below.  Both provide a very interesting historical perspective and, in my opinion, show why this man should not be a US Congressman, let alone House Majority Leader (also check out WAPO and Wake Up America for more insight). The following is from the transcript of the 1980 sting where Congressman John Murtha was offered a bribe:

AMOROSO: This is Special Agent Anthony Amoroso, Jr., Federal Bureau of Investigation. Today’s date is January 7, 1980. Location: a townhouse, in Washington, D.C. In a short while, I am expecting a meeting between myself, Mel Weinberg, Howard Criden, and U.S. Congressman John Murtha. In front of me is $50,000 in five packets. Each packet contains $10,000 in $100 bills. I am placing this money in the desk drawer directly in front of me. This money will remain in such position until the termination of my meeting, which is to take place later on this morning.

After some warm-up discussion, they get down to business.  Amoroso explains that some sheiks want to move to the US and are looking for some help in exchange for a payoff.  Murtha explains they should have no trouble getting into the country, but the sheiks are looking for “insurance”.

MURTHA: I honestly don’t think you have any problem…I mean I’m going to lay it out to you.

AMOROSO: You’re the man that’s gonna have to introduce some kind of legislation to keep this guy in.

MURTHA: That’s true, there’s no question about it…and I haven’t been here a long time but I know the right people and I know the system and I went to the ballgame with the president — in other words there were three of us — me, Tip [O'Neill, speaker of the House], and that’s it — so I’ve got as much influence, and I know as much about the goddamn workings as any — you’re not going to have any trouble.

At this point Murtha isn’t agreeing to anything, but he is establishing his credentials as an influence peddler.

WEINBERG: John, what we want we’re buying insurance from this…this is what he thinks. He wants to know…

MURTHA: You can buy insurance if you want to. But I’m gonna tell you somethin’. To me, insurance is investing in my goddamn district… and doing this goddamn, you know this, this is, to me, a big goddamn insurance policy is doing business in my district. … You know, and I want, I want this guy to spend money in my district. I want this connection in my goddamn district. I’m delighted to do business with him, and do every goddamn thing I can within bounds, you know, so I don’t get myself in jail, in order to get him into the country and whatever needs to be done.

AMOROSO: [11:58:33] Well lemme, uh, uh, I’m gonna be blunt now. Lemme ask you. Are you telling me as far as you’re concerned – you don’t want any money? On this thing? Or you just want it to be worked as far as…

MURTHA: That’s right.

He’s not looking for a direct payoff here, too risky, might wind up in jail. But he is willing to help the sheik in exchange for “investments” in his district, which in turn would help him to get re-elected.  Still sounds like a bribe to me: something of value to the congressman exchanged for influence and support.

MURTHA: I’ll tell you exactly what I’d like. I’d like to be able to tell you that there’s some places I’d like you to invest some money, in banks, on my district, uh and I’d say some, you know, some substantial deposits, you know…

AMOROSO: Well we just put a million dollars in one of the banks down in New Jersey, you know…

MURTHA: Let me tell you what I see. Howard, his deal with you guys, or two other guys [Thompson and Murphy], I’m dealing. … These other two guys have as much influence with the administration and in Congress as anybody. There’s no question about it. There’s no question about these other two guys being long-term members, being chairmen of the right committees. They’re the right people.  But — you gotta look at it realistically, you gotta know all the facts before you can do anything at all. Now, as I told Howard, I want to deal with you guys awhile before I made any transactions at all, period. In other words I want to say, “Look put some money in these guys,” and I, just let me know, so I can say, you know, these guys are gonna do business in our district. Then there’s a couple businesses that I’m not personally involved in but would be very helpful for the district, that I could make a big play of, be very helpful to me. After we’ve done some business, then I might change my mind. But right now, that’s all I’m interested in.  Period. And I’m gonna tell you this. If anybody can do it… and I’m not bullshitting you fellas, I can get it done my way. There’s no question about it. I can get it done.

Lots of interesting stuff here:

• Although Murtha was a member of the House Ethics Committee, he expresses no concern about two other members of Congress taking bribes
• He wants to do a few “legit” deals to build some trust with these guys
• After a couple of deals work out OK, then he might be interested in something more

Continuing:

MURTHA: And investment in a business where you could legitimately say to me — when I say legitimately, I’m talking about so these bastards up here can’t say to me, well, why, in eight years from now, that’s possible, we’d never hear a thing for eight years, but all at once, ah, some dumb bastard would, ah, go start talking eight years from now, ah, about the whole thing and say, “Jesus Christ, ah, this happened,” then he, then he, in order to get immunity so he doesn’t go to jail, he starts talking and fingering people and then the son of a bitch all falls apart.

Clearly concerned that everything looks legit so he doesn’t wind up in jail.

AMOROSO: Right. Well that’s why I like the idea of helping by investing within your district which gives you — in other words if you were to stand up on the floor I guess and introduce a bill on the floor to keep this guy in this country, at least then you’ve gotta [unintelligible], and somebody says to you want this guy here, and you say well it’s obvious I want this guy here because he put money in my district.

MURTHA [12:05:11]: Well you go one step farther. The people in the district would be very supportive of that. Because, you know, once this, we would go farther. We would make it known that this guy’s putting money in the district and providing jobs, you see. We’ll play this son of a bitch the whole way, you know once we see that — if that’s the way to play it. … Now, introducing legislation is only legitimate if the guy’s in your district. Because otherwise you’ve got a real problem. And, uh…

AMOROSO: Well that’d be no problem if he moved into your district.

MIURTHA: That’s right.

Again, making sure everything appears legit. The sheik needs to be a constituent to make this whole thing appear spontaneous while in reality the whole thing was orchestrated and intended to sell influence.  The pay off does not go directly to Murtha, but he gains political capitol and favors within his district.

MURTHA: A business commitment that makes it imperative for me to help him. If it weren’t for being in the district, people would say… “Well that son of a bitch, I’m gonna tell you something….This guy is, uh, you know, on the take.” Well once they say that, what happens? Then they start going around looking for the goddamn money. So I want to avoid that by having some tie to the district. That’s all. That’s the secret to the whole thing.

If this is legit, why all the concern?

WEINBERG: You give us your banks where you want the money deposited.

MURTHA: How much money are we talking about?

AMOROSO: Well, you tell me, how many do you want?

MURTHA: Well let me find out what is a reasonable figure that will get their attention, because there’s a couple of banks have really done me some favors in the past, that I’d like to put some money in. You know I’m not gonna go out of hand, but I want to let these guys know that uh that I did it and that they’ll be appreciative of it and it will be helpful to me.

MURTHA: The second thing is, uh…uh….the bank, uh….or the banks. Probably be two maybe at the most. The third is, I’ll give you maybe a list of businesses that I think would be the appropriate businesses that would be very helpful to me if you could see your way clear any one of those… you know, that you might — this then would make a tie, which we’d have to make a little bit of a fuss about, maybe the guy doesn’t wanna do this, but you have to remember this, you have to look down the road — public relations. Here’s, maybe it’s you two guys, I don’t know, whoever it is somebody’s going to have to take credit in addition to Jack Murtha, and it’s got to be legitimate credit for saving this particular business whatever the hell that business happens to be.

AMOROSO: I don’t think that’s a problem. We can put someone in that position. We could maybe put Howard there, or somebody — that’s the technical end of it that can be worked out.

MURTHA [12:14:13]: The thing is, what I’m trying to do is establish the very thing that you talked about. That tie to the district, that’s all I need, from then on — I’m gonna be there 20 years in that goddamn Congress. I don’t want to screw it up by some little goddamn thing along the way that, if I wanted to make a lot of money I would have been outside making a lot of money. And you, I know what I can do and what I can’t do…I won’t bullshit you, that’s for sure….you got two good people, and I just want to know — well, I know the facts.

Everything to make sure this appears to have been sponaneous and coincidental, as opposed to a carefully planned exchange of influence for money.

AMOROSO: Let me ask you now we’re here together. I was under the impression, okay, and I told Howard we were willing to pay. And, okay, [opens the drawer and shows money] I went out and got the fifty thousand. From what you’re telling me, you’re telling me that’s not what, you know, that that’s not what you…

MURTHA: I’m not interested.

AMOROSO: Okay.

MURTHA: At this point.

AMOROSO: Okay.

MURTHA: You know, we do business for a while, maybe I’ll be interested, maybe I won’t, you know.

“AT THIS POINT”!!!!!

MURTHA: See, here’s the problem now, Tony, if you get into heat with politicians there’s no amount of money that can help. This is — and I’m gonna tell you very frankly, I’m on the Ethics Committee and I see it. I see the thing falling apart. The thing that worried me the most is going through one, two, three, four people. No matter what they think it is, and I know how they fall apart, and you do too, you know how the son of a bitch falls apart… and I know also that, you know, after a while you learn whether you can do business or not…and, uh, right now what I’m interested in, let me put it this way, right now I’m interested in those other things. Now I’m not saying that some day — you’ve made an offer. It may be that I’ll change my mind some day…at this point, that’s all I’m interested in.

So.. we’ve established he is corrupt, and has no issue with other congressmen being corrupt, but he’s being careful… for now.

Later, this exchange proves he has no issue with his two corrupt congress buddies:

WEINBERG: I didn’t know that, see, I was surprised that uh — I just pulled him out for that, he shouldn’t have done that — but he says you’re a friend of Murphy and Thompson.

MURTHA: Yea that’s right, a friend of both of them. And both of them are solid. And you don’t have to worry about them, let me tell you, those two guys.

WEINBERG: Murphy’s a hell of a guy, I like Murphy.

MURTHA: Murphy’s a great guy, he’ll do anything — he’s got more balls — but you gotta know what a guy can do and what a guy can’t do. And in this case, Murphy, Murphy, you’ve got the right guy, no question. In the Congress you couldn’t have three better guys. No what you don’t wanna do is reach too far, Mel –

MURTHA: Let me put it this way, these other two guys [Thompson and Murphy] said to me, they said they were making a deal that was this, this, and this. And I said, fellas, and I tried to explain to Howard this morning, I said, Howard I’m just not interested in dealing that way until I’ve had some, some dealings… I wanna do some, they won’t be interested, they wanna…

The discussions continue and get into who is delivering the money to the other two congressmen… Murtha never objects or raises any concern… This man is a member of Pelosi’s inner circle of corruption.

Welcome to the New Swamp.

Update: Nancy Pelosi, in an undated video clip from CSPAN: “Republicans will go to any length, I think they have proven, to benefit their cronies, again, at the expense of the American people”… appears Ms. Pelosi was projecting a bit. No surprise really, people often project their own motives on others based upon their frame of reference. Guess this helps provide a frame of reference for the rest of us for the next two years. Expect Pelosi to punish those who oppose her, reward those who support her, all under the guise of doing what is best for the American people.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 16th, 2006 at 6:21 pm and is filed under Election 2008, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.