MolaKule
Staff member
From Talon News:
quote:
Group Calls for Ethics Investigation of Kennedy in 'Memogate' Scandal
By Bobby Eberle
Talon News
April 7, 2004
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- A constitutional advocacy group has learned the identities of two former aides to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), who, in a 2002 memo to the senator, sought to influence the outcome of the University of Michigan affirmative action cases. The group claims this revelation raises "significant new ethics questions" regarding controversial Senate Judiciary Committee "strategy" memos. The memos, written by Democratic staffers, outline efforts by liberal special interest groups to influence committee activities.
The Center for Individual Freedom said in a press release on Tuesday that Olati Johnson, then Judiciary Counsel to Senator Kennedy, wrote the memo, dated April 17, 2002. CFIF says that immediately prior to joining Sen. Kennedy's staff in September 2001, Johnson was Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. There she served as co-counsel for Defendant-Intervenors in the University of Michigan undergraduate school affirmative action case before the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The memo recommended that Sen. Kennedy delay confirmation proceedings of Judge Julia Smith Gibbons to the 6th Circuit.
CFIF also notes that Melody Barnes, at the time Chief Counsel to Sen. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined in the memo's recommendation. In all copies of the memo that have been made public, Johnson's and Barnes' names have been redacted.
The memo's recommendation was based on a telephone request from Elaine R. Jones, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Jones also served as counsel for Defendant-Intervenors in the undergraduate school case.
Part of the memo reads, "Elaine would like the Committee to hold off on any 6th Circuit nominees until the University of Michigan case regarding the constitutionality of affirmative action in higher education is decided by the en banc 6th Circuit."
The memo adds, "The thinking is that the current 6th Circuit will sustain the affirmative action program, but if a new judge with conservative views is confirmed before the case is decided, that new judge will be able, under 6th Circuit rules, to review the case and vote on it."
CFIF believes the revelation that Johnson authored the memo, responding to a request from her former colleague, raises "significant new ethics questions regarding the highly publicized affirmative action cases and Democratic efforts in the U.S. Senate to obstruct judicial confirmations." As co-counsel in the University of Michigan case, CFIF says that Johnson "exceeded the bounds of acceptable advocacy" with her recommendation to Sen. Kennedy.
CFIF Executive Director Jeffrey Mazzella says the "scandal" is growing fast.
"First we learn that Elaine Jones tried to affect a pending case by stacking the judicial deck in her favor," Mazzella said is a released statement. "Now it turns out that she enlisted the help of her former employee, Olati Johnson, who was a co-counsel in the University of Michigan undergraduate affirmative action case before she worked for Sen. Kennedy."
Mazzella adds that the "cloud of corruption" hanging over Sen. Kennedy's office is "growing darker."
"Two of Kennedy's closest advisors recommended that he engage in improper conduct," Mazzella commented. "It's time for Sen. Kennedy to answer the key question in this mushrooming scandal: did he try to influence a major pending case by obstructing a judicial nominee? This revelation demonstrates beyond any doubt that his staff did."
Mazzella is calling for a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into the conduct of Sen. Kennedy and his staff for "blatant ethical breaches."
To date, the only official investigation performed in the "memogate" scandal has been on how the memos were obtained and released to the media, and not on the actual contents of the memos. Republican senators have yet to call for an ethics investigation while Democratic senators continue to focus on claims that computers were "hacked" in order to obtain the memos.
In fact, the investigation by Senate Sergeant at Arms Bill Pickle found that no hacking was involved. Manuel Miranda, a former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, obtained the memos through an unprotected Senate computer server.
The memos at the heart of the scandal detail correspondence between Democrats and liberal special interest groups to use committee procedures to delay consideration of Bush's judicial nominees.
In addition to the April 17, 2002 memo regarding the 6th Circuit, another judicial memo to Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) stresses the need to delay action on D.C. Circuit Court nominee Miguel Estrada. The memo labels Estrada as "especially dangerous." Included in the reasons for this label was the fact that Estrada is "Latino."
The staffer wrote in the memo, "They want you to hold off on Estrada as long as possible."
Miguel Estrada has since withdrawn his name from consideration after years of delay and filibusters by Senate Democrats.
In other memos to both Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Durbin, staffers documented efforts by liberal special interest groups to influence the scheduling of Judiciary Committee hearings in order for the groups to have more time to mount an attack on a particular Bush nominee.
In a memo to Sen. Durbin dated October 15, 2001, a staffer wrote, "The groups are asking that the Committee hold a second hearing on Pickering in a few weeks, when they will have had adequate time to research him fully."
The staffer continued, "The decision to schedule Pickering's hearing was made by Senator Leahy himself, not his staff, so the groups are likely to ask you to intercede personally. They will also seek assurances that they will receive adequate warning of future controversial nominees."
Copyright © 2004 Talon News -- All rights reserved.
