01/17/2008
Pelosi to Foley Investigators: No Access to House Computers
Last week I posted that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement had put in a request with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to try to gain access to House computers in their criminal investigation of former Florida Rep. Mark Foley and his communications with underage pages.
That request has been denied.
Yesterday, the Palm Beach Post published an opinion piece arguing that investigator's should have access to the machines:
"Unfortunately, members of Congress have tried to use the 'speech or debate' clause to avoid searches for incriminating material. A federal appeals court ruling this summer, associated with the Jefferson case, extended congressional rights so far that the Justice Department correctly has appealed it. Prosecutors fear that the ruling might prevent them from speaking with congressional aides, a practice vital to probes into the dealings of imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The effect on Foley's case isn't clear, since the FDLE is not a federal agency. Still, the state now should go to court, because there remains a workable solution. Rep. Pelosi should allow the FDLE access. Foley should be allowed to declare which files he thinks are protected. If a judge agrees, those files would be withheld. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, has the correct perspective: 'I don't think any of us are above the law,' he said. 'If there was a law that was broken, they should turn it over.' A lawmaker's legislative materials should be off-limits. But we already know that Foley sent all those lewd messages to former pages. In a milder exchange, he said of a teenager's shorts, 'Love to slip them off of you.' That remark has nothing to do with lawmaking. The public deserves to know whether it had to do with law-breaking."
Posted 3:50 PM EST by Andy Towle in Florida, Mark Foley, Nancy Pelosi, News, Republican Party | Permalink
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i swear miss foley gets me so hot with her dirty talk, 'slip 'em off' indeed, makes me want to put on a pair of nice, cool black silk panties...
on the other hand i'll best the rest of 'em got plenty to hide, no wonder they don't want any body having access to their e-mails... my imagination just runs riot... but then again i've got such a dirty mind...
Posted by: the queen | Jan 17, 2008 4:03:02 PM
Seriously, Nancy Pelosi needs to go. I've never seen someone fuck up something so terribly as she has done in the past year. She and Harry Reid need to get the fuck out of the way and let real people run the country.
Posted by: Tread | Jan 17, 2008 4:28:27 PM
What exactly does Pelosi have against honest people? Is she really for the law or for the criminal? I don't want to hear any more of her "I'm a grandmother and I know how to spank" crap. She's as bad as Dianne Feinstein...oddly enough they're both from the same area.
Posted by: woodroad34 | Jan 17, 2008 5:06:33 PM
Pelosi is a politician. Of course she's a criminal.
Posted by: gay as life | Jan 17, 2008 5:35:59 PM
As leader of the national legislature in opposition to a minority executive (since Nov 2006), Pelosi was practically "Prime Minister" of this country for the last year. In January 2007, when Congress had a 58% approval rating, she could've passed whatever laws she wanted.
Instead, she went on a spiritual journey to Syria (where she had tea with some Middle Eastern dictator). Afterwards, she returned to Washington and declared our Supreme Decider, George W. Bush (peace be upon him), should get everything he wants. Pelosi is more of a rollover than Hastert was. What an embarassment. If this were any other liberal democracy, the Democrats would've sacked her by now. But in America, loyalty to bad leaders is seen as a virtue.
Posted by: John | Jan 17, 2008 6:01:10 PM
Pelosi And Reid were put into power to change things not act like those GOP slime bags.
Posted by: patrick nyc | Jan 17, 2008 6:02:15 PM
Yay!!! Long live congressional corruption in the Mafia States of America.
Posted by: Gil | Jan 17, 2008 8:01:48 PM
In both Washington D.C. and Florida the legal age of consent is 16, not 18.
Federal law prohibits use of postal or messaging services (I.E. the internet) to entice a person under the age of 18 from committing a lewd or illegal act.
Now I am not licensed to practice law in D.C. but it seems to me that unless Foley was suggesting to the 17 year old page that they commit bestiality or some other other prohibited activity...
No one wants to say as much for fear of being seen as lenient/tolerant towards pedophiles, but the truth is that Foley didn't do anything illegal. Immoral and disturbing, but not illegal. As much as I may dislike it I believe Pelosi did the legally correct thing.
Posted by: Mark | Jan 18, 2008 1:25:30 PM
Mark you are right. If there was a complaint filed against Foley, The kid would come forward. otherwise it looks like a gay baiting witchhunt...
Posted by: Ty Jones | Jan 20, 2008 11:48:13 PM
Who says "Love to slip them off you" has nothing to do with lawmaking?
Posted by: mike | Jan 21, 2008 6:20:35 AM