It's a gloomy day here in the Seattle area, but a ray of sunshine came from the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court refused today to take up an appeal by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) of a lower court ruling ordering him to pay a fine and attorneys' fees in a years-long legal battle with now House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), finally bringing an end to the case.
The Associated Press is reporting that the Supreme Court has declined to hear McDermott's appeal, leaving the Washington Democrat with no more legal options in the case. He must now pay $60,000 in damages to Boehner, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills.
The case centered around an illegally taped Dec. 1996 phone calls between House Republican leaders, including Boehner, to plot strategy in response to an ethics case against then Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). The illegal tape eventually made its way to McDermott, who was ranking member of the House ethics committee. McDermott leaked it to the press, including The New York Times. Boehner then sued McDermott, alleging that McDermott's action harmed him personally. McDermott argued that he was protected under the First Amendment, since Republican leaders had promised not to take any concerted action in response to the Gingrich investigation by the ethics committee, and he was supported by a number of prominent news organizations. The Florida couple that made the tape eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
Boehner offered to settle for an apology and an admission of guilt. McDermott was willing to apologize, but not admit guilt. (I leave it to psychiatrists to explain why he would be willing to apologize but not admit guilt.)
I happened to read the New York Times article and remember, vividly, thinking that it was bizarre. The reporter, Adam Clymer — yes, that Adam Clymer — seemed certain that Gingrich and company had done something wrong, but the excerpts they published were innocuous. I am not the only one to come to that conclusion; so did Michael Barone. In the 2000 edition of the authoritative Almanac of American Politics, he (or his co-author, Grant Ujifusa) wrote:
Amidst all this, on January 10 [1997], The New York Times printed an excerpt of a tape made by Florida Democratic activists John and Alice Martin of a December 1996 phone conversation between Gingrich and Republican leaders and advisers. It was presented as evidence that Gingrich was violating an agreement not to orchestrate a response to the committee's action [proposing a reprimand for Gingrich], but much of it was taken up by discussions of how to comply with the agreement.
During the conversation, Majority Leader Dick Armey predicted that the Democrats would attack the committee's decision, and that reporters would ask the Republican leaders for their reaction — which would give them a chance to get the Gingrich side of the story out. Somehow in the minds of the Martins, McDermott, and Clymer, this innocuous (and correct) prediction became a Republican plan. Partisanship warps many minds, and the Martins, McDermott, and Clymer, have given us a striking example of just how badly it can distort our thinking.
This is not the only ethical lapse by Congressman McDermott. He accepted thousands of dollars from Shakir al-Khafaji, an agent of Saddam Hussein's. Though he later returned the money, McDermott showed, at the very least, poor judgment. In 2004, McDermott accepted an award from the Seattle branch of CAIR, an organization that Democratic senators Charles Schumer and Dick Durbin have accused — correctly — of having terrorist ties. (To the best of my knowledge, McDermott has not returned the award.)
In general, I try to avoid taking pleasure in the defeats of political opponents. But I will make an exception in this case, since McDermott could have avoided all his problems either by following the law or, later, by doing the right thing and accepting his guilt.
Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.
(It would be interesting to know whether McDermott has attacked the Bush administration for domestic wiretapping. I wouldn't be surprised if he has.
Note to commenters: Yes, that's the Adam Clymer that President Bush called a major league *******, but let's keep the site family friendly and not repeat his language.)
Posted by Jim Miller at December 03, 2007 04:08 PM | Email ThisOoh, the indignity, ooh, the injustice........
Heh heh......
Belly up to the bar, write the check, you scumbag....
Posted by: Hank on December 3, 2007 04:22 PMJim McDermott should cut a check, pay the fine, and resign immediately.
The time has come for McDermott to go. When you look at the record of this case, you have to conclude that McDermott has placed himself above the law. A member of congress ought to be a citizen representative, with the highest ethics and deepest patriotism.
McDermott's unethical behavior, unworthy of any citizen, is absolutely unworthy of a member of congress. His flagrant disregard of his legal and ethical responsibilities disqualify him from office.
Of course, this is the same McDermott who opposes our troops and opposes a victory strategy in the war against Islamic terrorism.
So when McDermott puts himself above the law, it's hardly surprising,
By the way, Jim McDermott has definitely and frequently opposed wiretapping when used to disrupt and investigate terrorists.
The following is excerpted from an October Washington State Republican Party (WSRP) weekly update. In an article entield "Jim McDermott Sinks to New Lows of Hypocrisy," WSRP state chairman Luke Esser says the following:
Apparently Baghdad Jim McDermott has left his sense of irony in the same place he ditched his common sense. In a recent desperate attempt to raise money for his legal defense fund, he has cited President Bush's efforts to wiretap terrorists as a reason to send him money. Never mind that [McDermott] comitted the offense in question well before Bush was even elected or that - and here's the ironic part - [McDermott's] offense was illegally distributing a wiretapped recording of one of his political rivals.
McDermott told his donors that because of President Bush's (McDermott's words) "misuse of FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) to justify a warantless domestic wire tapping program"! [McDermott] needs more cash to defend himself from charges of domestic wiretapping against Republicans. Because in Jim McDermott's world, everything is the President's fault.
It definitely is a ray of sunshine. For a while there, I thought he would get away with it.
Posted by: swatter on December 3, 2007 05:36 PMResign......McDermott is a hero in Seattle. He fits right in with the rest of the dirtbags, criminals and perverts that run the place.
Posted by: Saltherring on December 3, 2007 05:40 PMSteve:
" His flagrant disregard of his legal and ethical responsibilities disqualify him from office. "
You could be talking about Dick Derham, legal council to the King County Republican Party, and self-proclaimed author of the infamous 19th Amendment to the King County Republican Party By-Laws.
Except Dick Derham is not in public office.
Fortunately.
Brian Thomas
Posted by: Brian Thomas on December 3, 2007 10:04 PMJim McDermott on an ethics committee is an oxymoron.
It will be interesting how brainless Joel Connelly and illegal voter Dorothy Parvaz will spin this in their next columns.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/342180_mcdermott04.html
Posted by: Green Lake on December 4, 2007 04:50 AMTime to up your meds. PS make sure you send more money to Jimmy boy, he needs it now!
LOL
Army Med(ic) has you branded, tarred and feathered. You just can't get anything around him. Admit it.
Posted by: swatter on December 4, 2007 10:29 AMMcDermott has to pay the price for breaking the law. But I'm glad he did it, and I bet he is, too.
Posted by: Bruce on December 4, 2007 10:46 AMI'm heartened a bit that you do see him for what he is.
Posted by: M167A! on December 4, 2007 12:43 PMBruce, et tu? Taping of electeds is OK but not of terrorists?
And if I recall the Gingrich situation, he could have and should have fought it. My word, if he were Mickey D, he would have beat it. And didn't it have something to do with book royalties- you ought to compare that to the Clintons.
Posted by: swatter on December 4, 2007 01:05 PM"thanks"
I see that Cant-vote well has her own problem with kiddy sex. What is wrong with these people!
Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on December 4, 2007 01:17 PMI thought I'd pipe up just to cement my unpopularity here. Jim was no doubt wrong in this, and he appeared to also have let himself by used by Saddam Hussein before the war in an unwise way.
However, had we followed Jim and not warmonger George, 3200 US service folks would be able to watch their kids grow up and they'd be able to blog on sites like these...
Best wishes all, new left conservative #1
Posted by: new left conservative #1 on December 4, 2007 09:46 PMHow can you be so sure that if we followed Bagdad Jim we wouldn't be in a worse situation today? Same with the Iraqis? The problem with your scenario is that you can't freeze time. We will never know the shenanigans that Hussein and others unchecked could have inflicted on the world.
Posted by: swatter on December 5, 2007 06:57 AMBruce thinks a trillons bucks is gone on the war, wait till Hillary get's her gov run health care. One trillon will be petty cash for it's cost!
Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on December 5, 2007 01:19 PMCase in point: McDermott wiretapps conversations between private individuals. Democrat party doesn't like the movie "Path to 911" and threatens Disney with loss of broadcast license.
Posted by: pbj on December 5, 2007 03:10 PMThis is a silly comment on 3 levels (and that's without even getting into the punctuation):
1) The $1 trillion figure for the war is actually low.
2) Since the US spends about $2 trillion a year on healthcare now, that would be a great improvement.
3) The healthcare money helps people live longer and better. The war has killed 3000+ brave Americans, maimed tens of thousands, killed and maimed far more innocent Iraqis, and severely reduced our power in the world. Interesting comparison.
Posted by: Bruce on December 8, 2007 05:32 PM