EXCLUSIVE: Lewis Falsely Implies Mass Suspension Of Committee Investigators Was ‘Bipartisan’
EXCLUSIVE: Lewis Falsely Implies Mass Suspension Of Committee Investigators Was ‘Bipartisan’
Powerful House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) has abruptly suspended the contracts of “60 investigators who had worked for his committee rooting out fraud, waste and abuse, effective immediately.” The investigators were “brought on to handle the extraordinary level of fraud investigations facing the panel.”
Lewis is currently under federal investigation over corruption charges reportedly uncovered during the Duke Cunningham investigation. He has spent nearly $800,000 in legal fees since May.
Lewis’ spokesman yesterday tried to portray the suspensions as part of a bipartisan review that occured with the support of the committee’s ranking member Rep. David Obey (D-WI):
Committee spokesman John Scofield said Thursday that the contracts were not renewed because the panel is conducting a “bipartisan review” of the unit’s staff.
“Frankly, the work we’ve been getting as of late has not been that good,” Scofield said. “There is nothing sinister going on.”
Scofield said the review has the backing of ranking Democratic House appropriator David R. Obey of Wisconsin.
But a source tells ThinkProgress that while Committee Democrats agreed that there were problems with the investigative staff that needed to be addressed; committee Democrats had not been consulted prior to the suspension of the investigators. The source also said that problems with the investigations unit were only part of an overall issue involving the alarming deterioration of the committee’s oversight activities.
The Appropriations Committee makes decisions on nearly a trillion dollars a year in federal spending yet the diligence with which the committee monitors the use of those funds has declined steadily over the past decade, with the administrative problems of the Surveys and Investigations unit being only part of a much larger problem. In 2003, Lewis personally intervened to block a committee review of the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans that was responsible for a great deal of the misinformation used by the administration to justify the invasion of Iraq.
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Just keep settin’ em up, and knockin’ em down.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:14 pmI wonder if he consulted Dean Martin first?
October 20th, 2006 at 12:15 pmObey is from the state of Wisconsin and I hope he gives them the Republican Nuts Hell.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:18 pmWe’re going to have a severe shortage of straw men after this election!!
October 20th, 2006 at 12:26 pmHave you had enough?
C’mon, lets sing it together!
Have you had enough, America? The one under investigation elsewhere fires the investigators of congressional fraud.
What’s it going to take for people to be outraged? Does Blackwell in Ohio need to disqualify his opponent Strickland before the blatant corruption is laid in their laps?
October 20th, 2006 at 12:26 pmOh, what of Jerry’s Kids?
October 20th, 2006 at 12:26 pmAdd Lewis to the ranks of the “Banana Republicans.”
October 20th, 2006 at 12:27 pmEvery time I read a story like this, the the first thing I wonder is “can they actually do that?” mass firing>. The second thing I wonder is “will the press even report it?”I must have asked those two questions over a thousand times since Bush took office.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:27 pmNice teeth buddy!
October 20th, 2006 at 12:28 pmWow, does that picture remind me of an older Lloyd Christmas.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:32 pmYou see – Obey didn’t have to be consulted about this to have it be “bipartisan”. This is how the GOP machine has run Congress for the past 6 years – my way or the highway. I bet they called Zell Miller and who said “whatever George Bush is fine by me” and presto, there was one “Democrat” who didn’t object. Hence bipartisan. Whoops – Zell is no longer in office so maybe it was Joe Lieberman who endorsed this.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:33 pmAnother end run around morality and integrity in office. How clever. Sure fooled everybody, didn’t he? Hey, it’s a big responsibility being top gun number 1 in the culture of corruption.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:33 pmIs that the Hefty Cinch-Sack guy from days of old? Looking rough.
I don’t know if it is idiocy o just that he is in such a tight spot that would make him say a lie that is so stupid and easily refutable. So I will will go with both.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:34 pmSo the next time your boss calls you into the office for your annual performance review, really he’s going to fire you.
Or that’s what Lewis’ spokesman is telling us is equivalent language.
Now this happened Mon/Tues, where was Obey before CQ and bloggers started talking about this?
Everytime Bush opens his mouth and says something stupid, because he is and does, something like this should be talked about by the Democrats.
C’mon Dave, where’s your outrage?
October 20th, 2006 at 12:38 pmI’ve got to wonder….How is it that people in this guys district can vote for him?
No, really! How can republicans vote for this guy and not feel the need to shower afterwards?
Some things in this world, I just don’t understand. And I live out here in CA. Thank god he isn’t my Congressman.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:41 pmPerhaps Jerry’s definition of bi-partisan involves cutting partisans in half?
October 20th, 2006 at 12:42 pmKinda like a bivalve clam?
Are all Republican congressman flaming liars?
No, just most of them, it seems.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:43 pmReally, why hasn’t Obey been talking about this all week? Or didn’t he know it happened until CQ reported it Wednesday? And what does that say about David Obey?
Fighting Dem, or too long in the saddle?
Just asking, because I don’t understand why he does not have more of a reaction, in fact why he doesn’t have some action taken. Maybe he does, but this is a perfect opportunity to pound the crap out of that crook Lewis and hand the GOP another corruption anvil. So why isn’t he doing it, NOW, RFN as they say. Is he waiting til after the election, perhaps?
The sooner you hit them with the chair, the sooner you can hit them with another chair.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:43 pmIronic this takes place on the anniversary of the Saturday Night Massacre; when Nixon fired his AG & Deputy AG in the process of firing the special prosecutor that was going after him. Of course, we all know that things worked out just fine for Nixon after he did that….
October 20th, 2006 at 12:46 pm“An older Lloyd Christmas”, thats hilarious.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:47 pmEvery time I see that guy I think, “Have you ever seen a grown man naked?”
Please God, show us your mercy and remove these despots from power!
October 20th, 2006 at 12:49 pmActually, the similarity is that Lewis looks like Peter Graves . . . and the whole notion of rooting out fraud in this Republican-controlled regime is like “Mission Impossible”.
If anything, Lewis should be credited as a truthful politician. By firing all those outside consultants, he as much as admitted that it is not possible to rid this morally bankrupt Republican-led federal government of fraud, corruption, cronyism and incompetence.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:55 pmyou better demand a paper ballot and get to your voting place early so you can fight
October 20th, 2006 at 12:57 pmif you don’t, you won’t have anything to fight for
Do you know why they call it a cockpit, Johnny?
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October 20th, 2006 at 12:57 pm[...] More of how things work in Congress these days. [...]
October 20th, 2006 at 12:57 pmCan someone PLEASE explain to me how…
…a government official being investigated for corruption…
…is not only NOT suspended from the committee controlling the money…
…but gets to make the decisions as to WHO investigates fraud and corruption on that committee?
Where IS this place?
Stop America I want to get off…
….I’m getting dizzzzyyyy…..
October 20th, 2006 at 1:00 pmHey LADY! You’re fired.
October 20th, 2006 at 1:00 pmI thought they beat the evil old priest from Poltergeist…
October 20th, 2006 at 1:08 pmAsk David Obey what he thinks.
October 20th, 2006 at 1:09 pmJerry Lewis looks like Detective Frank Drebin from Police Squad. His party operates as effectively as Police Squad too.
-GSD
October 20th, 2006 at 1:12 pmKindness: “I’ve got to wonder….How is it that people in this guys district can vote for him?”
I’ve done a lot of reading of scholarly journals on this; a lot of thinking. And, I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason they vote for him is that they’re a-holes.
October 20th, 2006 at 1:42 pmSo this is what the implosion of a party looks like.
October 20th, 2006 at 1:45 pm31 – and willful idiots and fools. Then they have the gall to stand up and thump their chests like apes.
Vote early and often people.
October 20th, 2006 at 1:48 pm#30 GSD !
October 20th, 2006 at 1:52 pmYou’re right! Ya gotta feel sorry for Nordquist at this point, yo?
The 41st Congressional District covers most of San Bernardino County which includes the easternmost suburbs of the greater Los Angeles region, as well as the fast-growing communities in the Mojave Desert. It stretches east to the Nevada border, taking in vast desert and mountain vistas.
October 20th, 2006 at 1:55 pmThe area’s scenic beauty provides a lot of cover for corrupt legislators to bury the skeletons from their closets, as well as numerous remote locations for them to take money from lobbyists in return for legislative favors.
I think that Rep. Obey needs to come forward and tell us what really happened, ideally using 8×10 color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one is.
October 20th, 2006 at 2:03 pmWhen it comes to money the Republicans can never account for it. They must have lost the understanding of conservatism as soon as they gained power.
October 20th, 2006 at 2:03 pmThis in itself should be investigated.
October 20th, 2006 at 2:04 pmIt stinks worse then 3 day old fish.
Does he alone have the authority?
It reminds me of when nixon tried to fire the special prosecutor during Watergate.
The investigators were probably doing too good a job and it came to close to home. Anyone that has spent $800,000 in legal fees might possibly know that they are guilty of some kind of wrongdoing. Don’t ya think?
To paraphase Bob Dylan, ‘you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows’.
October 20th, 2006 at 2:20 pmHad enough, America?
I feel like I’m standing in a bad toilet full of turds that won’t flush…
October 20th, 2006 at 2:29 pmthings just keep backing up, swirling around, getting deeper and it really stinks.
Flush the whole bunch of Repukes out now.
VOTE NOV. 8th!
When it comes to money the Republicans can never account for it. They must have lost the understanding of conservatism as soon as they gained power.
Comment by Can’t be fooled again
Like everything else they claim to believe in, all that concern for fiscal responsibility was bullshit to get elected and bash democrats.
October 20th, 2006 at 3:00 pmRep. Jerry Lewis has violated the rules of the Congress, so he must resign immediately, and be prosecuted for his corruption!
October 20th, 2006 at 3:05 pmWhen it comes to money the Republicans can never account for it. They must have lost the understanding of conservatism as soon as they gained power.
Comment by Can’t be fooled again
Like everything they claim to believe in, “fiscal responseability” was just
more bullshit to get elected and bash Dems.
They believe in nothing but getting and keeping power.
The Dems are still under the delusion that it’s about ideas and good government.
Scruples sometimes hobble us.
October 20th, 2006 at 3:07 pmLewis reaches KING OF PAYOFFS”> status!
Insert vote for next level. Tap Diebold for cheats.
October 20th, 2006 at 3:20 pmAt this point, I think it would be easier to report on the members of Congress who AREN’T criminals.
October 20th, 2006 at 4:07 pm45-
You need to correct that to read: …Republican members of Congress…
October 20th, 2006 at 4:25 pmThis along with the Judge ordering cheney to make his visitor log available is just too much.
I’m here in OC where we have yet another Corrupt GOP member going down. he and the staffers invovled will most likely get 3 years in prison.
October 20th, 2006 at 6:01 pmNice story, but it gets better even still:
L.A.’s U.S. attorney resigning for job at private law firm
BY JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press
Article Last Updated:10/17/2006 09:26:39 PM PDT
Debra Wong Yang, U.S. attorney for California’s central district, is resigning to take a job with a high-profile private law firm.
Yang is expected to leave Nov. 10 for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where she will serve as co-chair of the firm’s crisis management practice group.
There was no word yet on a successor, said U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Thom Mrozek.
“I was fortunate to be able to serve my country as the United States attorney,” Yang said. “I am excited to add the skills and experience I have to Gibson Dunn’s impressive resources.”
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher boasts a roster of former government lawyers, including Theodore B. Olson, the former U.S. solicitor general, and Robert Bonner, who once led the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles and was once head of Customs and Border Protection.
It also provides legal counsel to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis, currently under investigation by Yang’s office over his ties to a lobbyist.
Under government rules, Yang would be recused from that and other cases she was involved with during her tenure at the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office.
snip…
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_4508559
October 21st, 2006 at 12:24 amTo me, he looks like a white-haired Tom DeLay. Mr.Yuk!
October 21st, 2006 at 1:08 pmTo #15 and #35, Lewis is congressman for my district, but I’ve never voted for him. A few of us call him “Con Lewie”, with the emphasis on ‘con’!
He’s represented this area since Jesus had pimples, but I can’t think of one decent thing he’s done for any of the residents of his district. And yet…the sheep keep sending him back. I wouldn’t be surprised if he keeps his seat. Sad….but not surprised.
October 21st, 2006 at 1:21 pmbipartisan, as in bi-sexual and partisan? Of course, that would be offfensive to bi-sexuals everywhere… these guys are clowns, and they’ve turned congress into a circus. Give us an honest election, we’d sweep them out of power EASILY. Did I die in Nov. 2000 and get sent to progressives’ purgatory? WTF did I do to deserve this!
Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffin’ glue….
October 21st, 2006 at 1:53 pmDoes that mean that if I am the mayor of Madison, I can commit a CRIME then fire the POLICE INVESTIGATING the crime?
October 21st, 2006 at 9:20 pm