Top Rove aide Ralston pleads the fifth.
Top Rove aide Ralston pleads the fifth.
Former Karl Rove executive assistant Susan Ralston invoked her rights against self-incrimination while being deposed by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) announced in a memo.
“The subjects this morning that she will be unable to testify to…are the subjects of the relationship between Jack Abramoff and his associates and White House officials, including Ms. Ralston, and the subject of the use by White House officials of political e-mail accounts at the RNC,” Ralston’s lawyer, Bradford Berenson said, during the May 10 deposition. “She has material, useful information about both of those subjects.”
According to Waxman’s memo, which was sent to Oversight Committee members, Ralston is seeking immunity from prosecution.
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No underlying crime.
Clinton did it too.
Pleasure of the president.
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:36 pmSing canary, sing.
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:41 pmImmunity will maybe keep you out of prison, but I very much doubt you’ll get a good job afterward. Who would trust you on either side?
By pleading the 5th she has shown she is guilty.
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:45 pmThere are a lot of scared people! What in the world could that mean?
What a joke of a government we have!
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:46 pmC’mon Susan, be this administration’s John Dean – you will have to go down, but take the bastards with you!
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:56 pmDon’t you wonder why these folks can’t be compelled to testify – or jailed. After all, they’re all on the public payroll, right? Transparency should be the minimum to expect from those who work for us.
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:58 pmCheck out the DETAILS, and make sure that it actually FINGERS Rove, etc.
THEN grant immunity when testified to.
If not, JAIL the scumbag.
Monica Goodling is TOMORROW, so let’s see what SHE coughs up…
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:58 pmMonica Goodling is TOMORROW, so let’s see what SHE coughs up…
Comment by Mr. Bush Goes To Hell
Sounds like a hairball.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:06 pmA picture of her is needed TP. For my little pin-doll.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:07 pmMonica Goodling is TOMORROW, so let’s see what SHE coughs up…
She could cough up the fact that Bush is the devil incarnate, show pictures of him eating babies, and congress would continue to support whatever this president wants to do. It’s all entertainment, and nothing substantive will come of it.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:08 pmAnyone know if the Monica Show will be aired tomorrow?
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:11 pmSo basically no Bush administration staff member can testify about their federal employment without incriminating themselves in regard to criminal activity? I thought these people were all Christians. What a joke.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:14 pmShe could cough up the fact that Bush is the devil incarnate, show pictures of him eating babies, and congress would continue to support whatever this president wants to do. It’s all entertainment, and nothing substantive will come of it.
Comment by Namtillaku
You hit the nail on the head. The Democrats in congress are doing as little oversight as the Republican did. Not one issue has been resolved, nothing finalized, nothing even altered. Just more of the same old, same old.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:14 pmThere’s no wonder. It’s called the Constitution. Perhaps you should read up on it. Still, I agree with the your feelings. Clearly she’s got a lot to hide and it is annoying that she will be unlikely to ever pay for her crimes. Hopefully she rats out Rove. I’d love to see him an a Federal prison followed by a trip to the Hague for his war crimes trial.
And I think the best way to deal with this sort of lack of cooperation from executive branch employees is to require ALL executive branch emails, memos, phone calls, IM’s, meetings and whatever to be recorded and sent/forwarded to a set of Congressionally owned servers. That way, Congress Congress won’t have to go fishing around for evidence.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:24 pmAccording to Waxman’s memo, which was sent to Oversight Committee members, Ralston is seeking immunity from prosecution.
“She is more than willing to provide it to the committee. However, she will, as we have previously discussed, require a grant of immunity before she is comfortable going forward,” Berenson also said in the deposition.
Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Former_Rove_aide_pleads_F...
Ah, Abramoff. The gift that keeps on giving!….
Give her immunity for sure – and possibly put her in protective custody
Even making the statement that she’s “more than willing” to provide the info if she’s granted immunity very likely puts her life in jeopardy from those she can expose, I’m afraid…
She has a juicy and interesting tale to tell, and I’d like to hear it. I’d also like to ask her about the 2004 election, but maybe that’s just me?
…..we are Nation of Lawsexcept if you’re a member of the Bush administration…. Wouldn’t it be nice to start behaving as such?
Enough of this bullshit……..
hey folks, enough. WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?
How many CLinton advisors pled the 5th?
Where are the comparisons that show how culpable these people are, compared to the last administration? Why all the silence?
It this was a high ranking Clinton staffer pleading the 5th, all hell would be breaking loose right about now.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102×2855226
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:39 pmAnd the similarities between the Busch Regime and other organized crime groups continue on unabated.
“I take the Fifth, yer honor…”
“I can’t remember, yer honor…”
“To the best of my recollection, it was all Bill Clinton’s fault, yer honor…”
RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO! RICO!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:40 pmGoodling Alleged Unlawful Retention of Confidential DOJ Memoranda
BTW: Why does a former DOJ employee still have “confidential” memoranda; and didn’t this “retention” issue trip up a former CIA official, Deutche?
I would like DoJ and the Judiciary to comment on why Goodling’s apparent “retention” of these documents has not been reviewed in the context of security, data protection, and compliance with DOJ internal classification guidance.
………
This is just simply amazing:
“Goodling fails to turn over documents subpoenaed by House committee”
Michael Roston
Published: Tuesday May 22, 2007
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Goodling_fails_to_turn_over_documents_0522.html
Why does this private citizen have OFFICAL documents in the first place? Didn’t the wingnuts get all hyper about Sandy berger taking some copies of doc.s? Lock the uberchristian bitch up…..
OMG!!! Indulgences are back, and this time bigger and better than ever. Now even Fredo can get into heaven…….
I don’t understand the dance. Either she complies with the law or she’s in contempt and may be open to an additional obstruction charge, not to mention the added bonus of conspiracy should others party to her alledged offenses come to like. Oh wait, that could open her up to Rico statutes to, couldn’t it.
I imagine the committee is being very deliberate. Heaven knows there are some bright people working on staff. The committee can’t be seen as being cowed by the likes of a Monica Goodling or they’ll lose what credibilty they have left.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:44 pmI remember the bumper sticker on my father-in-law’s car circa 2000: “Restore integrity, vote Republican” It wasn’t worth the piss the dog laid on it then…
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:46 pmOh wait, that could open her up to Rico statutes to, couldn’t it.
Irina, I’ve been saying that for months. If there was ever a group begging to RICO’ed out there it’s BuschCo!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:46 pmLet’s see how well Goodling honors the terms of her immunity first before we go handing it over to someone else as well.
If ya wanna hang out and chat during Goodling’s testimony tomorrow, swing on by Head On Radio Network’s chatroom.
http://www.headonradionetwork.com/chatroom
Peace all! – Sue
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:33 pmLet’s see how well Goodling honors her immunity deal before we offer it to anyone else.
Hang out with us in the Head On Radio Network’s chatroom during her testimony! Commentary by our hosts during the breaks. :)
http://headonradionetwork.com
Peace all! – Sue
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:42 pmCrap-0-la, when will this stuff end? It is just absurd that day end and day out we get more and more evidence of the criminal actions of these people, it is truly mind boggling that any of them are still in office at all.
Too many lame-sit-on-their-kester-TV watching-nose picking-nas car watching-uneducated-uninformed people in this country.
Just makes you throw up your hands and just give it up sometimes.
Hating the repukian mafia daily
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:56 pmfor what it’s worth, at this
early stage, i’d say it looks
like she doesn’t have as strong
a fifth-amendment privilege to
assert — in fact, in the full memo,
her counsel makes reference to
how her testimony on white house
connections to abramoff might simply
make some of her friends “uncomfortable“.
per her lawyer:
“She was personal friends with a number of the individuals on Abramoff’s staff and as the committee’s own report makes clear, was frequently the recipient of communications from them, even if the substantive matters under discussion related only to activities by other officials in the White House. . .”
that’s going to be far too thin a gruel to
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:29 pmsustain an immunity/subpoena-compulsion deal
under 18 USC 6005 — as ms. monica goodling
was able to cobble together. . . though, on
her last-minute failure to produce documents,
even that deal may fall through. . . we’ll see.
This is a result of the Libby trial. Ask the same question 100 different ways and your bound to make a mistake. Anybody being the subject of a Democrat witch hunt is probably being advised to ask for immunity. Good strategery. Clinton should have done it.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:38 pmHow many e-mails from the RNC did Berenson get while WH Counsel? [Oh, did I ask that?. . . lol]
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:39 pmSo what are ya gonna do about it Waxman? Impeach someone?
Dems. The party with NO balls.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:40 pmSorry to burst your bubble, Beefeater, but this is not just a Democratic witchhunt. BuschCo s/b RICO’d at this point. This is organized crime, pure and simple.
And what is it, w/ you trolls, choosing such endlessly suggestive names?
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:52 pm“We don’t have a veto-proof Congress,â€
Ok, so that gives you the right to be spineless wimps.
Please Russ Feingold, leave the Democrats and start a Progressive party. I will be first in line to sign up and work for you.
I am so disappointed in the Democrats I want to cry.
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:15 pmI don’t recall that the Congress Clinton faced after ‘94 was veto proof either. That didn’t stop them from attacking him every chance they got…
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:48 pmAnd what is it, w/ you trolls, choosing such endlessly suggestive names?
Comment by the republic of stupidity — May 22, 2007 @ 8:52 pm
WTF is “endlessly suggestive” about a halfway decent gin? What gutter is your mind in? Besides, troll rule #6 says “A troll may choose any name that they deem appropriate.”
Burst my bubble? What does a daydream like “S/B RICO’d mean? Should be? Then why aren’t they? Are you making stuff up again?
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:58 pmOh, there, there Li’l Beefeater.
W/ Mark Foley, Ted Klaudt, Matthew Sanchez, Jeff Gannon/Guckert, and Rudy “The Drag Queen” Giuliani all in your corner, it’s almost impossible to not wonder why YOU chose a name like “Beefeater”, or why other trolls choose names like “Bottomboy” (you’re probably one and the same), or MF54. You get judged by the company you keep.
Will the GOP get RICO’d? Probably not. Do they qualify. totally. Why you rightwing perverts find your own corruption so entertaining is beyond me. Dem witch hunts? I dunno… go ask “the Duke-stir”, or Jim Ney, or Jack Abramoff, or David Savafian, or the other BuschCo Crime Family members resigning, getting subpoenaed, taking the 5th, suffering from severe memory loss, or getting convicted in droves these days, PERVERT.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:28 pmWill the GOP get RICO’d? Of course not.
Comment by the republic of stupidity — May 22, 2007 @ 11:28 pm
There, fixed it for ya.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:51 pmHardly, Li’i Beefeater, hardly…
Why you revel in corruption, I don’t get. The GOP rode into power in 1994 claiming the moral high ground. They’ve turned out to be one of the most incompetent, criminal bunch of a**holes I’ve ever seen. When right-wing clowns like you come on-line, it’s always to sneer at us morally-defective “libruls” yet you blatantly ignore the outrageous level of corruption w/in your own enclave. Where the sense of superioroty comes from, I have no idea. You strike me as being delusional. Proud to be one of the 31% who STILL think the Deciderer is doin’ one heck of job, Li’l Buddy?
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:17 am