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September 11, 2005
Lex Rex Hex Stix Lame Dux in Fix
or How I Got a Chance to Get my Government Back
If you or I pad a resume a bit to get a job, it's unethical. It's lying. But when that resume is part of a job application for the federal government, it's also a crime under Section 1001 of the federal criminal code, argues poster "JO" on the TPM Cafe group blog.
We're talking about Mike Brown here.
And when that crime of falsifying qualifications leads directly to charges of incompetence which may have increased the death toll in a natural disaster (and now I'm talking about Katrina), an investigation--and an independent investigation by an already impaneled special grand jury if you got one, thank you, Mr Rove--is absolutely called for. No, not just called for, but specifically provided for under the Title 18 Part II Chapter 216 Section 3331 of the US legal code.
Sha-weeeeng!
It's not just me and JO saying that, by the by. There's not a leading Republican member of Congress today who isn't on record arguing specifically for the propriety of independent grand juries looking into whatever alleged wrong doing they the special prosecutor feels proper to check out. But now I'll quote JO's entry for the money shot, with a little emphasis from me:
If his conduct did violate the law, others who knew he had overstated his qualifications may have aided and abetted an offense - which is also a crime.So all that needs to happen is for anyone who thinks it's a good idea to write to Mr. Fitzgerald and ask him to bring it to the special grand jury's attention (which the law says he must do if asked), and ask him to recommend that they investigate (which he might decline to do - but he might not if he gets the impression it's in the public interest). And no need to worry that the grand jurors have enough on their plate before their term expires next month: the jury itself can tell the judge that their business isn't complete, and automatically get a six-month extension. The court can also appoint a new special grand jury if it decided that one isn't enough.
I think we're about to find out if Mr Fitzgerald is a Republican first or an American first.
Posted by Bucky at September 11, 2005 06:30 PM | Permalink
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Comments
*thud*
Posted by: PDiddie at September 12, 2005 07:38 AM