Dirty Democrat files: Baghdad Jim finally forced to pay up Update: Boehner statement added
Democrat Rep. Jim McDermott will have to fork over the $1 million in legal fees he owes GOP Rep. John Boehner in the protracted leaked tape case. Finally. Leave it to McDermott to pervert this into some kind of triumph for the First Amendment. Chutzpah:
A federal judge says House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, can collect more than $1 million in his lawsuit against Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington state.
The decision was issued in a decade-long dispute over an illegally taped telephone call. In the 1996 call, Republican leaders discussed an ethics case against then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. A Florida couple recorded the cell phone call on a radio scanner and McDermott leaked the tape to two newspapers.
Boehner sued and a federal court found that McDermott had no right to release the calls. The Supreme Court decided in December not to revisit the case.
McDermott called the court fight with Boehner “a long and costly battle,” but said the million-dollar judgment was “a small price to pay in defense of so fundamental a principle, and freedom, as the First Amendment.”
Because of the protracted legal challenge, “the First Amendment is stronger today, and shielded by new case law that will buttress its capacity to protect the publication of truthful information on matters of public importance long into the future,” McDermott said in a statement Tuesday. “Knowing this, I am proud of my role in defense of the First Amendment.”
Keep a close eye on which Democrats pony up for Baghdad Jim:
McDermott has created a legal defense trust fund to cover expenses related to the lawsuit. A report filed with the House clerk shows the trust fund took in about $56,000 in the final three months of last year, for a full-year total of just over $100,000.
Over the years, Boehner has made numerous attempts to settle the case with McDermott. He insisted on three conditions: that McDermott admit he was wrong, apologize to the House and make a $10,000 donation to a charity. McDermott refused.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a 5-4 decision last May, said McDermott’s offense in leaking the call was especially egregious since at the time he was a senior member of the House ethics committee.
I noted a news report last December revealing that several celebrities and Dems had pitched in to McDerm’s fund–along with his legion of loyal moonbats in Seattle who consider him a “patriot:”
Disclosure forms filed by the trust reveal that donors have included Robert Fulghum, a Seattle resident who wrote several books including “All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”
Fulghum reported giving McDermott $5,000 in 2001. His wife, Lynn Edwards, also sent the legal trust a check for $5,000.
Bill Gates Sr., the father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, donated $1,000 to the fund in 2003, then followed up with an additional $5,000 in 2005.
And singer Barbra Streisand gave $500 in April 2001.
Several of McDermott’s colleagues on Capitol Hill have contributed cash from their campaigns. At least two — Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., — have written personal checks to the legal trust.
But most of McDermott’s contributions have come from Seattle-area residents such as Majdi Daher, who sent the legal fund $3,000 in July.
Daher said he believed McDermott’s decision to release the tape-recording “took a lot of guts.”
“Congressman McDermott is an extremely great patriot,” Daher said. “He stood up for what he believed.
Yeah, a real patriot. But for which country?
***
Previous blogging on the Boehner/McDermott case here.
***
Update: Boehner’s office sends a statement…
At the conclusion of a 10-year court case, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement after U.S. District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan ordered Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) to pay Boehner’s campaign committee, Friends of John Boehner, $1,053,181.40 in attorney’s fees and costs, plus roughly $40,000 in interest to date, in addition to more than $60,000 the court already ordered McDermott to pay for statutory and punitive damages:
“Over the past 10 years, I have consistently said that Members of Congress have a responsibility not only to obey the laws of our country and the rules of our institution, but also to defend the integrity of those laws and rules when they are violated. Congressman McDermott broke the law, and as a result, he shattered the bonds of trust between our institution and the men and women we represent in the halls of Congress. I remained committed to this case in order to begin restoring those bonds, and to uphold the belief that no one – including Members of Congress – is above the law. With this decision, the American people can take comfort in knowing that these important principles have been reaffirmed.”
NOTE: In 1998, Boehner filed suit against McDermott after the Washington Democrat, then a senior Member of the House Ethics Committee, leaked to the media a tape of a conference call between Boehner and other House Republicans after the call had been illegally recorded through a radio scanner.
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» Quotes of the day
Gee, I used to really like that book, in fact I have it in my bookcase. I think we know now what he really learned in kindergarten-pal up with the class bully.
Baghdad Jim is scum
His constituents sure must be dumb
They keep re-electing his ^ss
While Saddam gave him a free pass
Now he appears to be on the run
His main financier, Saddam, could not be reached for comment.
Yeah, and he approves of the NSA listening in on terrorist phone calls too. Oh wait, no…only Dems wiretapping Repubs.
First class idiot.
…and “First Grade: The Best Three Years of My Life.”
These tapes contained proof that Gingrich committed a felony. Gingrich is not in jail today because the tapes are inadmissible, being made illegally. It’s sort of like Democratic Congressman Jefferson staying out of jail on a technicality.
Dude!
Up is down and down is up.
Dark is light and light is dark.
Which is the real party of Big Brother?
Huh?
Illegal tapes yes. Newt not in jail because of the illegal tapes, not so much.
Ummm. No.
#6 lgm
Would you care to make a small wager on which of the two, Gingrich or Jefferson, stays out of jail longer?
Wasn’t the supposedly indicting call placed on a cordless land-line phone?
I know back then, the mid-nineties, lots of elderly people around my home county were listening in on cordless phone calls from around the region with police scanners bought at Radio Shack.
At least he has to pay $1 million. These are the same moonbats that complain about government ease dropping, and their doing it all along
lgm:
Guess you got confused about where the felony occured in that case.
Why in the world isn’t McDermott facing the consequences of his actions?
Oh yeah. Democrat. Forgot for a moment.
DBN: News stories at that time indicated that the intercepted phone call was indeed a cell phone call.
How does one get away with having others pay their bills and without having to pay taxes on the amount?
As I see it, mcdermott will essentially have a million dollars of his own f**kup paid for by other people. That’s a million dollars of income he did not have to pay any taxes on. What’s up with that????
Nice to see Jane Harman still knows how to spend the donations of her constituents effectively and judiciously.
isn’t this the typical liberal narrative? they commit a crime - which is never really a crime, because they’re always doing it to bring awareness to something, or incite a ‘dialog - and someone else has to pay for it.
seems like he doesn’t have good friends, because $5k is what Barbara spends on hair care products.
I’ll be anxiously awaiting the excoriating news segment NBC will have on McDermott’s bad, I just won’t hold my breath.
Nothing said about the fact that listening in on cordless and cell phone calls, let alone disclosing their content, is illegal.
Baghdad Jim Should have taken a play out of William “The Freezer” Jefferson’s play book. As you know (from the troll post) Jefferson is innocent because “Gingrich committed a felony”.
Too bad they can’t bankrupt Baghdad Jim but, all they can do is smack his tallywacker. This is ludicrous - get the cretins that support him to pay for his crimes….he should be in the pokey and he knows it. Scummy sleaze.
Corruption to a Democrat is Like Nitrogen Fertilizer for your lawn. Both seem to flourish and in Democrat’s case they become “Heros”.
(See Hillary, Studds, Cold Cash Jefferson, Ray Nagin, Barney “Pay for Gay Sex Franks”, Harry “Dirty Money” Harry, John “Coward” Murtha…etc..) all become democrat heros once the corrupt label is applied to them. Almost like a Right of passage for the left.
I don’t understand how this cretin stays in office. First he uses his position on a House committee to leak privileged discussions to the press. Then he takes money from Saddam Hussein to go on an unauthorized *mission* to Iraq to pretend to give a crap and try to convince the US not to invade.
How in the heck does he stay out of jail and how in the world does he stay IN office?
Where is Pelosi’s house-sweeping broom when we need it??
Despicable. So let me get this straight.
Eavesdropping on someone’s private phone call and taping/releasing it to newspapers is “freedom of speech?”
But eavesdropping on potential terrorists in our country talking to their masterminds overseas is somehow unacceptable in the eyes of the Dems.
Okey Dokey.
Beat me to it. That’s they same conclusion I came to trying to work out the calculus on this one.
Sums it up BAL.
Jefferson will still go to jail. All he was able to do is get evidence seized from his office rendered inadmissable. The 90K in MARKED bribe money was in his home freezer.
The scary thing is the office of a Congressman/Senator is now off-limits to investigators. They’ll all keep their bribe money in their offices from now on.
Didn’t someone once say that “it takes courage to be a Democrat, but a humorist to remain one?” Macki al Bagdadi has alot of chutzpah to position himself as a HERO for First Amendment rights. This was done “tongue-in-cheek,” right?
Despite all their faults, the Demoncrats have one saving grace…the ability to point out liars, cheats, criminal behavior, personal short-comings, misstatements of facts, violations of the Bill of Rights, and hypocracy…it’s just that they can’t seem to point out their own kind who fit into these categories! Instead, they defend them. Enter lgm, et al!!!
Why bother to blog, dude? EVERYONE here knows what position you will take on EVERY issue…1) It will always be contrary to the conservative stance, 2) it will always DEFEND any action by the anti-Bush/anti-conservative crowd, legal or otherwise, and 3) you will always defend YOUR position on an issue, by pointing out that at some “previous” time in history, a Republican did this or that, so the current episode should be okay with us.
When are you going to surprise us with some actual insight on an issue?
Michelle, didn’t Saddam’s spy, the guy who paid for Baghdad Jim’s trip to Iraq, donate $5,000 to McDermott’s defense fund as well?
This toady is from my home state. I remember my parents and their friends were all Roosevelt democrats but if they were alive today to see these crooks, they would be horrified. My teachers in the 1960s always said that these were the kinds of people and techniques that the marxists would use to dismantle the nation. Not in a frontal attack but rather breaking down the social structure by degree. Infiltrate the school systems. Check. Outlaw God. Check. Indoctrinate against patriotism and respect for legitimate authority. Check. Subvert the justice system to the goals of world socialism. Check. Assume control of the organs of government. Check. Render the American Constitution subservient to the prevailing socialist movements of the day. Check. Control all media and the flow of information. Check. Once we relinquish a freedom, like an extinct animal, it is gone or nearly so. See Venezuela. That marxist scumbag has an entire nation by the throat, and all because they remained apathetic too long. To add insult to injury they have to stomach the sight of Kevin Spacey, Naomi Campbell and Seann Penn.
All these things are part of the grand Socialist strategy. America was and is their last and greatest obstacle to permanent domination of the world political landscape. Guys like McDermott, Pelosi, Waxman, and the lesser moles in government live for the day we willingly hand over our liberty. When that happens, elections, the Constitution, nothing, will matter. It will be, what, a fait accompli? (sp?)
If a Republican had stolen a phone conversation and released it, it would have been an “invasion of privacy” case. But, when a Democrat does it, its a “First Amendment” case.
Score for the good guys!
Seattle is such a beautiful area that is so soiled by the vermin elected to office in the Pacific Northwest.
Here’s what I read concerning McDermott’s defense fund…
The content of the tapes is not secret, but it is inadmissible. Find out the content (transcripts are on the web) and say Gingrich is innocent.
I doubt any of you is able.
Democrat, then a senior Member of the House Ethics Committee, leaked to the media a tape of a conference call. This is a correct usage of the word leaked. lgm. No one said this call was secret. Chard is correct. When Democrats leak Secret documents, they also trot out the first amendment. No.
This story is not about if someone is innocent of whatever was leaked or not. It is about privacy.
See lots of references to the fact the NY Times published them, but no actual transcripts yet. Seems to me if I recall correctly the call was a discussion of ethics violation charges against Gingrich. This is like taking $90,000 in bribes from the FBI - oh wait it’s not anything like that.
Oh, and I forgot one more thing…
This is Pelosi’s “most ethical congress” too!
I’m impressed.
Not.
Baghdad Jim McDermott said:
OK, so, what’s his take on the Jefferson case, where the search of Jefferson’s office (a space owned by the citizens of the U.S.) has been declared to be improper?
Help us out here, lgm.
You seem to think the tape is “proof” Gingrich committed a crime. A federal crime? If so, just give us the citation under the US Code.
Next, tell us what the elements of that crime are, and where they are met on the tape.
BTW: read this:
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/gen/resources/infocus/gingrich/index3.html
Jan. 10, 1997 — The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution report on an intercepted cell phone conversation indicating Gingrich may have violated his Dec. 21 agreement with the panel not to orchestrate a GOP counterattack against the [ethics] charges. In a telephone conversation taped that day, and subsequently obtained by the two papers, the speaker is heard reacting favorably to strategy concocted by GOP operative Ed Gillespie.
So…who orchestrated….who concocted?
And about the ethics case itself, read this, and ask yourself why, if Gingrich committed a felony, the Clinton justice dept didn’t charge him with one.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/congress/january97/gingrich_1-17.html
My intellectual chumbucket needs refilling, so I hope you will continue giving me putridly overripe “arguments” to chop up.
You got “proof”? Prove the case, Mr. SmartyPants!
Aww, now you’ve gone and done it! You revealed the super top secret Democrat manifesto!
Now EVERYONE is going to know! The Antiamerica Criminal Liberties Union is going to have to come up with another secret plan now.
That was just beautiful. Music to my ears.
Reading this guy’s statement made me dizzy from all the spin. It all comes from the meeting entitled, “What can I say to make myself look good?” And, please, Mr. Congressman, don’t tell me about the Constitution. You wouldn’t know the Constitution if it came up and smacked you on the head! You are definitely a “Me first, party second, country third” politician that is tearing down this country.
On April 1st, 2008 at 2:41 pm, governmentdrone said:
Thanks for responding, Gov, and thanks for the info! I was genuinely unaware that scanners could pick up cell calls.
The biggest threat to this nation is the Democrat Party. It is infested with traitors, liars, Marxists, and socialists. When will some leader who values our traditions step up and take on these unspeakable Democrats?
The last great mook (lgm) really is off his meds with double BDS. Gingrich never got charged with a felony or anything like it. His book deal was held to be completly legal. Much like a recent Demoncrat. The tape content proved nothing other than some folks were trying to help him defend against scurrilous charges with no real weight behind them.