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Dear Friend:
A dark cloud
of corruption is hanging over Senator Teddy Kennedy's office.
And the Center for Individual Freedom needs your
help to fully expose his office's gross abuse
of power to manipulate the outcome of the most important
civil rights cases in more than a generation!
We are talking
about "Memogate."
A Wall
Street Journal editorial called it the "most outrageous"
among the Democratic staff memos leaked from the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
The Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review says "it suggests a criminal conspiracy
and obstruction of justice."
A
Goldsboro News-Argus editorial called it "corruption
of the constitutional process of judicial appointments
... it amounts to rigging trials just as surely as bribing
jurors does."
Dozens
of other newspapers, reporters and television commentators
have weighed in, as well.
They are
referring to an April 17, 2002, memorandum
to Senator Kennedy from one of his aides outlining a request
from Elaine Jones, head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
Fund. According to the memo, Jones wanted Kennedy to delay
Senate action on all of President Bush's judicial nominees
to the 6th Circuit until after the University of
Michigan affirmative action cases were decided by that court.
"The thinking
is," the memo states, "that the current 6th Circuit
will sustain the affirmative action program, but if a new
judge ... is confirmed before the case is decided, that new
judge will be able ... to review the case and vote on it."
To put this
scandal into context, Jones was a lawyer
in the case, representing students in support
of the University's undergraduate affirmative action admissions
policy. The court ultimately ruled in favor of Jones'
position by a one-vote margin.
Despite
acknowledging in the memo that it was wrong to delay action
on judicial nominees "based on the resolution of a particular
case," and recognizing "that the 6th Circuit
is in dire need of additional judges," two of Senator Kennedy's
closest aides recommended that he delay a Judiciary Committee
hearing on at least one "uncontroversial" nominee -- for
the sole purpose of manipulating and influencing the outcome
of the landmark civil rights cases.
That's
right, Senator Kennedy's office and his liberal special interest
cohorts worked to rig the most important civil rights cases
in more than 25 years!
And now
we
need your help to stop the Senior Senator from Massachusetts
and his well-funded special interest friends in their efforts
to manipulate our nation's independent judiciary.
But if
you think what you've read so far is appalling, WAIT TILL
YOU READ THIS!
Two weeks
ago, the Center for Individual Freedom revealed that Olati
Johnson, then Senator Kennedy's Judiciary Counsel, wrote the
April 17, 2002, memo. Prior to joining Senator Kennedy's staff,
Johnson worked as a lawyer with Elaine Jones at the NAACP,
and was co-counsel in the case defending the University's
undergraduate affirmative action admissions policy.
In addition
to exposing this shocking new information, the Center has,
for the past several months, worked diligently to shine a
bright light on this issue as part of our effort to combat
government corruption wherever and whenever it rears its ugly
head.
One of
our goals is to bring honesty and integrity back to our government
-- traits Senator Kennedy and his staff apparently forgot
long ago.
Recently,
the Center launched a series of Memogate ads demanding that
Senator Kennedy come clean on his involvement in the scheme
to "Obstruct Justice," and calling for complete and thorough
investigations.
One
of the ads lays out the facts and asks Senator
Kennedy directly: "Is it FACT that you OBSTRUCTED JUSTICE
in the most important civil rights cases in more than 25 years?"
Another
ad lines up "mug shots" of Senators Kennedy, Leahy and
Durbin, who are at the center of the Memogate scandals, and
urges the U.S. Senate to finally launch an investigation.
A couple
of weeks ago, the Center delivered nearly 4,000 online petition
signatures from people across the country urging Senator Kennedy
to come clean on his involvement in Memogate. Many of you
signed the petition because -- like us -- you're fed up with
the corruption in Washington.
Yet,
Senator Kennedy continues to hide behind a wall of silence.
When asked by two reporters at a recent press conference
about his former staff's unethical behavior, he scurried for
the door muttering, "No. I'm not gonna, uh, re, uh." Fox
News Special Report with Brit Hume caught Kennedy's hasty
retreat on tape.
In addition
to the ads and the petition, the Center has filed ethics complaints
against both Olati Johnson, now a lawyer with the ACLU, and
Elaine Jones. The complaint
against Johnson charges her with violating New York State
ethics rules, 6th Circuit Rules of Professional Conduct, and
fundamental ethical obligations shared by all lawyers. The
complaint
against Jones charges her with "intentionally attempting
to improperly influence the outcome of a pending case" in
which she was counsel.
Jones has
since resigned from the NAACP.
And it is
no coincidence that she's hired David Kendall to represent
her. Most people know Kendall as the criminal
defense lawyer who defended President Bill Clinton during
the Monica Lewinski scandal. We have also learned
that Kendall sits on the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Board
of Directors.
Moreover,
we have asked
the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate any and
all criminal wrongdoing that may have occurred.
At the Center,
we are proud of our work, and it is paying off.
Just recently,
in responding to the Center's revelations about Senator Kennedy's
office, Peter Kirsanow, a Commissioner at the U.S. Commission
on Civil Rights, stated that he is interested in looking into
the issue at the Commission's upcoming May meeting. And Senator
Jeff Sessions, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee
on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, stated that the
actions of Senator Kennedy's staff and the NAACP don't pass
the smell test.
But we
need your help to do even more.
Unless
and until we force Senator Kennedy to come clean and expose
all of the corruption that plagues the judicial confirmation
process ... politics as usual will continue to tear at the fabric
of our constitutional system.
The Center's
ad campaigns, legal activities and advocacy are expensive.
We
need to raise $22,500 online in the next two weeks
to keep the heat on Senator Kennedy and his multi-million-dollar-funded
friends, who will stop at nothing to prevent highly qualified
men and women from serving our nation on the federal bench.
Please
consider a
contribution of $25, $50, $100, $500 or even more to the
Center today! If you can't afford that much, every contribution
will help.
Our success
depends on people like you, who care about eliminating corruption
and dishonesty in government. We
need your help today!
In Liberty,
Jeff Mazzella
Executive
Director
P.S. To
make an online contribution, visit CFIF's
Donate Page.
P.P.S. Please
forward this to 10 of your friends, colleagues and family
members and encourage them to support this vital cause.
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