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Center Calls for Justice Department Investigation
Judiciary Committee Memos May Suggest Criminal Quid Pro Quo on Judicial Confirmations

The Center for Individual Freedom joined over two dozen organizations this week in asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee or their staffs exchanged efforts to obstruct the confirmation of President Bush’s judicial nominees for campaign contributions and support. The request sprung from a recent ethics complaint filed by Manny Miranda, a former aide to Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), in which Miranda reveals he reviewed documents that contain evidence of public corruption, including "the direct influencing of the Senate's advice and consent role by the promise of campaign funding and election support in the last mid-term election."

Such a quid pro quo arrangement would clearly violate federal criminal laws and the public integrity entrusted to members of the Senate and their staffs. Thus, the letter urges the Justice Department to "take immediate possession of the … memoranda" because of "their probative value and relevance to a criminal investigation."

To read a copy of the letter, click here.


[Posted February 14, 2004]