Issue #1: Epidemic Republican Fraud and Corruption
Issue #2: Millions of Tax Dollars Wasted and Squandered
Issue #3: Real World Sex Abuse
Issue #4: Weakened Public Safety and Homeland Security
It bears repeating that George Allen hid behind the unsupported allegations of serial pedophile William Gray in 1993.
Presently, focusing on the House Appropriations Committee quickly reveals a mere subset of the scandals that are costing American taxpayers millions of dollars.
From a previous diary:
And it gets worse. Justin Rood reports that [Republican Jerry] Lewis has decimated the group that investigates fraud and abuse for the appropriations committee. Sixty contract investigators have been given the ax, leaving less than 20 full time employees to take up the slack.
A source close to former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl told ABC News that Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) was one of a small number of "problem members" of Congress who page program supervisors complained spent too much time socializing with pages, taking them to dinner or sporting events outside of official duties.Mark Foley was also on the list.
The source said Trandahl frequently cautioned both congressmen that "adults should hang out with adults, pages should hang out with pages," a message Trandahl also conveyed to pages during their orientation.
Kolbe knew about the Foley emails as far back as 2000 and is involved in some questionable behavior himself. But Kolbe wasn't even questioned in the Foley investigation which is wrapping up. We won't hear of the findings until after the election naturally.
From the article Foley report to be delayed until election, Ted Van Der Meid was questioned.
Questioning of Mr. Hastert's chief counsel, Ted Van Der Meid, stretched on for more than six hours and ended past midnight. Mr. Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, spent a similarly grueling stretch with the committee.
It seems that many of the named players in the Foley Coverup scandal have key roles in another investigation obstruction involving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in defense contracts, bid rigging, secret orginizations, etc. Could this be part of the expansion?
Stormwatcher is talking about van der Meid's involvement in a parallel coverup: Investigators Say SpeakerGÇÖs Aide Hindered Inquiry of Hill Security Contracts involving van der Meid:
Two former House committee investigators who were examining Capitol Hill security upgrades said a senior aide to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert hindered their efforts before they were abruptly ordered to stop their probe last year.The former Appropriations Committee investigators said Ted Van Der Meid, HastertGÇÖs chief counsel, resisted from the start the inquiry, which began with concerns about mismanagement of a secret security office and later probed allegations of bid-rigging and kickbacks from contractors to a Defense Department employee.
Ronald Garant and a second Appropriations Committee investigator who asked not to be identified said Van Der Meid engaged in GÇ£screaming matchesGÇ¥ with investigators and told at least one aide not to talk to them. Van Der Meid also prohibited investigators from visiting certain sites to check up on the effectiveness of the work, the investigators said.
Van Der Meid oversaw Capitol security upgrades for Hastert, R-Ill., and worked closely with the office that was charged with implementing them, the investigators said.
K. Lee Blalack, a lawyer for Van Der Meid, said Oct. 27 that neither he nor Van Der Meid would comment on the matter.
There's more.
The investigation was carried out by members of the Appropriations panelGÇÖs Surveys and Investigations team, which looks into charges of waste and abuse.Robert Pearre, the teamGÇÖs director, ordered the investigators to stop their work on the security contracts in the fall of 2005. Before that, the investigators said they were looking into allegations that security contractors had showered a Defense Department employee with kickbacks in the form of Redskins tickets, golf outings, a set of golf clubs and meals. The allegations of kickbacks did not implicate congressional aides.
The investigators also said they were looking into concerns expressed by contractors that some of the security upgrades would fail to work in the event of a terrorist attack.
The office in charge of the upgrades was funded through the Defense Department and overseen by the Capitol Police Board, but the SpeakerGÇÖs office took a lead role because of HastertGÇÖs status as third in line to the presidency, the investigators said.
According to the investigators, Van Der Meid sought to stop their investigation shortly after it began.