Nbadan
10-26-2005, 01:48 PM
Kay Bailey Hutchison's Press Secretary, in an apparent attempt to clarify the Senator's recent remarks on the Plame case, sent this letter to the editor of the Houston Chronicle (emphasis mine):
Integrity of process is vital
IN the Oct. 25 editorial "Double standard," the Chronicle incorrectly compared U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's recent remarks on "gotcha" investigator tactics in general to her comments during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, even though they are as different as night and day.
In 1999, the senator said President Clinton committed a serious crime when he purposely perjured himself and obstructed justice, and she was absolutely right. He intentionally lied to a grand jury and the nation and then obstructed justice to protect himself politically. That is very different from a case where an investigator fails to find evidence of a crime and instead looks for any shred of inconsistency, no matter how inadvertent, in testimony that may have stretched over a period of years.
As Sen. Hutchison said in 1999, the standards for perjury and obstruction of justice are not gray. Deliberately lying to a grand jury is not the same as forgetting a name or not remembering a date. She believes that prosecutors play a critically important role in our system of justice and, to keep the integrity of the process, must avoid playing "gotcha."
CHRIS PAULITZ press secretary, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Washington, D.C.
Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/3416...)
So, Hutchison believes that President Clinton commited a serious crime when he commited perjury and obstruction of justice (acquitted). There's nothing serious about Republicans outing CIA operatives, however. That's just nitpicking.
Forgetting a name or date may not be comparable to perjury to Hutch, but when you're the Chief of Staff to the VP of the United States, and the name you've forgotten belongs to a guy named Dick Cheney, I think we can all begin to understand how a special prosecutor might find it all just a little interesting.
Integrity of process is vital
IN the Oct. 25 editorial "Double standard," the Chronicle incorrectly compared U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's recent remarks on "gotcha" investigator tactics in general to her comments during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, even though they are as different as night and day.
In 1999, the senator said President Clinton committed a serious crime when he purposely perjured himself and obstructed justice, and she was absolutely right. He intentionally lied to a grand jury and the nation and then obstructed justice to protect himself politically. That is very different from a case where an investigator fails to find evidence of a crime and instead looks for any shred of inconsistency, no matter how inadvertent, in testimony that may have stretched over a period of years.
As Sen. Hutchison said in 1999, the standards for perjury and obstruction of justice are not gray. Deliberately lying to a grand jury is not the same as forgetting a name or not remembering a date. She believes that prosecutors play a critically important role in our system of justice and, to keep the integrity of the process, must avoid playing "gotcha."
CHRIS PAULITZ press secretary, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Washington, D.C.
Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/3416...)
So, Hutchison believes that President Clinton commited a serious crime when he commited perjury and obstruction of justice (acquitted). There's nothing serious about Republicans outing CIA operatives, however. That's just nitpicking.
Forgetting a name or date may not be comparable to perjury to Hutch, but when you're the Chief of Staff to the VP of the United States, and the name you've forgotten belongs to a guy named Dick Cheney, I think we can all begin to understand how a special prosecutor might find it all just a little interesting.