The Hill reports on a travesty originating in the House Intelligence Committee.
Five Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee were on the losing end of a vote last month to make public a declassified report on jailed Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.).
Democratic Reps. Rush Holt (N.J.), Anna Eshoo (Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Alcee Hastings (Fla.) and John Tierney (Mass.) voted to make the 23-page report public, while seven of their Democratic colleagues voted the other way.
Here are the seven offenders.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (DEM-TX-16th)
Rep. Leonard Boswell (DEM-IA-3rd)
Rep. Robert Cramer (DEM-AL-5th)
Rep. C.A. Ruppersberger (DEM-MD-2nd)
Rep. Mike Thompson (DEM-CA-1st)
Rep. James Langevin (DEM-RI-2nd)
Rep. Patrick Murphy (DEM-PA-8th)
More:
The Cunningham scandal raised questions about how congressional staffers on the Intelligence Committee handled the ex-lawmaker’s requests for earmarks that were later determined to be bribery payoffs to defense contractors.
In a statement, Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) said, “My view was that the report was an internal review, principally of staff activity, and that the full report — with all of the names of staff — was not intended for dissemination beyond the committee.”
Even lawmakers who voted to release the report agreed that some staffers looked bad amid Cunningham’s corruption.
“Some staff didn’t come off well,” said another Democratic lawmaker, referring to the report. “It’s not pretty.”
So publish the report and fire the staffers. This isn’t rocket science. Clean up the corruption. And when you use taxpayer’s dollars to do a report and that report has nothing in it that would expose sources and methods, then the public DESERVES TO SEE THE PRODUCT.
This a major cover-your-ass move. I wish Patrick Murphy had shown more boldness on this vote. I know he’s new and wants a good relationship with the Chairman and the staff, but we elected him to change the culture of corruption, not coddle it.