Frist wants to be president bad. Really bad. And he's willing to drag down the rest of his party in order to fulfill his ambitions.
Seems that his battle over the filibuster is going so poorly, he's hired a known thief to lead a smear campaign against Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid. The first salvo has been hurled by partisan "journalist" Charles Hurt of the Washington Times.
Minority Leader Harry Reid strayed from his prepared remarks on the Senate floor yesterday and promised to continue opposing one of President Bush's judicial nominees based on "a problem" he said is in the nominee's "confidential report from the FBI."
Those highly confidential reports are filed on all judicial nominees, and severe sanctions apply to anyone who discloses their contents. Less clear is whether a senator could face sanctions for characterizing the content of such files.
And the punchline:
Republican aides pointed to Standing Rule of the Senate 29, Section 5: "Any Senator, officer, or employee of the Senate who shall disclose the secret or confidential business or proceedings of the Senate, including the business and proceedings of the committees, subcommittees, and offices of the Senate, shall be liable, if a Senator, to suffer expulsion from the body; and if an officer or employee, to dismissal from the service of the Senate, and to punishment for contempt."
And then Reid is lectured by a thief.
"Harry Reid is a disgrace to the Senate and to [his] Church of Latter-day Saints," said Manuel Miranda, who was forced to resign as a Republican Senate staffer after downloading files on judicial nominees from Democratic computer servers.
So let's take a moment to digest this.
Reid is a disgrace to the Senate and his church, and should face expulsion from the Senate, for mentioning that Judge Saad has an FBI file. Got it. That secret FBI file. The one that was discussed in the Detroit Free Press a year ago.
Levin and Stabenow testified Thursday during the private meeting. They said before the meeting that they would discuss information from Saad's FBI background check that raised doubts about his ability to serve, but they wouldn't elaborate.
The secret FBI file that was
discussed by Gannet News Service also last year.
The Judiciary Committee held a private meeting to discuss Judge Saad's nomination after a routine FBI background check on the judge uncovered allegations of "very serious nature."
It is indeed an act of sleaze and desperation for Frist's office to try and use this to rally rebel Republicans to his side on the Nuclear Option.