Ha-Ha!
Appeals court rules against McDermott in taped call dispute
Rep. Jim McDermott had no right to disclose the contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders a decade ago, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
In a 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott, a Washington Democrat, should not have given reporters access to the taped telephone call.
McDermott’s offense was especially egregious since he was a senior member of the House ethics committee, the panel ruled.
When he became a member of the ethics panel, McDermott “voluntarily accepted a duty of confidentiality that covered his receipt and handling of the … illegal recording. He therefore had no First Amendment right to disclose the tape to the media,” Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote on behalf of the court. Four judges agreed with him.
The ruling upholds a previous decision ordering McDermott to pay House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, more than $700,000 for leaking the taped conversation. The figure includes $60,000 in damages and more than $600,000 in legal costs.
I have yet to have one single person succeed in explaining to me just how the 1st Amendment applies in this case. Every single blogger in the leftosphere screams “First Amendment!!” whenever these decisions against Baghdad Jim come down, but I’m not seeing it.
I am so glad I moved out of his district 14 months ago.
In other McDermott news, here he is giving a sample to Pelosi
I guess that in the Democrat Party, you have to prove you’re on drugs to move up in the world.
(OK, so they were checking out a bio diesel plant, but what was the first thought to come to your mind?)
Bio – but not diesel!!!!!
Merle