LEAHY: "The Republicans Have Objected To This Meeting Continuing" (Huge Strategic Blunder) [View All]

[Hissyspit]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/29/conservatives-shut-down-sampson-hearing

Conservatives shut down Sampson hearing?

Moments ago, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) interrupted Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA):

LEAHY: If the senator would yield, and I apologize. I apologize to Mr. Sampson. We’ve just received word that the Republicans have objected, under the Senate rules, to this meeting continuing. I think that’s unfortunate, but I will follow the rules of the Senate –

GRASSLEY: Does it apply to a Republican too?

LEAHY: Uh, the Republicans are the ones who don’t want to have the hearing, so the Republicans have the right under the rules to do that. We will stand — we will not adjourn, we will stay in recess until the Senate recesses. We will come back, and Sen. Grassley, if he wishes to be heard further, will be the first one to be heard.

UPDATE FROM THINKPROGESS:

UPDATE: A Senate Judiciary Committee source tells ThinkProgress conservatives objected to the hearing lasting beyond two hours, but then backed down after realizing it was a huge strategic blunder.

Leahy explains: “Just so people can understand what’s going on here. The lack of permission going forward has now been changed. I had raised questions and the — whatever objection there was on the Republican side has been withdrawn, so that we can continue. When Mr. Sampson comes back, we will start with Sen. Durbin. Somebody here just asked me if this all could have just been all an accident, that we had this lack of concurrence by the Republicans to go forward. I grew up in a faith that believes in miracles, and it’s conceivable as an accident, I’ve been here 33 years and I’ve never seen it happen before. So maybe it was, but I suspect it was not.”

The committee is back in session now.

MSNBC UPDATE:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17852146

Ex-aide: Gonzales signed off on attorney firings
Democratic panel chair Leahy says Justice Dept. motivation was improper

- snip -

Under questioning by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Sampson said Gonzales also was wrong when he said other senior Justice Department aides gave Congress inaccurate information because they hadn't been fully briefed about the firings.

"I shared information with anyone who wanted it," Sampson said. Asked by Schumer if Gonzales' statement was false, Sampson replied, "I don't think it's accurate if the statement implies that I intended to mislead the Congress."

The hearing was briefly halted by Republicans using a rarely invoked Senate procedure, but reconvened shortly afterward.

In earlier testimony Sampson said the prosecutors were fired last year because they did not sufficiently support President Bush's priorities, defending a standard that Democrats called "highly improper."

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