Grassley aide beaten with bat outside her home. Abramoff connex?

[BurtWorm]

FBI called in on Hill
By Bob Cusack and Jackie Kucinich

The FBI and Capitol Police are investigating the vicious attack of a top Senate staffer at her home last week amid concerns that the assault might be related to her work on the Finance Committee.

Emilia DiSanto, chief investigator for committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), arrived at her suburban Virginia home after work Wednesday about 6:30 p.m. As she was unloading belongings from her car, a 6-foot-1-inch white man dressed in black struck her repeatedly with an unidentified object believed to be a baseball bat.


...

Grassley is known for his aggressive oversight of the public and private sector. Over the past year, he has scrutinized healthcare fraud, organ-donation procedures used by hospitals, drug-safety matters and the use of nonprofit groups related to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In her line of work, DiSanto “doesn’t make a lot of friends,” an aide said.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/110805/news1.html

[aquart]

1. Jesus H. Christ.

Get the bastard.

[Cha]

2. That's weird that it is

a rethuglican senator's aide, though.

What's going on?

[BurtWorm]

3. According to the story, Grassley is not always the most cooperative

of Republicans with power.

On the other hand, there may be no connection between her work and the beating. But that's sort of hard to believe.

[Hello_Kitty]

4. But a scrupulous one

And that's worse to them than a Dem. I don't know if this is Abramoff's handiwork but its definitely appears to be intimidation or retaliation from someone.

[SammyBlue]

9. It's a cheest hollywood movie on Political corruption

Abramoff is the bad guy, but it's really.

I am really worried for my country.

[Bozita]

5. Assault with a bat, but no attempt at robbery ... hmmm

from the article:

-snip-

“This is of obvious concern to anyone working here,” a Senate staffer said. “It’s very disconcerting when you worry about someone resorting to violence. This could be intimidation, and you wonder whether it’s safe to do your job.”

The attack on DiSanto came two days before a bomb threat caused alarm at an Iowa veterans home where Grassley was scheduled to appear.

-snip-

double hmmm.

[Hello_Kitty]

6. They're treating it as an attempted homicide

More like attempted assassination.

[0rganism]

17. I don't get that. Wouldn't he have killed her, then?

I mean, how hard is it to fire a shotgun at close range, or cut her jugular with a knife?

I think this was meant to be either intimidation or a revenge-oriented assault. If the assailant were serious about causing death, there are faster and more efficient methods than chasing a screaming woman around with a baseball bat. Perhaps he was going for a mugging, but panicked and bailed out before he took her stuff.

On the other hand, if this were a murder attempt, it was very poorly premeditated. I'd expect the guy who botched the job to wind up floating on the Potomac sometime next week. :shrug:

[countmyvote4real]

7. Let's do the time warp again. n/t

[ugarte]

8. Does Cheney have an alibi?...nt

[Marie26]

10. Grassley was also investigating

how funds were spent in Iraq & the allegations of massive fraud by Halliburton, etc. DiSanto was the contact person for information on this issue.

"U.S.A.: Influential Republican Senator Presses Bush Administration on Status of Spending by Coalition Provisional Authority"
http://www.warprofiteers.com/article.php?id=11920

[Zen Democrat]

11. Could those not-for-profits related to Abramoff also be related to DeLay?

Abramoff has been definitively linked to some of DeLay's "charities."

[GrpCaptMandrake]

12. Phlegmball, Hannity-job and O'Really

will ALL have this story tomorrow (later today). It will be framed as an attack by a crazed liberal. Because we're *all* crazed liberals.

It may even have been a hit by MoveOn.org, or maybe even wild-eyed radical Liberal Dennis Kucinich himself.

Watch the machine work. Stand in awe.

:hurts:


On edit: any post can always be better.

[Bluebear]

13. By this time tomorrow night Cindy Sheehan will be a suspect. nt

[GrpCaptMandrake]

18. You get the idea n/t

[lonestarnot]

24. Where was Bill Clinton on this date at this time?

[oldlady]

16. especially Dennis...

since his daughter appears to be the co-author of this article.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

21. Not a whole bunch of Kuciniches out there

Kinda wondered how long it would take for someone to notice! Is that really his daughter?

:toast:

[thebigidea]

14. betcha the message was recieved. Watch Grassley.

he'll make a big stink initially, then this Abramoff thing will stall stall stall and finally fade out.

Watch as this recieves absolutely no teevee attention- could you imagine the stink if someone investigating Clinton had their aide get whacked with a baseball bat? We'd never hear the end of it.

[wiggs]

15. Grassley was contact for Sibel Edmonds in the beginning.

Just thought I'd put that out there. Don't see the connection, but I believe that Sibel Edmonds info could potentially dwarf Plame, DSM....

[cascadiance]

25. I also recall Grassley quoted as "being surprised" by Patriot Act II plans

When the memo drafted by Hastert, Ashcroft and Cheney that revealed earlier plans for Patriot Act Part II was exposed to the public, which had a lot of real sinister stuff in it, Grassley was one that was quoted as "being surprised" at this legislation. Sounded like he was out of the loop on that stuff and was concerned about what it was proposing to do.

If you see the "Lost in Translation" Sixty Minutes segment with Sibel Edmonds, Grassley is also quoted in that. Reading between the lines on that one, it sounds like Sibel Edmonds wasn't the first situation that Grassley had gotten at odds with the FBI. He was quoted as saying that Edmonds case fit in a pattern of what had happened before with the FBI, implying that there was some other case where he was pretty PO'd with some folks there.

Don't know if that's related, but perhaps he's trying to help Sibel at the last minute with the Supremes as they begin to read the Amicus brief of her appeal right about now...

http://www.cafepress.com/sibel

[kenny blankenship]

19. 6'1" How tall is Tom Delay?

No I don't suppose that makes any sense. If it had been the Bugman, he'd have killed her bashing her brains out on the sidewalk and then gone out to dinner.

[flyarm]

20. and the connection to murder & abrahmoff....................

http://www.local10.com/news/5094917/detail.html

snip:
Suspect In Moguls' Mob-Style Murder Extradited

The Investigation

Investigators said trouble for Boulis began with the sale and purchase of Sun Cruz Casinos.

Boulis sold Sun Cruz to Adam Kidan, but it was a contentious sale that left the two men at odds with each other.

Investigators zeroed in on a mysterious series of checks totaling $105,000 from Kidan payable to a Miami Beach company called "Moon Over Miami."

The man behind Moon Over Miami is Anthony Ferrari.

The sale of Sun Cruz led to charges in August against prominent Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He is a key figure in investigations involving House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

The indictment was returned Aug. 11 by a grand jury in Fort Lauderdale. It charges that Abramoff and New York businessman Adam Kidan used a fake wire transfer to defraud two lenders out of some $60 million to finance the deal to buy Sun-Cruz from Boulis.

Both have pleaded not guilty in the fraud case.

[sam sarrha]

22. is she sure it was black and not a 'Brown Shirt.'.??

:hide:

[zbdent]

23. Can't be a liberal - remember, according to Anndy Coulter,

we're all 80 lb weaklings who are too pacifistic to save a kid from being run over by a car . . . and we wouldn't know which end of the bat to hold . . .