Is this what Republicans would call hypocrisy?
On January 11, 2002, President Bush appointed two controversial nominees, Eugene Scalia as Solicitor for the Labor Department and Otto Reich as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, while the Senate was in recess.
Here's what some Republicans have said about recess appointments:
Then Senate Majority Leader Lott condemned the recess appointment of James Hormel as Ambassador to Luxemborg as a "subversion of the confirmation process." (June 9, 1999, The Washington Post)
"[The recess appointment of Bill Lann Lee as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights would be] an affront to the Senate . . . I hope that [President Clinton] doesn't make that mistake. I don't know that that's ever been done in history. It would be at some expense." (December 9, 1997, The Washington Times) Sen. Don Nickles
"If they [the Clinton Administration] choose to make recess appointments that will be controversial, they will not get any more appointments." (November 10, 1999, The Associated Press)Republican Policy Comm. Chair Larry Craig
"Clinton's decision to nominate [sic] Mr. Hormel while we are in recess is an affront to the Senate and to the Constitution." (June 7, 1999, The Hotline) Sen. Bob Smith
Who is Otto Reich:
Otto Reich is a former Ambassador to Venezuela(1986) whose appointment was opposed by Venezuelan officials. He is a rabid anti-Castro Cuban who as a lobbyist advised Jesse Helms on the Helms-Burton legislation on behalf of his anti-Castro clients. Reich has now become the key policy-maker interpreting and implementing legislation on Cuba, which he was handsomely paid(at least $600K) to promote--a clear conflict of interest.
Reich's past also includes illegal activities as a government employee during the contra affair such as planting propaganda in newspapers, using agents to "leak" disinformation to US media, writing articles for opinion journals under the names of contra agents, spreading complete lies to discredit US journalists who were reporting human rights violations by the contras, spreading lies about the Sandinistas calling them anti-semitic, intimidation tactics against US reporters who were questioning the truth of US government statements about Nicaragua, and of asissting a convicted anti-Cuban terrorist in gaining illegal entry into the US from Venezuela....most of which while his Office of Public Diplomacy reported directly to Oliver North.
More recently, Reich has been involved with a right-wing organization called WRAP(Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production) which was formed to combat the anti-sweatshop movement.
His appointment has been hung up since May, 2001. |
