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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MSI who wrote (12712)	5/27/2002 9:43:41 PM
From: Tadsamillionaire	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 93284

Did you see this? McDermott admits to leaking Gingrich tape five years ago --- !!!!! Of course, not many have seen it, as the left wing media doesn't like to print "uglies" about their favorite criminals..... Does ANYONE really wonder why we shouldn't have every single congressperson have all info re our security......If McDermott would lie about this, what would he do with something important???? McDermott admits to leaking Gingrich tape five years ago By Katherine Pfleger Seattle Times Washington bureau WASHINGTON After more than five years of speculation about his role, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott came clean. In court papers filed last month, the Seattle Democrat said he did, in fact, leak to reporters the tape of the 1996 cellphone call in which then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich discussed strategy about an ethics-committee finding against him. McDermott had never before admitted that he received the tape from a Florida couple who picked up the conversation on a police scanner. Nor had he admitted to providing the tape to reporters. "I told people all along that ultimately there would be a time when I would say what had happened," McDermott said yesterday. "I kept my mouth shut for five years, and now I can talk because it is out there." Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, sued McDermott in 1998 for damages under the Electronic Privacy and Communications Act, claiming McDermott had invaded his privacy by providing the media with the conversation involving Gingrich, Boehner and other House leaders. The act makes it illegal to record cellphone calls or pass along their contents to others. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the justices remanded it to a lower court for reconsideration after they decided a similar case last May. In that 6-3 ruling, the justices said a Pennsylvania radio host could not be sued for broadcasting an illegally taped phone conversation because he was exercising his free-speech rights. Since the Supreme Court decision, Boehner has amended his complaint against McDermott, which is now being heard by U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan. McDermott's lawyer continued to deliver subpoenas last week to GOP members of the House ethics panel at the time of the Gingrich dispute a controversial move because the Constitution prevents lawmakers being questioned about "speech and debate" in Congress "in any other place." However, McDermott said he and Boehner have personally been in touch during the past three months and may be close to a settlement. "If we spend another $200,000 apiece and I win, that is hardly a victory," McDermott said. "John Boehner and I are talking." Boehner's attorney could not be reached for comment. According to McDermott's court filing, the congressman received the tape inside a sealed envelope, hand-delivered to him by John and Alice Martin. The Martins have since paid $500 each for violating federal wiretap laws. McDermott talked to them just that one time, the filing said. McDermott, then the top Democrat on the ethics committee, was surprised to hear Gingrich discussing how to spin the settlement of ethics charges against him, according to the filing. McDermott said he decided the call was of significant public interest. Gingrich already had agreed with the House ethics panel not to orchestrate a response to the fallout from the probe. Two reporters were invited to listen, though the tape stayed with McDermott, according to the filing, which was first reported in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. The congressman said he wants the fight to end. "I believe this is something that should have been resolved a long time ago," he said. Katherine Pfleger: 206-464-8550 and kpfleger@seattletimes.com. seattletimes.nwsource.com.