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Pastimes : Impeachment=" Insult to all Voters" -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gerard mangiardi who wrote (305)	12/21/1998 9:37:00 PM
From: Catfish	Respond to of 2390

THE SECRET POLICE STRIKE AGAIN By DICK MORRIS CAN anyone seriously believe that the ''outing'' of incoming House Speaker Robert Livingston's extra-marital affairs is not the work of the White House Secret Police? Consider the record. House Oversight Committee Chairman Dan Burton investigated the White House misuse of FBI files. Then, out came evidence that he had fathered an out-of-wedlock child. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde led the impeachment inquiry against the president. Then, out came the story of his decades-past adulterous relationship. Now, Livingston, who has refused to agree to a censure vote, has found his private life investigated. Coincidence? Maybe, but add to this the fact that during the same time period there have been no revelations about the private lives of any supporter of the president. The contrast is jarring. And this administration's history of smearing its enemies, combined with information about administration knowledge of these stories, leads to the inescapable conclusion that the White House was responsible for all of these leaks. Last night, after the Livingston story broke, ABC's Cokie Roberts reported that several weeks ago she had been told by a source close to the White House of a rumor about a Livingston affair. The White House attacked Roberts for the story, but she stood by her report. So, how did the Livingston information get to a source close to the White House? Matt Drudge, whose passion for scandal has only been matched by his uncanny accuracy, reported yesterday that a White House employee, with ties to both the president and the First Lady, had ''shopped'' the Hyde story before it was published. Specifically, Drudge reports that this administration employee called Linda Douglas at ABC News to give her the details of the Hyde affair. Again, how did a White House employee get this information and why was a federal employee out to discredit a member of Congress? The White House Secret Police - the private eyes deployed by the Clintons and their agents to dig up dirt to discredit those who get in the president's way - have performed numerous damage-control operations since the 1992 election. Delving into the sexual pasts of the president's adversaries has been a large part of their modus operandi (as is sifting through other people's garbage). Accountable to no one, these operatives work under the supervision of the president's attorneys - David Kendall and Bob Bennett. Their missions are secret, their compensation is hidden and the sources of the payments are obscured. As Sen.-elect Chuck Schumer said in his speech on impeachment yesterday, both parties are participating in the degrading of our politics. It began when filibusters became automatic in the Senate, and the need to get 60 votes to cut off debate became routine for passage of virtually any legislation. When confirmations of Supreme Court justices, Cabinet members, and even U.S. ambassadors became forums for partisan conflict, the trend away from moderation and conciliation continued. But the GOP abuse of the impeachment process and the White House secret police tactics have each knocked our political process down yet another notch. Each time the Secret Police strike, they use a journalistic front to publish the results of the invasions of the privacy of the Clintons' perceived enemies. On some occasions, the actual raw reports of the Secret Police have been provided to friendly editors. Salon magazine, an administration mouthpiece, published the Hyde material. And the relationship between the White House and the supermarket tabloids is surprisingly intimate. The president's unsmiling lawyer, David Kendall, is also counsel to the National Enquirer. Terry Lenzner, one of the favored private eyes who looked into Monica Lewinsky's past, has also worked for the Enquirer. So, it was not a surprise that the paper ran a story trashing Monica right before her grand-jury testimony. The pattern is altogether too clear - the White House Secret Police have been here. It's time they are stopped. nypostonline.com