Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on Sunday’s Meet the Press (thanks to Think Progress):
I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn’t indict on the crime so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation were not a waste of time and dollars.
Perjury. Yup. There it is. Right in the text of the law. Perjury’s just a technicality all right. In fact, if you read between the lines it says “this charge only applies when you can’t get a real indictment on anything more juicy”.
Today’s Get a Clue Award goes to Bailey Hutchison. No doubt about that.
See the video at Crooks and Liars.
Here’s more from the transcript:
SEN. HUTCHISON: Tim, you know, I think we have to remember something here. An indictment of any kind is not a guilty verdict, and I do think we have in this country the right to go to court and have due process and be innocent until proven guilty. And secondly, I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn’t indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars. So they go to something that trips someone up because they said something in the first grand jury and then maybe they found new information or they forgot something and they tried to correct that in a second grand jury.
I think we should be very careful here, especially as we are dealing with something very public and people’s lives in the public arena. I do not think we should prejudge. I think it is unfair to drag people through the newspapers week after week after week, and let’s just see what the charges are. Let’s tone down the rhetoric and let’s make sure that if there are indictments that we don’t prejudge.
MR. RUSSERT: But the fact is perjury or obstruction of justice is a very serious crime and Republicans certainly thought so when charges were placed against Bill Clinton before the United States Senate. Senator Hutchison.
SEN. HUTCHISON: Well, there were charges against Bill Clinton besides perjury and obstruction of justice. And I’m not saying that those are not crimes. They are. But I also think that we are seeing in the judicial process–and look at Martha Stewart, for instance, where they couldn’t find a crime and they indict on something that she said about something that wasn’t a crime. I think that it is important, of course, that we have a perjury and an obstruction of justice crime, but I also think we are seeing grand juries and U.S. attorneys and district attorneys that go for technicalities, sort of a gotcha mentality in this country. And I think we have to weigh both sides of this issue very carefully and not just jump to conclusions, because someone is in the public arena, that they are guilty without being able to put their case forward. I really object to that.
Does this make you want to pull your hair out or what?
Does the name “Bill Clinton” ring a bell?
I have had this conversation with my Dad who is a Republican. For me, the whole Clinton affair was a big deal because of the perjury. He hasn’t changed his tune on that, but I have to wonder if this talking point will have an impact with any of the Republican core constituency.
has gone on the record in President Clinton’s defense? She has publicly broken with her party and thinks that the definition of “is” is a technicality that congress and lawyers and special prosecutors shouldn’t bother with?
Cool. Can she point me to her public statements regarding Mr. Clinton’s complete innocence?
Oh I’m SURE she came to Clinton’s defense. In fact, I think she even contributed to his defense fund by baking chocolate chip cookies and sending in the profits!
/dripping_sarcasm
This pathetic political creature is another one who has absolutely nothing to say that has any intrinsic meaning for anyone.
She’s worse than a void; her rhetoric is as hollow as an echo, totally without substance and always idiotic. she might even be dumber than George Allen, though I admit that would be an accomplishment.
FAMOUS TEXANS or infamous, as the case may be.
I guess my characterizing her as dumb was off the mark. Still, her performances on the talking head shows are appalling in that she seems to always miss the point of what’s being discussed, and to miss the point uncleverly. But, “willfull ignorance” is a mask many politicos wear, and it seems from this bio that Hutchison is quite adept at this sort of masquerade.
She does remain a shitheel, though, methinks.
Thanks for the fact based info.
Check out TalkingPointsMemo cafe where they also print a transcript of her MTP interview. She is being called a “Texas yahoo.”
If she was smart enough to get those backup tapes erased she’s smarter than I gave her credit for originally, and, as a result, I think George Allen’s title of “second stupidest person in DC”, (we all know who’s the “first stupidest”), is safe.
She should remember that perjury is the “willful and corrupt taking of a false oath in regard to a material matter in a judicial proceeding”.
Got that Kay Bee? Willfully (ya know it’s wrong but yer-a-doin’ it anyway) making a false oath (in hearing range of baby Jesus!)on a material matter (somethin’ ‘portant about why yer thar in the first place).
Ya think yer law school teaches the meaning of perjury this-a-way?
“So they go to something that trips someone up because they said something in the first grand jury and then maybe they found new information or they forgot something and they tried to correct that in a second grand jury.”
Republican talking point for arch white collar criminal Tom Delay:
There is rarely a follow-up asking why KBH was indicted and/or why the indictments were unsuccessful.
The indictments:
How Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison got the indictment quashed [cherchez le Rove]:
Now why is not any of this used against the Republican talking points?
As George Clooney says in Canada’s Globe & Mail:
“We don’t have history, a sense of history, in America. It’s clear we don’t because we seem to repeat it so often.”
It seems journalists/pundits don’t bother to look up the history of Ronnie Earle vs Kay Bailey Hutchison. They accept the spin that he made a fool of himself going after a lily-white innocent KBH.
This is why I don’t watch the Sunday talking heads; I have enough problems keeping my blood pressure down…
I guess obstruction of justice and perjury are only crimes if they’re done by Democrats…if it’s a Republican, it’s just politics as usual…
Hmmm…someone should alert Keith Olbermann to this little piece of tape in the NBC archives…would love to see KBH’s photo up there as one of his “Worst Persons in the World”…
Sen. Hutchison said on MTP that “there were charges against Bill Clinton besides perjury and obstruction of justice.” I looked on the web and found that Clinton was impeached on two counts: 1.) perjury and 2.) obstruction of justice, both of which Hutchison voted to convict Clinton on. There was also talk at the time of witness tampering, but Libby may get charged with that, too, so it doesn’t really set the two cases apart either.
What other crimes was she talking about? I mean, Whitewater wasn’t the reason for the impeachment and that whole investigation ended with a whimper anyway (with Independent Counsel Robert Ray “clearing President and Mrs. Clinton of any wrongdoing”).
What was she talking about? I mean, besides the drug-trafficking and murdering Vince Foster, of course.