Comments on: Why Would Orrin Hatch Need a Defense Fund?

By: JohnLopresti

JohnLopresti — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 03:07:40 +0000

Remember the heat of 2005 and the fork in the Frist road to candidacy for presidency or simply retiring from the senate. Frist let Manuel Miranda work for him for a while to tout magniloquent ethics in 2004. In 2003 the seargeant at arms had a standoff with Hatch over Miranda’s work for Hatch; ostensibly supervisor Hatch was uninformed of Miranda’s purloining Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats’ emails during the Democrats’ first solid stands against some backward nominations hailing down from the administration for SJC to vet. Here is a June 2004 retrospective. But, how about the energy corridor business?
Though I wonder if the Nixon library trove revealed for the first time to the public last month 178,000pp had any early materials on Hatch’s career, Reagan being a link there; need to research that story, as well.

By: emptywheel

emptywheel — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 21:10:55 +0000

marksb

Oh, the real and the imposter Jodi are here. I’ve left a comment wondering what to do with them in the most recent post.

But real Jodi, at least, doesn’t seem to be geographically Rove.

By: marksb

marksb — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 19:17:47 +0000

Yeah, sure. I get one weekend a year to hang with my daughter at Earlham College. She loves me and her friends welcome me warmly, but it’s pretty clear that I shouldn’t let the door hit me in the ass on my way to the Dayton airport.

No, I’m wondering if Rove is actually Jodi. I can’t help but notice that before Rove left his WH office, Jodi would post mid or late in the thread. After he left, Jodi was suddenly getting first post. Haven’t seen any trolls around the new digs yet…

By: BlueStateRedHead

BlueStateRedHead — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:57:50 +0000

Good thought. One indicator would be the public lecture and republican $1000 rubber chicken circuits. We hear about Gonzo lecturing at 40k a pop. where is rove a-roving, if at all.
But he is not spending time “watching Oprah”; he’s visiting with his son at his university.

By: marksb

marksb — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:12:17 +0000

I’ve been thinking about Rove’s crazy blame-the-Dems-for-Iraq statement…I’m wondering if he’s toast in political circles (having persoanlly guided Mr. sub-30%), his phone calls aren’t being returned and he’s not getting any meetings, and maybe acting f’ing crazy on the TeeVee is all he’s got left. Throw a crazy-assed lie out there and see if it gets traction in the press so he can get a few meetings. Think of his personality: he’s the left hand of God (in his mind) for umpteen years and now he’s sitting at home watching Oprah and waiting for his Blackberry to buzz. Sad.

By: Rayne

Rayne — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:59:54 +0000

So your boy is in the White House and your team holds an unassailable majority in both houses of Congress and your chief cook-and-bottlewasher has all along said they had “teh math”…

Why would Hatch need a defense fund in 2001?

Excellent point, EW.

Annoys me that we’ll have to take so many excursions to the past as we forge ahead…

By: leinie

leinie — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:49:02 +0000

bmaz, I said he wanted it, not that he’d get it. I agree, I think that ship sailed on him.

By: leinie

leinie — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:47:34 +0000

Craig does not have a defense fund.

Which is kind of odd, but I think the Statesman reported over the weekend that he was using his re-election coffers to pay for his legal bills, since he didn’t need them any longer.

On Hatch, I already consider you a goddess, but if you could sniff out provable malfeasance by that ratbastard, I’d have to find new heights to elevate you to. I really don’t like that guy.

By: bmaz

bmaz — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:47:29 +0000

Maybe, I dunno though. That would only account for the time since January 2005, when Ashcroft left. Hatch’s fund had been open for long before that. Hatch opened his fund for something long ago and has simply left it open. My guess is why not; once it is established you never have to do that again, just leave it inactive until you need it and if you never do, close it out when you leave.

Lienie - Hatch is never going to get an appointment to the Supremes; ain’t gonna happen. In the first place, with any luck, there will be a Democratic Administration for at least the next 8 years. Even if not, however, Hatch is too old to get a nomination. The Gooper want young nominees that can change the court to their liking for decades; they will never appoint somebody as old as Hatch.

By: Peterr

Peterr — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:42:18 +0000

To answer the question posed in your title, I think Mitch McConnell is quietly making that a job requirement for every GOP member of the Senate: “We’re all guilty here, so you better be ready for it when you walk in the door every morning.”