http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37707-2004Feb12.html
Judiciary GOP Supports
Probe
Senators
Break With Activists on Computer Hacking Case
By
Helen Dewar
Washington
Post Staff Writer
Friday,
February 13, 2004; Page A05
Breaking
ranks with conservative activists, several Senate Judiciary Committee
Republicans joined Democrats yesterday in supporting an investigation into the
infiltration of Democratic files on judicial nominations by GOP committee
staffers.
Despite
some expectations that the normally quarrelsome committee's first public
discussion of the investigation could set off political fireworks, the session
was unusually harmonious, marked by bipartisan expressions of outrage over
computer snooping.
"Conservatives
who offer justification for this based on politics have missed the boat,"
said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.).
"As a conservative, it runs against my philosophy of what the law is all
about."
The
investigation, conducted by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms William H. Pickle, should
proceed "wherever it goes, and let the chips fall where they may,"
said Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).
"No senator can permit unethical behavior."
"I
don't want my confidential files looked at by anyone else," said Sen. John
Cornyn (R-Tex.).
From
2001 to 2003, committee sources said, two Republican committee staffers
exploited a computer flaw to access thousands of
Democratic strategy memos and leaked their contents to sympathetic
publications. Both staffers have since left their congressional jobs.
In
a joint statement, Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat, said: "While it is
premature to judge whether any crime has been committed, it is clear that
unethical conduct has occurred." Hatch said he had personally expressed
regrets to Democratic senators and to staffers whose files were improperly
accessed.
Others,
including Cornyn, suggested a further investigation
by law enforcement authorities.
Although
not all Republicans spoke up, it appeared that Hatch had strong bipartisan
support on the panel for pursuing the probe, despite criticism from some
conservatives for his role in triggering the investigation.
Hatch
told reporters after the meeting that his computer files also had been accessed
but declined to say who was responsible. He repeated an earlier statement,
which infuriated some conservatives, that he was
"mortified that this improper, unethical and simply unacceptable breach of
confidential files occurred on my watch."
Some
conservative advocacy groups say any investigation should focus on the contents
of the Democratic memos -- which they describe as proof of Democrats' collusion
with liberal interest groups on judicial nominations -- instead of dwelling on
GOP staffers accessing the files.
While
some Republican senators have said more attention should be focused on the
Democratic memos, none mentioned this issue yesterday. But they did suggest
that partisan hostilities on the committee may have encouraged young staffers
to cut corners. "We are part of the problem because an atmosphere of
politics has crept into our deliberations, especially on judges," Kyl said.
Democrats
thanked Hatch, welcomed comments from other Republicans and continued to speak
of the computer snooping as a major scandal. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) compared it to Watergate.
"In those days, break-ins required physical presence, burglar's tools,
lookouts and getaway cars. Today, theft may only require a computer and the
skills to use it," he said. But, he added, "a
break-in is still a break-in."
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2004 The Washington Post Company
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