Political Briefings At Agencies Disclosed

Source: Washington Post


White House officials conducted 20 private briefings on Republican electoral prospects in the last midterm election for senior officials in at least 15 government agencies covered by federal restrictions on partisan political activity, a White House spokesman and other administration officials said yesterday.

The previously undisclosed briefings were part of what now appears to be a regular effort in which the White House sent senior political officials to brief top appointees in government agencies on which seats Republican candidates might win or lose, and how the election outcomes could affect the success of administration policies, the officials said.

The existence of one such briefing, at the headquarters of the General Services Administration in January, came to light last month, and the Office of Special Counsel began an investigation into whether the officials at the briefing felt coerced into steering federal activities to favor those Republican candidates cited as vulnerable.

Such coercion is prohibited under a federal law, known as the Hatch Act, meant to insulate virtually all federal workers from partisan politics. In addition to forbidding workplace pressures meant to influence an election outcome, the law bars the use of federal resources -- including office buildings, phones and computers -- for partisan purposes.

The administration maintains that the previously undisclosed meetings were appropriate. Those discussing the briefings on the record yesterday uniformly described them as merely "informational briefings about the political landscape." But House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), who has been investigating the GSA briefing, said, "Politicization of departments and agencies is a serious issue. We need to know more about these and other briefings."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042503046_pf.html

K&R

I also doubt that the participants in the meetings were solely political appointees. Even if they were, if they were physically located in one of our buildings, these briefings were wrong wrong wrong.

This is like the friggin' Harding administration here. It's disgraceful, and people should go to jail.

I kept trying to inform everyone that Karl was operating out of the White House which even I knew is illegal....

Republan party.

Either through no-bid government contracts (Katrina, Military, office furniture, you name it), where firms receiving the contracts are putting big chunks of that contract money back into the republican coffers, or directly by paying the salaries of those in office so that they can use the entire government staff to undermine Dem candidates, bring phony charges against Dems, disenfranchise dem voters, and on & on.

I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't work 1/3 of every day to pay those taxes to re-elect republicans.

:kick::kick::kick:

Karl Rove operating/conducting RNC activities on TAXPAYERS dime for starters.

Condi Rice traveling around the country campaigning for the re(S)election of her boss, on TAXPAYERS dime.

I'm sure there are more, but right now my mind is tired and can't think of more examples, but if anyone wants to add to the list feel free....

I do believe these activities are considered illegal.....

Source: washpost



Political Briefings At Agencies Disclosed
White House Calls Meetings Lawful

By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 26, 2007; Page A01

White House officials conducted 20 private briefings on Republican electoral prospects in the last midterm election for senior officials in at least 15 government agencies covered by federal restrictions on partisan political activity, a White House spokesman and other administration officials said yesterday.

The previously undisclosed briefings were part of what now appears to be a regular effort in which the White House sent senior political officials to brief top appointees in government agencies on which seats Republican candidates might win or lose, and how the election outcomes could affect the success of administration policies, the officials said.

The existence of one such briefing, at the headquarters of the General Services Administration in January, came to light last month, and the Office of Special Counsel began an investigation into whether the officials at the briefing felt coerced into steering federal activities to favor those Republican candidates cited as vulnerable.

Such coercion is prohibited under a federal law, known as the Hatch Act, meant to insulate virtually all federal workers from partisan politics. In addition to forbidding workplace pressures meant to influence an election outcome, the law bars the use of federal resources -- including office buildings, phones and computers -- for partisan purposes..........

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042503046.html?nav=hcmodule

......White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said that he was not familiar with the details of the briefings for other agencies, but that the projected fate of specific candidates was "certainly" discussed. He also said that in addition to the 20 briefings given in 2006-2007, "there were others throughout the last six years," making clear that this was a common Bush administration practice during each election cycle.

Stanzel said that Rove "occasionally spoke to political appointees at departments and agencies" but that his presentations were more "off the cuff" and were meant to convey "their importance to advancing the president's agenda."

At the Commerce Department, briefings by White House political officials were conducted in 2002, in March 2004, and in April 2006, according to department spokesman E. Richard Mills, who described them as "purely informational," legal and appropriate. More than 100 political appointees at the department were invited to each one, and they were held in the headquarters building's main auditorium.

As a middle manager in a state office its very hard not to talk politics and speculate prior to an election. There are too many appointed department/administrative heads with little or no experience in what they are doing. Every one of them doing their best to make their boss look good (and more importantly not make them look bad, see FEMA). Can't tell you how many times one side or the other has used something we're working on to do make themselves look good or their opponent look like a goat. It's the part of my job that I hate, but there really isn't anything I can do about it.

It is not coffee machine talk about politics. It is about organizing the work of federal agencies and employees for purely political purposes, without even the hint of some other good accruing to the public. If this happens in your workplace, you should blow the whistle, because it is fucking illegal. It is a federal crime at the federal level, a criminal act, and I suspect it is a criminal act at the state level as well.

This is Tammany Hall type stuff, not framing a memo to make the boss look good.

but reality is that political hacks have infiltrated every level of government (which is a sad thing). Most of the people in our organization are careful not to be overly overt in their intentions, but you know what they're up to. It's one thing to try and implement your boss's priorities and make a public relations splash, its another if you're overtly out to do harm to your political opponents. This is a fine line to walk and it takes some type of political skillto do it. From what I've seen, *'s people haven't mastered that yet. Peace

You mean they haven't mastered not breaking the fucking law? No fucking kidding! Unfortunately people who can't master that often end up in prison, regardless of how hard you may try to dismiss it.

I hate it in any shade or from any party. It's petty and grandstanding and makes it nearly impossible to get my work done. Anything like the K-street project needs to be stopped. In my dream world the political appointees would be more interested in helping me do my job instead of looking for PR opportunities to do themselves or their bosses a favor.

A political officer stationed in every office, assuring that everyone is doing the will of the masters through both ongoing education and constant observation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politburo

But hey, folks, it's okay, because it's AMERIKA!

a lot more than 15 agencies. Since SCOTUS appointed Bush in 2000 the gloves were off. They could do and have done anything they want to further their cause. They made no real effort to hide much, their in your face attitude is proof. They owned this country lock stock and barrel and almost everyone in it. Voters still do not have their eyes open to all that has taken place, I would say a lot don't really want to believe all the Bush gang has done....while eyes are opening we still have a lot of work to open more.

This is what happens when people become brain washed....

They clearly had no intention or expectation of losing elections any time soon. How could they not see that this is illegal?

That's what happens when you 'steal' elections. You lose any touch with reality and
begin basing decisions on fiction.

:rofl:

Tell me again Karl How did that work out for you? Oh yeah, you got served.....

Again:rofl:

:scared:

By the end of yesterday afternoon, all of those describing the briefings on the record had adopted a uniform phrase in response to a reporter's inquiries: They were, each official said, "informational briefings about the political landscape."

Nice.

I used that description many times but this is the first time I really, truly believed it! The Republican Party really is an organized, criminal enterprise.

back on the table?

In the GSA briefing -- conducted like all the others by a deputy to chief White House political adviser Karl Rove -- two slides were presented showing 20 House Democrats targeted for defeat and several dozen vulnerable Republicans.

of different things we're investigating that nothing will be completely effective in making a comlpete change.

Honestly, I'm so fed-up with the thugs that I don't care if anything else is done by Congress this year as long as every g*ddamned illegal activity by bushco is exposed and punished to the highest degree possible.