Bilbray Premature Swearing-In, part 2
Evidence Hastert *knew* what he was doing.

(If you haven’t already, please read the “Conscoiusness of Guilt” story below first.)

Now, evidence has been uncovered that the premature swearing-in of CA50 (California District 50) candidate Republican Brian Bilbray of San Diego was no innocent mistake:

Upon further investigation (Aug 28, 2006)…

(…)
A careful look at the statement in the Congressional Digest reveals some interesting assumptions and perhaps careful planning. The Speaker, Hastert, administered the oath based on word from California’s Assistant Secretary of State for Elections that Bilbray “was elected Representative in Congress.” Several assumptions are embedded in this statement. First, Hastert knew that he needed an authority to justify the election as official. Second, he relied on state authority, Susan Lapsley specifically. Third, Hastert knew that there were only “unofficial results,” because those are clearly referenced yet he accepted the word of the Clerk that Lapsley had made the call that Bilbray “was elected Representative in Congress.” Finally, Lapsley, who has no official status in San Diego County where the election was held, used “unofficial results” to convey to the court that Bilbray was elected.
(…)

So, to clarify, Speaker Hastert recognized the fact that the state had ultimate authority to certify the election, AND was told that the results were “unofficial“, yet swore Bilbray in anyway.

This was no innocent oversight. It was a DELIBERATE circumvention of the election process with a FULL UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPLICATIONS.

This entry was posted on August 28, 2006 at 12:08 pm and is filed under Political News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.