Last week, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against Florida Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings.  You may recall that Hastings is one of only six federal judges ever to be removed from office through impeachment.  (He was convicted by the Senate on eight articles of impeachment related to a bribery scandal.) Most recently, Hastings was rejected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the chairmanship of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence after Judicial Watch and others complained about his corrupt history.

So, what did Hastings do this time?

The Florida Congressman violated federal law by attempting to improperly terminate the employment of our client, Mark Milosch, and three other employees of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (also known as the Helsinki Commission).  After rejecting Hastings for the sensitive intelligence post, Nancy Pelosi threw him a bone and installed him as Helsinki Commission Chairman.  Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Milosch, the Commission’s counsel.

Here’s why this is a shameless example of abuse of power on the part of Hastings, and a clear violation of the law:  By law, “[a]ll decisions pertaining to the hiring, firing, and fixing of pay of [Helsinki] Commission staff personnel shall be by a majority vote of the personnel and administration committee…”

After taking over as Chairman, however, Hastings began efforts to terminate employees without properly seeking the approval of his colleagues.  Hastings also ignored the strenuous objections raised by Congressmen Christopher Smith and Senator Sam Brownback, both Commission members, who noted Mr. Milosch’s “impressive academic and research credentials” in a February 2, 2007 letter to Hastings.  “The firings are illegal and simply cannot stand,” they wrote.  Indeed, the general counsel for the Commission issued a legal opinion that any firing/hiring action that does not have the support of the majority of the Commission leadership would be contrary to law.

Why did Hastings target these specific employees?  Well, I’ll tell you this.  They share one thing in common (aside from their stellar credentials).  They are all conservative and pro-life.  Hastings is not.  The attempted firings appear to be both political and illegal.  (Interesting to compare and contrast this story with the U.S. Attorney “scandal.”) Hastings seems to think that the Helsinki Commission is a political plaything rather than an independent agency set up to monitor important international human rights, religious freedom, rule of law (!), and labor rights (!) issues on behalf of the United States.

The bottom line, legally speaking, is this:  Congressman Hastings lacks the unilateral authority to fire Mr. Milosch.  A hearing is scheduled for April 16th.

As a result of our lawsuit, I understand that Hastings now says he won’t fire Mr. Milosch unless he gets the necessary 3 out of 4 votes on the personnel and administration committee.  Two members (Hastings and Maryland Democratic Rep. Ben Cardin) will vote in favor of termination.  Rep. Smith (R-NJ) is a solid vote against termination.  Senator Brownback (R-KS), who admirably co-signed a letter against the firings less than two months ago, is thought to now be on the fence.  Feel free to call Senator Brownback at (202) 224-6521, or email him here, and let him know what you think about Hasting’s illegal attempt to turn the Helsinki Commission into his personal fiefdom.  You can bet he’ll get a lot of pressure from Hastings (and Cardin) to buckle.

Hillary Clinton and “Plan B”

Hillary Clinton’s record of supporting abortion and her disdain for the sanctity of human life is nothing new.  And if she is using the powers of her Senate office to force the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make dubious decisions, we want to hold her to account for it.  Last week, Judicial Watch filed a new open records lawsuit against the FDA regarding Hillary Clinton’s drive to make the “emergency contraceptive pill,” commonly known as the “morning after pill,” available over-the-counter.  We filed the lawsuit, on March 21, after the FDA failed to comply with our August 2006 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking communications between the FDA and Hillary Clinton regarding “.75 levonorgestrel,” which is also known as “Plan B.”

Judicial Watch filed the original FOIA request after Senator Clinton threatened to block the July 2006 nomination of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach to head the FDA until the agency made Plan B contraceptives available without a prescription (making it potentially accessible to underage girls).  After Hillary’s bullying, the FDA approved Plan B for over-the-counter use on August 24, 2006, and Dr. von Eschenbach was confirmed in December 2006.  The FDA’s decision to approve Plan B seemed more about politics than science, especially given Hillary Clinton’s role in the process.  This was a simple request for documents, and the FDA’s delay in producing them is curious, to say the least.

Proponents of the “morning after pill” claim it is a means of birth control without an abortion… but the drug can also act as an abortifacient.  It can prevent an already fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine wall, in essence, ending a pregnancy.  Serious side effects and health complications have also been associated with ingesting oral contraceptives such as the “morning after pill,” which includes multiple doses of hormones.

This latest open records lawsuit is part of Judicial Watch’s larger campaign to educate the public about how Hillary and Bill Clinton have subverted government processes to advance their radical pro-abortion agenda.

In 2001, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the FDA related to the hasty approval of the dangerous abortion drug RU-486 in the waning days of the Clinton administration.  In response, the FDA released thousands of documents showing serious health complications resulting from the use of the drug.  As a result of our work here, many are calling for RU-486 to be pulled off the market for safety reasons.

Moreover, we have released several special reports about the Clinton abortion agenda, based on previously confidential records that we uncovered from the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I encourage you to visit our Internet site, www.judicialwatch.org, to read them.

“The Clinton RU-486 Files” details the drive to bring RU-486 – which has been linked to the deaths of at least six women – to market in the United States.  The second, “New Clinton White House Records Raise Disturbing Questions About Hillary Clinton and Abortion” provides new documentary evidence of Hillary Clinton’s central role in shaping pro-abortion policies in the Clinton White House.

Judicial Watch takes no position on candidates for public office, and Hillary Clinton is free to run for president, but we are also free to hold her (and the Bush administration’s FDA, for that matter) accountable to the rule of law.  And that is exactly what we plan to do.

Corruption Chronicles – the Judicial Watch Blog

If you haven’t checked out the Judicial Watch blog, Corruption Chronicles, it’s time to stop by and take a look.  Corruption Chronicles provides inside information and analysis on government corruption that you won’t read in your daily newspaper.  We post several entries each day, giving you the most up-to-date information on government scandals.  Read about illegal immigration, Hillary Clinton’s latest antics, judicial corruption, and more.  It is bad news for the politician or public official who makes it onto Corruption Chronicles.

Here are just a few of our recent entries:

Violations Force Feinstein Military Committee Resignation

A veteran California senator has resigned as chair of a powerful military construction committee after reports that for years she abused her position to award her husband’s companies billions of dollars in government contracts…

Hillary Buys Another Big Endorsement

Just weeks after paying $210,000 for the coveted endorsement of an influential southern black pastor, Hillary Clinton has agreed to double the money for the crucial endorsement of the leading politician in the state with the first presidential caucus…

U.S. Govt. Can’t Account For 623,292 Fugitives

Although the U.S. government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a program to assure that deported foreigners who represent a threat actually leave the country, more than 600,000 of them are fugitives whose whereabouts are unknown…

Each month, Corruption Chronicles’ readership grows, and so I encourage you join readers and journalists nationwide who have made Corruption Chronicles a part of their daily routine.  http://www.corruptionchronicles.com/

Tom Fitton is president of Judicial Watch, Inc., a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law. http://www.judicialwatch.org/