CREW Watch

Well, they're at it again - a second October surprise for Curt Weldon. This hasn't shown up yet in the usual places, so this is from CREW's press release:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) violated the law by threatening those who made contributions to his political opponent Joe Sestak with retribution.

CREW received two emails describing Rep. Weldon's efforts. The first, sent to Mr. Sestak on June 29, 2006, described a "hit list" compiled by someone on Rep. Weldon's staff identifying people in the national security field who had made contributions to Mr. Sestak. The email indicates that a retired Navy flag officer reported that Rep. Weldon said something to the effect of "If they don't think there will be retribution before or after the election, they're kidding themselves." A second email, sent on July 21, 2006 states that Rep. Weldon had his staff contact Navy personnel to get information on Mr. Sestak.

Here are the emails, from CREW's blog:

All of the dark line redacting was CREW's doing already present in the documents I downloaded from CREW (They received them in pre-redacted condition). I smudged out a few names they left in place. (see this post for explanation of the change.)

I really like Curt Weldon. He's done a fine job for his district. But if this turns out to be genuine, it doesn't look good. Not being a lawyer, I can't say whether any of this would amount to any more than that. Of course, if it turns out that Weldon actually committed a crime, I'll applaud as he leaves office.

Also, notice that once again, CREW is admitting that they have hip-pocketed evidence of a crime (so they say) for several months in order to use it for political advantage. This time, apparently, with the assistance and knowlege of Sestak's campaign.

A few folks have predicted that these tactics will backlash against the Dems. I hope so. CREW (and their accomplices in the Sestak campaign) gets no points for their behavior here. Either they hid a crime for 3-4 months for political convenience, or it's a vile smear launched late enough into the campaign so that an investigation wouldn't be complete to clear Weldon before the election.

CREW and the Democrats have attained a new low in politics. These tactics should be enough alone to show the American public how unsuited to lead the Democratic Party really is.