US House Member from Michigan’s 14th District, John Conyers has a history of dirt that gets longer with each passing year. Lately, reports of his using staffers as baby sitters, chauffeurs, tutors and campaigners for other politicians is making the news.
Former Conyers aides press ethics complaints
Two former aides to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) have alleged that he repeatedly violated House ethics rules.
Deanna Maher, a former deputy chief of staff in Conyers’s Detroit office, and Sydney Rooks, a former legal counsel in the district office, provided evidence for the allegations by sharing numerous letters, memorandums and copies of e-mails, handwritten notes and expense reports with The Hill.
In letters sent separately by each woman to the House ethics committee, the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office, they allege that Conyers demanded that aides work on several local and state campaigns and forced them to baby-sit and chauffeur his children. They also charge that some aides illegally used Conyers’s congressional offices to enrich themselves.
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“If he asked you to do something, you knew you had to do it,” said Rooks, 54, who administers a homeless shelter in Detroit.
She told The Hill that she tutored “Little John,” as Conyers’s elder son is known, when he was a student at the Cranbrook School, a private school in Bloomfield Hills. The tutoring took place during normal working hours, and she was not given additional compensation for the work, nor was she reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses.
Rooks said when the son received low grades, Conyers told her, “‘Well, Rooks, you can add tutoring to your list of stuff to do.’”
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A former staffer who has worked for two House Democrats said, “This type of behavior is so prevalent, the unofficial duties that members require you to do off-the-record. Most staffers are subjected to this unfair treatment. It’s the great untold story on Capitol Hill.”
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Conyers’ misuse of his aides is terrible, but not unique. Unfortunately too many of our elected representatives do dirt like that and I hope others are also exposed. But obviously Conyers’ abuse of his aides was so bad that more than one has decided to speak out publicly.
But wait, there’s more. Because corruption is nothing new for John Conyers!
There are even reports of his office misappropriating food donated for the poor.
Did Conyers’ Staff Steal Food From The Hungry?
Drudge carried a report from the Detroit Free Press that the staff of Rep. John Conyers took turkeys from a Detroit food bank and passed them to their cronies, rather than to the poor people in Conyers’ district.
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It also seems he likes to have his own unauthorized Judiciary Committee hearings.
Judiciary GOP pulls the plug on Conyers ‘forums’
In December, ranking Democrat John Conyers (Mich.) began holding “forums” — gatherings with all the trappings of official hearings — after Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) refused to hold hearings on topics Conyers requested. The forums have been held in smaller committee rooms, often with C-SPAN coverage and formal witness lists.
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Majority spokesman Jeff Lungren said the Republicans have given Democrats three opportunities to make clear that the forums are not official committee business. Nevertheless, Lungren said, in at least one case, members were addressing Conyers as “Mr. Chairman.”
“They were unwilling or unable to make those changes,” Lungren said. “At this point, if they want to hold these forums, they’ll have to find some other place to do it.”
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And we know he likes to have meetings to try and impeach President Bush.
Move underway to impeach Bush
Conyers, anti-war activists charge ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’
Formal efforts are now underway to impeach President Bush over allegations that a pre-emptive strike against Iraq constitutes “high crimes and misdemeanors,” Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, reported today.
A meeting Tuesday assembled between 40-50 prominent liberal attorneys and legal scholars who mulled over articles of impeachment drafted against President Bush by activists. The two-hour session featured former attorney general-turned-activist Ramsey Clark and took place in the downtown office of a prominent Washington tort lawyer.
Participants said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., who hosted the meeting, was the only member of Congress to attend.
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Ramsey Clark was featured at Conyers’ “Bush impeachment” meeting and Clark is now on Saddam Hussein’s legal defense team!
As the saying goes, a man is known by the company he keeps.
In 1991 Ramsey Clark was trying to get then President George H.W. Bush impeached, because back then Liberals were upset about the first Gulf War.
Conyers backs away from impeachment
University of Illinois law professor Francis Boyle, who drafted the articles of impeachment, told WND that it is now a “matter of public record” that Rep. Conyers hosted, convened and asked for the meeting.
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In 1991, Boyle served as counsel for the impeachment issue to Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez (deceased). At that time, both Boyle and Clark worked on the language of impeachment. On Jan. 16, 1991, Gonzalez introduced a resolution to impeach former President George H. W. Bush.
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The House Ethics Committee needs to do something about Congressman Conyers’ corrupt actions. And given Congressman Conyers’ ties to one of America’s greatest enemies, it is a shame that this man is continually re-elected. John Conyers is upset that President George W. Bush went after Saddam and Congressman Conyers was against former President George H.W. Bush’s efforts in the first Gulf War. No matter the coalition against Saddam, Conyers is always against the attack! Which makes him a full defender of an enemy of America.
update (3/8/2006 3:14PM ET): Michelle Malkin is covering this today.
