Democrat Congressman Ordered to Pay GOP House Leader For Illegally Taping Call
Democrat Congressman Jim McDermott, nicknamed Baghdad Jim for his support of Saddam Hussein and anti-American comments he made on Iraq soil during the lead up to the War, has been ordered to pay almost 1.5MILLION dollars to Attorney’s of and personally to Congressman Boehner for his part in illegally taping a cell phone call:
A federal judge in Washington has ordered Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott to pay more than $1 million in attorney’s fees awarded to Minority Leader John A. Boehner as part of a protracted lawsuit involving an illegally taped cell phone call.
U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Hogan ruled that McDermott, D-Wash., must pay $1,053,181, plus $520,761 in interest to Boehner, R-Ohio.
The payment order, issued Monday, stems from an unusual member-vs.-member case that Boehner filed long before he became the House Republican leader.
Boehner sued McDermott in 1998, accusing him of leaking the contents of a conference call that a Florida couple had illegally taped from Boehner’s cell phone in 1996.
In the call, Republican leaders, including then-Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia (1979-99), discussed responding to ethics allegations against Gingrich, who served as Speaker from 1995 to 1999.
McDermott at the time was the ranking Democrat on the House ethics panel.
McDermott’s defense? He claimed it was his First Amendment right to tape the call:
Over the years and through many layers of courts, McDermott argued that he was exercising his First Amendment rights and did not break the law because he did not participate in obtaining the information that he passed along to selected reporters. He maintained that position in the face of the latest court order as well.
“While the amount of damages assessed in this case is significant, I submit that defending the First Amendment is beyond measure and worth every penny,” McDermott said in a statement
Interesting defense, of course McDermott has voted against every FISA bill and amendment to restrict the Government from listening in on terrorists calls, but of course that makes perfect sense to a Liberal.
– ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx