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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 10 Num. 59
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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INSIDE CONGRESS
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Author Ronald Kessler Interviewed On C-Span
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"IF THE CAPITOL POLICE ARREST SOMEONE WHO'S POWERFUL OR IF
THEY ARREST A CONGRESSMAN, THEY HAVE TO *UN-ARREST* THAT
PERSON... AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THEY DO ON A ROUTINE
BASIS TO THIS DAY. THAT IS UNBELIEVEABLE; IT'S LIKE A
THIRD WORLD COUNTRY. IT MAKES A MOCKERY OF THE WHOLE
JUSTICE SYSTEM." -- Ronald Kessler, 5/26/97
Ronald Kessler, author of the recently released book, *Inside
Congress*, was interviewed by Brian Lamb on C-Span, May 26th,
1997. (Thank God for C-Span.) Following are abbreviated
excerpts of that interview.
(A note: Conspiracy Nation recalls a conversation with Mr.
Sherman Skolnick when, apropos of nothing, that courageous
crusader said, "Oh Brian [sighs], there's so much blackmail going
on these days." Do Kessler's revelations have anything to do
with increasing temperatures in the so-called "Whitewater"
investigations, brought on in part by Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana?
Does Kessler's book have anything to do with "tit for tat," in
which warring factions throw dirt at each other? Answer: not
known by this editor, but worth considering.)
(One other note: In light of Kessler's book, recent allegations
of misconduct lodged against Rep. Luis Gutierrez (see CN 10.53,
archived at http://feustel.mixi.net and, under "Hot News," at
http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html, "Reputed Blackmailer and
Dopehead Gets Pass") by Mr. Skolnick gain credibility.)
RONALD KESSLER:
...the corruption of the Capitol Police. Here's the Capitol
Police, that are told by Congress if they arrest someone who's
powerful or if they arrest a congressman, they have to
- un-arrest* that person. It was covered up. I mean, "Forget it
ever happened." And this is something that they do on a routine
basis to this day. That is unbelievable; it's like a Third World
country. It makes a mockery of the whole justice system. {1}
BRIAN LAMB:
[Reads from book] "...Senator Edward M. Kennedy allegedly once
almost ran over a Capitol Hill police officer."
RONALD KESSLER:
Yeah. This is based on 350 interviews, almost all on-the-record.
And one of the interviews was with a Capitol Police officer who
said that Ted Kennedy, in the 1980s, was totally drunk and went
through a red light and almost ran over this officer. And when
the officer tried to get him in a taxi (because, of course, he
wouldn't arrest him; you do not arrest a congressman), his
superior came over and said, "Do you know what you're doing?
This is Ted Kennedy. Let him go."
So he did. He gave him his keys and Ted Kennedy went off,
totally drunk: could have killed someone; could have killed
himself. This is the way the Capitol Police operate. This is
the way the Capitol Police operate to this day.
BRIAN LAMB:
Here's a picture [from your book]: "Rita Jenrette(sp?) had sex
with her husband, Rep. John W. Jenrette, Jr., on the steps of the
Capitol. She later posed for Playboy [magazine.]"
RONALD KESSLER:
Well that's certainly a well-known story. I did interview her,
to get the mechanics down of just how it happened.
The Capitol Police and other "little people" -- that's, e.g.,
the doorkeepers and people like that -- see these
behind-the-scenes activities. It's things... For example, in
the Dirksen Building there was a female staffer who used to have
sexual trysts on a regular basis during coffee break time. The
Capitol Police officers themselves were engaged in sex, at night.
And to this day... [Rep.] Sonny Bono, for example, sexually
harassed an intern on his staff. And just recently, the Capitol
Police came across a former (very powerful) Representative Member
having sex with a prostitute in broad daylight, at 5 pm, in his
car. And this former Member had his expired congressional tag,
and waved it. And that was enough to scare off this Capitol
Police officer. He did not investigate further and, of course,
did not arrest him.
BRIAN LAMB:
Let me go back to the Sonny Bono deal (because he's not here and
can't defend himself): How do you know that? Do you take her
word for it?
RONALD KESSLER:
I take her word for it; also, she confided in 4 congressional
employees at the time it happened, which was last June. And I
confirmed with all 4 of them that she had, in fact, confided to
them at that time. She did not go public; did not file a
complaint. Two months later, I interviewed her and she told her
story.
BRIAN LAMB:
Why would she not file a complaint?
-+- You Don't Want To Take On A -+-
-+- Congressman; You'll Ruin Your Life -+-
RONALD KESSLER:
She was advised by a lot of people in Congress, "You don't want
to take on a congressman; you'll ruin your life." And at the
same time, someone who's a friend of hers knew me and felt that I
was a responsible journalist. And I convinced her that this is,
you know, for a *book* (it's not for the National Enquirer) and
that it's part of a look at this whole institution and what makes
it tick and what's wrong with it. And so she felt that, in that
format, she felt comfortable coming forward.
BRIAN LAMB:
Here's another picture: Rep. Charles Wilson introduced
legislation to cut defense appropriations after being told he
could not take his girlfriend, Anna Lee Eschlinko(?), a former
Miss U.S. World, on a Pentagon plane.
RONALD KESSLER:
Well this is typical of the just out-of-control arrogance of
Members of Congress. And it extends to, for example, today
having custom-made furniture made for them by Senate and House
employees to the tune of $20,000 *per* *chair*! Literally.
We're talking about just a little chair, not a big chair.
Silk-covered. And $12,000 stereo consoles, custom-made silk
curtains, custom-made rugs costing two- and three-thousand
percent more than what is available normally in the House and
Senate inventory.
So this is something that's been covered up until now, and
it's typical of the perquisites that these same Members who say,
"We have to cut Medicare/Medicaid; we have to cut the deficit,"
engage in.
BRIAN LAMB:
Here's a photograph that says, "Teen-age female pages used to put
on a show for the Capitol Police every night by undressing in
front of open windows in this building, which became known as
'Virgin Village.'"
RONALD KESSLER:
Until a few years ago, the pages were 14-years-old and totally
unsupervised. Again: a commentary on the irresponsibility of
Congress.
-+- Fear Of Congress Spikes News Story -+-
BRIAN LAMB:
There was a story in the paper a couple of days ago that a
feature on "20/20" (on ABC) about your book was dropped, at the
last minute. And you're quoted in the article as saying
something about the motive. What was the motive, in your opinion?
RONALD KESSLER:
If you look at the facts, it's pretty clear that the motive was
simply fear of Congress. The piece had been in the works for
about a month. Both the Washington Post and the New York Times
had syndicated excerpts from this book; it had clearly passed the
standards of the most pre-eminent journalism in the country. The
executive producer of "20/20" gave the producer more praise about
this piece after he saw it than at any time during this
producer's 16-year career at "20/20," according to what he told
me. It had also passed the lawyers. It also passed the
standards person. And then, at the last minute, on Thursday
night before it was to air, Roone Arledge wanted to see it -- and
killed it. And the reason that was given was, he wanted it to be
based on ABC's own reporting, because this was sensitive
material. Well in fact, most of it *was* ABC's own reporting:
it was not *me*, it was other people from the book who were
on-camera: a couple of police officers, former-Senator Paul
Simon... So it was, in fact, first-hand accounts by people who
were eyewitnesses to these activities.
Disney and ABC have a lot of issues before Congress; they have
lobbyists who want all kinds of things out of Congress. And I
think it's pretty clear, given all the circumstances, that they
simply were afraid.
---------------------------<< Notes >>---------------------------
{1} Regarding Kessler's allegations of Capitol Police covering up
the misdeeds of powerful persons: in light of this, recall how
the Park Police supposedly investigated the strange death of
Vince Foster.
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9