Letter from Congress
In response to my July 12th letter, my republican Congressman writes:
Dear Ms. Heatter:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me to express your thoughts regarding presidential advisor Karl Rove. It was good to hear from you, and I regret any delay in my response.
I appreciate your taking an interest in this issue. As you may know, in July 2003, syndicated columnist Robert Novak published a column identifying former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife Valerie Plame as a CIA employee. The Justice Department has launched an ongoing investigation seeking to identify Mr. Novak's source in order to determine whether or not administration officials have violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.
Additionally, in July, Time Magazine released information obtained by correspondent Matt Cooper while he crafted a follow up story on Novak's column. Some media sources have suggested that Mr. Rove may have acted improperly when questioned during Cooper's inquiry. I understand and share your concern with this issue and agree that any and all officials involved in improper or illegal behavior should be disciplined or prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. At the same time, I firmly believe that as an elected official I have an obligation not to judge such matters prematurely and am hopeful that further investigation will lead to a just and equitable outcome.
Again, thank you for taking the time to get in touch with me regarding this issue. Please do not hesitate to do so in the future regarding other matters of importance to you.
Sincerely,
.......................
Member of Congress
I'd love to see how this particular member, who was first elected in 1994, responded to similar letters regarding the Clinton administration. I'll bet they were far less temperate. I really should write another letter noting the difference between Fitzpatrick's criminal investigation and the obligation Congress has to investigate possible ethical and/or employment-related violations in the White House. Not that I overestimate the weight of my correspondence, but I feel obligated to participate in, as opposed to merely complain about, our democracy--which democracy neccessarily limits (or is at least supposed to limit) the power of any individual voice.
