Congressman accused of using staff to baby-sit (Conyers)

[rodeodance]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/12/griffin.conyers/index.html?section=cnn_topstories&eref=yahoo
Congressman accused of using staff to baby-sit

By Drew Griffin
CNN
Wednesday, April 12, 2006; Posted: 4:51 p.m. EDT (20:51 GMT)



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two former staff members of U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Michigan, say the longtime Detroit congressman made them baby-sit his children, run errands and work on political campaigns while they were on his congressional payroll.

Sydney Rooks, whom Conyers hired as a legal adviser in his Detroit office, recalls the lawmaker brought his two young sons into her office several times, saying, "Rooks, they're your responsibility for right now. I'll be back later."

She said later could be a few minutes or an hour. "Later could be frantically calling around trying to find him because it was now 8 or 9 p.m. or later in the evening and not knowing what to do with the children," she said.

Deanna Maher, who was deputy chief of staff in Conyers' Downriver office, says her baby-sitting duties turned into a stint as a full-time nanny. "He handed me the keys to his car and his house, take care of my child Carl and everything," Maher told CNN from her western Michigan home.

Maher says she moved into Conyers' Detroit home. She took care of his elder son for several weeks, she says, while the congressman was in Washington and his wife attended law classes in Oklahoma.........

[MADem]

1. I heard about this months ago, why are they recycling it again?

What has Conyers said lately to piss off the right? They keep trying to shut him down with this same accusation...

[rodeodance]

2. I don't know. yes. it is rather old.

Sloan now heads the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. In the case of ethics, she said neither conservatives nor liberals on Capitol Hill are held accountable.

[rodeodance]

3. more (looks like cnn has been actively pursueing this story)

CNN made several attempts recently to reach the congressman to answer these former staffers' allegations. Last week, Conyers declined to answer questions about duties assigned to his staff.

"I've been told not to discuss them because we haven't examined them," Conyers said of allegations in a hallway outside a congressional hearing room. "And I have an attorney."

CNN also placed several calls to Conyers' attorney, Stanley Brand, but they were not returned.

Aside from the baby-sitting allegations, one of the most serious complaints includes former staff members' accusations that they were ordered to work on political campaigns. The ex-employees say they used congressional staff time to work on local elections in Michigan, including a campaign for Conyers' wife, Monica, who is the Detroit City Council's president pro tem.

[MADem]

28. Well, THAT's a total hoot!!! The GOP NEVER does that, do they?

Tell their staffers to work on POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS!!!!!!!!! Uh, oh, wait a sec....



Most of the jerks in this pic are GOP STAFFERS!!!!!!!!

[TomInTib]

5. Two words - November elections

The thought of Conyers and Waxman chairing committees scares the living crap out of the WH.

[WhiteTara]

46. the two other words

Impeachment petition.

[Onlooker]

4. Republican tactics

They're desperately trying to drum up whatever dirt they can find on Democrats to make it look like the Dems are just as corrupt as they are. They don't defend. They attack. This is about the third Dem Congressperson who they're going after. But, still, by any measure, in terms of corrupt politicians, I think the Repugs outnumber Dems by a factor of at least 10:1. I hope the Dems fight back dirty!

[OKNancy]

6. Old, old news

???

[katinmn]

7. If she moved into his home, then she was a nanny.

I figure these are just p'o'd former employees who perhaps were fired.

To be fair, CNN should have interviewed other staff to get another point of view in the interest of fairness and balance. But that would be asking them to be journalists. And it would not help their cause which is to discredit Conyers for trying to hold Bush accountable.

Shame on CNN. But then again, they are becoming so FAUX-like its hard to tell them apart.

[me b zola]

30. It seems to be an outright smear job

I've seen cnn run the same taped story 4 times in the last couple of days.

[Judi Lynn]

8. They've already tried two different times to get traction with a story

on his wife's smacking a drunk in a bar. Conyers has been an outspoken critic of _Bush misconduct, and they've been after him a long time.

[stepnw1f]

9. Abramoff + GOP

This is what they got on him...? Big Deal.... laughable actually. Oh and let's not forget Ohio and voting irregularities with voting machine companies owned by Republicans. They commit treason and Conyers? He uses staff member for baby sitting... whoa! These people are nuts.

[Greeby]

10. Oh ferchrissakes

If this was the worst wrongdoing that could be found in Congress, we'd have no problem

[pokercat999]

47. We have a war criminal for pRESIDENT and

they report this?

G.W. Bush and Co are without a doubt war criminals the story is too big to report? Or we all know it and are complicit in the crimes? I don't get it.

In 2006 we will win the House and Senate in 2008 the Presidency.

In 2010 we will have to sweep the Democratic majority from public office and replace these mustache-petes with new blood and real progressives.

We must instill real ethics and have real penalties for lawbreakers and crooks in gov't.

[twiterpatted]

11. GW MURDERED 100,000 INNOCENT IRAQ CITIZENS

[LynnTheDem]

22. But Iraqi citizens aren't REAL human beings, so they don't count.

:eyes:

[SoCalDem]

32. And a DRUNKEN CHENEY SHOT A GUY IN THE FACE

nevermind.. a decades old "babysitting scandal" is front page news..:puke:

[melody]

12. The hired guns going after Bush critics

Same old, same old.

Just proves CNN is still the whore it always was.

[clydefrand]

13. Like me, Conyers is no spring chicken! Did he do this recently

or many years ago. If recently, he must have young wife. If many years ago, why bring this up now. They gotta go back years to find trash on him...like they did Clinton. Well, except for the Monica episode.

Lordy, lordy, this man was born in 1929. Wow! He's got a young wife. No wonder he's like the energizer bunny! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[rodeodance]

14. it does not say when occurred. but his went to Ethics comm in 2004

Maher, Rooks and two other staffers have filed complaints against their former boss with the U.S. House of Representatives' ethics committee. In 2004, one of those complaints initiated an informal investigation, but a senior congressional aide said that the probe was stopped abruptly.

In his 21st term in the House, Conyers is the second most senior member of Congress. He is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

CNN made several attempts recently to reach the congressman to answer these former staffers' allegations. Last week, Conyers declined to answer questions about duties assigned to his staff.

[notadmblnd]

15. This story going around again?

Conyers is an old man. He must have some pretty unruly 30 or 40 yr old kids by now. They still need babysitting?

[0007]

16. Is this the best they can do? This is absolutely nothing!

[DinahMoeHum]

17. Shit, this isn't even venal sin. . .

:evilfrown:

[Jose Diablo]

18. Rove is running down the list, eh

McKinney, now Conyers. Who's next Reid or maybe Kucinich.

Spelling

[AlamoDemoc]

19. CNN sucks...nough said. n/t

[BrightKnight]

42. This is not journalism.

It is a dim witted attempt at a partisan smear. CNN is apparently just FAUX light.

[magellan]

20. This is the worst they could come up?

Conyers takes advantage of his staff? What a bunch of wankers.

[pinto]

21. What a bunch of crap.

(on edit) LOL, and all that, as well.

[Patsy Stone]

23. Let the games begin!

Is this the best they can do? Doesn't someone have an overdue library book? They could expose that next.

[Canuckistanian]

24. OMG this is HUGH!

Obviously, the word has gone out - swiftboat Conyers. A few times I've ventured into RW sites and seen attack ads against him.

They consider him dangerous.

[hedgehog]

25. I say, give them a budget, let them spend it as they please

If they hire their third cousin's nephew's brother-in-law to clean out the garage back home, that's between the Congressman and his constituents. If he pockets the money and never answers a single letter from his district, same thing. If he hires a staff of go-getters who work their tails off night and day, so be it. End of story.

[ShortnFiery]

26. This is NOT news!

:wtf: Can we say distraction? * is strapping our children (and grandchildren) with a staggering deficit that WILL be felt for generations to come. And we're focusing on the validity of a Congressman's *babysitting services.*

We're also taking focus off of two crazy monarch who may lead the entire world into a NUCLEAR WAR?!? :nuke:

I'll pay the babysitter if we can please re-focus on to REAL NEWS?

Unbelievable :(

[Copperred]

27. WHO GIVES A SHIT!!!!!

[IndyJones]

40. LOL, see...he should have hired an illegal nanny!

LMAO! Who cares? This is news why?

[Brundle_Fly]

29. I watched this piece on tv.

Your basic hatchet piece, jumping on Conyers in the halls of congress.Thinking they were being all 60 minutes.


As a man who has people on his staff I can tell you that if they will do things for you that go beyond their duties, you will end up using them for it.

I can't fault Conyers for this, especially with his Impeachment motions and backing Feingold.

[SoCalDem]

31. Conyers has BABIES???

Oh my!

..

[BrightKnight]

41. guessing mid to late teens, bright and very well adjusted - n/t

[daleo]

33. Here's a link to a picture of the kids, when Clinton was president

http://www.house.gov/conyers/news_biography.htm

It doesn't say what year this is, but Clinton looks to be about mid-way through his two terms to me (going by the photo). The kids look to be about 6 and 10 in the photo.

So, this must go back quite a ways.

[JPZenger]

34. This is the Worst They Could Find on Him?

They go after one of Bush's harshest critics and the worst they find on the guy is babysitting?

I believe he's been in Congress for decades. I wish this was the worst offense of all our members of Congress.

[Beacho]

35. The world is on goddam fire

These psychotic freaks are about to commit another atrocity and THIS is what we're supposed to be concerned about?

No thanks!

[fujiyama]

36. This is their idea of a Dem scandal!

oMG it's babysittergate! :rofl:

C'mon you'll have to do better than that!

[katinmn]

49. Nice avatars Beacho and fujiyama!

I'll make it three in a row.

[Dr Fate]

37. I thought Conyers KILLED babies.

This really is a new angle on the well-known Conyers conspiracy to undermine the USA.

[Pryderi]

38. Lame. Grasping at straws.

[Weembo]

39. Neither "latest" nor "breaking"

[Catrina]

43. They used to ignore him, now they're attacking him. Looks like they

want to get rid of him, since he has the records of all their crimes. I remember when he went to the WH with half a million signatures and the WH wouldn't let him in. One of those sigs was mine. CNN didn't cover the hearings he had which REALLY AFFECTED the lives and deaths of US citizens and they're covering THIS? Thank god I cancelled tv a few months ago! What a waste of space these morons are.

First Cynthia McKinney and now Conyers ~ both members of the Black Caucus who backed the black officers of the Capitol Hill Police who filed a suit for discrimination against the CHP. The black officers involved in that suit have filed complaints about being harassed and having minor charges filed against them.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is retaliation against those members of Congress who backed the lawsuit.

Also of course, his relentless work to expose the crimes of this regime. Now that they're losing support, Conyers could be a real threat to them.

Oh, and if he needs a babysitter, I'd more than happy to do it for him so he can get on with the work of the country.

And when, btw, is CNN going to do a 60 minutes style, 'follow the perp around and stick a mic in his face' program on what happened on the Texas ranch during the 18 hours before the police were GIVEN PERMISSION to investigate the VP shooting a man in the face ~

[cantstandbush]

44. Hell, i took my kid to work once and asked my boss to babysit. He did. n

[SharonRB]

45. Personally, I've been saying he's being Swift Boated

Then I found out today on Ed's show this all happened 10 years ago. Why bring it all up now?

[nolabels]

48. Is this some kind of latent April fools joke or something?

CNN (Corporate Non-News network} credibility is starting to move right up there with *'s.

I guess them wacko's were correct all along, you can't make this stuff up :rofl: