Grassley Staffer is Beaten with a Baseball Bat

[Debi]

The FBI and Capitol Police are investigating the vicious attack of a top Senate staffer at her home last week amid concerns that the assault might be related to her work on the Finance Committee.

Emilia DiSanto, chief investigator for committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), arrived at her suburban Virginia home after work Wednesday about 6:30 p.m. As she was unloading belongings from her car, a 6-foot-1-inch white man dressed in black struck her repeatedly with an unidentified object believed to be a baseball bat.

After she screamed to her family inside the house, the assailant fled. DiSanto was transported to Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, where she was treated for significant upper-body injuries. Nine staples were needed to close her head wound.

<snip>

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/110805/news1.html

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What the hell is wrong with people?

[Fenris]

1. Jesus Christ!

That's unbelievable.

[Teaser]

2. Investigators believe it was related to her job.

How's that grab you?

[Brotherjohn]

3. I seem to remember another Repub congressional staffer being attacked...

... (and killed) by a blow to the head.

[NanceGreggs]

4. Yet another victim ...

... of good ol' GOP Christian family values.

[vademocrat]

5. Sounds like a hag Coulter worshipper...except they got the wrong party

[htuttle]

6. Well, that's how the Mob works

...and that's how the Bush mob works, too.

[villager]

7. we need to know who and what she was investigating...

n/t

[quiet.american]

8. "...related to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff...."

Grassley is known for his aggressive oversight of the public and private sector. Over the past year, he has scrutinized healthcare fraud, organ-donation procedures used by hospitals, drug-safety matters and the use of nonprofit groups related to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Hmn.

[kansasblue]

9. things the make you go ...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[yellowcanine]

10. Does Tom DeLay have an alibi?

[LincolnMcGrath]

20. BINGO

[Jara sang]

11. I wonder if it has anything to do with this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/18/national/18taxes.html?ei=5090&en=853f40381dc54986&ex=1253160000&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=all&position=

According to papers filed in Federal District Court in St. Croix, James Auffenberg Jr., owner of the St. Clair Auto Mall in O'Fallon, Ill., had $6.4 million in income in 2000. The bureau calculated that his total federal tax liability for that income was $2.3 million.

But Mr. Auffenberg is a partner in an economic development company. He claimed that $5.4 million of that income was eligible for the accompanying tax benefits, and paid the Virgin Islands some $97,000 in taxes.

The bureau contends that he owes it $102,000 more, something he disputes. Through his lawyer, Mr. Auffenberg declined to comment or provide the name of the company in which he is a partner.

I worked for one of Auffenberg's lawyers and over heard a conversation where he advised Auffenberg on getting a U.S. Senator, Grassley, to intervene at the IRS and the Justice Department. He said Grassley would write a letter on Auffenberg's behalf. It's a long shot, but this Auffenberg guy sounds like a real low life. Plus, he is a car dealer and we know how unscrupulous they are.

[melody]

12. The CIA nickname for Poppy Bush was supposedly the Ice Pick

Because he was ice cold and would do anything.

Big surprise.

[melissinha]

13. I wish her a speedy recovery

I think that working for someone does not indicate the political persuasion of a staffer, that being said there is NO REASON a staffer or politician should be attacked physically.

As a former constituent I can understand the disappointment in his position, but that by no means condones such conduct.

[quiet.american]

14. Agree 100%. n/t

[IA_Seth]

15. Craziness

From some of the posts I saw on this in the LBN forum it sounds like Grassley was investigating Abramoff and it is speculated that this could be related somehow.

Or it could be random violence. Who knows.

Either way, it's terrible and I hope she is ok.

[applegrove]

16. They are scary when they get desperate. They will do anything.

[Bluzmann57]

17. Hope they catch the M.F.er who did this

and punish him to the fullest extent of the law. Whatever one may think of Grassley and his policies, there is absolutely no reason for an attack like that. My guess, however, is that it was a random act of violence. Whether it was or not though, the attacker needs to have some serious jail time.

[pstans]

18. Where was Dobson at the time of this event?

He beats his dog, he could have done it.

[Rambis]

19. No mention of robbery

I hate to say this but it smells like a stunt to me. The neocons started a war for profit and oil they could easily crawl up to the gutter and beat a staffer to drum up a little bad publicity. I am not saying it happened but with the track record of these clowns it is not out of the realm of possibility.