Word: subpoenaing
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...entries. After the counsel reported back to the bipartisan committee that those entries contained information pointing to possible misconduct unrelated to the current inquiry, the committee asked to see the remaining 3,200 pages. Packwood balked, charging an infringement of his right to privacy. The committee responded with a subpoena. Last week in a five-page statement, ethics committee chairman Richard Bryan, a Democrat from Nevada, asserted that information seen by the committee counsel "raised questions about possible violations of one or more laws, including criminal laws...
Packwood's clumsy attempts to elude further scrutiny of his diaries served only to fuel the ethics committee's determination. By midweek, the committee convinced the Senate leadership to schedule a chamber-wide debate on its subpoena of the full diaries. The debate this week, which will be followed by a vote, will determine if the Senate proceeds to U.S. district court to enforce compliance. Plainly hoping to calm jitters and win votes, Bryan dismissed Packwood's suggestion that other Senators might be caught in a diary dragnet. "There is no witch hunt or fishing expedition under way," Bryan said...
...charges: sexual misconduct, intimidation and misuse of staff. Packwood maintains that it is "unfair and probably unconstitutional" for the committee to disclose incidents unrelated to those charges. In a letter to Bryan, the American Civil Liberties Union concurs: "The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that Congress cannot use its subpoena power to view material relating to private affairs that goes beyond the scope and purpose of a particular inquiry." Bryan counters that Packwood was specifically informed that "if the committee saw information related to possible other misconduct, the committee would be compelled to pursue the material." Bryan also notes that...
...some scholars argue, the writings are not automatically protected. "You have to show some constitutional immunity, some privilege against self-incrimination or free speech or freedom of association," says Jesse Choper, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. "As a general proposition, a court can subpoena records that contain reference to criminal conduct." Such legalistic caveats cannot fail to crimp amateur Samuel Pepyses, who scribble in faith that their scribblings will remain private...
...Fortunately, the Clinton administration, realizing the folly of attempting to impose U.S. domestic law on sovereign nations would deny subpoena powers to the board...