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Essays, Opinion, & Commentary |
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August 14, 2002 Something to Think About
by Gordon Francis Corbett
On 22 July 2002, Judicial Watch's process server attempted to serve Vice-President Cheney with a complaint and a summons at the White House (probably one of the Executive Office Buildings, not the Executive Mansion itself). Cheney's Secret Service guards refused to admit him. Sergeant Reese threatened to arrest him if he dropped the papers. (Dropping papers on the "servee's" premises may constitute service.) Cheney adviser Mary Matalin said that the server's attempt was "a PR stunt," and said that Judicial Watch had been told to deliver the papers to Cheney's private attorney. She did not add, "who shall file and forget them." Apparently, Cheney wants Judicial Watch to distinguish between Cheney as an official and Cheney as a private individual. His point may be that Cheney the private individual has gone into a time-warp until Cheney the official ceases to exist. That point could be over fifteen years away, when some of Cheney's alleged corporate victims and witnesses may have slipped into senility. Judicial Watch's Chairman, Larry Klayman, may be trying to resurrect the legal repertory we saw during the Clinton Administration, but using a different libretto. Klayman's lawsuits never made Clinton's White House minions testify meaningfully; their indolent, insolent, and sometimes loutish behavior before Klayman's video cameras never caused any to serve one day in jail. And, although the House impeached Clinton, the Senate acquitted him. Not counting embarrassment, Clinton's videotaped lies cost him only a temporary loss of his license to practice law. Yet, Klayman's suits were not futile. They showed that a small law firm could make even a President of the United States testify about allegations of vile conduct. This fact may have led Cheney to decide not to let himself be sued. If so, we may see someone, perhaps even Klayman himself, approach Cheney at a political event, hand him the papers, and promptly get arrested. It may all depend, to use a now seldom-heard phrase, on whether Klayman is willing to "cause a scene." Having said that, is "causing a scene" not worthwhile when public officials flout the law?
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Something to Think About Index |
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