Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 10 Num. 59

("Quid coniuratio est?")


INSIDE CONGRESS


Author Ronald Kessler Interviewed On C-Span

"IF THE CAPITOL POLICE ARREST SOMEONE WHO'S POWERFUL OR IF THEY ARREST A CONGRESSMAN, THEY HAVE TO UN-ARREST THAT PERSON... AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THEY DO ON A ROUTINE BASIS TO THIS DAY. THAT IS UNBELIEVEABLE; IT'S LIKE A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY. IT MAKES A MOCKERY OF THE WHOLE JUSTICE SYSTEM." -- Ronald Kessler, 5/26/97

Ronald Kessler, author of the recently released book, Inside Congress, was interviewed by Brian Lamb on C-Span, May 26th, 1997. (Thank God for C-Span.) Following are abbreviated excerpts of that interview.

(A note: Conspiracy Nation recalls a conversation with Mr. Sherman Skolnick when, apropos of nothing, that courageous crusader said, "Oh Brian [sighs], there's so much blackmail going on these days." Do Kessler's revelations have anything to do with increasing temperatures in the so-called "Whitewater" investigations, brought on in part by Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana? Does Kessler's book have anything to do with "tit for tat," in which warring factions throw dirt at each other? Answer: not known by this editor, but worth considering.)

(One other note: In light of Kessler's book, recent allegations of misconduct lodged against Rep. Luis Gutierrez (see CN 10.53, archived at http://feustel.mixi.net and, under "Hot News," at http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html, "Reputed Blackmailer and Dopehead Gets Pass") by Mr. Skolnick gain credibility.)

RONALD KESSLER:
...the corruption of the Capitol Police. Here's the Capitol Police, that are told by Congress if they arrest someone who's powerful or if they arrest a congressman, they have to un-arrest that person. It was covered up. I mean, "Forget it ever happened." And this is something that they do on a routine basis to this day. That is unbelievable; it's like a Third World country. It makes a mockery of the whole justice system. {1}

BRIAN LAMB:
[Reads from book] "...Senator Edward M. Kennedy allegedly once almost ran over a Capitol Hill police officer."

RONALD KESSLER:
Yeah. This is based on 350 interviews, almost all on-the-record. And one of the interviews was with a Capitol Police officer who said that Ted Kennedy, in the 1980s, was totally drunk and went through a red light and almost ran over this officer. And when the officer tried to get him in a taxi (because, of course, he wouldn't arrest him; you do not arrest a congressman), his superior came over and said, "Do you know what you're doing? This is Ted Kennedy. Let him go."

So he did. He gave him his keys and Ted Kennedy went off, totally drunk: could have killed someone; could have killed himself. This is the way the Capitol Police operate. This is the way the Capitol Police operate to this day.

BRIAN LAMB:
Here's a picture [from your book]: "Rita Jenrette(sp?) had sex with her husband, Rep. John W. Jenrette, Jr., on the steps of the Capitol. She later posed for Playboy [magazine.]"

RONALD KESSLER:
Well that's certainly a well-known story. I did interview her, to get the mechanics down of just how it happened.

The Capitol Police and other "little people" -- that's, e.g., the doorkeepers and people like that -- see these behind-the-scenes activities. It's things... For example, in the Dirksen Building there was a female staffer who used to have sexual trysts on a regular basis during coffee break time. The Capitol Police officers themselves were engaged in sex, at night. And to this day... [Rep.] Sonny Bono, for example, sexually harassed an intern on his staff. And just recently, the Capitol Police came across a former (very powerful) Representative Member having sex with a prostitute in broad daylight, at 5 pm, in his car. And this former Member had his expired congressional tag, and waved it. And that was enough to scare off this Capitol Police officer. He did not investigate further and, of course, did not arrest him.

BRIAN LAMB:
Let me go back to the Sonny Bono deal (because he's not here and can't defend himself): How do you know that? Do you take her word for it?

RONALD KESSLER:
I take her word for it; also, she confided in 4 congressional employees at the time it happened, which was last June. And I confirmed with all 4 of them that she had, in fact, confided to them at that time. She did not go public; did not file a complaint. Two months later, I interviewed her and she told her story.

BRIAN LAMB:
Why would she not file a complaint?

            -+-     You Don't Want To Take On A     -+-
            -+-  Congressman; You'll Ruin Your Life -+-

RONALD KESSLER:
She was advised by a lot of people in Congress, "You don't want to take on a congressman; you'll ruin your life." And at the same time, someone who's a friend of hers knew me and felt that I was a responsible journalist. And I convinced her that this is, you know, for a book (it's not for the National Enquirer) and that it's part of a look at this whole institution and what makes it tick and what's wrong with it. And so she felt that, in that format, she felt comfortable coming forward.

BRIAN LAMB:
Here's another picture: Rep. Charles Wilson introduced legislation to cut defense appropriations after being told he could not take his girlfriend, Anna Lee Eschlinko(?), a former Miss U.S. World, on a Pentagon plane.

RONALD KESSLER:
Well this is typical of the just out-of-control arrogance of Members of Congress. And it extends to, for example, today having custom-made furniture made for them by Senate and House employees to the tune of $20,000 per chair! Literally. We're talking about just a little chair, not a big chair. Silk-covered. And $12,000 stereo consoles, custom-made silk curtains, custom-made rugs costing two- and three-thousand percent more than what is available normally in the House and Senate inventory.

So this is something that's been covered up until now, and it's typical of the perquisites that these same Members who say, "We have to cut Medicare/Medicaid; we have to cut the deficit," engage in.

BRIAN LAMB:
Here's a photograph that says, "Teen-age female pages used to put on a show for the Capitol Police every night by undressing in front of open windows in this building, which became known as 'Virgin Village.'"

RONALD KESSLER:
Until a few years ago, the pages were 14-years-old and totally unsupervised. Again: a commentary on the irresponsibility of Congress.

-+- Fear Of Congress Spikes News Story -+-

BRIAN LAMB:
There was a story in the paper a couple of days ago that a feature on "20/20" (on ABC) about your book was dropped, at the last minute. And you're quoted in the article as saying something about the motive. What was the motive, in your opinion?

RONALD KESSLER:
If you look at the facts, it's pretty clear that the motive was simply fear of Congress. The piece had been in the works for about a month. Both the Washington Post and the New York Times had syndicated excerpts from this book; it had clearly passed the standards of the most pre-eminent journalism in the country. The executive producer of "20/20" gave the producer more praise about this piece after he saw it than at any time during this producer's 16-year career at "20/20," according to what he told me. It had also passed the lawyers. It also passed the standards person. And then, at the last minute, on Thursday night before it was to air, Roone Arledge wanted to see it -- and killed it. And the reason that was given was, he wanted it to be based on ABC's own reporting, because this was sensitive material. Well in fact, most of it was ABC's own reporting: it was not me, it was other people from the book who were on-camera: a couple of police officers, former-Senator Paul Simon... So it was, in fact, first-hand accounts by people who were eyewitnesses to these activities.

Disney and ABC have a lot of issues before Congress; they have lobbyists who want all kinds of things out of Congress. And I think it's pretty clear, given all the circumstances, that they simply were afraid.

---------------------------<< Notes >>--------------------------- {1} Regarding Kessler's allegations of Capitol Police covering up the misdeeds of powerful persons: in light of this, recall how the Park Police supposedly investigated the strange death of Vince Foster.


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