Pelosi and Hastings: A Danger to Our Nation

It appears possible that the classified NIE report which was selectively quoted by the New York Times a few weeks ago may have been leaked by a Democrat staffer.

Michael Barone, writing about the incident on his blog, reminds us of another disturbing point: Nancy Pelosi desires to replace Jane Harman with Alcee Hastings as the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

Hastings was impeached, convicted of bribery, and removed from his position as a judge. As Kenneth Timmerman wrote this week at Front Page Magazine, Hastings is one of just a handful of federal judges ever impeached and removed from office by the Senate. Unbelievably, following his conviction and removal he was not only elected to Congress, he has served on the House Intelligence Committee since 1999.

Hastings' judgment while serving in the House has also apparently been questionable. As Andrew Walden wrote recently, one of Hastings' staffers, his former attorney, was disbarred for mishandling client funds.

I can't fathom that House ethics rules would allow someone like Hastings, convicted of such a crime, to be the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, let alone on the committee. And I can't fathom that the Democrats care so little about our country that they would put Hastings in that position.

Hastings has already shown himself willing to commit bribery. How do we know he wouldn't accept a bribe himself in order to turn over classified information?

And in this post 9/11 era, why does our country have to take that risk?