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Calls Increase for Hastert to Resign Over Foley Scandal
First Member of SHAC 7 Heads to Jail for Three Year Sentence
War Resister Darrell Anderson Returns From Canada to Face
Possible Charges
Calls Increase for Hastert to Resign Over Foley Scandal
Calls are increasing for House Speaker Dennis Hastert to
resign over his handling of the Mark Foley scandal. We speak
with a reporter at The Hill newspaper about the political
fallout and the ABC News producer who first obtained the sexually
explicit Internet messages Foley sent to underage male congressional
pages. [includes rush transcript]
We begin by looking at the Foley Congressional scandal which
has rocked Washington D.C five weeks before the mid-term elections
and could cost the GOP control of the House.
Mark Foley, a Republican Congressman from a wealthy district
in Florida resigned on Friday after ABC News revealed that
he exchanged sexually explicit internet messages with teenage
boys who used to work as pages on Capitol Hill. Yesterday,
Foley checked himself into rehab stating he was being treated
for "alcohol and emotional problems." Meanwhile,
the FBI has begun examining whether Foley broke federal law
and top Republicans are being charged with covering up his
misdeeds. Speaker of the House Denis Hastert initially claimed
he just learned about Foley's actions, but Republican Congressman
Thomas Reynolds later revealed that he had personally told
Hastert months ago. Hastert allowed Mark Foley to remain the
co-chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children
up until Friday. This is Speaker Hastert yesterday.
- Dennis Hastert (R - IL): "No one in the Republican
leadership, nor Congressman Simkus saw those messages until
last Friday when ABC news released them to the public. When
they were released Congressman Foley resigned and I am glad
he did. If he had not I would have demanded his expulsion
from the House of Representatives."
ABC News Chief Investigative correspondent Brian Ross broke
the story on Friday when he published transcripts of some
of Foley's online exchanges.
First Member of SHAC 7 Heads to Jail for Three Year
Sentence
We look at one of the country's most controversial cases
involving the prosecution of activists for animal rights.
Earlier this year, six people were convicted for their role
in a campaign to stop animal testing by the British scientific
firm Huntingdon Life Sciences. The activists are with a group
called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, or SHAC. We speak with
Andrew Stepanian, one of the convicted members of the SHAC
7 on the day he heads to prison for a three-year sentence.
[includes rush
transcript]
We look at one of this country's most controversial cases
involving the prosecution of activists for animal rights.
Earlier this year, six people were convicted for their role
in a campaign to stop animal testing by the British scientific
firm Huntingdon Life Sciences.
The activists are with a group called Stop Huntingdon Animal
Cruelty, or SHAC. Unlike other cases, the activists were never
accused of causing physical damage. Instead, they were convicted
of targeting Huntingdon workers, shareholders, and associates
by posting personal information about employees and their
families on the internet. The case has drawn scrutiny from
civil rights advocates who say groups like SHAC have been
singled out because they campaign against major corporations.
The FBI has called animal rights groups the nation's number
one domestic terror threat.
Our next guest is a SHAC 7 member whose jail term begins
today. Andrew Stepanian has been sentenced to three years
in prison - the maximum allowed under the Animal Enterprise
Protection Act. He is the first SHAC 7 member to go to jail
following the convictions. We also speak with Andrew Erba,
one of the lead attorneys in the case.
- Andrew Stepanian, member of SHAC 7. He joins us on the
line from Huntington, New York. More information at SHAC7.com.
- Andrew Erba, one of the lead attorneys in the SHAC 7
case. Speaking to us from Philadelphia.
Special thanks: Footage from a forthcoming documentary
by Z-Axis Productions,
produced by Andy Roth and Hal Weiss.
War Resister Darrell Anderson Returns From Canada
to Face Possible Charges
Specialist Darrell Anderson came back from Iraq nearly two
years ago with a Purple Heart and an order for a second deployment.
Instead, he fled to Canada where he's been until this week.
Specialist Anderson returned to the United States where he
could face charges. He'll be turning himself in to the military
later today. He joins us on the line from Lexington, Kentucky.
[includes rush
transcript]
Army Medic Agustin Aguayo, Specialist Mark Wilkerson, Specialist
Suzanne Swift, Lt. Ehren Watada, and Sgt. Ricky Clousing.
Those are just some the American service members we have interviewed
recently who are refusing deployments to Iraq. Well today,
we bring you a new voice. Specialist Darrell Anderson came
back from Iraq nearly two years ago with a Purple Heart and
an order for a second deployment. Instead, he fled to Canada
where he's been until this week. Specialist Anderson returned
to the United States where he could face charges. He'll be
turning himself in to the military later today. He joins us
on the line from Lexington, Kentucky.
- Spc. Darrell Anderson, Purple Heart veteran of the Iraq
war. Fled to Canada in January of 2005 and returned just
this week. He is turning himself in to the military today.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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