Years ago when Al Franken had a show broadcast on the 'Sundance Channel', I learned about a couple of names I felt were well worth knowing. David Brock was one, his Media Matters, (
http://mediamatters.org/), is well known here. The other name, Melanie Sloan from CREW, or Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, appears to be somewhat less well known here. I get CREW reports in my e-mail. IMO, CREW could be a resource more of my fellow DUers might take an interest in. So with nothing further from me, if you have not yet been introduced, please meet CREW:
http://www.citizensforethics.org/About CREW
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials -- regardless of party affiliation -- who sacrifice the common good to special interests. CREW advances its mission using a combination of research, litigation and media outreach. CREW employs the law as a tool to force officials to act ethically and lawfully and to bring unethical conduct to the public’s attention through:
Litigation
Freedom of Information Act Requests
Ethics Complaints
Internal Revenue Service Complaints
Federal Election Commission Complaints
Requests for investigations
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CREW Cuts October 2008 / Issue #018
CREW Sues Cheney Over Records - Court Orders VP Chief of Staff to Be Deposed
On September 8th, CREW, along with two eminent historians and three organizations of historians and archivists, filed a complaint against Vice President Cheney, the Office of the Vice President, the archivist and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). CREW's lawsuit alleges that Vice President Cheney is not preserving his papers as required by the Presidential Records Act (PRA). In an executive order issued in 2001, President Bush declared that the PRA applied only to the "executive records" of the vice president. Since that time, the vice president has made the claim that he is not part of the executive branch. In addition, the archivist has claimed that the congressional records of a vice president are his personal, not presidential, records and that he is free to dispose of them at will. As a result of these unlawful policies, without judicial intervention, on January 20, 2009, the vast majority of Vice President Cheney's records will not be transferred to NARA for eventual release to the public, but instead will remain under the vice president's custody and control. CREW also sought an order mandating preservation of all of the vice president's records pending the lawsuit.
On September 20th, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction requiring Vice President Cheney, the Office of the Vice President, the Executive Office of the President, the archivist and NARA to preserve all vice presidential records.
Four days later, the court granted CREW's request to take the depositions of David Addington, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, and Nancy Smith, a NARA official responsible for presidential papers under the PRA. These depositions should help us discover whether critical administration records are being preserved or deliberately lost to future generations.
Finally, just this week, on the eve of the first scheduled deposition, Vice President Cheney and the other defendants took the extraordinary step of filing an emergency petition for a writ of mandamus with the Court of Appeals in order to stop the depositions from going forward.
This latest legal ploy by the White House is an effort to prevent the public from learning the truth about records that belong to the American people.
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CREW FILES ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST SEN. KIT BOND FOR ROLE IN FIRING OF FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY TODD GRAVES
30 Sep 2008 // Washington, D.C. - Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (“CREW”) filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee against Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond (R-MO) for his role in removing Todd Graves, the former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, from his position.
More»
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/34419--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CREW Releases Fourth Annual Most Corrupt Members of Congress Report
On September 10th, CREW released its fourth annual report on the most corrupt members of Congress.
CREW's Most Corrupt Members of Congress provides a detailed analysis of the unethical and sometimes illegal activities of 24 congressmen and women who have most egregiously betrayed the public's trust.
CREW also launched the report's tandem website www.CREWsMostCorrupt.org, which offers short summaries of each member's transgressions as well as the full-length profiles and all accompanying exhibits. All previous corruption reports can be found on the site as well.
New to this year's study are Reps. Marsha Blackburn, Vern Buchanan, Vito Fossella, Dan Lipinski, Charlie Rangel, Laura Richardson and Mike Turner, and Sens. Mary Landrieu and Norm Coleman.
Of this year's list of 24, at least 12 are under investigation: Ken Calvert, John Doolittle, Tom Feeney, Vito Fossella, William Jefferson, Jerry Lewis, Alan Mollohan, Gary Miller, Tim Murphy, Rick Renzi, Don Young and Ted Stevens. One other, Charlie Rangel, is under a self-initiated House ethics committee investigation. With soaring gas prices, a housing market in crisis, rising unemployment, and a nation at war, elected officials should be prioritizing their constituents' needs over their own self-interests. Unfortunately, the members listed in CREW's Most Corrupt report have put their own needs above those they represent. This report holds them accountable for those choices.
Learn more:
http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/ 
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