Figures. Senate Dems Block Tea Party Meeting on Capitol Hill – Blame It on Bomb Scare (Video)

Unbelievable…
Yesterday, Rules Committee staffers shut down the Tea Party Debt Commission event on Capitol Hill, claiming at the last minute that the unofficial meeting violated Senate rules.
Here is the video:

The New York Times later reported that the meeting was cancelled because of a bomb threat.

A self-styled Tea Party debt commission was foiled Thursday in its effort to hold a Senate hearing on its proposals to reduce the deficit.

The 12-member commission, which was appointed by the libertarian group FreedomWorks, has been holding hearings across the country over the last several months. It had arranged for several Tea Party-aligned Republicans, including Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah, to convene what they called a “hearing” Thursday afternoon in the Russell Office Building, one of the three Senate buildings across the street from the Capitol. There it planned to present its final recommendations in which it declares, against the argument of many Republicans and Democrats alike, that Congress can erase the national debt and reduce spending at the same time it preserves the Bush-era tax cuts.

But the Capitol police shut down the room where they planned to meet, after a suspicious package was found in the office of Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama.

But, go figure, The New York Times was not exactly accurate.
Senator Lee’s staffers released this email chain yesterday afternoon (Note all the timestamps):

From: Armstrong, Lynden (Rules)
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 01:11 PM
To: McCoy, Ryan (Lee); Stokes, Spencer (Lee)
Subject: Re: URGENT: Tea Party Budget Hearing at 2:00pm

Ok. At this point, we have to pull the plug on the event.

Lynden C. Armstrong
Chief Clerk
U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee

From: McCoy, Ryan (Lee)
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 01:10 PM
To: Stokes, Spencer (Lee); Armstrong, Lynden (Rules)
Subject: Re: URGENT: Tea Party Budget Hearing at 2:00pm

Lynden I will be there in 10 minutes.

From: Stokes, Spencer (Lee)
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 01:05 PM
To: Armstrong, Lynden (Rules)
Cc: McCoy, Ryan (Lee)
Subject: Re: URGENT: Tea Party Budget Hearing at 2:00pm

Lynden,

I am in Utah but I will have Ryan McCoy find you. This was an event to get input from some Utahns and others about the Debt.

I have cc’d Ryan McCoy.

Spencer

From: Armstrong, Lynden (Rules)
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 01:03 PM
To: Stokes, Spencer (Lee)
Subject: URGENT: Tea Party Budget Hearing at 2:00pm

Spencer –

Please call me ASAP or meet down at SR-325 about the Tea Party Budget Hearing that is scheduled at 2:00pm. There are two problems with this and that is they are simulating a hearing which isn’t allowed and the Rules Committee has determined events of this nature are political and not allowed.

Lynden C. Armstrong
Chief Clerk
U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

But, the truth is, that members of Congress have been able to convene politicized “hearings” in government buildings for years. As Michelle Malkin reported, Democrat Rep. John Conyers’ held “basement hearings” on everything from impeachment to illegal immigration for years.

So, these same senate democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, who pretend they support free speech, only believe in free speech for democrats.
What a stunner.

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Thanks for sharing!