Sekula-Gibbs demands probe of aides who quit

[Judi Lynn]

Nov. 17, 2006, 1:46AM
Sekula-Gibbs demands probe of aides who quit
She says the 7 who left deleted records, brought 'shame' to office

By EUN KYUNG KIM and MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The turmoil in newly elected Rep. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' office deepened Thursday with the Houston Republican demanding a congressional investigation of aides who quit in a mass walkout earlier this week.

Sekula-Gibbs said the staffers, holdovers from her predecessor Tom DeLay, deleted records from the office's computers Monday, the day before seven of them resigned in apparent protest of their treatment.

"As public servants, they have harmed the 22nd Congressional District and they have brought shame to this office," Sekula-Gibbs said in a statement. "I have a duty to investigate."

Sekula-Gibbs was elected to complete DeLay's term. Democrat Nick Lampson will succeed her when the next two-year term begins in January.
(snip/...)

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4341776.html

[acmejack]

1. This woman is an idiot!

Fortunately her term is only six weeks long.

edit: She must be apiece of work to have this sort of effect on everyone who comes into contact with her. I suppose Dermatologists are supposed to be abrasive.

[jobycom]

6. She's a Texas Republican, you expected otherwise? She's following

in the tradition of Tom DeLay, Kay Bailey Hutchison, George Bush, Rick Perry....

[IndyOp]

2. Any investigation will just reveal their culpability in Delay's crimes, right?

No shock they fleeing like rats off a sinking ship...

:shrug:

[Richard Steele]

3. We can only hope this doesn't hinder her ambitious legislative agenda!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[davidinalameda]

33. nice comment

[Virginia Dare]

5. The Black Widow speaks!.....

She is a moron of the first degree. I hope they do open a "probe", let's find out what was in those files that were deleted. The Democrats should get right on that for you Shelly.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2733473

[Jack Rabbit]

31. That was my reaction

I really don't know enough about Ms. Sekula-Gibbs to guess what her outrage is really about or even what the problem of the seven staffers was. but they were DeLay holdovers and that, in turn, causes me to think, rightly or wrongly, that they destroyed evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

There should be an investigation. There should be one underway as it is.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

7. Gee

that "special election" gambit sure worked out well for the Repubs, didn't it?

:rofl:

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

8. I guess

This what Katherine Harris's office would have looked like had she won.

:rofl:

[fob]

9. Woohooo! Hello Dems! Support her request and demand she

have SUBPOENA powers and a $70 million dollar budget! That way Nick can continue the republick investigation when he takes the seat!!!

[NVMojo]

29. I agree!!!

[Judi Lynn]

30. Great idea! They should get behind her. Now. n/t

[Election]

39. Maybe ... maybe not

Let's not forget exactly what this is, a political stunt for Sekula-Gibbs's 2008 House run!!! :)

[seafan]

10. WP: DeLay Successor Seeks Inquiry Into Missing Computer Files

DeLay Successor Seeks Inquiry Into Missing Computer Files

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 17, 2006; Page A04

Just when it seemed things could get no stranger regarding the House seat once held by Texas Republican Tom DeLay, his successor called for an investigation into missing computer records last night, and an aide accused her of "disrespect and unprofessionalism."

Rep. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (R-Tex.), who is warming the 22nd District seat for only a few weeks, said that former DeLay employees apparently deleted the office's computer files shortly before they walked out, en masse, on Tuesday.

The records dated from her assumption of the office Nov. 8 and did not involve matters related to the former majority leader, Sekula-Gibbs said in an interview in her unadorned office in the Cannon Building. Those who erased the records, she said in a statement, "have harmed the 22nd congressional district" and "brought shame to this office." She has asked for an investigation.

David James, DeLay's former chief of staff, who stayed to work for Sekula-Gibbs -- until Tuesday's walkout -- said last night that the office computers "were scrubbed and reconfigured by an outside vendor in the days immediately prior to her assuming office," as House policies require. The new congresswoman was given a copy of everything "electronically or in hard copy, or both," James said in a statement.

snip

Another source:

DeLay's Replacement Says Staff Deleted Records And Files

11/17/2006

Houston (AP) — The newest member of Congress, who is temporarily filling former Majority Leader Tom DeLay's Texas seat, wants an investigation into the destruction of computer files in her office by staffers she inherited from DeLay.
Rep. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, R-Texas, said the staffers resigned en masse and walked out Tuesday, a day after she was sworn in to fill DeLay's seat for the next seven weeks. A Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, reported the staffers did not like the way she was treating them.

Sekula-Gibbs said in a statement Thursday that seven employees in her Washington office and the district office in Stafford, Texas, outside Houston, “deleted records and files without my knowledge or permission” on the same day she was sworn in.
Spokeswoman Lisa Dimond told The Associated Press that the congresswoman had not yet gotten a response to her request for an investigation by the House's chief administrative officer.

Sekula-Gibbs said the walkouts were “suspicious” in that the seven took the time to delete files before leaving without notice.

Dimond said other staffers discovered the work-related files were missing when they tried to access them.

David James, former deputy chief of staff for DeLay, released a statement Thursday saying that the computers in the office were “scrubbed and reconfigured” according to House rules on transition between members and that work performed for the congresswoman during the brief time he worked there was preserved.

“The staff members have a combined thirty-plus years of experience working on the Hill,” James wrote. “Never has any member of Congress treated us with as much disrespect and unprofessionalism as we witnessed during those five days.”

Sekula-Gibbs has raised a few eyebrows on Capitol Hill in her first three days in office, largely because of the mass resignation.

Another source:


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4341776.html">Sekula-Gibbs demands probe of aides who quit

By EUN KYUNG KIM and MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

November 17, 2006

While Dimond acknowledged the computers were clean when the congresswoman opened the office on Nov. 9, she said the former aides deleted recently created files Monday, the day before they walked out. The files related to research on Ellington Field, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Medicare, she said.

[texpatriot2004]

11. Handcuff those run-away staffers pronto nm

[Roy]

16. Contact Homeland Security... maybe they can locate 'em... n/t

[texpatriot2004]

23. Homeland Security should do something to earn their keep nm

[napi21]

12. Are these staffers really THAT stupid?

They had all kind of time to do their scrubbing prior to the damn election and after DeLayleft office, but they wait until a new person comes in and THEN do it so they'll get caught??????

Geesh!

[Richard Steele]

13. It's pretty damning when even Tom Delay's staff CAN'T STAND YOU.

SNIP>
James and half a dozen other former DeLay staffers
were on board to help Sekula-Gibbs finish the 109th
Congress's business.
But they abruptly left their posts Tuesday, during
her open house celebration. Sekula-Gibbs said she has
no idea why they left. But James said in his statement:
"Never has any member of Congress treated us with as
much disrespect and unprofessionalism as we witnessed
during those five days."
END SNIP>
(bold letters MINE)

[Tight_rope]

14. "disrespect and unprofessionalism"?....hummm let me interpretation

They mean "Never has any member of Congress not treated them with free gifts, such as free tickets to the games, a ski trip or 2, and don't forget the 2 weeks paid vacation in the Bahama's"

[yellowcanine]

18. Maybe the staffers just didn't want a new boss who did things differently?

Maybe both sides were carrying chips on their shoulders? Either way, elected rep is boss so the staffers had no right to destroy files without her permission no matter how badly they think they were treated. The only thing they have the right to do is say "I quit", collect their PERSONAL belongings, and leave. Anything beyond that and they are in legal jeopardy, imo.

[Richard Steele]

21. Well, they initially agreed to stay on for her 2 month term.

They didn't decide to walk out en masse until they
had spent a few days working with her.

And of course, they claim that the computer files
she needed were given to her, so who knows where the
truth lies there?
Personally, if there was some sort of incriminating
evidence on those HDs, I doubt very much that they
would have waited so long to erase it. But I have no
way to know what the real truth is at this point.

[Stewie]

28. It's SOP to delete files

It's actually some kind of House rule that files the successor does not need be deleted.

She's just bat-sh!t insane.

[TankLV]

25. "treated us with as much disrespect and unprofessionalism"

GODDAMMIT, you sucking excuse for a temporary congresswoman - THEY'RE ALL REPUKES! - THAT'S WHAT THEY DO! - WHAT DID YOU EXPECT - DECENCY?!

and, to top it off - THEY WERE DELAY'S REPUKE STAFF!

Asshole...

[pinerow]

15. hehehe...they are eating their young...!

:rofl:

[yellowcanine]

17. Holy crap - those staffers broke the law. All computer records are the

property of the employer - in this case the U.S. Congress (actually the American people). When you quit your job you can't just wipe out all of the work you did on the company's nickel. Not unless you want to end up in front of a judge.

[Kagemusha]

19. Unless Congressional rules require it?

Which is, you might not have noticed, precisely what the staffers claim. They are either correct, or they are criminals. There are not two versions of the law so, only one must be true.

[Ilsa]

20. "I have a duty to investigate."

I believe these are words which could come bad to haunt other Rethuglicans.

[NastyRiffraff]

22. Jeez, for someone who'll be irrelevant in six weeks...

She's sure making a lot of noise...er....news.

Can you imagine what it would be like if she had actually won the seat??

[Election]

38. Well, I think that an investigation of criminal activities of DeLay is a good thing

This is not to say I want her to win in 2008, which I believe this stunt is for, but if her motives were non-political, which of course they're not, I'd give her 2 thumbs up.

[tammywammy]

24. ROFL!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[lpbk2713]

26. Did they remove the 'dubyas' from all the computer keyboards before they left?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[snowbear]

27. EwwwWwwwWwww.. she is creepy!! Thank God Lampson WON !!!

What a nasty, old hag! ---->

[salin]

32. she was elected? The article refers to her as "newly elected"...

I thought she lost. I thought that she was named successor to DeLay FOR THIS TERM (that is - for December - part of January). Either my memory is faulty - or the writer of this article is an idiot.

[liberalpragmatist]

35. She won the concurrent special election

For the remainder of this term, which Lampson didn't bother running in.

So she was elected to less than a 2-month term.

[salin]

36. Thank you for the clarification... didn't realize

the two monther gig was also up for reelection.

[davidinalameda]

34. I can see a problem with deleting computer records

but any IT person worth their salt can probably recreate those records

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

37. Well, she didn't Taser them.... n/t

[Judi Lynn]

40. As rumors fly over why Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' staff left, experts say she's hurt her chances for '08

Nov. 19, 2006, 2:38AM
As rumors fly over why Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' staff left, experts say she's hurt her chances for '08
Rough week on the Hill

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT and EUN KYUNG KIM
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

Tools WASHINGTON — Six days ago, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs stood on the House floor, basking in the applause of colleagues who welcomed the 109th Congress' newest — and final — member.

Refusing to be hemmed in by a term that spans only a few weeks, the Houston Republican vowed to accomplish much: help cut taxes, fix a broken immigration system and battle terrorism.

But in less than a week, her star has been badly tarnished by an odd series of actions, and she's been lampooned on Web sites, talk radio and in gossip columns.

Though the punch lines will quickly fade, political insiders say Sekula-Gibbs has done serious — if not irreparable — damage to her hopes of reclaiming the 22nd Congressional District seat in two years.

"She has mortally damaged herself for '08," said Bill Miller, an Austin media consultant who works for clients in both parties. "She has embarrassed herself. She has embarrassed Republicans. She's done a first-class job of ruining any prospective chance she had of winning that race."
(snip/...)

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4345926.html