Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: “as you know, we are here tonight to discuss a very chilling issue, the intentional destruction of evidence by a…”

“as you know, we are here tonight to discuss a very chilling issue, the intentional destruction of evidence by a government agency and the subsequent stone-walling and coverup by the Federal Government. Mr. Speaker, as has been discussed here previously, Members of the Texas State Legislature recently properly excused themselves from the floor of the Texas statehouse in order to break a quorum, a proper procedure provided for by the House rules and by the Constitution. This angered partisan Republican interests in Washington, and thereafter the Homeland Security Department, charged with fighting terrorism in this country, used Federal Government assets for political purposes, trying to track the plane of former Democratic Speaker of the House Pete Laney. Embarrassingly, Secretary Tom Ridge and the Department of Homeland Security has now been forced to admit that they have an audiotape and a transcript of communications between Homeland Security and Texas law enforcement; and, despite that admission they were forced to make, the Department of Homeland Security has said they will not release the tape, thus taking part in this improper coverup.”