Posted by Jim Lindgren: Alaska Republicans Ask Sen. Begich to Resign. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_29-2009_04_04.shtml#1238720278
http://www.adn.com/news/politics/fbi/stevens/story/746047.html Alaska Republicans, including Sarah Palin, have asked Sen. Mark Begich to resign because "the state's voters would have re-elected former Sen. Ted Stevens had they known the U.S Department of Justice would abandon its prosecution of him." The latest from the great state of Alaska: The head of the Alaska Republican Party today called on Sen. Mark Begich to step down from the U.S. Senate, saying that the state's voters would have re-elected former Sen. Ted Stevens had they known the U.S Department of Justice would abandon its prosecution of him. The party chairman, Randy Ruedrich, said that the only reason Begich won his race was because "a few thousand Alaskans thought that Senator Stevens was guilty of seven felonies." He added that he thought Begich should step down "so Alaskans may have the chance to vote for a senator without the improper influence of the corrupt Department of Justice." Gov. Sarah Palin concurs with Ruedrich and believes a special election is appropriate, said a spokeswoman for Palin's political action committee, Meg Stapleton. "I absolutely agree," Palin said in a statement. If Begich had misled or lied to authorities to get Stevens, the Prince of Pork, indicted or if Begich had improperly influenced the DOJ to prosecute Stevens, I could understand this. But just having "but-for" causation on a withdrawn prosecution isn't nearly enough to come close to a sensible request for resignation. The argument for Illinois Sen. Roland Burris resigning is that he allegedly lied or misled those who inquired into the circumstances of his appointment. But what has Begich done? _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
