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• Democrat Patrick Leahy is the senior Senator from Vermont. He currently served as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

  In February 2009, Leahy proposed a "truth commission" which would investigate the years of the administration of George W. Bush to "learn the truth". The commission would investigate allegations of civil liberties violations by The Bush Administration. The suggestion have faced opposition from Republicans and some Democrats.Fox News: Democrats Split Over Leahy's Call for Bush Administration 'Truth' Commission (February 16, 2009)

• Fast Facts:

  1. Born March 31, 1940 in Montpelier, Vermont
  2. Elected to Senate in 1974
  3. Up for re-election in 2011
  4. Spouse: Marcelle Pomerleau
  5. One of two Senators who received anthrax in the mail in 2001
  6. Legally blind in one eye
  7. One of 10 Senators to vote against the Patriot Act
  8. First Democrat elected to Congress from Vermont since the Civil War
  9. Did a guest voice on Batman: The Animated Series
  10. Has a brief cameo in The Dark KnightCNN Video: Pat Leahy in The Dark Knight

• Senate Career

  A trained lawyer, Leahy served as the Chittenden County State's Attorney from 1966 to 1974, immediately after which he was elected to the Senate representing Vermont. (Leahy was the youngest Senator in Vermont's history, at 34.) He has since been re-elected 5 times.

• Controversy

  In 1987, Leahy, then a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was accused of leaking information to a reporter. Though there was no criminal violation, because the information was not classified, Leahy nevertheless resigned from his position on the Committee.

  In 2004, while taking a photo alongside Vice President Dick Cheney, the two got into an argument about Leahy's criticism of Halliburton and implication of collusion between the company (Cheney's former employer) and the Bush White House. Cheney allegedly told Leahy, "Go f--k yourself."WashingtonPost.com: "Cheney Dismisses Critic With Obscenity" (2004)

• Truth Commission

  In February 2009, Leahy proposed a "truth commission" to investigate allegations of civil liberties violations by The Bush Administration. Leahy made the suggestion during a speech at Georgetown University. Leahy said the commission would be a compromise between prosecuting Bush for the alleged violations of civil liberties and the politicization of the Justice Department and not investigating the accusations. The suggestion have faced opposition from Republicans and some Democrats.Fox News: Democrats Split Over Leahy's Call for Bush Administration 'Truth' Commission (February 16, 2009)

  Leahy said some of the issues the committee could look into would be the firings of U.S. attorneys, interrogation methods used on terrorism suspects and warrantless wiretapping.Fox News: Democrats Split Over Leahy's Call for Bush Administration 'Truth' Commission (February 16, 2009)

• Related Pages on Mahalo

  Democratic Party | Harry Reid | Dick Cheney | George W. Bush | Alberto Gonzales | Kyle Sampson | U.S. Senate | The Dark Knight

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