Specter On Spygate: "I've Gone As Far As I Can"
Even Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) now appears ready to allow the Spygate scandal to fade away.
The Philadelphia Daily News reported that Specter told the newspaper's editorial board Monday that he won't ask fellow Capitol Hill lawmakers to pursue the matter and won't request hearings of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he is the ranking Republican member, because the committee already has "too much to do."
Specter told the newspaper of the videotaping scandal involving the New England Patriots: "I've gone as far as I can."
Specter told the paper that he plans to take up the issue of public financing of stadiums.
He said he's "not interested" in the allegations made by former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, the Daily News reported.
Specter previously had called for the NFL to hire an independent investigator and had threatened unspecified Congressional action if the league failed to comply.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had said the league had no plans to hire such an investigator.
Specter was highly critical of the league's investigation of the scandal. Goodell fined the Patriots and their coach, Bill Belichick, a total of $750,000 and stripped a first-round draft choice from the team in September after the Patriots were found to be illegally videotaping the play signals of the New York Jets coaches in the opening game of last season at Giants Stadium.
The Patriots acknowledged to Goodell that their taping program dated to the beginning of Belichick's coaching tenure with the franchise, a span that included three Super Bowl titles.
The Boston Herald reported just before last season's Super Bowl that the Patriots had videotaped the St. Louis Rams' practice the day before the two clubs played in the Super Bowl in 2002. But the Herald later apologized and called that story false, and Goodell said after meeting with former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh in May that he planned to impose no further discipline against the team.
Specter met with Walsh later the same day and continued to criticize Goodell and the league.
By Mark Maske |
June 17, 2008; 10:37 AM ET
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Posted by: TMU | June 17, 2008 12:36 PM
Specter told the newspaper of the videotaping scandal involving the New England Patriots: "I've gone as far as I can."
Is that a promise?
Posted by: rbpalmer | June 17, 2008 12:41 PM
Good. Now if you have absolutely NOTHING else to do but worry about sports, how about taking a look at the NBA.
Posted by: virtueandvice | June 17, 2008 1:25 PM
The Eagles suck. Stop whining....
Posted by: Go Hoyas | June 17, 2008 2:07 PM
Specter told the newspaper of the videotaping scandal involving the New England Patriots: "I've gone as far as I can."
Is that a promise?
Posted by: rbpalmer | June 17, 2008 4:59 PM
By saying he doesn't care about the NBA allegations, Specter has revealed himself as the hypocrite he is. We all know the reason he chose to make a case out of the Patriots -- he was trying to get some leverage over the NFL so he could help his home-state company, Comcast, in their battle over the NFL Network. Specter doesn't give a darn about the Patriots or anything else besides the money in his campaign chest...
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2008 3:23 PM
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Memo to Senator Specter: Consider stamp collecting as a hobby.