Grand juries may soon be pawing through the medical records of thousands of women

By Diane Silver

I wish this was a joke, but it isn't: Anti-abortion fishing expeditions may soon hand the medical records of more than 2,000 women to grand juries in Wichita and Johnson County. Two thousand!

All of this is supposed to be OK because the names of the women will be removed.

If you were one of the women involved would you feel safe? I know I'd be pleased as punch to have someone wading through my medical history, and that I'd have total faith that nothing would ever become public. Please note the sarcasm.

This is being done at the instigation of Operation Rescue in Wichita and anti-abortion District Attorney Phill Kline in Johnson County.

The Wichita Eagle went to the heart of the matter when it editorialized today that this may well mean that it's open season on patient records.

A hunt through women's medical records soon could begin at the Sedgwick County Courthouse -- one set in motion by a petition, paid for by tax dollars and sanctioned Wednesday by a judge. That should bother Kansans on both sides of the abortion issue....

(T)here's something chilling about the idea of 15 strangers on a grand jury poring over someone's patient records and discussing and second-guessing her medical and sexual history and mental health -- even if she is nameless.

Patients visit their doctors expecting privacy, something underscored by the protections of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. If they knew that their doctor visit could end up being fodder for a grand jury investigation -- or a Bill O'Reilly tirade on Fox News, as also has happened -- might they have gone to the doctor at all? Some surely would not.

IMAGE: The Wichita Eagle's Richard Crowson weighs in with his opinion on the issue. See the full cartoon.

Once again Phill Kline faces questions about campaign spending

By Diane Silver

It's neither ethical nor legal for a politician to use campaign contributions for his own personal use, but Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline appears to have done just that. The state Ethics Commission is looking into it.

Paul Morrison's obsession

By Diane Silver

This is not the attorney general I thought I voted for. Using the Kansas Open Records Act, the Topeka Capital-Journal today documents Attorney General Paul Morrison's extensive (that's an understatement) phone relationship with Linda Carter.

The question now -- in the scandal that won't die -- is whether Morrison's downfall will cripple the fight to take back Kansas from the far right. Right now most politicians and political scientists I've interviewed say it won't, but that remains to be seen.

For All Those Suffering Sexual Harassment: Investigate the Paul Morrison leak

By Diane Silver

Good grief, I should have made this point earlier. I'm thrilled to see that it's being made now. KC Star columnist Mike Hendricks has a great piece at the Buzz Blog about why we all need to know exactly who leaked Linda Carter's statement.

In case you're one of the two people who were on a desert island last week, Carter's statement alleged that Attorney General Paul Morrison sexually harassed her. This led to Morrison's resignation.

Carter's statement was supposed to be a confidential part of her complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Instead, it showed up darn near word-for-word in the Topeka Capital-Journal. Carter's lawyer claims that neither she nor he had anything to do with the leak to the media.

Hendricks writes that such an investigation is important.

Not for Morrison’s sake. Forget him. He got what he deserved.

No, it would serve the interests of women like Morrison’s former lover, Linda Carter, who accused him of sexual harassment and gave the sworn statement containing all those salacious details we’ve read.

I’m talking about the women – and sometimes men – who for one reason or another believe that they have been sexually harassed in the workplace.

And who, because of how Carter’s statement was mishandled, will now be asking themselves a question: Is it worth it to file a complaint against their boss, if it means the risk of having all the gory details splashed across newspapers’ front pages?

Good point. I also want to know whether someone in public office decided to trash the concept of confidentiality. I mused earlier this week that the leak might well be Phill Kline's revenge. If the document was leaked by him or someone associated with him, we need to know. If the leak was from someone else, we also need to know.

Abortion politics & the "inexplicable" downfall of Paul Morrison

By Diane Silver

AP's John Hanna analyzes how abortion politics combined with Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison's personal failings to destroy his career. The heart of the analysis:

“A lot of this is so inexplicable,” said Bob Beatty, a Washburn University political scientist. “For Morrison not to understand that he was stepping into a political minefield and he had to be extra careful is mind-boggling. But apparently, he didn’t understand it enough.”

What frightens me now is that this whole situation could revitalize Phill Kline's political career, weaken the moderate/progressive resurgence in Kansas and energize social conservatives.

What a mess.

Phill Kline's revenge

By Diane Silver

Lost in the uproar over Paul Morrison's resignation was a report that all but confirmed that Morrison's bitterest political rival engineered the leaks that ousted him.

Harris News Service reported that Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline knew about Kansas Attorney General Morrison's affair with Linda Carter in October and possibly as early as March.

Chris Green and Sarah Kessinger's story also points to -- but does not confirm -- that the document that led to the first newspaper story on the affair may well have been generated by Kline's office. That document may have been a statement from Carter that was taken by Kline's staff on Nov. 1.

Political Scientist: Morrison's resignation came at the best time

The Lawrence Journal-World has a great audio interview with a Washburn University political science professor. Bob Beatty talks about the timing of Morrison's resignation and the possible impact of the scandal on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Morrison's arch rival, Phill Kline.

Kansas Attorney General Resigns: Paul Morrison had no choice

[updated 6:17 pm]
[updated 3:57 p.m.]
[updated 3:41 p.m.]

By Diane Silver

See the Lawrence Journal World and Associated Press for details of Paul Morrison’s announcement. The resignation is effective Jan. 31.

I’m sick at heart, but I don’t see anything else Morrison could do.

First, there are the good government reasons. “Good government” was the phrase Statehouse insiders used to favor when they meant they were pushing politics aside and acting for the good of the state.

This scandal, all the investigations and media coverage would have dogged Morrison's every move, sucked up all his time and his staff's time and made it impossible for Morrison to do a good job as attorney general.

This state needs an effective attorney general. Having a distracted, unprofessional AG like Phill Kline was one of the reasons 58 percent of voters booted Kline out of the job last year.

Morrison also had to resign for political reasons.

As one of the most visible Democrats in the state, Morrison was helping to lead the charge against the religious right. He was also helping to push the state out of more than a century of Republican domination and into the blue column.

Having Morrison associated with the Democratic Party would have given Republicans and social conservatives an issue to rally behind. It would have sucked the air out of the Democratic resurgence.

Right now, I just want to cry. I voted for Morrison. I defended him on this blog. I saw him as a leader who could turn Kansas away from the blindly incompetent, abortion-obsessed regime of Phill Kline. I saw him as someone who could make the office of attorney general work for all Kansans -- not just those who shared one narrow religious viewpoint.

If the first reports are accurate and include all of Morrison's statement, then I have to admit that I'm a little angry that he apparently didn't even try to defend himself. Saying so little -- if that's the full extent of Morrison's statement -- is like admitting he's guilty of everything that's been alleged.

Don't the thousands of us who voted for you deserve better than that, Morrison?

One footnote: GOP Chairman Kris Kobach's statement about "questions" surrounding Morrison's interest in enforcing the law is overblown, to say the least. The only questions being raised were from the most vehement, anti-choice wing of the Republican Party.

[update]

Although Morrison didn't go into details, it seems that he did say more than was first reported. See the Kansas City Star's Buzz Blog. This makes me feel a tad better.

[update]

The KC Buzz Blog has Morrison's full statement. It's worth reading.

[update]

Just to clarify... I'm not making any judgments about Morrison's guilt or innocence. I don't have enough information to judge any of that. If Morrison is innocent of nothing more than having an affair, he is still in an impossible situation.

Paul Morrison to resign as Attorney General of Kansas

The Kansas City Star Buzz Blog reports.

Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison to speak at 3 pm today

By Diane Silver

This could be Paul Morrison's first public and detailed defense of himself or it could be his resignation or none of the above. I have worries and hunches but no real clue. Here's the notice of the press conference from the Lawrence Journal World.

I have become increasingly concerned about this whole situation, particularly about how it has been reported and about people's responses, including mine, but alas, I have no time to write about those right now. I guess we'll just see what happens at 3 pm.

By the way, Harris News appears to be the first mainstream media outlet to make an independent attempt to confirm or deny the allegations. The Harris story makes interesting reading. It leads to even more questions, particularly about Phill Kline's apparent deep involvement in this thing.

Personally, I tend to believe women who say they have been sexually harassed. It certainly happens often enough. However, the Harris story shows that Kline may well have his fingerprints all over the release of these allegations. That leads to the question: Is Morrison the target of a political witch hunt?

What an incredible mess.

Sebelius agrees with Kline

By Diane Silver

The latest sign of impending doom for Attorney General Paul Morrison: Tonight's KC Buzz Blog report that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius welcomed Phill Kline's call for a special prosecutor to investigate Morrison.

The governor's office released this statement:

Governor Sebelius believes the people of Kansas deserve to know the truth about these allegations and welcomes an independent review. She will not pre-judge the outcome of the independent prosecutor's investigation, preferring instead to await their honest and thorough review of this matter.

Breaking: Phill Kline to hire special prosecutor to investigate Paul Morrison

[updated 3:34 p.m.]

By Diane Silver

AP has confirmed that the target is the state's current Attorney General Paul Morrison.

For the two of you out there who don't know...

Morrison and Kline are bitter political enemies. Morrison whomped Kline to win the AG's office in November 2006. Conservative precinct chairs in Johnson County then ignored voters and put Kline in as county district attorney to fill out Morrison's unfilled term as DA. The woman Morrison has admitted having an affair with is a former staffer in the DA's office who worked for both Morrison and Kline.

The Kansas City Star broke the story earlier.

Here's why this all matters.

PHOTO: The Kansas City Star provides us with the first photo of Linda Carter, and yes, she's talking to Phill Kline in this shot. Click on the link to see the full image.

[update]

Here's the Topeka Capital-Journal take on the special prosecutor.

Morrison's impossible situation & the latest on the Kansas AG

[Updated 3:30 p.m. with four new links]

[Updated at noon with Johnson County investigation]

By Diane Silver

Honestly, this isn't turning into an All-Paul Morrison-All-The-Time Blog, but I do want to keep up with events. Here's the latest on the situation and a little perspective from me.

Hints of how the AG's personal battle could impact a Kansas county can be found at the News Cow web site. The vice chair of the Kansas Democratic Party reports on her telephone conversation with Morrison. Morrison's fate is dear to Cowley County because he is prosecuting Justin Thurber, who has been charged with murdering Jodi Sanderholm.

The Kansas City Star puts Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on the spot by calling on her to appoint a special prosecutor.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports that Morrison has formally asked the state agency that polices attorneys to investigate the allegations.

Wichita Eagle Editorial Board Member Brent Castillo writes that despite his Christian belief in redemption, he doesn't think Morrison is worth, well, redeeming. Note that Castillo does extend his compassion to Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, David Vitter, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.

Despite disagreeing with Castillo on a few issues, I have to admit that he does point to what may be the most impossible aspect of Morrison's situation. Castillo writes:

(T)he more serious accusations of meddling in the affairs of (current Johnson County District Attorney Phill) Kline have yet to be debunked. If Morrison can't convince Kansans that they're false, he should leave immediately.

Here's the problem: Morrison's alleged meddling apparently only occurred in private, confidential conversations with lover Linda Carter. So far, I know of no allegations that Morrison took any action against Kline.

Unless a smoking-gun document, videotape or audiotape lurks somewhere, the entire situation boils down to she said-he said. If that's true, then how can Morrison clear his name? How can he possibly prove that he never once in private said the wrong thing to Carter? Even if Morrison can legally prove his innocence, how can he win in the the court of public opinion? How do you prove what wasn't said in private?

Finally, I'm sending out a well-deserved jeer to the Lawrence Journal-World. The newspaper dedicated an entire story to Republican attacks on Democrat Morrison without including one comment from Morrison or his staff (except for his blanket denial), or from any Democrat, or even from a neutral legal expert or political scientist. The story read more than a little like a GOP news release.

[update]

Oh my... this is getting curiouser and curiouser. The Kansas City Star is reporting:

Johnson County commissioners today authorized District Attorney Phill Kline to spend an initial $25,000 to investigate alleged wrongdoing that Kline said involved blackmail and telephone harassment.

Kline said he had evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but refused to confirm who the target of the investigation was. However, the inquiry is believed to involve allegations surrounding a sex scandal involving Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison.

My first thought on this: Is this going to turn into a death by a thousand cuts?

New blog post added:

Thoughts From Kansas weighs in by shining the spotlight on GOP Chair Kris Kobach's involvement with a hate group and adding some thoughts on Morrison.

[2nd update]Johnson County Sun Chairman Steve Rose explains his call for the resignation of his old friend.

Jack Miles, one of Rose's editors argues that "failure as a husband does not equate to failure as a prosecutor" and says Morrison should stay on the job.

The Parsons Sun editorializes on the situation and can't quite decide if Morrison should resign.

The Hays Daily News editorializes that calls for Morrison's resignation are premature.

Paul Morrison Update: Hope, anger & a career beyond saving?

The Kansas City Star and Lawrence Journal World have more on what the Disciplinary Administrator can and cannot do to Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison.

Seige Mentality adds detail of the administrator and speculates about who could be appointed to take Morrison's place if he resigns.

The Wichita Eagle's WE Blog applauds Morrison's call for an independent investigation and lauds a Republican lawmaker for pointing out the political motivation in conservative attacks on Morrison. Meanwhile, the Eagle's news pages give a ton space to state Republican Chair Kris Kobach's breathless attack.

KC Buzz Blog speculates that Johnson County might be in trouble because of Linda Carter's complaint against Morrison.

Blue Tide Rising gets angry about the GOP approach to the scandal. Mousie Cat takes a stand.

KC Star Columnist Mike Hendricks calls Morrison's resignation inevitable. Hendricks writes: "Paul Morrison’s political hide is beyond saving." Hendricks adds:

But on Issue No. 2, Morrison cannot win.

That is the allegation that, after he become attorney general, Morrison tried to interfere with Kline’s running of the DA’s office. That allegedly included a pending investigation regarding abortion.

(Gov. Kathleen) Sebelius said Morrison should resign if professional misconduct is proved.

But I’d go further. I say it doesn’t matter what the independent investigation finds.

Morrison simply cannot prove that he didn’t meddle in sensitive legal issues in the Johnson County DA’s office.

Come on. We’re supposed to believe that there was no mention of Carter’s job during all that pillow talk?

And to top it all off, national gossip blog Wonkette has now weighed in. It can't be good news when a Kansan gets roughed up by Wonkette.

In case you missed it, here's a post on why all of this matters nationally as well as in Kansas.

Morrison finally makes a good move

[updated 4:45 pm with a link to the Office of Disciplinary Administrator]

By Diane Silver

Kansas' embattled Attorney General, Paul Morrison, has asked for an independent investigation of the charges made against him.

KC Buzz Blog reports on Morrison's move (see below). I particularly like the first part of the AG's statement because if the state's highest law enforcement officer loses the trust of the people he serves, then we are all in trouble.

Losing the confidence of average Kansans was one of the reasons why Kansas' last AG, Phill Kline, was nearly run out of office on a rail.

"It is essential that the people of Kansas have confidence in the Office of Attorney General," Morrison said today in a statement. "Therefore, I will ask the Office of Disciplinary Administrator to investigate the allegations of professional misconduct made against me."

Morrison again denied allegations that he tried to use the relationship to obtain sensitive information about an abortion case launched by his successor as Johnson County D.A., Phill Kline.

"I will cooperate completely and openly with the disciplinary administrator to resolve this matter once and for all," he said.

Morrison Watch: "Kansans deserved better"

The state's largest newspapers are now weighing in on the controversy surrounding Attorney General Paul Morrison.

The Wichita Eagle editorializes about how the state deserved better, but urges caution on booting Morrison from office.

The Kansas City Star, which covers Morrison's old stomping ground of Johnson County, sounds a lot angrier in its editorial.

Meanwhile, Kansas City Star reporters add an article speculating that Morrison's political future may be over. The following passage is significant, particularly given the fact that Loomis once worked for Sebelius and has close ties to Democrats.

Sebelius’ comments probably mean that top Democrats want Morrison to explain himself, according to Burdett Loomis, a University of Kansas political scientist.

He said Democrats probably would stand by him if the allegations of meddling and harassment turned out to be unfounded.

Still, Loomis said, the damage to Morrison’s future may be done.

“I don’t see how even if Morrison stays in office that he possibly wins re-election,” he said.

Even worse for Morrison: The Star reports that a long-time supporter, Johnson County newspaper columnist Steve Rose, told talk radio that Morrison should resign "because of the cloud hanging over him."

For me the most disheartening part of this story is this. (The emphasis is mine.)

Even if he stays put, observers said that Morrison’s troubles were certain to cripple his political future and potentially curtail the Democratic resurgence that Morrison helped start in Kansas.

Morrison Watch: His statement

I didn't have this before, so here is a link to Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison's original statement defending himself against a series of charges.

Why Paul Morrison & a sex scandal matter whether or not you live in Kansas

By Diane Silver

Oh, what a mess. No matter what happens now, Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison will forever be linked to the image of tacky sex in somebody's empty office while his staff toils a few feet beyond a closed door.

This is not the image that 58 percent of Kansas voters had in mind when we tossed out former AG Phill Kline last year. The idea was to restore professionalism to the Office of Attorney General.

I suppose this will reveal me as being terminally naive, but the thought of Morrison's out-of-bounds sex life absolutely shocks this little lesbian.

This scandal, of course, has everything: sex (confirmed), infidelity (confirmed) and allegations of sexual harassment, attempting to gain information about the private workings of a DA's office and attempting to interfere with a federal lawsuit (all of that is unconfirmed). The scandal also has a bit of junior high in it, drawing a portrait of an Attorney General who is obsessed with a political rival he has already vanquished. (It's past time for Morrison to head to the chalk board to write a thousand times: "I need to grow up.")

This scandal matters, oh my, how this matters. It matters to Kansans, of course, because these allegations call into question the integrity of the state's highest ranking law enforcement officer. It matters to the state's Democrats because the D's don't have all that many high profile candidates to run for statewide office. Losing one in this manner could really hurt, particularly when the D's are finally challenging the GOP's hold on the state.

But what happens next could well shake more than just the Sunflower State.

* Depending on how she handles this, fellow Democrat Kathleen Sebelius could see her national political ambitions soar or crash to Earth. Before this happened, the governor was poised to run for the U.S. Senate. She has even been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate.

* A Republican turned Democrat, Morrison was helping to lead the charge to break the religious right's stranglehold on Kansas. If he isn't vindicated, Morrison's fall could taint other efforts to toss out social conservatives. It could provide new energy to the ultra-conservative wing of the GOP and give them a nifty new campaign issue. As writer Thomas Frank has noted, what happens in Kansas helps move the nation. If Kansas could toss the darlings of the religious right out of office, then other red states could follow our lead.

It is worth noting that outside of a truly stupid sexual affair nothing else has been confirmed. The rational thing to do is to wait, take a deep breath and let the investigations run their course. It's also worth noting that stupidity in sex is not an impeachable offense, and so far, that is the only thing Morrison has admitted. Nothing else has been proven.

From a cold, hard, crass political point of view, though, the best bet for Democrats may be to lean on Morrison to resign now. Sebelius could then appoint Morrison's successor and the party and state could have three years to recover before the next election.

What course of action do I favor? At this point, I truly don't know.

Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison faces serious allegations

By Diane Silver

The Topeka Capital-Journal dropped a bombshell today about Attorney General Paul Morrison that is going to reverberate through Kansas politics for years to come.

If what the Capital-Journal reported is true -- and Morrison has already admitted to some of it -- then the state's new AG has attempted to tamper with a witness in a lawsuit. (And the suit involves Phill Kline of all people!!!) Other bits of alleged wrongdoing range from the sexually lurid to threats and sexual harassment to the downright stupid.

Morrison has admitted to having an affair with a former female staffer, but denies all the other allegations.

What makes these allegations even worse is the fact that they didn't happen a decade ago, but occurred within the last two years. This includes the time period when Morrison has served as AG.

If these allegations are true, then Morrison has broken the law, damaged this state and done much more.

Personally, I'm angry as all get out at a man many of us hoped would help get Kansas back on track. If guilty as alleged, Morrison may well have seriously damaged the effort to put moderates into office. He may well have just given social conservatives the best Christmas present they've had in years.

The details are at the Topeka Capital Journal. The Wichita Eagle has the Associated Press story on this. The Kansas City Star has its own story.

PHOTO: Paul Morrison

Reports of Phill Kline's vanishing act come under fire

By Diane Silver

Some of Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline's oldest enemies are coming to his defense in the wake of a Kansas City TV station's investigation. I have to admit that these folks have a point.

In a nutshell: Alternative newsweekly The Pitch, which usually calls Kline dimwit, and moderate blogger JustCara say the KCTV-5 investigation of the longtime darling of the Religious Right is full of holes. The arguments of both make good sense.

I found The Pitch's arguments to be quite persuasive. This is particularly true given that The Pitch joined with KCTV-5 in the Freedom of Information case that opened Kline's parking records to public inspection.

The saddest thing about all of this is that there are real questions about Kline, particularly about where he lives. If he's still living in his Topeka home, then he is breaking the law. Of course, KCTV-5's sloppy report just made this much harder to determine.

More on the report from the Kansas City Star's Prime Buzz blog.

PHOTO: Phill Kline when he was the Attorney General of Kansas.