November 14, 2008
Shadow Senator Flashed Credentials During DUI Stop
Paul Strauss isn't the only senator in recent history to be brought up on criminal charges, but he may be the only one whose credentials as a senator are somewhat iffy.
City Desk reported today that a police affidavit states that Shadow Senator Strauss flashed his U.S. Senate credentials during an early-October traffic stop that resulted in a DUI charge. (He recently pleaded not guilty.)
While speaking to Strauss, Rodriguez—who gave the affidavit—noted that his breath smelled of alcohol and that he “had a blank stare, blood shot eyes and appeared confused.” Strauss had “difficulty retrieving” his driver’s license, according to the officer’s account, but he had less difficulty producing another form of identification: While handing over his license, Strauss “displayed his US Senate ID with his right hand…[and] continued to hold the US Senate ID the entire time” until he was told to get out of the car.“Is this necessary?” Strauss asked.
The recently re-elected Strauss is one of the District's two shadow senators, a symbolic position that carries few privileges and no pay. While he does have a Senate ID badge, he's not allowed on the floor of the Senate, much less can he cast a vote. His job is to lobby for D.C. statehood and voting rights, a task he has done with a certain amount of flair despite not having any actual senatorial gravitas (he likes to tout how he's been able to get young TV star Hayden Panetierre to lend her support to the voting rights movement, for instance.)
Paul Craney, executive director of the DC Republican Committee (and therefore himself in the running for holding one of the more useless local politics job titles in the city) was quick to issue a statement condemning Strauss for bringing embarrassment to his office. "Senator Paul Strauss continues to make headlines and all for the wrong reasons. He is bringing more recognition to his Shadow Senate position by his drunk driving arrest and the DC Auditor report than his work on the Hill," Craney said.
We can't say we're really all that surprised that this police officer is saying Strauss tried to throw his weight around during his alleged drunk stop. As we learned when we followed him around the Democratic National Convention this summer, the Shadow Senator loves to let people think he's a real senator.
Photo by KCIvey
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C'mon. Can't blame the guy, really. It's not illegal to show an ID, and if it helps in a police encounter, I'd show a police office my ASPCA card, my library card, my Fraternal Order of Police card, or whatever else I've got.
Just don't flash a Benjamin, or a bag of weed, and you'll be okay - unless, like here, it backfired...but the DUI is a far worse allegation, so the risk here is worth the reward, I think.
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Should we in fact take that as an insult? Was it a slap to DC that his pathetic, just hang your head in shame sad, attempt didn't work? I think so. He has the completely imaginary backing of all DC residents, and that won't get him out of DUI. What has this democracy come to?
I mean c'mon if that guy was a Senator from NJ you know him and the cop would have been tossing back shooters on a boat weighed down with strippers by 1AM.
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Strauss a putz - and an embarrassment to this voter. Why on earth do people elect him?
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Flashing your Senate i.d. card to law enforcement puts Strauss in a pretty dubious club. For instance, Larry Craig tried flashing his Senate i.d. card when he got arrested over the men's bathroom incident, and look what it did for him.
Stories like this about Strauss remind how fallible the judgment of my fellow DC residents is, for voting so uniformly for Strauss instead of Nelson Rimensnyder for D.C. shadow senator. It's true that it was not a good call for Rimensnyder to run as a Republican, but party affiliation should have been outweighed by the fact that (1) since the D.C. shadow senator can't vote, party hardly matters, and (2) Rimensnyder has been working quietly but persistently to promote DC voting rights for more than two decades, so he should get the credit for the work he is doing anyway. Besides, Rimensnyder commands more respect than notoriety in the Capitol building, which is more than we can say for Strauss these days... and that's without flashing i.d. of any kind.
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Why does Strauss even have a Senate ID card? Shouldn't that be reserved for only, you know, actual Senators?
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Is it an actual Senate ID card, or just the shadow of an ID card? If it's the latter, that could explain its ineffectiveness.
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Wait a minute ... my fellow DC voters re-elected a problematic official?! Say it ain't so!!!
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@jaynuze: I know, I know. I live in a perpeutal state of shock when it comes to my fellow DC voters. ;-)
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and therefore himself in the running for holding one of the more useless local politics job titles in the city)
So he's pretty much on the same level as "Shadow Senator"....
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i voted for rimensnyder because of this whole thing with strauss. if he was a "real" senator, there would be a clamoring for some punishment here. it's embarrassing to the city.
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He needs to serve serious jail time for that jacket -- what is this, Miami Vice?
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That dude belongs in a Pelecanos novel... if he isn't already.
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Look at that outfit. Anyone who wears a white suit coat and a white tie loses my vote.
Actually, I decided not to vote for shadow senator at all. I think the offices do more harm than good. How can anyone take DC seriously on the Hill when we have unpaid elected officials pretending they're real senators.
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It may not be illegal to flash an ID, but it is unethical. Anyone who's been through any ethics training in the federal government is clearly told that flashing your ID (especially if you work at, say, DOJ or DHS) to get out of a ticket or get other preferential treatment is a huge no-no.
"Fail."
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One of his coterie of earpiece-wearing Eurotrashy staffers wouldn't drive him home? Aww....
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Moose:
But it's unethical to violate the traffic laws, so even if one doesn't flash a badge to get out of a ticket, they nevertheless are in a state of ethical breach, no?
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I haven't seen a white suite since Boss Hogg was on TV.
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Forget what I think, does he think this image best represents DC to the Congress?
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What a goober!
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While speaking to Strauss, Rodriguez—who gave the affidavit—noted that his breath smelled of alcohol and that he “had a blank stare, blood shot eyes and appeared confused.”
This in and of itself was not sufficient proof that he is a (shadow) member of Congress?