Burnt Orange Report

Uh, what's that, Pete?

By Byron LaMasters

I'm certainly not an expert in the lie-detector department, but I do recall that the repeated use of the word "uh" is certainly one indicator of uncertainty and lying. On that note, here's exhibit A - the transcript of Pete Sessions answering questions this week on a local radio show regarding his stealing of yard signs during the 2002 election ("uh" emphasis mine):

Rep. Pete Sessions (R) gave an interview to KLIF radio's Gary Knapp.

GK: "The Martin Frost (D) campaign has come out with this miscellaneous incident report that says that a police officer stopped you in 2002, where you were taking signs up from along the road of Skillman and Northwest Highway, uh ('02 Dem nominee) Pauline Dixon's signs, and that you had put them in your truck bed. Is that true?"
PS: "Absolutely correct."
GK: "OK, and they're saying that means you stole signs. Is that true?"
PS: "No, that is not true."
GK. "Ok, explain that."
PS: "Greg what happened is is that uh, a couple years ago, uh when I was coming back from a uh a meeting, uh to my house, uh, I was on a state highway that is called Northwest Highway, and every single sign, political sign, in the state of Texas says you're not allowed to put those in in uh, the uh in the right of way."
GK: "It's illegal to put political signs in the right of way."
PS: "On a state highway. Uh, and I was driving by the signs which we had uh put out earlier, several weeks before on a piece of property that was private property that was directly there, and as I was driving home, someone had come and in front of and behind every one of my signs, they put these Pauline Dixon signs. In front of mine and behind mine. Just a political game, that's ok."
GK: "So you're saying your signs were on legal?"
PS: "Absolutely."
GK: "Because your signs were on private yards?"
PS: "No there's uh, it's it's an apartment complex that is there, uh that has allowed us to put ours exclusively there, on, directly on Northwest highway..."
GK: "OK now wait one second, because I'm still kind of confused... There's an area in front of what is an apartment complex, that is owned by the apartment complex that you were allowed to put your signs on because they told you you could."
PS: "Absolutely."
GK: "Ok and then next to that is the right of way that goes to the road where nobody's allowed to put their signs there, whether permission is given from the apartment complex or not because it's not their property. Is that true?" PS: "Well, the highway, theoretically would be down the middle part, or where where, the right of way is a middle part that really nobody owns except the state. It's no-mans land."
GK: "Right. But your signs were on the part..."
PS: "They were on private property."
GK: "Ok, so if yours were on private property and theirs were directly in front of yours, wouldn't they still be on private property too."
PS: "They would have been."
GK. "Oh, so you're saying that because they didn't get permission from the apartment complex to put them there they were illegal."
PS: "Yeah."
GK: "Now I'm with you. See why I was confused."
PS: "They were also on a state highway, a right of way state highway and all I'm suggesting to you is that I went down, saw it, I we had, we put the signs in, we checked them on a regular basis, driving the way home, and I just went down, put my flashers on, the police officer at, uh about two minutes later saw us."
GK: "The only thing that I'm still confused about with you taking these signs down, Congressman Sessions, is did you check with the apartment complex and say did Pauline Dixon, did she ask you permission to put these up, or did you just assume she didn't have the right to put those up?"
PS: "She did not, and no I did not. It was they were they were put up that night at some point and they were uh dropped on the they were dropped on the uh ground."
GK: "Can you see why some people would say, 'Well wait a second, why didn't you just leave those signs there. Isn't it wrong to pull other people's signs down?"
PS: "No no, I don't think so at all. I think if I went by the CWA uh, or any other Union place that Martin Frost had his signs up and he knew they were up, and some of our supporters or somebody came and put them there, I think it's perfectly professional to pick them up and drop them" (Excerpted from Frost release, 8/19).

I counted fifteen. Anyone want to check that? Regardless of the legitimacy of what Pete Sessions' did that night, he certainly does not project confidence of the legality of his actions in this interview. I was speaking with some friends about this last night, and I'm glad that Frost is making an issue of this. I think it's easy to take this incident and tie it into Pete Sessions' other shady activities such as employing a communications director who was convicted of a felony for his work as a Republican Party operative. We'll see if it comes up...