 US
Attorneys
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 Michael
James Elston
MICHAEL ELSTON News:
20070801
-
Michael
J Elston
-
 Alberto
R Gonzales -  Paul
J McNulty
-  Government
-  US
Attorneys - OxyContin
-  Drug
- Manufacturer
-  Money
-  Politics
-  Virginia
- "U.S.
Attorney Became Target After Rebuffing Justice Dept.."
... "The night before the government secured a guilty plea from the manufacturer
of the addictive painkiller OxyContin, a senior Justice Department official
called the U.S. attorney handling the case and, at the behest of an executive
for the drugmaker, urged him to slow down, the prosecutor told the Senate
Judiciary Committee yesterday." ... "John L. Brownlee, the U.S. attorney
in Roanoke [Virginia], testified that he was at home the evening of Oct.
24 when he received the call on his cellphone from Michael J. Elston, then
chief of staff to the deputy attorney general and one of the Justice aides
involved in the removal of nine U.S. attorneys last year." ... "Brownlee
settled the case anyway. Eight days later, his name appeared on a list
compiled by Elston of prosecutors that officials had suggested be fired."
... "Brownlee ultimately kept his job. But as Attorney General Alberto
R. Gonzales confronts withering criticism over the dismissals, the episode
in the OxyContin case provides fresh evidence of efforts by senior officials
in the department's headquarters to sway the work of U.S. attorneys' offices."
... " ... Elston's attorney, Robert N. Driscoll, said his client had telephoned
Brownlee at the direction of [Deputy Attorney General Paul J.] McNulty,
who that evening had received an appeal for more time by Mary Jo White,
a defense lawyer representing an executive for OxyContin's manufacturer,
Purdue Pharma." -By Amy Goldstein and Carrie Johnson
-WashingtonPost
20070616
-
Michael
Elston
- Alberto
Gonzales - US
Attorneys -
 Law
- Politics
- Seattle
-  Washington
- Phoenix
-  Arizona
- San
Diego -  California
-  Arkansas
- "Justice
Dept. Official To Quit: [Michael] Elston Had Role
in Prosecutor Firings." ... "Former U.S. attorney John McKay of Seattle
[Washington] told Congress that on Jan. 17 -- before McKay stepped down
-- he received a call from Elston that he "greatly resented." He said Elston
attempted to "buy my silence by promising that the attorney general [Alberto
Gonzales] would not demean me in his Senate testimony."" ... ""My handwritten
and dated notes of this call," McKay told Congress, "reflect that I believed
Mr. Elston's tone was sinister and that he was prepared to threaten me
further if he concluded I did not intend to continue to remain silent about
my dismissal."" ... "Paul K. Charlton, who was the U.S. attorney in Phoenix
[Airzona], said that he, too, received a call that day in which Elston
offered "a quid pro quo agreement: my silence in exchange for the attorney
general's." Another former prosecutor, Carol C. Lam of San Diego [California],
said Elston accused her of "leaking" word of her dismissal to the press
"and criticized me for talking to other dismissed U.S. attorneys."" ...
"Former U.S. attorney Bud Cummins of Little Rock [Arkansas] also recounted
a Feb. 20 conversation with Elston that Cummins said contained a "threatening
undercurrent" warning that Justice Department officials would retaliate
if he or his colleagues spoke to journalists or volunteered to testify
in Congress." -By Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein
-WashingtonPost
20070615
-
Mike
Elston
- Paul
McNulty
- Alberto
Gonzales -
 Monica
M Goodling -  Kyle
Sampson
-  Mike
Battle
- US
Attorneys - Law
- "Official
close to attorney firings quits." ... "A senior Justice
Department official who helped carry out the dismissals of federal prosecutors
said Friday he is resigning. Mike Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney
General Paul McNulty, is the fifth Justice official to leave after being
linked to the dismissals of the prosecutors." ... "Elston was accused of
threatening at least four of the eight fired U.S. attorneys to keep quiet
about their ousters. In a statement Friday, the Justice Department said
Elston was leaving voluntarily to take a job with an unnamed Washington[DC]-area
law firm." ... "The firings have led to congressional investigations, an
internal Justice Department inquiry and calls on Capitol Hill for the resignation
of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales." ... "Other aides who have resigned
in the wake of the firings include former Gonzales chief of staff Kyle
Sampson and White House liaison Monica M. Goodling. A fifth official, Mike
Battle, who ran the Justice office that oversees the U.S. attorneys, left
in March." -By Lara Jakes Jordan
-AP via -ADN.com
-
Michael
Elston
- Paul
McNulty
- US
Attorneys - Law
-
 Enforcement
- "Another
official quits in controversy over ousted U.S. attorneys."
... "Michael Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty,
became the fifth [Justice] department official to leave his post since
the controversy over the firings rocked the nation's top law enforcement
agency." ... "Elston's name first surfaced when one of the fired U.S. attorneys,
Bud Cummins of Arkansas, disclosed in March that Elston had phoned him
to suggest that senior department officials would retaliate against the
prosecutors if they discussed their firings publicly." ... "In an e-mail
written to five of the ousted U.S. attorneys minutes after the Elston call,
Cummins said of the conversation: "I was tempted to challenge him and say
something movie-like such as `are you threatening ME???'"" -By
Greg
Gordon -McClatchy
via -RealCities
-
Mike
Elston
- Alberto
Gonzales - US
Attorneys - Law
- "Justice
aide close to prosecutor firings resigns." ... "Some
of the fired prosecutors have said they received phone calls from [Mike]
Elston encouraging their silence about the firestorm surrounding Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales, who ousted the prosecutors last year as part
of a plan that originated at the [Republican President Bush] White House."
-Reuters via
-BostonGlobe
-
Mike
Elston
- US
Attorneys - Law
-
 Reporter
- Arkansas
- "Another
Justice Dept. Official [Michael Elston] Resigns."
... "At one point, [Mike] Mr. Elston compiled a list of prosecutors for
possible removal, but his principal involvement came after the firings
in February when he exchanged e-mail messages with H. E. Cummins III of
Arkansas, one of the ousted United States attorneys." ... "Mr. Cummins
testified later to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he regarded Mr.
Elston’s message as a veiled threat to retaliate against any ousted prosecutor
who spoke to a reporter." -By David Johnston
-NYTimes
20070604
-
Michael
Battle
-
 Randy
"Duke" Cunningham
- Michael
Elston
- San
Diego - California
- US
Attorney - Government
- Money
- Law
- Politics
- "Letter
to Washington: The show goes on." ... "A few days
after learning last December that she was to submit her resignation effective
Jan. 31, [San Diego California US Attorney Carol] Lam asked Michael Battle,
then the head of the U.S. attorney executive office, for extra time to
ensure “an orderly transition – especially regarding pending investigations
and several significant cases that were set to begin trial in the next
few months,” Lam wrote in her answers [respongind to House Judiciary Committee
questions]." ... "At the time, Lam was investigating corruption cases stemming
from her successful prosecution of former [California Republican Representative]
Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, the Rancho Santa Fe Republican who pleaded
guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges after admitting to taking
more than $2.4 million in bribes. Cunningham was sentenced to more than
eight years in federal prison. Besides Lam, four other prosecutors were
presiding over corruption investigations when they were dismissed." ...
"About a month passed when Lam got a call from Michael Elston, Gonzales'
former chief of staff, telling her that her request for extra time was
“not being received positively” and that she “should stop thinking in terms
of the cases in the office.”" ... "“He insisted that I had to depart in
a matter of weeks, not months, and that these instructions were 'coming
from the very highest level of the government,' ” Lam wrote." ... "Lam
submitted her resignation Jan. 16, effective Feb. 15." -By
Dana Wilkie -Copley
via -Union-Tribune
20070503
-
Secret
- Paul
McNulty
- Michael
Elston
- US
Attorneys - Law
- Politics
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Seattle
- Washington
- San
Francisco - California
- "Justice
Official Says He Was Directed To Call Fired Prosecutors."
... "The chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty
has told congressional investigators that phone calls he placed to four
fired U.S. attorneys -- calls that three of the prosecutors say involved
threats about testifying before Congress -- were made at McNulty's direction."
... "Michael Elston, the chief of staff, told congressional investigators
in a closed-door session on March 30 that McNulty specifically instructed
him to make the phone calls after the Justice Department's No. 2 official
learned that the fired prosecutors might testify before Congress about
their dismissals." ... "At least one member of Congress has questioned
whether the phone calls might constitute obstruction of justice." ... "Elston
said that McNulty directed him to place calls to fired U.S. attorneys Paul
Charlton of Arizona, Bud Cummins of Arkansas, and John McKay
of Seattle [Washington], all of whom said they felt pressured to keep quiet.
Elston also placed a call to federal prosecutor Kevin Ryan of San
Francisco [California], as directed, but did not speak to him. The calls
were placed between January and March of this year -- before details about
the political motivations for the firings became public." ... "On Wednesday,
the House Judiciary Committee made public formal
correspondence from three fired prosecutors who said they thought that
Elston was trying to intimidate them into keeping quiet." -By
Murray
Waas -NationalJournal
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