HavenWorks.com/us/attorneys US Attorneys News A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

US Attorney News, United States Attorney News, US of America Attorneys
US Attorneys Scandal

HavenWorks

Secret

Battle

Canary

Cassidy

Domenici

Elston

Gonzales

Goodling

Griffin

Hastings

Jennings

McNulty

Miers

Renzi

Rove

Sampson

Schlozman

Taylor

Wilson

Yang

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Georgia

Maryland

Michigan

Missouri

New Mexico

Texas

Washington

Wisconsin

US Attorneys

US ATTORNEY News:

20081017

Barack Obama

Michael Mukasey

John McCain

Political

US Attorneys

Law

Investigation

2008 Election

"Obama Lawyer Asks for Probe Into Vote-Fraud Claims (Update1)." ... "Robert Bauer, general counsel to the [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama campaign, wrote to Attorney General Michael Mukasey a day after the Associated Press, citing unidentified law enforcement officials, reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating ACORN. The name is short for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now." ... "A special prosecutor appointed by Mukasey already is looking into whether improper political considerations influenced the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. At least one prosecutor was fired following Republican complaints that he didn't aggressively pursue allegations of voter fraud against ACORN." ... "Bauer said the news leaks are part of a coordinated effort by [2008 Election Republican John] McCain's presidential campaign and Republicans. They are ``fomenting specious vote-fraud allegations and there are disturbing indications of official involvement or collusion,'' Bauer said." ... "``It is apparent,'' he wrote, that law enforcement officials are serving ``improper political objectives'' that could inhibit voter participation in the [2008 November] Nov. 4 election. The aim is to ``suppress the vote and to unduly influence investigations and prosecutions,'' Bauer wrote. " -By Jeff Bliss

-Bloomberg

20080710

Karl Rove

Don Siegelman

US Attorney

Politics

Investigation

Alabama

California

"Rove, Defying Subpoena, Doesn't Appear at Hearing (Update2)." ... "Former [Republican President Bush] White House political director Karl Rove, defying a subpoena, failed to appear before a [United States] U.S. House panel investigating whether the Justice Department prosecuted people for political reasons." ... "Rove's action today prompted the House Judiciary subcommittee to rule that his reasons for skipping the appearance weren't legally valid, a first step toward a possible contempt of Congress vote." ... "The panel is trying to determine whether Rove influenced the Justice Department's decision to bring a corruption case against former Alabama [Democratic] Governor Don Siegelman, a Democrat. Rove has rejected the claim and said he would speak with the committee only in private, not under oath and without a transcript. He also proposed answering questions in writing." ... "[California Democratic Representative Linda] Sanchez noted that Rove's offer was limited to discussing the Siegelman case. The panel also wants to question him about other topics, including the 2006 firing of nine U.S. attorneys, she said." ... "The Justice Department's ethics office also is probing whether Siegelman was the victim of selective prosecution. " -By Robert Schmidt

-Bloomberg

20080409

Connecticut - Hack - Political - US Attorney - Censorship - 2006 Election - Web - E-Mails - Federal - Attorney - US - Iraq - Military - "FBI probe: Lieberman campaign to blame for crashing own Web site." ... "A federal investigation has concluded that U.S. [United States Connecticut Independent Democrat Senator] Sen. Joseph Lieberman's 2006 re-election campaign was to blame for the crash of its Web site the day before Connecticut's heated Aug. [August] 8 Democratic primary." ... "The FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] office in New Haven [Connecticut] found no evidence supporting the Lieberman campaign's allegations that supporters of primary challenger Ned Lamont of Greenwich [Connecticut] were to blame for the Web site crash." ... "Lieberman, who was fighting for his political life against the anti-Iraq war candidate [Ned] Lamont, implied that joe2006.com was hacked by Lamont supporters." ... ""The server that hosted the joe2006.com Web site failed because it was overutilized and misconfigured. There was no evidence of (an) attack," according to the e-mail." ... "The e-mail, dated Oct. [October] 25, 2006, was included in a technical packet of information recently sent to The Advocate in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act filed in late 2006 with the offices of state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor." ... "The Advocate filed the requests after Blumenthal and O'Connor closed the case but declined to divulge details. They stated only that they found no evidence that Lamont supporters were to blame." ... "Visitors who tried to access Lieberman's site at the time received a message calling on Lamont to "make an unqualified statement denouncing this kind of dirty campaign trick and to demand whoever is responsible to cease and desist immediately."" ... "Blumenthal denied The Advocate's FOI [Freedom of Information] request on the grounds it was a federal matter, and it took more than a year for the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to respond." ... "According to the FBI memo, the site crashed because Lieberman officials continually exceeded a configured limit of 100 e-mails per hour the night before the primary." -By Brian Lockhart -StamfordAdvocate.com

20080329

Don Siegelman - Karl Rove - Leura Garrett Canary - Alabama - US Attorney - Politics - Investigation - 2002 Election - La - Federal - Prison - "Freed Ex-Governor of Alabama Talks of Abuse of Power." ... "Former [Democratic Governor] Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama, released from prison Friday on bond in a bribery and corruption case, said he was as convinced as ever that politics had played a leading role in his prosecution." ... "Speaking by telephone in his first post-prison interview, shortly after he had left the federal penitentiary at Oakdale, La. [Louisiana], Mr. Siegelman said there had been “abuse of power” in his case, and repeatedly cited Karl Rove, the former [Republican President Bush] White House political director." ... "“His fingerprints are smeared all over the case,” Mr. Siegelman said, a day after a federal appeals court ordered him released on bond and said there were legitimate questions about his case. He was sentenced to serve seven years last June after a guilty verdict on bribery and corruption charges a year earlier." ... "The investigation, trial and conviction of Mr. Siegelman, a veteran politician, has become a flash point for broader Democratic contentions that politics has influenced decisions by the Justice Department under [Republican] President Bush, including the firings of several United States attorneys, and other federal prosecutions besides Mr. Siegelman’s." ... "In a sworn statement, a Republican lawyer and political operative, Jill Simpson, told of hearing one of Mr. Rove’s allies here, William Canary, discussing Mr. Siegelman during the 2002 governor’s race, and saying “that he had already gotten it worked out with Karl and Karl had spoken with the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice was already pursuing Don Siegelman.” The United States attorney here, Leura G. Canary, is married to Mr. Canary." -By Adam Nossiter -NYTimes

20080311

Joshua B Bolten - Harriet E Miers - Michael B Mukasey - US Attorneys - Politics - Investigation - Lawsuit - Federal - Texas - Mich - Calif - "House Panel Sues to Force Bush Aides to Table: Bolten and Miers Ignored Subpoenas In Prosecutor Probe." ... "The House Judiciary Committee filed a lawsuit yesterday to enforce subpoenas against [Republican] President Bush's chief of staff and his former counsel in a probe of suspected White House involvement in the 2006 firings of nine federal prosecutors." ... "The panel filed the federal court suit against Joshua B. Bolten, White House chief of staff since April 2006, and Harriet E. Miers, a close associate of Bush's from Texas who resigned as White House counsel in January 2007 after a little more than two years on the job." ... "The lawsuit charges that Bolten and Miers, who were cited by the House for contempt of Congress last month, defied committee subpoenas by refusing to testify or provide documents demanded by the panel." ... "But Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said White House aides involved in the case cannot be prosecuted because they were following legal advice from the Justice Department. He refused to refer the contempt citation to a grand jury." ... "The refusal of Bolten and Miers to comply with the subpoenas "did not constitute a crime," Mukasey said in a Feb. 29 letter to [California Democratic Representative and] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)." ... "[Michigan Democratic Representative] Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), the Judiciary Committee chairman, described Mukasey's refusal as "contrary to federal law" and said the panel filed the civil lawsuit to enforce the subpoenas." ... "According to the lawsuit, the committee launched its investigation in part to "examine allegations of malfeasance, abuse of authority and violations of existing laws by Executive Branch personnel."" ... "It says the year-long investigation "has uncovered substantial evidence" that the Bush administration and Justice Department "injected partisan considerations into the forced resignations or retention of U.S. attorneys."" ... "It cites "credible evidence" that U.S. attorneys who "failed to return desired indictments or failed to bring voter fraud prosecutions that were considered politically useful to the administration were forced to resign," as were those who "prosecuted officeholders allied with the administration."" -By William Branigin -WashingtonPost

20080224

Don Siegelman - Karl Rove - Criminal - US Attorneys - Law- Politics - Secret - Spying - Intelligence - 2002 Election - 2006 Election - Prison - "Did Ex-Alabama Governor [Don Siegelman] Get A Raw Deal? 60 Minutes Reports On Bribery Conviction Of [former Alabama Democratic Governor] Don Siegelman In A Case Criticized by Democrats And Republicans." [WATCH: "The Prosecution of Siegelman." via 60 Minutes] ... "Is Don Siegelman in prison because he’s a criminal or because he belonged to the wrong political party in Alabama? Siegelman is the former governor of Alabama, and he was the most successful Democrat in that Republican state. But while he was governor, the U.S. Justice Department launched multiple investigations that went on year after year until, finally, a jury convicted Siegelman of bribery." ... "Now, many Democrats and Republicans have become suspicious of the Justice Department’s motivations. As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, 52 former state attorneys-general have asked Congress to investigate whether the prosecution of Siegelman was pursued not because of a crime but because of politics." ... "“I haven't seen a case with this many red flags on it that pointed towards a real injustice being done,” says Grant Woods, the former Republican attorney general of Arizona." ... "“I personally believe that what happened here is that they targeted Don Siegelman because they could not beat him fair and square. This was a Republican state and he was the one Democrat they could never get rid of,” Woods says." ...

[DON SIEGELMAN, former Alabama Governor]

TV: [

WATCH: "The Prosecution of Siegelman." via 60 Minutes]

"Now a Republican lawyer from Alabama, Jill Simpson, has come forward to claim that the Siegelman prosecution was part of a five-year secret campaign to ruin the governor. Simpson told 60 Minutes she did what’s called “opposition research” for the Republican party. She says during a meeting in 2001, Karl Rove, [Republican] President Bush’s senior political advisor, asked her to try to catch Siegelman cheating on his wife." ... "She says she spied on Siegelman for months but saw nothing. Even though she was working as a Republican campaign operative, Simpson says she wanted to talk to 60 Minutes because Siegelman’s prison sentence bothers her conscience." ... "One of Rove’s close Alabama associates was Republican consultant Bill Canary. Simpson says she was on a conference call in 2002 when Canary told her she didn’t have to do more intelligence work because, as Canary allegedly said, “My girls” can take care of Siegelman. Simpson says she asked “Who are your girls?”" ... "“And he says, ‘Oh, my wife, Leura. You know, she's the Middle District United States Attorney.’ And he said, ‘And then Alice Martin. She is the Northern District Attorney, and I've helped with her campaign,’” Simpson says." ... "“Federal prosecutors?” Pelley asks." ... "“Yes, Sir,” she says." ... "His [Bill Canary's] wife Leura Canary and Alice Martin are top federal prosecutors in the state. Both were appointed by [Republican] President Bush, and their offices investigated Siegelman. Details of some of those investigations leaked to the press. And Siegelman lost his 2002 re-election campaign narrowly to Republican Bob Riley." ... "Two years later, as Siegelman geared up to run again, the Justice Department took one of its Siegelman investigations to trial-an indictment involving an alleged Medicaid scam." ... "“He’s indicted. He goes to trial. That's a pretty big deal to have your former governor on trial. Everybody's there. The government gives their opening argument. The judge says, ‘I want to see you in chambers because this case, there's no case here,’" Grant Woods says." ... "Woods says the judge threw the case out, without a witness testifying. “The case is so lame that he throws it out,” he says." ... "Vindicated, Siegelman focused on winning the 2006 election. And that’s when Jill Simpson says she heard the Justice Department was going to try again. She says she heard it from a former classmate and work associate Rob Riley, the son of the new Republican governor." ... "“Rob said that they had gotten wind that Don was going to run again,” she says." ... "“And Rob Riley said what about that?” Pelley asks." ... "“They just couldn't have that happen,” Simpson says." ... "Asked how they were going to prevent that from happening, she says, “Well, they had to re-indict him, is what Rob said.”" ... "Simpson told this same story, under oath, to Congressional investigators in a closed session. Rob Riley told 60 Minutes he never talked to Jill Simpson about this." ... "Four months after Simpson says they spoke, Siegelman was indicted on new charges." ... "The prosecution was handled by the office of U.S. Attorney Leura Canary, whose husband Bill Canary had run the campaign of Siegelman’s opponent, [Republican Governor] Gov. Riley." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Scott Pelley

-60 Minutes -CBSNews

20080222

Rick Renzi - Money - Politics - Real Estate - US Attorneys - Investigation - Phoenix - Arizona - Federal - Land - "Rick Renzi, Republican Congressman, Indicted by U.S. (Update3)." ... "Representative Rick Renzi, a Republican from Arizona who isn't seeking re-election, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in an alleged scheme to profit from a land deal." ... "Renzi, 49, who was first elected to the House in 2002, was charged along with James Sandlin, 56, a real estate investor and one of his political backers, and Andrew Beardall, 36, an attorney who had been general counsel of Renzi's family insurance business. Renzi and Beardall are accused of embezzling money from insurance clients to fund the lawmaker's congressional campaign." ... "``Congressman Renzi misused his public office by forcing a land sale that would financially benefit himself and a business associate, and in so doing, he betrayed the trust of the citizens of Arizona,'' said U.S. Attorney Diane Humetewa of Phoenix [Arizona] in a statement." ... "The U.S. alleged that Renzi offered to sponsor legislation to help a company seeking to swap land with the federal government if it purchased property owned by Sandlin. Renzi, who sat on a committee that approved such deals, told the company in early 2005 that he wouldn't support the request if it didn't buy the land, according to the indictment. No deal was made." ... "Later, Renzi pressured a separate investment group, also looking for approval of a land exchange, to purchase the property, prosecutors said. That group agreed to buy 480 acres from Sandlin for $4.6 million in April 2005, the government said." ... "The Renzi investigation was highlighted during a congressional inquiry last year into the [Republican President] Bush administration's firings of nine U.S. attorneys. One of the dismissed prosecutors, Paul Charlton, had been in charge of the probe." -By Robert Schmidt -Bloomberg

20080218

Corporate - Government - US Attorney - Politics - New Jersey - Calif - Indiana - Manufacturer - Investigation - "Christie faces a grilling over Ashcroft role." ... "A congressional committee has called for New Jersey's U.S. attorney, Christopher Christie, to testify at a hearing next week about his appointment of former Attorney General John Ashcroft to a lucrative assignment as a corporate monitor." ... "[California Democratic Representative] Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.[Democratic-California]), who will chair the Feb. 26 hearing, said she and other Judiciary Committee members want to discuss Ashcroft's hiring, role and compensation at Zimmer Holdings, an Indiana-based manufacturer that accepted a monitor to settle a fraud investigation with Christie's office." ... "The contract calls for Ashcroft's Washington-based consulting firm to collect between $27 million and $52 million over 18 months." ... "The hearing, before members of a subcommittee on commercial and administrative law, represents part of the growing scrutiny on out-of-court settlements between corporations and federal prosecutors, a practice that has flourished in recent years without court or congressional oversight. In many of the settlements, called deferred prosecutions, prosecutors privately negotiate the terms with target companies, then appoint private lawyers to monitor the companies' compliance." -By John P. Martin andd Jeff Whelan -NJ.com

20080214

Josh Bolten - Harriet Miers - US Attorneys - Politics - Investigation - California - Michigan - "House finds Bolten, Miers in contempt of Congress." ... "The House voted Thursday to hold [Republican President Bush's] White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before a panel investigating the firing of several United States attorneys." ... "The matter will now be referred to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia." ... "If the fight comes to a head without a compromise having been reached, it could pit Congress’s power to hold White officials in contempt against the president’s right to assert executive privilege." ... "[California Democratic Representative and Speaker of the House Nancy] Pelosi, who stated that she “had hoped that this day would never have come,” added that, if White House officials instruct Department of Justice attorneys not to prosecute the contempt citations, “we will have power to go to federal court and seek civil enforcement of our subpoenas.”" ... "[Michigan Democratic Representative and Judiciary Committee Chairman John] Conyers said he had already discovered “plenty of evidence of wrongdoing at the Department of Justice. He said officials made the decision to fire attorneys on the basis of whether they had pursued public corruption charges against Democratic government officials. He also said that Justice officials made misleading statements to investigators minimizing the apparent involvement of White House personnel in the firings." -By Alexander Bolton and Klaus Marre -TheHill.com

20080122

Alberto Gonzales - Pete Domenici - Heather Wilson - Criminal - US Attorneys - Politics - Hatch Act - Federal - Law - Civil Rights - 2006 Election - 2008 Election - New Mexico - Minnesota - "Attorneys probe deepens." ... "The federal investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys could jolt the political landscape ahead of the November [2008] elections, according to several people close to the inquiry." ... "Washington’s attention has been diverted from the scandal since the August resignation of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general, and has focused instead on Democrats’ efforts to hold White House officials in contempt for ignoring congressional subpoenas to testify on Capitol Hill about the firings." ... "But recent behind-the-scenes activity in several investigations suggests that the issue that roiled Congress in 2007 could re-emerge in the heat of the [2008] election year. Two inquiries by the House and Senate ethics committees are examining whether several congressional Republicans, including one running for the Senate this year, improperly interfered with investigations." ... "As potent as the congressional probes might be, they appear to be far narrower than a sprawling inquiry launched by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)." ... "Investigators from these offices have been questioning whether senior officials lied to Congress, violated the criminal provisions in the Hatch Act, tampered with witnesses preparing to testify to Congress, obstructed justice, took improper political considerations into account during the hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys and created widespread problems in the department’s Civil Rights Division, according to several people familiar with the investigation." ... "The internal Justice Department probe cannot bring charges but can refer findings to a U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia or a special prosecutor, who could then pursue a criminal investigation." ... "[Former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David] Iglesias’s case is in the crosshairs of all three investigations. Testifying before Congress, he alleged last year that Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) pressured him to accelerate an investigation of a Democratic politician in New Mexico ahead of Wilson’s tight [2006] reelection bid. Iglesias said he did not plan to bring charges before the November elections, and was fired in December 2006." ... "In a sign that the investigation has widened beyond the nine fired attorneys, Justice last summer interviewed Thomas Heffelfinger, U.S. attorney in Minnesota, who resigned before it was revealed that he was targeted for dismissal." -By Manu Raju -TheHill.com

20080110

John Ashcroft - Michael B Mukasey - Alberto R Gonzales - Debra Wong Yang - Criminal - Corporate - Government - Lawyers - US Attorneys - Politics - Medical - New Jersey - Indiana - New York - Los Angeles - California - "Ashcroft Deal Brings Scrutiny in Justice Dept.." ... "When the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey [Christopher J. Christie] needed to find an outside lawyer to monitor a large corporation willing to settle criminal charges out of court last fall, he turned to [Republican] former Attorney General John Ashcroft, his onetime boss. With no public notice and no bidding, the company awarded Mr. Ashcroft an 18-month contract worth $28 million to $52 million." ... "That contract, which Justice Department officials in Washington learned about only several weeks ago, has prompted an internal inquiry into the department’s procedures for selecting outside monitors to police settlements with large companies." ... "The contract between Mr. Ashcroft’s consulting firm, the Ashcroft Group, and Zimmer Holdings, a medical supply company in Indiana, has also drawn the attention of Congressional investigators." ... "The New Jersey prosecutor, United States Attorney Christopher J. Christie, directed similar monitoring contracts last year to two other former Justice Department colleagues from the [Republican President] Bush administration, as well as to a former Republican state attorney general in New Jersey." ... "Officials said that while there had been no accusations of wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Christie or Mr. Ashcroft, aides to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey were concerned about the appearance of favoritism." ... "Mr. Mukasey, a former federal judge who was sworn in as attorney general in November, has vowed to remove political considerations from decision-making at the department in the wake of a series of scandals under his predecessor, Alberto R. Gonzales." ... "In the Bush administration, federal prosecutors have increasingly relied on out-of-court settlements with large corporations in criminal investigations that in the past might have resulted in indictments and trials." ... "Mr. Christie directed similar contracts in settlements with other medical-supply companies to two other former Justice Department colleagues — David N. Kelley, the former United States attorney in Manhattan [New York], and Debra Wong Yang, his counterpart in Los Angeles [California] — and to David Samson, the former Republican attorney general in New Jersey." (1, 2) -By Philip Shenon -NYTimes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

US Attorneys News Sources:

McClatchy

TPM Muckraker

WashingtonPost

WSJ

Search US Attorneys News:
News Search
<US Attorneys> in:

<AllTheWeb-[News]>

<AltaVista-[News]>

<Google-[News]>

<MSN-[News]>

Specialty search:

<Google's U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil>

Search:
<US Attorneys News> in:

<Google>

<MSN>

<Yahoo>

US Attorneys
Brought to you by the alphabet letter U
U
&
Brought to you by the alphabet letter A
A
!-|

20071129

Karl Rove - Joshua Bolten - Sara Taylor - Harriet Miers - J Scott Jennings - US Attorneys - Politics - VT - "Leahy Rejects Bush Privilege Claim." ... "A Senate chairman said Thursday that [Republican] President Bush was not involved in the firings of U.S. attorneys last winter, and he therefore ruled illegal the president's executive privilege claims protecting his chief of staff, Josh Bolten, and former adviser Karl Rove." ... "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman [Vermont Democratic Senator] Patrick Leahy directed Bolten, Rove, former White House political director Sara Taylor and her deputy, J. Scott Jennings, to comply "immediately" with their subpoenas for documents and information about the White House's role in the firings of U.S. attorneys." ... "The ruling is a formality that clears the way for Leahy's panel to vote on whether to advance the citations to the full Senate." ... "House leaders also have filed a contempt citation in their chamber against Bolten and former [Republican President] White House Counsel Harriet Miers, but no floor vote has been scheduled." -By Laurie Kellman -AP via -SFGate.com

20071031

Michael Mukasey - Alberto R Gonzales - Joseph R Biden - 2008 Election - Torture - US Attorneys - Criminal - Politics - "Mukasey's reply draws more fire: The attorney general nominee declines to call water-boarding torture, as Democrats on Senate panel had sought." ... "[Attorney General] Atty. Gen.-designate Michael B. Mukasey, adopting a middle ground on an issue that has become central to his nomination, said coercive interrogation methods, including a form of simulated drowning, were "over the line" and "repugnant." But he declined to say whether he thought so-called water-boarding was a form of torture that would be illegal in all cases." ... "His position, detailed in a letter late Tuesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where his nomination to succeed Alberto R. Gonzales has stalled, fell short of assurances sought by some leading Democrats and cast doubt over whether Mukasey would be confirmed." ... "One member of the Judiciary Committee, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Delaware Senator] Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), said Tuesday that Mukasey did not go far enough in condemning torture, and that he would vote against the nomination. "We cannot have a United States attorney general who will equivocate and dissemble on this matter," said Biden, a presidential candidate." ... "Late Tuesday, the [Republican President Bush] White House released Mukasey's responses to the other questions." ... "In them, Mukasey indicated he would not be willing to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of politicization of the department under Gonzales, including the firing of nine U.S. attorneys last year." ... "Biden had asked Mukasey whether he would appoint a special prosecutor in the event that the inspector general uncovered potential criminal conduct by Gonzales or other personnel." -By Richard B. Schmitt -LAtimes

20071020

Alberto Gonzales - Karl Rove - Randy "Duke" Cunningham - Criminal - US Attorneys - Politics - Government - Law - Hatch Act - Washington - 2004 Election - New Mexico - San Diego - California - "Gonzales could be prosecuted, McKay says." ... "The U.S. Inspector General may recommend criminal prosecution of [Republican President Bush's] departed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the conclusion of an investigation, possibly as early as next month, the fired former U.S. attorney for Western Washington told a Spokane audience Friday." ... "His refusal to open a federal criminal investigation into voter fraud allegations in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s razor-thin victory over Republican challenger Dino Rossi in 2004 [election] may be the reason he was fired, John McKay told the Federal Bar Association." ... "Appointed by President Bush in October 2001 to the top law enforcement job in western Washington, McKay said he believes he and seven other U.S. attorneys were fired last December by Gonzales for political reasons, perhaps with former White House chief of staff Karl Rove pulling strings." ... "Gonzales “lied about” reasons for the firings when questioned under oath in July by the Senate Judiciary Committee and now has hired a lawyer and is refusing to answer questions from the Inspector General, McKay said." ... "“There was a conspiracy to politicize the Justice Department,’’ the former U.S. attorney said, “and they did not get away with it.”" ... "[Former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David] Iglesias has filed a Hatch Act complaint, alleging Rove and other White House officials may have violated that federal law in his firing." ... "[Former San Diego, California U.S. Attorney Carol] Lam has said she believes her firing was tied her office’s aggressive investigation of Rep. [California Republican Representative] Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a Republican congressman who later pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion." -By Bill Morlin -SpokesmanReview.com

20071010

Karl Rove - Alberto Gonzales - Alabama - US Attorneys - Criminal - Politics - "Rove Linked to Alabama Case." ... "A Republican lawyer claims she was told that Karl Rove — while serving as [Republican] President Bush's top political adviser — had intervened in the Justice Department's prosecution of Alabama's most prominent Democrat. Longtime Alabama G.O.P. activist Dana Jill Simpson first made the allegation in June, but has now provided new details in a lengthy sworn statement to the House Judiciary Committee. The Committee is expected to hold public hearings on the Alabama case next week as part of its investigation of possible political interference by the Bush Administration in the activities of the Department of Justice." ... "Simpson said in June that she heard a close associate of Rove say that the White House political adviser "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Don Siegelman, a former Democratic governor of Alabama, with help from two of Alabama's U.S. attorneys. Siegelman was later indicted on 32 counts of corruption, convicted on seven of them, and is currently serving an 88-month sentence in Federal prison." ... "If Simpson's version of events is accurate, it would show direct political involvement by the White House in federal prosecutions — a charge leveled by Administration critics in connection with the U.S. attorney scandal that led to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales." ... "She [Simpson] recalls conversations in early 2005 with Rob Riley, Jr., son of Alabama's current Republican governor, over his father's coming gubernatorial race, in which Siegelman appeared to be the top Democratic challenger. The younger Riley, she says, told her that his father and Bill Canary, the state's top Republican political operative and a longtime friend of Rove, contacted Rove in late 2004, after which he intervened with the Justice Department's Public Integrity section to push for criminal prosecution of Siegelman." -By Adam Zagorin-TIME.com

20071004

Jeff Sessions - Karl Rove - Ala - US Attorneys - Money - Political - Enforcement - "Selective Justice in Alabama?" ... "On may 8, 2002, Clayton Lamar (Lanny) Young Jr., a lobbyist and landfill developer described by acquaintances as a hard-drinking "good ole boy," was in an expansive mood. In the downtown offices of the U.S. Attorney in Montgomery, Ala. [Alabama], Young settled into his chair, personal lawyer at his side, and proceeded to tell a group of seasoned prosecutors and investigators that he had paid tens of thousands of dollars in apparently illegal campaign contributions to some of the biggest names in Alabama Republican politics. According to Young, among the recipients of his largesse were the state's former attorney general [Alabama Republican Senator] Jeff Sessions, now a U.S. Senator, and [Republican] William Pryor Jr., Sessions' successor as attorney general and now a federal judge. Young, whose detailed statements are described in documents obtained by TIME, became a key witness in a major case in Alabama that brought down a high-profile politician and landed him in federal prison with an 88-month sentence. As it happened, however, that official was the top Democrat named by Young in a series of interviews, and none of the Republicans whose campaigns he fingered were investigated in the case, let alone prosecuted." ... "The case of Don Siegelman, the Democratic former Governor of Alabama who was convicted last year on corruption charges, has become a flash point in the debate over the politicization of the [Republican President] Bush Administration's Justice Department. Forty-four former state attorneys general — Republicans and Democrats — have cited "irregularities" in the investigation and prosecution, saying they "call into question the basic fairness that is the linchpin of our system of justice."" ... "[Republican] Leura Canary, the U.S. Attorney whose office drove Siegelman's prosecution, is married to Bill Canary, Alabama's most prominent political operative and a longtime friend of [Republican] Karl Rove's. In May an Alabama lawyer and Republican activist named Dana Jill Simpson gave a notarized statement that she heard Canary say Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Siegelman, with help from two of Alabama's U.S. Attorneys." ... "Young testified that he had furnished Siegelman with an all-terrain vehicle and a motorcycle, lavishing money on the Governor and his aides. But he was an equal-opportunity influence monger. Early in the investigation, in November 2001, Young announced that five years earlier, he "personally provided Sessions with cash campaign contributions," according to an FBI memo of the interview. Prosecutors didn't follow up that surprising statement with questions, but Young volunteered more. The memo adds that "on one occasion he [Young] provided Session [sic] with $5,000 to $7,000 using two intermediaries," one of whom held a senior position with Sessions' campaign. On another occasion, the FBI records show, Young talked about providing "$10,000 to $15,000 to Session [sic]. Young had his secretaries and friends write checks to the Sessions campaign and Young reimbursed the secretaries and friends for their contributions."" ... "If true, Young's statements describe political money laundering that would be a clear violation of federal law. In 1996, when Young said he had made the contributions, it was illegal to give a candidate more than $1,000 for a primary or general campaign." (1, 2, 3) -By Adam Zagorin -TIME.com

20070830

Alberto R Gonzales - Political - US Attorneys - Government - Jobs - Surveillance - Intelligence - Enforcement - Vermont - "Justice Department Investigating Whether Gonzales Misled Congress." ... "The Justice Department’s inspector general is examining the veracity of congressional testimony by embattled Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales." ... "[Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick] Leahy and other lawmakers are not convinced that Gonzales did not lie to them about several matters, including: the U.S. attorney dismissals; a 2004 hospital room encounter involving Gonzales and former Attorney General John Ashcroft; and the Justice Department’s misuse of its investigative tools. Four other Senate Judiciary Democrats have asked Solicitor General Paul D. Clement to appoint a special counsel to explore whether Gonzales has perjured himself." -By Keith Perine -CQ.com
Alberto Gonzales - Monica Goodling - Kyle Sampson- Political -