Blogs and Stories
What the Justice Department is Hiding
Grimes also charges that Canary ran the U.S. Attorney’s office like a personal fiefdom, enlisting federal employees for babysitting, and appointing relatives to positions in violation of federal nepotism rules. Justice Department sources reveal that after bringing these charges, Grimes was subjected to intense harassment by Canary, who at one point threatened she would prosecute Grimes for perjury unless Grimes withdrew her complaints.
Charges of improper communications with jurors figure prominently in Siegelman’s appeal. Grimes details new claims that during the Siegelman trial prosecutors had improper communications with a juror. She notes that one juror, nicknamed “Flipper” by the prosecutors because she entertained fellow jurors with her gymnastics, was marked as friendly to their case.
“Flipper,” who figures prominently in the pending allegations of juror misconduct, kept inquiring through the marshals about an FBI special agent, Keith Baker. The internal emails on the prosecution team suggested that she sought to communicate with the prosecutors about Baker while the case was pending. One prosecutor’s email documented these communications involving the juror and the prosecutors.
Even more troubling, Grimes quoted the lead prosecutor describing direct interaction with a juror who was about to be questioned by the judge and who was “scared and afraid she is going to get into trouble.” This conduct violated rules guaranteeing the independence of jurors as well as an order issued by the judge in court against dealings between the jurors and the prosecution team.
Communications of this sort between litigants and a juror often lead to a mistrial and potential disciplinary action against lawyers involved. However, the Justice Department kept these jury interactions secret from the court and defense counsel in what may constitute a serious act of obstruction.
Two Justice Department staffers assigned to investigate the accusations—drawn from Arizona and Oklahoma—found insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations of jury tampering, but a close examination of their investigation leaves those responsible for Congressional oversight unimpressed. “Look at the list of people these ‘investigators’ failed to question and at the questions they failed to ask. Frankly, this doesn’t much look like an investigation,” said one Congressional staffer.
The internal probe failed to question the marshals who were on jury duty. This omission suggests that the purpose of the report was not to get at the truth. Was this a fair investigation of the Grimes accusations, or was it a rushed effort to exonerate—through “inconclusive” findings—an errant U.S. attorney on the eve of a massive transfer of power in Washington?
House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers wrote Attorney General Mukasey expressing, in his typically understated language, his concerns about the matter: “It is startling to see such repeated instances of Federal prosecutors failing to keep the defense apprised of key developments in an active criminal case.”
A career Justice Department lawyer stated that apprehension about the matter was building within the department. “What happened in this case is a disgrace that threatens the reputation of the Department as a whole and federal prosecutors across the country,” he said. He identified David Margolis as having failed to take corrective measures. “He has essentially checked out and is intent on sweeping everything under the carpet. It will be one hell of a mess for the new tenants.”
The new allegations about improper jury communications are troubling for another reason. On July 8, 2008, the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division sent a letter to the Court of Appeals for purposes of filling out the record with respect to jury tampering information. The Justice Department confessed to having in its possession for two years and up to that point withheld from opposing counsel and the trial court information concerning a similarly suspect “investigation” it conducted into improper jury dealings in violation of the trial court’s orders.
Bringing Down Bachmann
Benjamin Sarlin is a reporter for The Daily Beast. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for talkingpointsmemo.com.
America's Hot Jobs (and Not Jobs)
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
Nicolas Cage, Compulsive Spender
Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
Sonia Scores a KO
Scott Horton is a law professor and writer on legal and national security affairs for Harper's Magazine and The American Lawyer, among other publications.
Torture Prosecution Turnaround?
Scott Horton is a law professor and writer on legal and national security affairs for Harper's Magazine and The American Lawyer, among other publications.
Where Iran's Regime Learned Its Tricks
Scott Horton is a law professor and writer on legal and national security affairs for Harper's Magazine and The American Lawyer, among other publications.
This case is a disgrace, and a complete condemnation of the Bush Justice Department. Where is the outrage!
Each and every one of these crooks starting from Gonzales and Rove at the top to this abominable excuse of a public servant Leura Canary should be prosecuted and thrown in jail, each for the exact same length of sentence applied to Siegelman. Then Siegelman should sue each of these participants for every penny they own.
There are moments when I wish the practice of putting these embarrassments out in the public square to be spit upon by good citizens should be resuscitated. I'd personally like to give a couple of these jack*sses a good swift kick that they deserve.
I'm totally with Pupster. Where is the outrage? I've been studying this case for months and the deeper I get, the more repulsive it is.
I started out after the 60 Minutes piece poking around trying to discredit CBS for engaging in what I thought was surely media dramatic distortion. But instead my searching only reinforced CBS's story and then some - many times over - as the months passed. The whole thing is sickening.
How many pages will the Bush-Cheney "Pardon" be??? Maybe a blanket statement: "Everyone with an "R" following their name."?
This whole thing reeks of TREASON !
These "NEO-CONS" The new-conspirators that have replaced Communism with Fascism as the new #1 threat to our Democracy.
Treason trumps Presidential pardons in a time of "WAR"
Public Stoning? Daily Water boarding?
This criminal activity has been going on for as long as I can remember and I can't remember anyone convicted since Watergate. Both sides are so afraid that if they prosecute they'll open themselves up to the next round of charges when the outs get in. It's cowardice and it has never been more criminal than this administration. Unfortunately, under the guise of bipartisanship, these crimes will never be punished.
Pupster asks "Where is the outrage?"
I've followed this travesty for quite some time (a friend from the Oregon coast turned me on to it), and the answer is two-fold in it's simplest form.
#1 - Americans are, usually by choice, grossly ill-informed. By nature, perhaps, we choose to listen to what we want to hear and tend to be emotional about it.
#2 - The injustices of the Bush Administration are so pervasive and so encompassing, reaching into every area of government and personal life, one is hard-pressed to keep up with their crimes.
I have every confidence in Barack Obama, but he will be inheriting one of the biggest messes from a previous administratiton in our country's history, including WWII and Viet Nam, in my opinion.
George W. Bush has done so much damage to his country, yours and mine, I firmly believe he should be in prison.
Neo-Con mean lie, cheat and steal.
Because they have accepted the Lord, Jesus Christ, into their lives as their Savior...
And they have to lie, cheat and steal to make sure the Lord runs this country right!
DISGRACEFUL. So much for us being an admirable democratic, transparent and just country -- and role model for the rest of the world. It's increasingly clear that Rove masterminded illegal events and processes over the past 8 years. I hope the Dems find plenty on him and give him a "Go Directly to Jail" card ASAP. I also hope that Don Siegelman gets his chance to restore his good name. This case REEKS of politically-motivated wrong-doing.
These people shouldn't just be put in prison, load them up on one of those secret jets the CIA uses to transfer the so called terrorists and dump them in to downtown Tehran see how long they last. This new administration needs to take a long hard look at everyone involved on the bush team and start knocking off indictments, truly this is needed, restoration of confidence in your rule of law and the international scrutiny that has come about because of this kangaroo court system you have allowed to operate for the last 8 years. They maybe leaving public office and some say leave them be, they can't do any more damage. Well I would submit the damage is done, and by doing nothing will continue to damage the reputation of your country and leaders, 2 wrongs don't make anything right and the Bushies have committed so many wrongs only prison will send a clear message to the rest of the world we are sorry and serious about our freedom and rule of law.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.