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What the Justice Department is Hiding
Painful as the appearances were of prosecutorial misconduct emerging from the Justice Department’s own letter, in retrospect that letter raises still more troubling issues. It now appears that the Justice Department was aware of even more startling allegations of misconduct raised directly by a member of the prosecution team, and documented with internal communications, but it consciously chose to hide all of this from the court and from opposing counsel. This would warrant another disciplinary review and possible action against the prosecutors.
In the meantime, U.S. Attorney Leura Canary is scrambling to find a new job. But her imminent departure serves to highlight a broader problem. As President-Elect Obama works to pick a new attorney general, his transition team is focused on a series of far more complex issues at the Justice Department. Public confidence in the work of the department has fallen to the lowest level since the Watergate scandal, when attorney generals John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst were indicted and convicted.
Alberto Gonzales and his three most senior deputies were all forced from office in disgrace as evidence mounted that they had abused the Department for political purposes. An internal investigation of this abuse could not be concluded because of obstruction from the White House and the refusal of Bush Administration lawyers to cooperate. A special prosecutor had to be appointed to investigate a number of allegations of politically abusive conduct concerning the operations of U.S. Attorney offices around the country.
Simply appointing a new attorney general will not resolve these problems, but it would be a significant first step. As the Siegelman case shows, some of the departing U.S. attorneys are leaving behind a legal toxic waste dump that may take years to clean up.
Deep Dive: The key documents in the case.
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.
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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.
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