justice department

Former House Staffer Guilty In Fraud

This time it is a former democratic staffer:

A former office manager for Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.) and two other House Democrats pleaded guilty yesterday to fraud for taking $200,000 in public money by submitting phony expense reports, according to Justice Department and House documents.

Laura I. Flores, 47, of Arlington pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal court in Alexandria and is scheduled to be sentenced May 2, officials said. She faces as much as 20 years in prison.

It's always good for the country to see these crooks get busted.

Anti-Terrorism Or Corporate Welfare?

This should be the question that puts Republican's in a pretty pickle:

Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay phone bills on time.

A Justice Department audit released Thursday blamed the lost connections on the FBI's lax oversight of money used in undercover investigations. In one office alone, unpaid costs for wiretaps from one phone company totaled $66,000.

So how much money are we spending on these wiretaps? Also if they are so important to the security of this country they why does the phone companies cut off so easily, or the FBI not pay? This really has a smell of corporate welfare from the party of *cough bullshit* "ffiscal responsibility" to me.

Are Cops Becoming A Bunch Of Pussies?

This is another look at how our country has headed in the wrong direction since 9/11:

Federal prosecutors are targeting a rising number of law enforcement officers for alleged brutality, Justice Department statistics show. The heightened prosecutions come as the nation's largest police union fears that agencies are dropping standards to fill thousands of vacancies and "scrimping" on training.

Cases in which police, prison guards and other law enforcement authorities have used excessive force or other tactics to violate victims' civil rights have increased 25% (281 vs. 224) from fiscal years 2001 to 2007 over the previous seven years, the department says.

During the same period, the department says it won 53% more convictions (391 vs. 256). Some cases result in multiple convictions.

I think back to the early 90's when I was a firefighter/paramedic. On numerous occasions I was called to scenes with people acting violently. I have seen a lot, from knifes to guns being waved. The police on the scene never had to shock the person or beat them. They did have to wrestle the person, but the outcome was always the same - the person ended up in cuffs and we ended up laughing it off without a scratch. Now we got police that either beat or shock people for simply not answering a question. Is this the America George Bush envisioned? It certainly will be tagged to his legacy.

Democrats Get Stone Walled On Tape Inquiry

Thanks to our new Attorney General. Thanks to Chuck Schumer and Diane Feinstein!

Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused Friday to give Congress details of the government's investigation into interrogations of terror suspects that were videotaped and destroyed by the CIA. He said doing so could raise questions about whether the inquiry is vulnerable to political pressure.

In letters Friday to leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees that oversee the Justice Department, Mukasey said there is no need right now to appoint a special prosecutor to lead the investigation. The preliminary inquiry currently is being handled by the Justice Department and the CIA's inspector general.

I'm so glad Schumer knew Mukasey was a good guy and would do the right thing. Now why don't he take Diane and they both just go to hell.

The Lawyer Of The Year Is........

Drum Roll!!!!

Alberto Gonzales!!!

Negative news coverage may have cost former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales his job, but it won him a dubious honor Wednesday from a magazine published by the American Bar Association: Lawyer of the Year.

Additionally, the ABA Journal named Gonzales' successor, Attorney General Michael Mukasey, as its top lawyer for 2008 â€” mostly in anticipation of how often he'll be in the media spotlight for trying to repair the beleaguered Justice Department.

Check your calendars all you want - it still isn't April 1st. This is a very true story and should leave us wondering about the future of our legal system.

It Only Took Two Days

And now we have an Attorney General who is in lockstep with the White House:

In his second day on the job, Attorney General Michael Mukasey leaped into the political fray, telling a key Democratic senator he opposes his electronic surveillance plan and would recommend the president veto it if it is passed.

In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on the eve of crucial committee votes to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Mukasey was adamant in opposing Leahy's plan for changing the law.

Mukasey and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell co-signed the letter released Wednesday night by the Justice Department.

"We strongly oppose the proposed substitute amendment. If the substitute is part of a bill that is presented to the president, we and the president's other senior advisers will recommend that he veto the bill," they said.

And what is it Mukasey is actually opposing? Well that would be Leahy's amendment to strip out immunity for the telecom companies. I guess we can thank Chuck and Di for this one also.

Gonzales The Torture Guy

Today's New York Times has an article explaining how torture became a method of interrogation for this administration:

When the Justice Department publicly declared torture â€œabhorrentâ€ in a legal opinion in December 2004, the Bush administration appeared to have abandoned its assertion of nearly unlimited presidential authority to order brutal interrogations.

But soon after Alberto R. Gonzalesâ€™s arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. It was a very different document, according to officials briefed on it, an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.

The White House Above The Law

We have yet another example of George Bush's disregard for the laws of this country:

Opening a new front in the Bush administration's battle to keep its records confidential, the Justice Department is contending that the White House Office of Administration is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

The department's argument is in response to a lawsuit trying to force the office to reveal what it knows about the disappearance of White House e-mails.

The Office of Administration provides administrative services, including information technology support, to the Executive Office of the President. Most of the White House is not subject to the FOIA, but certain components within it handle FOIA requests. Last year the Office of Administration processed 65 FOIA requests.

I have given up on the Democrats doing anything about the total disregard this administration has for the law. The Democratic leadership has turned into a copy of the Republican leadership. Maybe its time to push the Republicans to take action. Perhaps we should remind them that they are allowing precedent to be set here and do they really want this expanded power to be granted to a President Hillary Clinton? Maybe they need to start thinking about that and will take action against George Bush.

BREAKING: Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) Indicted

About time we get another corrupt politician taken care of:

An indictment charging Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., in a long-running bribery investigation is being announced Monday, federal officials said.

The indictment is being handed up in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. A press conference was being organized for late Monday in Washington to discuss the case.

A Justice Department official familiar with the case said the indictment outlining the evidence against Jefferson is more than an inch thick and charges the congressman with crimes that could keep him in prison for up to 200 years. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

True we can look forward to the right justifying all the corruption on their side of the aisle because of this one bad egg. Their math - 1 bad Democrat = dozens of bad Republicans. We have already seen this in action for the past several months.

Amazing

One of the issues about the fired U.S. attorneys is that members of Congress pushed one fired attorney about a case involving Democrats. Everyone agrees that this kind of congressional pressure is out of line and possible unethical. So why does the former chair of the House Judiciary Committee feel he doesn't have to follow the same guidelines? James Sensenbrenner is using the hearings today to push Gonzales on the Jefferson case:

As TPMMuckraker notes, the case is currently held up in appeals court due to the execution of a search warrant.

I wonder how many Republicans would be yelling and screaming if a Democrat started pushing Gonzales on the Abramoff scandal and if they will hurry it up and get Tom Delay indicted. Sensenbrenner isn't upset about the politicization of our Justice Department. He is upset that it isn't politicized enough!

The NRA Hearts Terrorists

Should this organization really have such an influence in our politics?

The National Rifle Association is urging the Bush administration to withdraw its support of a bill that would prohibit suspected terrorists from buying firearms.

Backed by the Justice Department, the measure would give the attorney general the discretion to block gun sales, licenses or permits to terror suspects.

In a letter this week to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, NRA executive director Chris Cox said the bill, offered last week by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., "would allow arbitrary denial of Second Amendment rights based on mere 'suspicions' of a terrorist threat."

We get called "terrorist sympathizers" for complaining about torture and the removal of Habeas. What the hell is this? These people think those suspects should have guns (and yes - they are suspects). How can the Republicans defend this? So you don't get a right to a speedy trial, yet you do get the right to a gun? I missed the part where one constitutional right trumps the other.

I think the Republicans should be asked if they will denounce this stance by the NRA. If the ACLU went out and said that terrorism suspects had a right to bear arms, then they would be branded as terrorists themselves. Something is very wrong here.

Bush Shows His Love For Big Business

As well as violating the rights of U.S. Citizens:

The Bush administration is urging Congress to pass a law that would halt dozens of lawsuits charging phone companies with invading ordinary citizens' privacy through a post-Sept. 11 warrantless surveillance program.

The measure is part of a legislative package drafted by the Justice Department to relax provisions in the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that restrict the administration's ability to intercept electronic communications in the United States. If passed, the proposed changes would forestall efforts to compel disclosure of the program's details through Congress or the court system.

The proposal states that "no action shall lie . . . in any court, and no penalty . . . shall be imposed . . . against any person" for giving the government information, including customer records, in connection with alleged intelligence activity the attorney general certifies "is, was, would be or would have been" intended to protect the United States from terrorist attack. The measure, which has not yet been filed, is contained in a proposed amendment to the fiscal 2008 intelligence authorization bill.

Bush can want all he wants from this Congress, but until he starts to give in return and stop threatening to veto every Democratic bill, he won't get shit. True I am sure he will show his usual level of maturity by stomping his feet in front of the camera and doing his typical name calling.

Bush Shows His Leadership Skills

This is from "the Decider":

President Bush gave embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a strong vote of confidence on Monday despite scant support and scathing criticism from key Republicans.

"This is an honest, honorable man, in whom I have confidence," Bush said.

The president said that Gonzales' testimony before skeptical Judiciary Committee senators last week "increased my confidence" in his ability to lead the Justice Department. Separately, a White House spokeswoman said, "He's staying."

That should settle that debate. Not the one on Gonzales, but rather Bush. He truly is the dumbest fuck in Washington. Even most Republicans feel that Gonzo bombed. I guess to Bush, great leadership means things going on in your department you don't approve, or aren't aware of.

2nd GOP Congressman Gets Raided

From Roll Call via Think Progress:

In a second blow to House Republicans this week, the FBI raided a business tied to the family of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) Thursday afternoon as part of an ongoing investigation into the three-term lawmaker.

Details of the raid on Patriot Insurance Agency in Sonoita, Ariz., were not immediately available. Renziâ€™s most recent financial disclosure form lists the business as an asset belonging to his wife, Roberta, and valued at $1 million to $5 million.

Little is known about the inquiries into Renziâ€™s activities, but according to media reports the Justice Department has been running a two-track investigation into Renzi regarding a land deal, as well as a piece of legislation he helped steer that may have improperly benefited a major campaign contributor. It was not immediately clear which investigation the raid pertained to, and neither his attorney nor his spokesman could be immediately reached for comment.

As a result of the raid, Renzi is stepping down from his seat on the House Intelligence Committee, according to a statement from his office obtained Thursday evening by Roll Call.

â€œToday, the FBI came to my familyâ€™s business to obtain documents related to their investigation,â€ Renzi said. â€œI view these actions as the first step in bringing out the truth. Until this matter is resolved, I will take a leave of absence from the House Intelligence Committee. I intend to fully cooperate with this investigation.â€

CREW is also reporting that an Arizona U.S.A. who was investigating Renzi was fired:

Looks Like Gonzo Is Still Trying To Hide Something

Today'sNYT:

Four senators said Monday that they suspected that the Justice Department had failed to turn over all relevant documents related to the dismissals of eight United States attorneys.

The department has released more than 3,000 pages of e-mail messages and other files. But, the senators wrote in a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, â€œWe are concerned that additional documents relevant to the committeeâ€™s investigations are missing or have been withheld.â€

The letter expressed skepticism about whether lawmakers had all the material they needed to evaluate the motives for the removals and raised questions on the scope and methods used to assemble the material. A spokesman for the department, Brian Roehrkasse, said officials would not comment until they had reviewed the letter.

Now we got the Justice Department trying to block justice. Orwell was so right.