Justice Weighed Firing 1 in 4 - 26 Prosecutors Were Listed As Candidates

[L. Coyote]

Source: Washington Post

Justice Weighed Firing 1 in 4 - 26 Prosecutors Were Listed As Candidates

By Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, May 17, 2007; Page A01

The Justice Department considered dismissing many more U.S. attorneys than officials have previously acknowledged, with at least 26 prosecutors suggested for termination between February 2005 and December 2006, according to sources familiar with documents withheld from the public.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales testified last week that the effort was limited to eight U.S. attorneys fired since last June, and other administration officials have said that only a few others were suggested for removal.

.... D. Kyle Sampson, then Gonzales's chief of staff, considered more than two dozen U.S. attorneys for termination, according to lists compiled by him and his colleagues, the sources said.

They amounted to more than a quarter of the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys. Thirteen of those known to have been targeted are still in their posts.

.....

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/16/AR2007051602874.html?hpid=topnews

---

Apparently, our nation's highest-ranking law enforcement officer is being called a LIAR.
This does not bode well for the longevity of this regime.

At this juncture, attention must be given to the complexity of reasons for firing USAs.
This thread deals with the Corporate Fraud thread, with Medi-Con or Medicare-Gate.

30 U.S. attorneys investigate BILKING BILLIONS, Medicare, Medicaid, Military’s Healthcare
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x877011

The BIG PICTURE, of course, is the multitude of scandals to cover up.
Help finish this compilation of Bush Scandals from A to Z, birth to impeachment:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x899312

[Old and In the Way]

1. The whole scam is becoming clear to the American people.

Nixon tried to dig dirt on Dems using a clandestine bunch of CIA operatives to do a B&E on Democratic Headquarters. This administration wanted to convert the entire DoJ into the legal arm of the Republican Party to criminalize the Democratic Party and using wiretapping to gain access to their political enemies strategies and dirt. The could give a rat's ass about national security. It's all about their political/legal security.

[L. Coyote]

2. Feb. 2004. Hacker-Gate, "Republicans stole thousands of Democratic documents.."

Worse than the Watergate burglary. In this case the criminals actually accomplished
their "listening" program, instead of getting caught trying to bug the Dems.

=======================================
Dems: Stolen memo case should go to DOJ
by kos - Tue Feb 10, 2004
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/2/10/17222/9423

Not content with Bill Frist's sacrificial lamb, Senate Dems are now demanding a criminal investigation from the Department of Justice after Republicans stole thousands of Democratic documents from a shared Justice committee server.

[maddezmom]

3. K&R

:kick:

[L. Coyote]

4. REUTERS: U.S. Justice Dept weighed firing 26 prosecutors

U.S. Justice Dept weighed firing 26 prosecutors
Thu May 17, 2007 5:36AM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department considered dismissing more than a quarter of the 93 federal prosecutors in 2005 and 2006, far more than previously acknowledged, The Washington Post reported on Thursday....

Is the WA POST back in Watergate mode??

[L. Coyote]

5. U.S. Justice Dept weighed firing 26 prosecutors: Political Purge VIDEO

U.S. Justice Dept weighed firing 26 prosecutors: paper
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/WireStory?id=3183314&page=1

This page features a VIDEO entitled Political Purge. With Conyers "Tell me, just tell me..."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department considered dismissing more than a quarter of the 93 federal prosecutors in 2005 and 2006, far more than previously acknowledged, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, considered firing at least 26 U.S. attorneys during the period, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with documents withheld from the public.

Gonzales testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that the effort was limited to eight U.S. attorneys fired since last June.

[L. Coyote]

6. McClatchy: 2 additional prosecutors were considered for ouster

McClatchy reporters had just the tip of the iceburg, and I do not see any proof offered for their voter fraud inferences. Was this a leaked story to get out ahead of the post story with "voter fraud" spin?

What is the real cover-up with the USA blitzkrieg?
The Big Stone Wall of Lies surrounding the White House has new peek holes today, thanks to the WA POST.

=============================
Wed, May. 16, 2007 - U. S. ATTORNEYS
2 additional prosecutors were considered for ouster
By Marisa Taylor and Margaret Talev
McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington//17236461.htm

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department last year considered firing two U.S. attorneys in Florida and Colorado, states where allegations of voter fraud and countercharges of voter intimidation have flown in recent years, congressional investigators have learned.

That brings to nine the number of battleground election states where the Bush administration set out to replace some of the nation's top prosecutors. In at least seven states, it now appears, U.S. attorneys were fired or considered for firing as Republicans in those states urged investigations or prosecutions of alleged Democratic voter fraud.

The two prosecutors who were targeted were Gregory Miller, the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Florida in Tallahassee, and Bill Leone, the former acting U.S. attorney for Colorado.

[L. Coyote]

9. WA Post & McClatchy: Colorado U.S. attorney was suggested for ouster

Colorado U.S. attorney was suggested for ouster
By The Washington Post and McClatchy Newspapers
05/17/2007
http://www.denverpost.com/arcade/ci_5914809

Washington - ..... Leone, then the acting U.S. attorney for Colorado, was placed on a firing list in January 2006, 13 months after he took over as interim U.S. attorney. He previously had been the top assistant in the office. He was lead prosecutor on the insider-trading case against Joe Nacchio, former chief executive of Qwest Communications, until he announced in August that he would return to private practice.

Leone said in a phone interview that he was never asked to step aside, nor did he know he was targeted for firing. He said he had expressed interest in becoming the permanent U.S. attorney
Advertisement
but was never told why he was passed over.

Leone, who described himself as an "independent-minded U.S. attorney," said he was always aware that he wasn't nominated by the president.

"I always used to say to people, 'I'm not the president's man.' My assumption was all along I would be replaced by somebody who had more political stroke. I understand that's what happened."

...........

[L. Coyote]

10. GUILTY: Former Qwest CEO was charged with 42 counts of insider trading

Nacchio guilty of 19 counts in stock scandal
Former Qwest CEO was charged with 42 counts of insider trading
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18212588/

DENVER - In the latest in a series of convictions against corporate executives, one-time CEO Joe Nacchio was found guilty of illegally selling $52 million in stock amid an accounting scandal that nearly sank Qwest Communications.

.... the 19 insider trading convictions, each of which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Nacchio is one of a handful of former Qwest executives who have been convicted of criminal charges stemming from a multibillion-dollar scandal that forced the Denver-based telecommunications company to restate $2.2 billion of revenue. ........

[L. Coyote]

11. Joe Nacchio and SOX, "some personal observations on the trial and conviction"

Joe Nacchio and SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance)
By J. Robert Brown, Jr., University of Denver Sturm College of Law, on Wednesday April 25, 2007 at 3:14 pm
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/2007/04/25/joe-nacchio-and-sox/#more-98

I offer in this post some personal observations on the trial and conviction of Joe Nacchio, the former CEO of Qwest Communications, as well as some thoughts about the impact of SOX. The Race to the Bottom has blogged the entire trial, with students or faculty attending all of the sessions. .....

...........had Nacchio had the benefits of SOX, it is unlikely that he would have been convicted of insider trading. Instead, he now faces as much as 15 years in prison for his offenses.

================================
Sarbanes-Oxley Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes-Oxley_Act

[L. Coyote]

7. DU out front on this!! Check these threads about the USA investigations.

Here are threads going back the USA news breaking on May 6.

==================
kpete Wed May-16-07 06:08 PM - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

50 US Attorney Generals Wanted Gonzales To Investigate Oil Industry-HE REFUSED Updated at 7:22 AM

Judiciary Hearing on Oil Prices and Market Failure:
A Federal Investigation Denied
May 16th, 2007 by Jesse Lee

====================
L. Coyote Sun May-13-07 08:30 AM - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

30 U.S. attorneys investigate BILKING BILLIONS, Medicare, Medicaid, Military’s Healthcare

Topics:
How is it that $$ BILLIONS $$ of fraud does not put CEOs in jail?
How is it that $$ BILLIONS $$ of fraud cases seem to evaporate or settle for so little?
How were those $$ BILLIONS $$ in lobbying by single industries spent? Where do those bucks STOP?

Focus: The BIG PICTURE.

======================
L. Coyote Wed May-09-07 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

US Attorney Firing: Voter Fraud, Medicare Fraud, WHICH IS IT ???

When did the US Attorney Firings controversy really begin?
I discovered some new possibilities while researching this thread:

======================
L. Coyote Sun May-06-07 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Missouri attorney a focus in USA firings = Bradley Schlozman

Missouri attorney a focus in firings
Senate bypassed in appointment of Schlozman
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | May 6, 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2...

======================
And, we are back at the Boston Globe breaking the #9 USA on the list.

[rodeodance]

8. Thursday, May 17, 2007; Page A01

Justice Weighed Firing 1 in 4
26 Prosecutors Were Listed As Candidates

By Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, May 17, 2007; Page A01

[L. Coyote]

15. Google News Search 2,196 articles » Now the spawn of the WA Post

article are cropping up. 2,196 is a really "high" number of media outlets carring a story, and so quickly.

Here is the Minnesota spin-off article:

================
Heffelfinger: Firings could have 'devastated' Justice Department
by Fred Frommer, Associated Press
May 17, 2007
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/05/17/klobuchar/

Washington, D.C. — (AP) - The former U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Tom Heffelfinger, was on a list compiled by Kyle Sampson .....

His presence on the list had been suspected for weeks...

A January 2006 e-mail from Sampson .... lists seven U.S. attorneys that "might be considered for removal and replacement."

Three names have been redacted, but the congressional aide who saw an unredacted copy told The Associated Press Thursday that Heffelfinger was one ....

"As late as early fall of '05, I had a private meeting with the attorney general related to Native American issues, and Sampson was present at that meeting," he said. "Had they had concerns about my performance, (Gonzales) had the opportunity to raise them and didn't. So I could reasonably conclude that he didn't have a problem with my performance."

[L. Coyote]

12. FBI is currently investigating over 189 major corporate frauds = THE $$ BILLIONS $$

Three Years After Enron It Looks Like No One Learned a Thing
by Charlie Cray
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1218-12.htm


The FBI's new five-year strategic plan has a section on white collar crime that begins with a startling admission:

"Major white collar crime will impact the U.S. economy over the next five years."

Note that they wrote "will." Not "could."

Do they know something we don't? They explain that "the FBI is currently investigating over 189 major corporate frauds, 18 of which have losses over $1 billion. ...............

[L. Coyote]

13. KO and Turley VIDEO discussing GONZOLIES = must see

Now hitting e-theatres near you "GONZOLIES" ...

Monkeyman Thu May-17-07 08:13 AM
KO--What Else is Gonzales capable of?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x29337

[L. Coyote]

14. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) accused Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, DoJ officials, of lying...

Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.) Told of Plan to Fire U.S. Attorney

GOP Lawmaker Told of Plan to Fire U.S. Attorney
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 28, 2007; Page A02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042702112.html

The White House told a Republican member of Congress last summer about its plans to fire a U.S. attorney in Arkansas and replace him with a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove, but it did not tell Democratic lawmakers, according to a new Justice Department e-mail released yesterday.

The White House called Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.) "and pretty much told him what they are doing with this appointment and how they are going about it," according to a July 6 e-mail from Bud Cummins, then the U.S. attorney in Little Rock. ...........

The message indicates that Bush administration officials told Boozman about their plans to fire Cummins at the same time that Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and other Democrats say they were being stonewalled.

Pryor has accused Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and other Justice officials of lying to him about the firing of Cummins, ........

[L. Coyote]

16. SALON: "Gonzales...falsely insisting" = circular LYING. And WA Post turnaround.

Is the old WA Post of the Watergate era finally back?
And, why we believew liars who say that their lies are true because THEY never lie?

===============================
Thursday May 17, 2007 08:42 EST
What will be done about James Comey's revelations?
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/05/17/nsa_f...

The Washington Post Editorial page has been one of the most establishment-defending organs over the last six years, repeatedly minimizing or dismissing criticisms of the Bush administration and reserving its vigor primarily for attacking Bush critics (and for supporting the Iraq war). That's what makes its Editorial this morning regarding James Comey's testimony -- entitled "The Gonzales Coverup" -- so striking, and potentially indicative of a compelled acknowledgement by the Beltway class of how serious the NSA scandal is and how serious it has been all along.

The Editorial begins with this question and answer:

Why is it only now that the disturbing story of the Bush administration's willingness to override the legal advice of its own Justice Department is emerging? The chief reason is that the administration, in the person of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, stonewalled congressional inquiries and did its best to ensure that the shameful episode never came to light.

The Editorial is referring to the series of steps Gonzales took back in February of last year -- which I documented here -- whereby Gonzales, along with other DOJ officials, successfully blocked Ashcroft and Comey from testifying about the DOJ internal rebellion by falsely insisting they had nothing to add......

....repeatedly over the last six years, the administration issued false denials of wrongdoing and then expected/demanded we place blind faith in those assurances and thereby accept that there was no need to investigate further or compel disclosure of their conduct. After all, the administration itself has assured us that there was no wrongdoing..........

=====================
I call that circular LYING.