Bush Nominates Lead Prosecutor In Abramoff Case to US District Court Seat

[kpete]

Abramoff Prosecutor Among Bush Nominees By DONNA DE LA CRUZ, Associated Press Writer
33 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday nominated one of the Justice Department's lead prosecutors in the Jack Abramoff corruption probe to a U.S. District Court seat.

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Noel Hillman, chief of the department's public integrity section, was nominated for the federal judgeship in New Jersey, where he served in the U.S. Attorney's office under Michael Chertoff, now secretary of Homeland Security.

The White House was poised to nominate Hillman last summer, after New Jersey's two Democratic senators took the opportunity to weigh in on Hillman and other nominees in exchange for lifting their objections to another candidate Bush had nominated in 2003.

White House press officials did not immediately comment on the timing of the nomination.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_judicial_nominations

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. Well,

suck me off sideways, as we say here in the South when something dastardly is done RIGHT OUT THERE IN THE OPEN.

You have to commend these bastards in the White House - they're not even bothering to pretend they're anything but power-mad thugs who will do anything to impede justice.

Isn't this special?

[rodeodance]

4. special?--umm, they are probably having a good chuckle over it.

[Supersedeas]

2. Lol, no comment on the timing!!! Unbelievable - of course the corporate

media will NOT follow-up

[rodeodance]

3. umm. Dems signed off on him--but tit for tat. I assume that Dems

will be admonished if they dare be critical of this. umm...

Hillman will step down as chief of the public integrity unit next week, but remain in the Justice Department's criminal division until he is confirmed, a department official said. Andrew Lourie, a career prosecutor in Miami, will lead the public corruption-fighting office on a temporary basis, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss personnel matters.

.......

During a news conference earlier this month following Abramoff's guilty plea on corruption-related charges, Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher said Hillman played an important role in providing leadership in the investigation.

Hillman came to Washington in 2001. Before that, he was an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey from 1992 to 2001, coming in while Chertoff was the U.S. attorney.

Last summer, Democratic Sens. Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg signed off on the nominations of Hillman and two others nominated to judgeships in New Jersey on Wednesday. They gave the OK as part of an agreement to lift their objections to Bush's nomination of Peter Sheridan, a lawyer and Republican activist, to the federal bench.

[KoKo]

5. What worries me is "what" is he being rewarded for? Bush always promotes

those who have done him "favors." Does this mean that Hillman went easy on some of the Abramoff investigation?

Is this a big promotion for Hillman or a lateral move...or a demotion. :shrug: