E-mail questions if conservative group was party to plan to fire U.S. attorneys (Lam)

[babylonsister]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/17333161.htm

E-mail questions if conservative group was party to plan to fire U.S. attorneys
By Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - A leader of an influential conservative legal group recommended a replacement candidate for the U.S. attorney in San Diego just days after the sitting prosecutor's name was secretly placed on a Justice Department firing list, according to a document released Wednesday.

The recommendation by the executive vice president of the Federalist Society, Leonard Leo, came before anyone outside of a tight group in the White House and Justice Department knew about a nascent strategy that ultimately led to the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.

It could not be determined whether a short e-mail, sent on March 7, 2005, making the recommendation meant that Leo knew of the plan to fire Carol Lam or whether his message was unsolicited and coincidental.

The subject line of Leo's e-mail to Mary Beth Buchanan, then-director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, says, "USA San Diego," indicating the top prosecutor job for the Southern District of California. Lam was on the job at the time and had no plans to step down.

The text of the note reads, "You guys need a good candidate?" Leo goes on to say he would "strongly recommend" the Air Force's general counsel, Mary Walker.

Walker led a Pentagon working group in 2003, which critics said helped provide the administration with a rationale to circumvent the international Geneva Conventions banning torture in the interrogations of terrorism suspects.

more...

[L. Coyote]

1. The WHY in the Carol Lam firing remains an open question.

Unlike other USA firings, where election (voter fraud) issues are known, in the San Diego case the debate continues over the reason(s). Corporate fraud charging and public corruption investigations are known possible reasons, and they even have overlaps on the same days in the timeline of the Sampson e-mail. Less than Wiley Republicans have gone overboard promoting the "Coyote" excuse for the firing, including at hearings.

================================
TIMELINE:
June 2003 - Barry Weinbaum, CEO Alvarado Hospital (owned by Tenet), indicted for conspiracy to violate the federal statutes
Oct. 2004 - Leonard Senerote, Michael Uhl and Michael Snipes dismissed
Feb. 2005 - Lam's name first appears on a firings list (http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/17333161.htm)
Mar. 2005 - Leonard Leo e-mail (ibid)
Oct. 2005 - 18 Republican lawmakers (letter signed by Cunningham while under investigation) criticize Lam's handling of immigration cases.
Mar. 2006 - Bush signs the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act.
Apr. 2006 - Second mistrial in Lam's illegal-kickback trial of Alvarado execs.
May 5, 2006 - CIA director Porter Goss resigns unexpectedly.
May 10, 2006 - Lam notifies DoJ she planned to serve search warrants on Kyle Foggo, who resigned two days earlier as No. 3 official at the CIA.
May 10, 2006 - HHS announces forthcoming termination of Medicare payments to Alvarado/Tenet
May 11, 2006 - Kyle Sampson e-mails deputy White House counsel William Kelley, re "the real problem we have right now with Carol Lam ....
May 11, 2006 - LA Times reports Cunningham probe expanded to House Appropriations Chair Jerry Lewis (R-CA).
May 12, 2006 - FBI agents seizes records from Foggo's CIA offices and his suburban Vienna, Va.
May 17, 2006 - Tenet Healthcare Agrees to Divest Alvarado Hospital. Tenet will not lose Medicare money, civil settlement with the federal government.
May 18, 2006 - Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) provides false information to AP that Lam has prosecuted only 6% of 289 suspected immigrant smugglers.
July 31, 2006 - London Times quotes Prakash Sethi "GPOs extract extra profits of $5 billion to $6 billion" illegitimately
Dec. 7, 2006 - Michael Battle, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, calls seven U.S. Attorneys to ask for their resignations.
Dec. 13, 2006 - AAG McNulty curbs USAs' prosecutorial powers, centralizes corporate fraud charging decision making.
Feb. 15, 2007 - Carol Lam resigns as U.S. Attorney for San Diego just days after filing indictments in public corruption case.


MORE:
========================
May 9, 2007 - DU: US Attorney Firing: Voter Fraud, Medicare Fraud, WHICH IS IT ???
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x853813#862205

May 13, 2007 - DU "30 U.S. attorneys investigate BILKING BILLIONS, Medicare, Medicaid, Military’s Healthcare"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x877011#880093

May 17, 2007 - WA Post: Justice Weighed Firing 1 in 4 - 26 Prosecutors Were Listed As Candidates
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/16/AR2007051602874.html?hpid=topnews

[robinlynne]

2. Dec. 13, 2006 - AAG McNulty curbs USAs' prosecutorial powers, centralizes corporate fraud charging

decision making. This is something I have not seen discussed before. It serves as more evidence that Lam was fired for prosecuting republicans. Is this not irregular, important, indicative, etc....?

[L. Coyote]

4. This is why the complicitous Rs are screaming "Coyote"

Issa planted false evidence. A lot of 18 lawmakers sent a letter deprecating Lam on immigration prosecution rates.

The Lam investigations were cut short by her firing and DoJ actions. Watch the USA firings hearings again with this in mind. Note how Issa and others are still trying to spin this as a "coyote" problem. That one is on a par with trying to spin others as "voter fraud" to obfuscate for bigger fish.

[cascadiance]

3. Does anyone know when Carol Lam changed her registration to independent?

... from being Republican when she was nominated by Bush? The timing of that would be an interesting thing to correlate with the timeline of other events to determine what motivated that change on her part.