Hutchinson implicated as DOJ corruption investigation widens
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
http://lynchlarge.blogspot.com/2007/06/hutchinson-implicated-as-doj-corruption.htmlDEFENSE DEMANDS DISCLOSURE IN CASE BROUGHT BY FORMER U.S. ATTY SCHLOZMAN
Political Overtones Pervade Yet Another USA Case
... attorneys for the defense ... filed a supplemental motion ... requesting the full disclosure of communications between former Undersecretary of Homeland Security Asa Hutchison and former U.S. Attorneys Bradley J. Schlozman and Todd Graves, and any other Department of Justice staff ...
Tuesday’s motion by the defense outlines a chronology of events leading up to the June 2006 indictment that shows how Bradley Schlozman’s actions in the federal criminal investigation were politically motivated.
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Pleading:
....Defendant BRENTT G. TUMEY, by counsel, Thomas D. Carver, and pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(f) moves the Court to order the government to file a bill of particulars as to (1) any communications, (written, verbal or electronic) between Asa Hutchinson in his capacity as Director of Homeland Security, office holder or candidate for public office or personally from January, 2002, until the date of the indictment in this cause of action, and Bradley Schlozman or Todd Graves or any other official of the United States Department of Justice or other governmental office regarding any aspect of the prosecution of BRENTT G. TUMEY or other named defendants, especially including but not limited to memoranda, notes, letters, email communications and/or, information concerning the government's motivation to seek the indictment of BRENTT G. TUMEY or MANAGED SUBCONTRACTORS, INC., which are relevant to or might lead to the discovery of relevant evidence, as well as communications in which Robbyn Tumey is mentioned or discussed in any context; (2) any communications between Bradley Schlozman in his capacity as Acting United States Attorney or in any other capacity and any member of the Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, including but not limited to the Springfield, Missouri office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, regarding directives, instructions, suggestions, strategies or other communications created or published in any form in connection with the prosecution of BRENT G. TUMEY or other named defendants in this indictment. In support, defendant Tumey offers the following suggestions:
SUGGESTIONS IN SUPPORT
Defendant BRENTT G. TUMEY believes he and others named in this indictment are being selectively prosecuted as a result of Robbyn Tumey's political advocacy on behalf of Arkansas Democrats and her candidacy for membership in the Arkansas House of Representatives.
In order to make a prima facie case of selective prosecution a defendant must show: (1) people similarly situated to him were not prosecuted; and (2) the decision to prosecute was motivated by a discriminatory purpose. United States v. Hirsch,360 F.3d 860, 864 (8th Cir. 2004).
A prosecutor's discretion is subject to constitutional restraints. United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, 465, 116 S. Ct. 1480, 1486 (1996). “Political speech-speech at the core of the First Amendment-is highly protected. Although not beyond restraint, strict scrutiny is applied to any regulation that would curtail it. Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, 416 F.3d 738, 749 (8th Cir. 2005).” Likewise, “When the Government restricts speech, the Government bears the burden of proving the constitutionality of its actions.”). Strict scrutiny is an exacting inquiry, such that “it is the rare case in which ... a law survives strict scrutiny.” Burson v. Freeman, 504 U.S. 191, 211, 112 S.Ct. 1846, 119 L.Ed.2d 5 (1992).
In this case there are striking coincidences between the actions of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri and political events orchestrated against Robbyn Tumey, long-time political activist, candidate for the Arkansas State Legislature, chief executive officer of Managed Subcontractors Inc., mother of Brentt Tumey and sister of Valerie Colby, all of whom are defendants in this case. Consider the following:
In September 2001, a $50 million contract was awarded to Hensel Phelps Corporation to construct a training facility and barracks at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. On November 13, 2002, Hensel Phelps entered into a $7 million contract with Midwest Drywall to perform sheet rock and plaster work at the Fort Leonard Wood project. On January 22, 2003, Midwest Drywall was awarded a $1.74 million subcontract to Managed Subcontractors Inc., (MSI). Shortly thereafter, MSI orally subcontracted Eagle Management Subcontractors, (EMS) to provide labor for the project.
MSI operated as a labor broker for Midwest Drywall and received approximately $2.00 for each payroll hour from amounts that exceeded prevailing wage requirements. All wages were paid to workers by EMS. EMS also prepared compliance reports and submitted them to MSI for submission to prevailing wage compliance officers with the Corps of Engineers. MSI signed off on the wage reports it received from EMS and forwarded them to the Corps of Engineers.
In May 2003, several government agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers set up a check point at the entrance of Fort Leonard Wood to check for illegal aliens. Two or three undocumented workers were apprehended.
On July 13, 2003, Brentt Tumey of MSI was called to a meeting at the Corps of Engineers' offices in Kansas City, Missouri where it was brought to his attention that 10% of the hourly wage of sheet rock workers at Fort Leonard Wood had been wrongfully withheld to pay workers compensation insurance premiums. Tumey immediately notified EMS of the violation. Shortly thereafter, EMS made restitution to workers in the suggested amount of $64,000.00 and both EMS and MSI provided proof of workers compensation insurance coverage to the Corps of Engineers. Brentt Tumey and his mother, Robbyn Tumey, believed the matter had been resolved.
Approximately three years later in June, 2006, MSI was indicted in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri for violation of prevailing wage laws. Chief executive officer Robbyn Tumey was making her second run for the Arkansas House of Representatives at the time of her company's indictment. Although other subcontractors, including EMS, were cited for similar violations, none have been indicted.
In 2004, Robbyn Tumey was Democratic candidate for the Arkansas House of Representatives. Her opponent was Timmy Hutchinson, son of former U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson and nephew of Asa Hutchinson, former U.S. Attorney, Director of Homeland Security and candidate for Governor in Arkansas.
On August 6, 2004, Robbyn Tumey filed a lawsuit challenging the residency of her opponent. Later that month, Hutchinson accused Tumey of not paying workers overtime and of hiring illegal aliens. Tumey denied Hutchinson's charge and continued with her residency lawsuit against him. Accusations and counter-accusations continued until November, 2004. In an unprecedented ruling, the judge in the residency suit delayed his ruling until after the election and then decided the case against Tumey.
Robbyn Tumey continued her political activities into 2005 and was a vocal critic of proposed Republican tax increases while she supported now governor, Mike Beebe, in his race against Asa Hutchinson.
In January, 2006, Timmy Hutchinson announced he would not seek another term in the Arkansas Legislature. On March 10, 2006, Todd Graves, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced his resignation as he and members of his family were under investigation by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas relating to accusations that family members had received lucrative no-bid contracts for Missouri Department of Revenue fee offices. Graves now claims that he was fired from DOJ for not being political enough.
Bradley Schlozman was appointed on March 23, 2007 to succeed Graves; just two weeks after a provision in the Patriot Act became effective which allowed interim U.S. Attorneys to serve indefinitely without Congressional oversight.
Schlozman has been criticized for being overly political and bringing frivolous voter fraud prosecutions against members of ACORN, a consumer rights organization that is active in voter registration efforts in poor communities. In April 2007, a federal judge dismissed the indictment against ACORN members, saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
On April 4, 2006, Robbyn Tumey again filed as a Democratic candidate for the Arkansas House. On June 22, 2006, Asa Hutchinson, in the midst of a hotly contested race for governor of Arkansas announced his plan to fight illegal immigration.
Six days later, MSI, Brentt Tumey and his aunt, Valerie Colby were indicted as a result of the investigation initiated by federal immigration agents working under the auspices of Homeland Security in 2002. As earlier as June 6, 2006, reports attributed to Asa Hutchinson were alleging that MSI and Robbyn Tumey had violated immigration laws by hiring illegal aliens, a charge that is absent from the indictment.
On June 30, 2006, Robbyn Tumey resigned as chairwoman of the Benton County Democratic Party and withdrew from her campaign for the Arkansas House of Representatives on August 30, 2006. In her resignation statement Robbyn Tumey said she couldn't devote her full attention to the campaign because of the indictment handed down against her company and family members.
CONCLUSION
It is ironic to say the least that almost three years after an investigation of alleged wage and hour violations by virtually every contractor and subcontractor on the Fort Leonard Wood Construction project was concluded, an indictment was handed down in which, by implication, a candidate for public office was charged with a crime through her company, her son and her sister. The indictment placed Robbyn Tumey and her family in jeopardy. Her son and her sister face the possibility of incarceration and she effectively has been eliminated as a political opponent in her own legislative district and state. Even more alarming is the possibility that the Department of Justice has been manipulated by political opportunists. What started out as an immigration case has morphed from technical violations of prevailing wage laws, in which the company (EMS) that wrote the checks made restitution in the amount of $64,000.00, into a long delay before indictment that, coincidentally, didn't occur until three months after a known political operative in the Department of Justice was appointed to be United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. Political speech is one of our most important rights and should be protected by the Court. In this instance that means requiring the government to search for communications made in connection with this case.
Others who were similarly situated have not been indicted even in the face of substantial evidence of kindred behavior. The political undercurrents running through this indictment are more than meaningless coincidences and deserve to be explained. Defendant Brentt Tumey moves the Court to grant his request for a bill of particulars.
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