Former USA Debra Yang, Investigating Rep Jerry Lewis, left after $1.5 mill Signing Bonus

[mod mom]

Sounds a little FISHY to me. BTW the firm that hired her....defending Lewis!

snip

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who has been very interested in Yang's case, had previously revealed publicly that Miers had discussed firing Yang. But the details provided here make it all the more suspicious. Not only did Miers discuss firing Yang, but she was apparently fixated on Yang -- and only one month before Yang stepped down.

Now, Yang left to become a partner at the white shoe firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher -- the firm that, it just so happens, is the one defending Lewis. It should be said that Yang has recused herself from the case. But the timing of her departure, or the offer (a $1.5 million signing bonus), can only bring suspicion. Gibson, Dunn, Cohen notes, has "strong Republican ties."

http://tpmmuckraker.com/





The U.S. Attorney, the G.O.P. Congressman and the Timely Job Offer


By ADAM COHEN
Published: May 4, 2007
There is yet another United States attorney whose abrupt departure from office is raising questions: Debra Wong Yang of Los Angeles. Ms. Yang was not fired, as eight other prosecutors were, but she resigned under circumstances that raise serious questions, starting with whether she was pushed out to disrupt her investigation of one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress.

-snip

Ms. Yang was investigating Jerry Lewis, who was chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Ms. Lam and most of the other purged prosecutors were fired on Dec. 7. Ms. Yang, in a fortuitously timed exit, resigned in mid-October.

Ms. Yang says she left for personal reasons, but there is growing evidence that the White House was intent on removing her. Kyle Sampson, the Justice Department staff member in charge of the firings, told investigators last month in still-secret testimony that Harriet Miers, the White House counsel at the time, had asked him more than once about Ms. Yang. He testified, according to Congressional sources, that as late as mid-September, Ms. Miers wanted to know whether Ms. Yang could be made to resign. Mr. Sampson reportedly recalled that Ms. Miers was focused on just two United States attorneys: Ms. Yang and Bud Cummins, the Arkansas prosecutor who was later fired to make room for Tim Griffin, a Republican political operative and Karl Rove protégé.

-snip

The new job that Ms. Yang landed raised more red flags. Press reports say she got a $1.5 million signing bonus to become a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a firm with strong Republican ties. She was hired to be co-leader of the Crisis Management Practice Group with Theodore Olson, who was President Bush’s solicitor general and his Supreme Court lawyer in Bush v. Gore. Gibson, Dunn was defending Mr. Lewis in Ms. Yang’s investigation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/opinion/04fri4.html?ex=1335931200&en=9697872f8b81f953&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

[mod mom]

1. Is DU suffering from USA Scandal fatigue? This stinks to high heaven!

[Blackhatjack]

2. I see a Congressional Subpoena in Ms. Yang's future....

.... and maybe her present employer would like to voluntarily make statements under oath about how she scooped up a $1.5 mil signing bonus?

Hmmm... it is time to put the screws to Harriett Miers.

I would schedule the testimony of Yang and Miers for the same day!

[mod mom]

3. Did some of Ms Wang's prosecutions cause head aches for Repubicans:

During Yang’s tenure, her office has spearheaded several high-profile corporate-crime cases, including the indictment of Milberg Weiss and a $615 million settlement with Boeing Co. earlier this year. Yang, 47, serves on the DOJ’s Corporate Fraud Task Force, an interagency group created in July 2002 amid white-collar scandals.

-snip

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2006/10/17/los-angeles-us-attorney-debra-yang-resigns-will-join-gibson-dunn/



Milberg Weiss and two name partners indicted
Amanda Bronstad/Staff reporter
May 18, 2006




Los Angeles - A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman and two name partners of the firm, David Bershad and Steven Schulman, on charges that they made $216 million in attorney fees by paying $11.3 million in secret and illegal kickbacks.

The 20-count indictment alleges that for the past 20 years, Milberg Weiss, Bershad, Schulman and three named plaintiffs made kickback arrangements in 150 class action and shareholder lawsuits against companies including PG&E, Standard Oil/British Petroleum, United Airlines, Infinity Broadcasting and Barnesandnoble.com.

U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang, of the Central District of California, where the investigation has been ongoing for more than six years, called the case "particularly troubling" because the alleged illegal conduct spanned two decades and lasted until last year, long after media reports unveiled the existence of the government's investigation.

-snip
http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1147943136118

[Time for change]

4. I believe Ms. Yang that she resigned for personal reasons

A $1.5 million signing bonus is a very valid personal reason.

This just goes to show that the 8 fired attorneys were almost certainly just the tip of a much larger iceberg. For every one who was fired, God knows how many more gave in to administration pressure by either resigning or staying on and playing ball with them.

If Bush and Cheney aren't impeached this kind of thing could become standard behavior (like lying our country into an illegal and immoral war).

[hootinholler]

5. But wait! There's more!

I put this out there about a month ago mixed in with other USA stuff, check the journal.

Now as to Gibson, Dunn, they're Hiring!

Douglas M. Fuchs will join the firm's Los Angeles office as of counsel (sic). Fuchs was previously an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Central District of California, where he served as Deputy Chief of the Major Frauds Section. - Forbes

Er, maybe poaching?

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that Maurice Suh, the former Deputy Mayor of Homeland Security and Public Safety for the City of Los Angeles will join the firm as partner in the Los Angeles office.

Previously, Suh has served as the former Deputy Chief of the Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles and was a partner at Howrey LLP. Suh will focus his practice at Gibson Dunn on complex commercial litigation, internal corporate investigations, and defense of government investigation and enforcement actions. Suh will also work with partner Robert Bonner, the former head of the Customs Department and a former federal judge, in the firm’s fast-growing homeland security practice.

Can't beat 'em? Buy 'em!

-Hoot

[mod mom]

6. So what did they do, hire all the attorneys who threatened Republican "ideals"?

UFB.

I did see later that this story had been out previously, but I might have missed it. Is this the first round for the NYT?

[hootinholler]

8. Apparently.

I don't know if this is new to the NYT or not. If it is, then good!

I didn't mean to slight you for posting, this needs to get out and is not getting attention.

-Hoot

[mod mom]

9. I posted your info (w credit to you) at TPMmuckraker, where folks are really following

this story. Hope you don't mind-but I did link to your journal.

[hootinholler]

10. Not at All!

Thanks. I have a file of snippets relating to the USA stuff if anyone wants it.

-Hoot

[cascadiance]

13. And before the Dems could make the case to hire Carol Lam back in San Diego...

... Qualcomm scooped her up for a sweet job too.

And guess who serves on Qualcomm's board?

Brent Scrowcroft (of AIPAC and ATC lobby fame!)

[hootinholler]

14. Isn't that special!

In my best Church Lady voice.

-Hoot

[Ganja Ninja]

7. The stink of corruption in the GOP is enough to gag you. n/t

[KharmaTrain]

11. We Have Walked Through The Looking Glass...

This scandal is starting to make Watergate look like a second rate burglary.

[Eurobabe]

12. "You had dog and pony show," Lewis? Bust his ass

and throw this crook in jail.

[bobthedrummer]

15. kick

[bobthedrummer]

16. Kick and a related crosspost "A DU collaborative investigation: Thelma Colbert,

Shannon Ross and other deaths at DoJ" add what you will to this crosspost, these criminals have got to go.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x847120

[MagickMuffin]

17. Here's my research I posted back in March, since we're adding the info we have researched on our own

Nice to see NYtimes picking it up even though we have been on top of it for some time.

This was also saved in my journal...



I did a little research on Deb last week here are some interesting facts from an interview

Posted by MagickMuffin in Latest Breaking News
Wed Mar 21st 2007, 03:13 PM

The appointment elevated Yang over many older, mostly white males with more experience and weightier credentials and raised charges of race and gender politics. Yang responded with sheer output. During her first year in office her staff filed 483 cases of business fraud, for the first time surpassing the historically busier New York office. That boosted morale and won Yang credit for stemming an outflow of experienced trial lawyers to lucrative jobs in private practice. Today Debra Yang has risen high enough to become a bright star in the Justice Department and in Republican political circles.

During her seven years on Spring Street Debra Yang made enough of a name as a trial lawyer to win appointment to the Los Angeles Municipal Court. When the court system was unified in 2000 Debra Yang found herself, at 40, the youngest Superior Court judge in Santa Monica. Two years later when the Bush White House was casting for a Republican star with sterling credentials and diversity points, Debra Yang rose to the top of every list. She won Senate confirmation and began her term as U.S. Attorney on May 18, 2002.

GS: Does Judge Takasugi's liberal views have an adverse impact on your office's conviction rate?
DY: I don't think there's a direct correlation. I actually know Judge Takasugi. He's sort of a family friend and somebody I've sought out in the past for mentoring. While we have different political affiliations...

GS: You're a Republican.
DY: Yes. ... I think there are certain things we have overlap on. I appreciate the sensitivity to certain issues, but he's just one judge in a courthouse of many judges.

GS: You're credited with a big increase in white-collar crime filings since becoming U.S. Attorney. What types of white-collar crimes do you focus on?
DY: After the bubble burst, there was a definite focus on accounting-manipulation fraud and stock-manipulation fraud and fraud in the reporting of earnings. Corporations restated their earnings or made various misrepresentations to the SEC with respect to their earnings or made misrepresentations in their initial public offerings. These are some of the cases we've looked at. I've worked very closely with the SEC here to try to forge a much closer relationship so we can share and leverage resources when appropriate. That's one of the reasons we've been able to increase the number of cases and number of defendants in the white-collar arena.

GS: So your focus is on public corporations as opposed to mom-and pops?
DY: Larger dollar volume cases.

I actually chair the civil rights subcommittee for the Attorney General. That's the national chair. I also sit on the Attorney General's Advisory Committee which is a big deal because there are only about twelve U.S. Attorneys who advise the Attorney General on things we should be covering nationally.

GS: This is something to which you were appointed in 2003?
DY: Yes, that's right. And I also sit on President Bush's Corporate Fraud Task Force. That's with other cabinet members and takes up a lot of time as far as trying to figure out national policy. I just got appointed to a new one. The Attorney General has an Intellectual Property Task Force on how we're going to combat computer crime, copyright infringement and things in the cyber arena. So I spent some time on the phone talking to people in different studios about trying to set up a meeting about how to define the issue. Then I came back in and had meetings with people in my office because yesterday James J. Smith from the FBI pled guilty. That entails a number of things going on, so I had some substantive meetings with my staff about that. Then I had some meetings with my staff about a few other cases they needed some decisions or had to run something by me. Then I spent about an hour of quiet time. I have been working on trying to increase the number of environmental prosecutions.

GS: You're talking about major corporations or maybe terrorist organizations or that type of thing?
DY: Major public corruption figures, major espionage cases.

GS: Does your term coincide with the term of the President?
DY: That's right. It's a presidential appointment with confirmation by the Senate so I serve at the behest of the President.

GS: So if George Bush doesn't get reelected you stand a chance of being replaced?
DY: I will be replaced. It's never been any different.


GS: What was the firm in Santa Monica?
DY: Haight Dickson Brown & Bonesteel.

GS: You went there because you wanted to try cases?
DY: No, that was just my first firm. I went there because they were going to pay me lots of money and they were a block or two blocks away from the ocean.

GS: When did you work there?
DY: I went there as a summer clerk in 1984, went back as an associate in 1985 and left in 1987.



And as a BONUS........
Editor's Note - Additional quote from John McKay, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington:
“Debra Wong Yang will be missed by her colleagues across the United States. As U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, she earned a reputation as a bright, dedicated and above all collegial prosecutor,” said John McKay, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington. “We worked on collaborative issues and problems that extended far beyond the Los Angeles region. We wish her well in her new endeavors.”


I put a box around the part of the interview where Deb's main focus in life is making LOTS of MONEY....


MORE HERE:
http://goldsea.com/Personalities/Yangdebra...

[bobthedrummer]

18. Fwiw, MM, see what you get when you combine it with some info about Alice S. Fisher

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x847120#853059