Lam's ouster concerns lawmakers (Bushco's U.S. Attorney "purge" now happening)

[cascadiance]

Forget "The Surge" people. We're now in the middle of a quiet "Purge" that may have lasting effects, and likely will need to be put in history books alongside the Saturday Night Masacre from the Nixon era as signs of cornered rats trying to slap down people that are trying to corner them, where they can. The Patriot Act recently gave them more power here, even though the Senate now is looking at some immediate legislation trying to reverse this part of the Patriot Act, which you can bet that Bush will either veto or issue a signing statement on.

Since last Friday when the story on Carol Lam first came out, it's come attention to many, including senators like Dianne Feinstein, that there appears to be a systematic purge of U.S. Attorneys from different parts of the nation, most notably Carol Lam, a Republican Bush nominated prosecutor here in San Diego who recently successfully prosecuted Duke Cunningham. This morning there's a new story from Onell R. Soto, who was one of the original writers of Friday's article (and who along with Kelly Thornton) deserve a lot of calls from Americans thanking for them to writing us good news in this time of problematic mainstream media coverage of anything. Here are earlier DU threads on this topic for those getting up to speed:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2685750

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x256481

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3053867

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=3119786

Just yesterday there was another prosecutor who was asked to leave from Nevada too. This article lists a couple more. In total here are the prosecutors that we know of at this point that have been asked to step down (or who are resigning without much public reasoning for why they are doing so):

Carol Lam - California (Southern California San Diego area)
Bud Cummings - Arkansas (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070112-9999-1n12lam.html and http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x256481#256490)
David Iglsias - New Mexico (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070112-9999-1n12lam.html)
Debra Smith - Alaska (http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002329.php and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/08/31/fbi-raids-offices-of-alas_n_28499.html?p=3 and http://www.adn.com/news/politics/veco/story/8182180p-8075108c.html)
Daniel Bogden - Nevada (http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2007/jan/15/011510869.html)
Debra Wong Yang - California (http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002329.php and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/08/31/fbi-raids-offices-of-alas_n_28499.html?p=3 and http://www.adn.com/news/politics/veco/story/8182180p-8075108c.html)
Kevin V. Ryan - California (San Francisco) (WSJ article linked below)
John McKay - Washington (Seattle) (this article)
Paul Charlton - Arizona (Phoenix) (this article)


Here's today's article today from Onell Soto:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070116-9999-1m16lam.html

Lam's ouster concerns lawmakers

Senators to seek answers about U.S. attorneys' exits
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 16, 2007

A national political storm is brewing over the departures of several top prosecutors, including San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam.

Lam has not commented since reports surfaced last week that she was asked to resign as the chief federal law enforcement officer in San Diego.

Sources told The San Diego Union-Tribune that superiors in the Justice Department are unhappy with decreased prosecutions for gun and immigration violations.

Lam, a political independent, was appointed by President Bush in 2002.

In recent months, at least four other U.S. attorneys have announced their departures, two of them confirming that they've been asked to resign.

With reports yesterday that the Department of Justice has demanded the resignation of another top prosecutor, in Las Vegas, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is scheduled this week to answer questions from skeptical senators.
Democratic lawmakers have criticized the recent departures from the ranks of top federal prosecutors as worrisome.

“We have no idea why this is happening,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said in a statement last week. “The attorney general could have a legitimate reason for asking for specific resignations, or this could be motivated by political concerns or worse, derailing ongoing investigations.”
...

There's also a subscription only article from the Washington Post that appears to be looking at this issue now too:
http://online.wsj.com/google_login.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB116891552371177295.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsj

U.S. Attorney Vacancies Spark Concerns
By Evan Perez and Scot J. Paltrow
Word Count: 613

WASHINGTON -- As the Bush administration enters its last two years, a number of U.S. attorneys are departing, causing concern that some high-profile prosecutions may suffer.

As many as seven U.S. attorneys, including prosecutor Kevin V. Ryan, whose San Francisco office is overseeing the investigation of backdating of stock options, are leaving or being pushed out. Others include Carol Lam of San Diego, Daniel Bogden of Nevada, David Iglesias of New Mexico, Paul Charlton of Arizona and John McKay of Seattle. Ms. Lam and Messrs. Ryan and Bogden haven't officially announced their departures.

Democrats claim the administration is using a ...

[LiberalFighter]

1. Has she resigned? Or is she refusing to resign?

[cascadiance]

3. I think she and two others are noted in one of these articles not to have resigned yet.

So perhaps all of them are brewing over their options at this point (perhaps a joint statement or something to attract more attention?)

Another theory is from blogcritics.org that this is to apply pressure to Patrick Fitzgerald to not cross certain lines or he might also have something coming down on him too when he starts up the trial of Scooter Libby now.

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/01/15/142502.php

[LiberalFighter]

6. If Fitzgerald analyzes it like I would...

I would think that BUSHCO can't say anything about trying to have him removed cause that would put the case more in the public eye than it is already.

The judge if he is honest would slap BUSHCO with sanctions.

BUSHCO has less than 2 years in office and he is gone and if things continue going the way it is there will likely be a Democrat elected as President in 2008.

[blm]

2. GOP administrations have always put in COVERUP players at the DOJ. Robert Mueller

was Bush1's US Attorney who couldn't find an indictable crime in BCCI, so Kerry was forced to go to NY attorney general to keep BCCI case alive.

Mueller was rewarded for his BFEE loyalty with his post as head of Bush2's FBI. He and Gonzalez do a great job for BushInc, don't you think? I would bet my house that many documents have been purged over the years, along with those attorneys who actually had the temerity to DO THEIR JOBS.

[cascadiance]

4. Though Robert Mueller, perhaps intentionally perhaps not recently may have backed up Sibel Edmonds

... As Luke Ryland notes in this post, one of his quotes might be interpretted to note that he knows some funky business going on...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x3114296

[Barrett808]

13. Don't forget Asa Hutchinson

No GOP Rogues Gallery is complete without him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Hutchinson

[blm]

14. heh...guranteed that I won't forget why Asa was put in place.

We should get a forum dedicated to the BFEE characters the public NEEDS to know better.

[Double T]

5. I look forward to the Dems drilling of gonzales...........

bushco corruption has infiltrated every branch of our government and it is time to 'purge' the REAL criminals that are attempting a cover up.

[tanyev]

7. Another sign that the binging is over.

[hootinholler]

8. Folks, We need to rec the hell out of this to get the visibility it needs!

Everyone should know what is going on.

-Hoot

[napi21]

9. Olberman talked to Turley last night about this.

Turley said it's not only against everything our justice system is based on, but it's vile and evil! He's asking for a strong reprimand from the ABA!

[fooj]

10. THREE from California.

Fucking rat bastards.

[RedEarth]

11. Good work..... KR

[DemReadingDU]

12. afternoon K &R

this is outrageous

[drm604]

15. It sounds like there may be corporate influence here,

at least in the case of Kevin Ryan. The stock option backdating thing could hit a number of companies. He was also investigating "spring-loading" which is essentially insider trading.

Article

[Zodiak]

16. Lookee Lookee

Instead of the rats leaving the sinking ship, they are kicking the mice out.

I would just bet a few of those mice might have seomthing to say now that their job no longer depends on loyalty.

[aquart]

21. No, honey. They're kicking out the cats.

[xxqqqzme]

17. This is an excellent example of how these criminals use

loop holes & strange interpretations to ignore or skewer the law while changing policy. They have decided what the policy is to be and when they find a law that obstructs the vision, they ignore it. As long as they can get the policy moving in their direction, they know it will take generations to change it. In the meantime their policy is being integrated though out the bureaucracy and it will be implemented until there is another administration that makes a concentrated effort to change it. In the meantime, we get books that say the Grand Canyon was formed 6,000 years ago; global warming is of any immediate concern; and due process and habeas corpus are 'quaint' legal ideals.

[slipslidingaway]

18. Old story, US Attorney Frederick A. Black & Abramoff

"Bush removal ended Guam investigation
US attorney's demotion halted probe of lobbyist"

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/08/bush_removal_ended_guam_investigation/


snip>>

The ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, joined by Guam's Democratic representative to the United States House of Representatives issued a call to the Justice Department to investigate the demotion of a prosecutor who was investigating Bush fundraiser and megalobbyist Jack Abramoff, RAW STORY has learned.

Judiciary Democrat John Conyers (D-MI) and Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam's non-voting delegate to the U.S. Congress, called on the Department's Inspector General to "conduct an investigation into the November 2002 demotion of former Acting United States Attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Frederick A. Black."

"We are troubled by an August 7, 2005, report in the Los Angeles Times that suggests this demotion was politically motivated," the members write.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Guam_envoy_to_Congress_calls_for_Abramoff_investiga_0823.html

[Robbien]

19. So much of this evil is happening under the radar

It is so easy these days to get the MSM to ignore the important issues and focus on gossip-type news.

[slipslidingaway]

20. Yes the media is a BIG problem n/t

[cascadiance]

22. Here's a more in depth commentary of the goings on in Lam's office here...

Perhaps this can give a greater overall sense of how this office works, and how Lam may or may not deserve some of the treatment she's getting:

http://www.november.org/stayinfo/breaking/SanDiego.html

[cascadiance]

23. TPM Muckraker has a bunch of new articles up...

Just about all of them on the front page:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/

This one has a youtube of Dianne Feinstein's speech on the Senate floor. DiFi's actually taking some pretty decent leadership on this! We need to thank her for it. I already called her office earlier on this, despite my concerns about her in the past:

Feinstein Speaks out on U.S. Atty Firings

Other TPM articles:
WH Moved Swiftly to Replace US Attorneys
What's the White House Doing to Prosecutors?
Yet Another Prosecutor Leaves
White House Pushes Out Another Prosecutor
Questions, Concerns Swirl around Politics of Prosecutor's Forced Exit

[donkeyotay]

24. This looks bad for several reasons.

The Republicans had been stonewalling this investigation. This looks like continuing by other means. If you no longer control the oversight committees, get rid of the grand jury by getting rid of the prosecutor.

Prosecutors demand files of 3 House panels
The subpoenas step up a U.S. probe of earmarks in spending measures.
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
January 4, 2007


WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors in San Diego have subpoenaed documents from three House committees as part of an investigation into special-interest earmarks in spending bills. ...

The subpoenas, which follow a failed attempt by the Justice Department to persuade the Republican Congress to voluntarily turn over thousands of documents, ...

The subpoenas are an escalation of a nine-month tug-of-war between the Justice Department and House Republicans. Prosecutors had asked the committees to turn over the information voluntarily....

The San Diego federal prosecutors have also been examining the relationship between Wilkes and Kyle Dustin "Dusty" Foggo, who resigned as CIA executive director in the spring after federal agents searched his office and home

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-subpoena4jan04,1,5828324.story?coll=la-headlines-politics&ctrack=1&cset=true


The second reason is that the CIA had received subpoenas as well

Before getting caught in 2005, Cunningham was involved in a sprawling corruption ring between Congress and the national security community. The scandal allegedly enjoyed the participation of current and former CIA officials, including Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, the executive director of the agency. Foggo would be the highest-ranking CIA official to be prosecuted in the agency's history, according to Paltrow.

Prosecutors had expected to indict Foggo several months ago, but the Agency's refusal to declassify important documents has hampered their efforts, Paltrow reports.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/duke_cunningham/


And the last reason is that the bush administration has stopped a potentially embarrassing investigation this way before with US Attorney Black of Guam in 2002.

[Rose Siding]

25. Yesterday's NYT Editorial on the purge-

They hemmed and hawed too much but *do* suggest plugging the hole with litigation (like a signing statement won't dispatch any new law handily)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=257063&mesg_id=257063

[xchrom]

26. k&r

[MasonJar]

27. No dems unless we get rid of the machines. Pugs will be ready

in 08. Rove thought he had it fixed in 06 so the pugs would barely win, I feel confident. He did not imagine so many irate voters for a mid-term.

[cascadiance]

28. AP story just out now...

Has some of Gonzalez's remarks too:

http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/washington/index.ssf?/base/politics-11/116898894618010.xml&storylist=washington

Gonzales discusses attorney vacancies
1/16/2007, 3:02 p.m. PT
By LAURIE KELLMAN
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats want to take away Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' power to replace U.S. attorneys who fall out of favor and return that authority to federal district judges.

Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Mark Pryor of Arkansas complained Tuesday that the White House is using an obscure provision in the newly reauthorized USA Patriot Act to reward Republican political allies with jobs as federal prosecutors.

"The Bush administration is pushing out U.S. attorneys from across the country under the cloak of secrecy and then appointing indefinite replacements," Feinstein said.

"It appears that the administration has chosen to use this provision, which was intended to help protect our nation, to circumvent the transparent constitutional Senate confirmation process to reward political allies," Pryor said in the joint Democratic statement.

...

I just saw a post someplace else that Ms. Lam was on the radio a bit ago and announced her resignation. I hope that's not true. Can anyone out there confirm?

[donkeyotay]

40. Damned activist attorneys general playing politics, putting party above

country. This is clearly harmful to the integrity of the judicial system, but perhaps a twofer - install a crony, preferably inept - and squash an investigation that may have led to the biggest corruption scandal in Washington history.

Has anyone else noticed how many "investigations" undertaken during bush's reign have gone no where? If I cannot be confident that a nonpartisan and competent investigation has taken place, then how can I know that the congress and military industrial complex have not morphed into a mafia-like institution under the cloak of national security secrecy? Anyone who wants to dismiss me as a conspiracy theorist must recognize that they also don't have solid facts to base their faith in government on. Faith in government is rapidly becoming just another theory.

[cascadiance]

29. Damn! Carol Lam just resigned!

Here it is:

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/10765482/detail.html

Lam Announces Resignation

POSTED: 3:50 pm PST January 16, 2007
UPDATED: 4:06 pm PST January 16, 2007

SAN DIEGO -- The woman responsible for the prosecution of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham is out of a job.

U.S. Attorney Carol Lam is resigning, effective Feb. 15.

"It has been both a great honor and a great privilege to have served the nation and the Southern District of California as United States Attorney for the past four and one-half years," said Lam in a statement released on Tuesday. "The dedication shown by the men and women of the U.S. Attorney's Office can be seen every day in the important cases they prosecute, including cases relating to terrorism, immigration, narcotics, public corruption and fraud."

It is believed that the office of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asked her to leave the job.

...

[Robbien]

32. Damn. Damn. Damn

It is so hard to hope the corruption will be weeded out when this gang of thieves are twisting all the laws.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

34. What is it they've got on her?

How has she been threatened? :grr:

[cascadiance]

36. I think it's more that she's concerned about destroying her career...

There's only a limited set of positions open for a person of her skills, and many of them involve working with people like those in Bushco. If she were to fight too hard, it can be argued that she'd get blackballed every place and have no place to go to practice law. At least here, she can go someplace else where she might not be at the forefront of prosecuting the likes of Wilkes and Hunter, which is what the administration really wants to do by firing her, not necessarily destroy her career. If she were to object though, without enough popular support, her career would be limited. That's why we really need to get mobilized on this issue and make sure that this doesn't set the precedent so that other prosecutors are also intimidated like hell not to pursue cases they should be doing to root out all of this corruption in the extended Bushco operation around the country.

[cascadiance]

30. Raw Story now has it as one of their headline links...

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Patriot_Act_appointments_0116.html

[cascadiance]

31. The Hill now has an article up...

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/011707/feinstein.html

[Quetzal]

33. This is truly fucking scary

This just sends chills up my spine

[cascadiance]

35. An excellent editorial on Lam's departure from Voice of San Diego

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/01/17/opinion/01editoriallam011707.txt

[annabanana]

37. Wednesday Morning Kick. . . . n/t

[AGiordino]

38. AG Patriot Act Abuse Continues

The Attorney General is using the Patriot Act to force the resignations of Federal Prosecutors.
Dianne Feinstein points out -
"In California, press reports indicate that Carol Lam, U.S. Attorney for San Diego, has been asked to leave her position, as has Kevin Ryan of San Francisco. The public response has been shock. Peter Nunez, who served as the San Diego U.S. Attorney from 1982 to 1988, has said, ‘This is like nothing I've ever seen in my 35-plus years.’ As a matter of fact, the rumor has it -- and this is only rumor -- that U.S. Attorney Lam, who carried out the prosecution of the Duke Cunningham case, has other cases pending whereby, rumor has it, Members of Congress have been subpoenaed. I have also been told that this interrupts the flow of the prosecution of these cases, to have the present U.S. attorney be forced to resign by the end of this month."
Retribution?
Fear of Prosecution?
Certainly does not instill any sense of security or trust in our legal system when the system is arbitrarily reshaped to promote your agenda or evade future prosecution, does it?

link to article
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002349.php

[annabanana]

39. Congress had better put this at or near the top of the list

..of Patriot Act abuses to remedy. Our ability to clean house will be seriously compromised.

[cascadiance]

41. Specter screwed with the Patriot Act at the Justice Department's request...

TPM Muckraker has this article up this morning, and notes how Democrats weren't allowed to participate in many of the committee's activities. Specter threw this in as part of the final draft of this bill.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002354.php

Did Specter Give WH Power to Replace Prosecutors?
By Paul Kiel - January 17, 2007, 11:48 AM



In order to replace several U.S. Attorneys with handpicked successors, the Bush Administration has relied on a tiny, obscure provision tucked into last year's USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act.

How did it get there?

Former Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) slipped the language into the bill at the very last minute, according to one of the Republican managers of the bill.

A spokesperson for Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who led the House team working on the bill, said that the provision was inserted by Specter into the final draft of the bill. The language was apparently requested by the Justice Department. Specter's office didn't respond to numerous requests for comment.

Earlier versions of the bill did not contain the provision, which grants authority to the Attorney General to replace U.S. Attorneys without Senate approval. When the House and the Senate first voted in favor of the legislation, the provision did not exist.

Instead, the tweak was inserted during the conference committee, where lawmakers from the House and Senate reconcile discrepancies in the two versions and craft a final bill.

In an unusual move, Republicans blocked Democrats from participating in many of the committee's activities.

...

And the Justice liar in chief is also discussed in TPM today too:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002355.php

Gonzales: No Politics Behind Prosecutor Firings
By Justin Rood - January 17, 2007, 12:24 PM



Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is mounting a PR effort to rebuff suggestions that the recent spate of administration-forced resignations of U.S. Attorneys may be politically motivated.

"Nothing could be further from the truth,” he told the Associated Press.

“We are fully committed to ensuring that, with respect to every position, we have a Senate-confirmed, presidentially appointed U.S. attorney. . . We in no way politicize these decisions.”

Since the November elections, Gonzales' department has requested resignations from several U.S. attorneys. The only known replacements have been political appointees that do not receive Senate confirmation, thanks to a recent change in law.

...

[donkeyotay]

42. Arlene Specter made the provision according to tpmmuckraker

I can confirm for you that yes, it was a Specter provision," a spokesperson for the senator wrote to me in an email earlier today, responding to repeated inquiries. Earlier we reported that Specter had been fingered for the last-minute change, made in a select Republicans-only meeting after the House and Senate had voted on earlier versions....

The senator made no public comment on the provision at the time of the bill's passage. A congressional report which accompanied the final version of the bill said that Specter's change "addresses an inconsistency in the appointment process of United States Attorneys." It's not clear, however, what exactly that inconsistency was.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002357.php

[cascadiance]

43. It's interesting looking at this Mother Jone's article in this issue's context...

Hmmm... I wonder if the corporate media Investor's Daily is being used by Bushco to build the image of prosecutors being "bad guys" to help him justify his purge here. Especially when it potentially could lead right into going after Fitzgerald and trying to find some way to "muzzle" him in the Libby trial!

From:
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2007/01/nifong_fitzgerald.html

Plame Case: Fitzgerald is Getting Nifonged



Washington Dispatch: As the Scooter Libby trial begins in D.C., conservatives in the media are trying to undercut the credibility of the prosecution's case by comparing Patrick Fitzgerald to embattled Duke case prosecutor Mike Nifong.

By Daniel Schulman
January 17, 2007

What do Patrick Fitzgerald and Mike Nifong share in common? Not much, beyond the fact that both are prosecutors who have pursued politically fraught cases. But don't tell that to Investor's Business Daily, which published an editorial today calling for "all the rogue prosecutors" to be reigned in. The paper's prime examples of prosecutorial zealotry are Nifong, who recused himself last week from the Duke sexual assault case, and Fitzgerald, whose perjury and obstruction of justice case against Lewis "Scooter" Libby began in D.C. district court on Tuesday. "Like the Duke lacrosse players, Scooter Libby faces jail for alleged involvement in a crime that was never committed, pursued by a vindictive prosecutor," the editorial reasons. "And also like the Duke case, it's a national disgrace."

In lumping Fitzgerald with Nifong, whose case against the Duke lacrosse players appears at best deeply flawed and potentially politically motivated, Investor's Business Daily is only the latest to deploy this disingenuous bait and switch. Making a similar argument in an op-ed last summer, columnist Jack Kelly cast the Plame and Duke cases as part of the same cautionary tale. "This should remind us the greater threat to our civil liberties comes not from the measures the Bush administration has taken to protect us from terrorists, but from prosecutors who abuse their power for political purposes." More recently the columnist posed this question to his readers: "Is to 'fitzgerald' a synonym for to 'nifong?'"

...