Justice Dept. Recognized Prosecutor's Work on Election Fraud Before His Firing

[tiptoe]

By Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 19, 2007; Page A04

One of the U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration after Republican complaints that he neglected to prosecute voter fraud had been heralded for his expertise in that area by the Justice Department, which twice selected him to train other federal prosecutors to pursue election crimes.

David C. Iglesias, who was dismissed as U.S. attorney for New Mexico in December, was one of two chief federal prosecutors invited to teach at a "voting integrity symposium" in October 2005. The symposium was sponsored by Justice's public integrity and civil rights sections and was attended by more than 100 prosecutors from around the country, according to an account by Iglesias that a department spokesman confirmed.

Iglesias, a Republican, said in an interview that he and the U.S. attorney from Milwaukee, Steven M. Biskupic, were chosen as trainers because they were the only ones identified as having created task forces to examine allegations of voter fraud in the 2004 elections. An agenda lists them as the panelists for a session on such task forces at the two-day seminar, which featured a luncheon speech by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

...

Iglesias and another U.S. attorney fired in December, John McKay of Seattle, said they were surprised by the White House's explanation because they had coordinated closely with Justice attorneys in handling allegations of fraudulent voting in recent elections. Justice officials had never expressed disagreement with their judgment, the two said.

...
Justice Dept. Recognized Prosecutor's Work on Election Fraud Before His Firing

[PSPS]

1. There's election fraud, then there's "election fraud"

In the case of McKay in Washington, he was being pressured to "get on board" with Rove and start a media circus with a sham "investigation" of "election fraud," which means the institutionalization of the caging lists that were being exposed by the Seattle Times and other media.

[sutz12]

6. They (Rove & Gonzo) were pushing "voter fraud" not election fraud. nt

[maddezmom]

2. NYT Phony Fraud Charges(voter fraud is code for suppressing the votes of minorities & poor people)

NYT Phony Fraud Charges(voter fraud is code for suppressing the votes of minorities & poor people)
Edited on Fri Mar-16-07 06:27 AM by maddezmom
Phony Fraud Charges

Published: March 16, 2007
In its fumbling attempts to explain the purge of United States attorneys, the Bush administration has argued that the fired prosecutors were not aggressive enough about addressing voter fraud. It is a phony argument; there is no evidence that any of them ignored real instances of voter fraud. But more than that, it is a window on what may be a major reason for some of the firings.

In partisan Republican circles, the pursuit of voter fraud is code for suppressing the votes of minorities and poor people. By resisting pressure to crack down on “fraud,” the fired United States attorneys actually appear to have been standing up for the integrity of the election system.

~snip~

There is no evidence of rampant voter fraud in this country. Rather, Republicans under Mr. Bush have used such allegations as an excuse to suppress the votes of Democratic-leaning groups. They have intimidated Native American voter registration campaigners in South Dakota with baseless charges of fraud. They have pushed through harsh voter ID bills in states like Georgia and Missouri, both blocked by the courts, that were designed to make it hard for people who lack drivers’ licenses — who are disproportionately poor, elderly or members of minorities — to vote. Florida passed a law placing such onerous conditions on voter registration drives, which register many members of minorities and poor people, that the League of Women Voters of Florida suspended its registration work in the state.

~snip~
The United States attorney purge appears to have been prompted by an array of improper political motives. Carol Lam, the San Diego attorney, seems to have been fired to stop her from continuing an investigation that put Republican officials and campaign contributors at risk. These charges, like the accusation that Mr. McKay and other United States attorneys were insufficiently aggressive about voter fraud, are a way of saying, without actually saying, that they would not use their offices to help Republicans win elections. It does not justify their firing; it makes their firing a graver offense.

more:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=269141

[truthisfreedom]

3. I love the smell of the truth in the morning.

Smells like victory.

[populistdriven]

9. All I smell is death - the death of another neocon-inspired criminal plot

[w4rma]

4. This attorney that the Republicans fired was the attorney that "A Few Good Men" was based on.

Not a poor performer at all.

…
As a Navy lawyer, he had been involved in a marine hazing case that became the basis for the blockbuster movie “A Few Good Men.”
…
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/washington/18attorneys.html

[rec_report]

5. See: Republican Election Fraud and the Firing of US Attorneys

Republican Election Fraud and the Firing of US Attorneys --The Rec Report --By Michael Rectenwald 14 Mar 2007 "Since the 2000 election ended in dispute in Florida," MSNBC reports, "Republicans at the national and local levels have repeatedly raised concerns about possible voter fraud, alleging that convicted felons and other ineligible voters have been permitted to cast ballots to the benefit of Democrats." Imagine that, the Republicans complaining about FRAUD in connection with VOTING! Now isn't that the most ironic idea you can imagine? Perhaps not as ironic as it might be, if one considers the administration's subtle shift in terminology.

One should note the White House and Justice emphasis on voter fraud, as opposed to election fraud. The distinction is not a minor one. Voter fraud places the blame for election scandals on so-called felonious and 'dead' voters whose votes are reputedly cast for Democrats. These felons and dead-men-voting are the old boogie men of Republican rhetoric regarding elections.

<snip>

[tiptoe]

7. Also, see: "Fired Federal Prosecutors And Election Fraud"

Fired Federal Prosecutors And Election Fraud —Sacked for Indicting Republicans and Not Indicting Democrats? —Michael Collins

Top U.S. law enforcement official Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez engineered a Pearl Harbor Day for eight Republican appointed federal prosecutors. From one end of the country to the other, previously well regarded prosecutors were summarily fired (allowed to resign) on December 7, 2006. Chief of the Office of U.S. Attorneys, Michael Battle spread the news. In a rare case of the messenger shooting himself, Battle abruptly decided that he too would resign after the firings turned into a major scandal this month.

Even hard core Bush supporters were appalled. High profile Republican partisan and former federal prosecutor Joseph diGenova made his opinion clear: “This is really a pathetic way of running government." Mark Corallo, a former close aid to Attorney General Ashcroft said: "These are people who worked hard in the pursuit of justice. To go out and trash their reputations -- it's galling." John Smietanka, deputy to George H. W. Bush’s Attorney General William Barr, offered this: “If they were going to ask for the resignations of people, they should have given reasons, just for pure tact and humanity." (Source of quotations: Law.Com, 12 Mar 2007)

...
Why were these eight selected? The notion that they were somehow ineffective is a non starter. All eight prosecutors had positive personnel reviews by the Department of Justice (DOJ) according to the Wall Street Journal whose reporters had access to the files. The conventional wisdom is that they were somehow disloyal to the Bush White House, either through acts of omission or commission. That’s obvious. But what were those acts?

...

It’s no coincidence that the eight were removed when they were. This process was a gift to the President by Republican Senator Arlen Specter. In a clever move before the bill was finalized, Specter included a few sentences in the Patriot Act broadening the options for the midterm dismissal of federal prosecutors. The White House noticed this loophole and used it when needed, without restraint.
...

[Supersedeas]

8. Stupid does not care about these lies.

[heatstreak]

10. kick