Justice Dept. OIG and OPR to the Rescue in USAgate & Hiring Jay "White History Month" Apperson??

[maddezmom]

Justice Dept. OIG and OPR to the Rescue in USAgate & Hiring Jay "White History Month" Apperson??
by Jesselyn Radack
Tue May 08, 2007 at 03:50:30 AM PDT
It ruins my morning to read yet again that the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) are investigating Justice Department misconduct--whether it's USAgate, or the hiring of Jay "We need White History Month" Apperson. These offices should not be given the same weight as Congress, or any weight at all. They have lost all credibility in my book because of my personal experience of having Glenn A. Fine and H. Marshall Jarrett investigate the destruction of evidence and obstruction of justice in the case of "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, only for me (the complainant) to become the target of the investigation itself.

more:http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/8/61721/53727

Hiring Process Was Bypassed for Prosecutor

By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 8, 2007; Page A04

When he was counsel to a House subcommittee in 2005, Jay Apperson resigned after writing a letter to a federal judge in his boss's name, demanding a tougher sentence for a drug courier. As an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia in the 1990s, he infuriated fellow prosecutors when he facetiously suggested a White History Month to complement Black History Month.

Yet when Apperson was looking for a job recently, four senior Justice Department officials urged Jeffrey A. Taylor, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, to hire him. Taylor did, and allowed him to skip the rigorous vetting process that the vast majority of career federal prosecutors face.

As Congress and the administration spar over whether Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales allowed politics to unduly influence the work of the Justice Department, Apperson's hiring has been cited by government lawyers and others as an example of how a system that relies on apolitical prosecutors should not function.

It is not clear whether Apperson's hiring is part of the internal Justice Department investigation of Monica M. Goodling, until recently the agency's senior counselor and White House liaison, for allegedly considering applicants' political affiliation in hiring decisions. That probe began when Goodling allegedly tried to hold up the hiring of another prosecutor whom Taylor was recruiting, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the inquiry.

~snip~
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2838375

[maddezmom]

1. Think Progress: Vetting process skipped by controversial prosecutor

Vetting process skipped by controversial prosecutor.“As Congress and the administration spar over whether Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales allowed politics to unduly influence the work of the Justice Department,” the hiring of Jay Apperson “has been cited by government lawyers and others as an example of how a system that relies on apolitical prosecutors should not function.” The Washington Post notes:

When he was counsel to a House subcommittee in 2005, Apperson resigned after writing a letter to a federal judge in his boss’s name, demanding a tougher sentence for a drug courier. As an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia in the 1990s, he infuriated fellow prosecutors when he facetiously suggested a White History Month to complement Black History Month.

Yet when Apperson was looking for a job recently, four senior Justice Department officials urged Jeffrey A. Taylor, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, to hire him. Taylor did, and allowed him to skip the rigorous vetting process that the vast majority of career federal prosecutors face.

more:http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/08/vetting-process-skipped-by-controversial-prosecutor/

[maddezmom]

2. Taylor's Bio:

Jeffrey A. Taylor

Jeffrey A. Taylor was appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on September 22, 2006. He was sworn in and took office on September 29, 2006.

From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Taylor served as Counselor to Attorney Generals John Ashcroft and Gonzales, where he handled a broad array of matters, including oversight of the Department’s national security, terrorism, and criminal litigation and policy, as well as the operations of the Department’s law enforcement components.

Mr. Taylor served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California from 1995–1999, where he prosecuted a variety of criminal matters, including international drug trafficking organizations. From 1999-2002, Mr. Taylor served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary, working on issues including criminal law, terrorism, and national security.

Mr. Taylor began his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable John C. Mowbray, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada, from 1991–1992, and then worked for three years in private practice. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University. Mr. Taylor, and his wife, Marcia Taylor, are residents of the District of Columbia.


http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/dc/US_Attorney/index.html

[maddezmom]

3. interesting note from Wiki about Taylor

U.S. Attorneys controversy
Mr. Taylor's position came under heightened interest in March 2007 during the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy. On March 20, 2007, President Bush declared in a press conference that White House staff would not testify under oath on the matter if subpoenaed by Congress.<3> One who ignores a Congressional subpoena can be held in contempt of Congress, but the D.C. U.S. Attorney must convene a grand jury to start the prosecution of this crime.

Under 2 U.S.C. § 194, once either the House or the Senate issues a citation for contempt of Congress, it is referred to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, "whose duty it shall be to bring the matter before the grand jury for its action."<4> It is unclear (as of March 20, 2007) whether Mr. Taylor would fulfill this duty to convene a grand jury, or resist Congress at the direction of Bush or Gonzales.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_A._Taylor