RepubCong. Jerry Lewis's defense firm hires US Attorney, employees other bushies

[caligirl]

March 17, 2007
A reader sends this post along, by San Francisco attorney Stephen Kaus. According to a March 16, 2007 article by The American Lawyer ("Heyday of paydays may be over," subscription only) noted by Kaus, former US attorney in Los Angeles Debra Wong Yang, who says she departed the US attorney job of her own volition, and who until recently headed the office in charge of the investigation of former House appropriations committee chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Ca), reportedly got a $1.5 million offer to join the firm representing Lewis. Reports the American Lawyer:

Debra Wong Yang, 47, the Los Angeles U.S. attorney and a member of the president's corporate fraud task force, got north of $1.5 million to join Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher a few weeks later, according to two recruiters.


Perhaps the most interesting recently departed US attorney to hear from would be one who left ostensibly voluntarily. Former Los Angeles US attorney Debra Wong Yang, who had been heading up the investigation into former Appropriations committee chairman Jerry Lewis. And where did Yang go on January 1st? To the law firm representing Lewis. The fact that Yang resigned her office November 10 -- just after the elections - is interesting. It's no secret that the decision to retire and a decision informed by knowledge one is going to be dismissed are sometimes the same thing. Is Yang the exception that proves the rule, or no exception at all? Among the powerful partners at Gibson Dunn, the firm that offered Yang a golden parachute, you will remember, is Theodore Olsen, the Bush White House former solicitor general. The Lewis investigation is of course the big enchilada, the one that would really hurt, and not just Lewis. Will Congress want to hear from Yang as well?



www.warandpeace.com

[rumpel]

1. caligirl, I was just thinking of this oddity...

and was looking for the other post on DU this morning about Lewis to link to - I have to find it still...

yesterday, Old and In the Way posted this
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3168847

and considering the SD US Attorney Lam investigating Lewis - it just seems odd...perhaps she was also offered a job at that law firm and turned it down?

Something here in CA was actively being investigated by both attorneys?

[caligirl]

2. very odd. Looks like her silence had a price. I did just pass this to DIFI's

local office, they were happy to get it, Yang I mean.

[caligirl]

3. His position on the appropriations committee, lots of corruption to look at.

" ... Viewed as a corruption case, the Cunningham matter has an arc that suggests the possibility of more high-profile indictments to come. But looked at from a counterintelligence angle, it is even more disturbing. The case is still more worrying if it is turned around, and focused not only on the congressman for sale, but on the defense contractors and foreign-linked financiers who cultivated Cunningham -- and potentially other lawmakers -- precisely because of their position on the Intelligence and Appropriations Committees.

Cunningham has admitted taking $2.4 million in bribes from two men who sought and received not only U.S. government contracts, but particular types of contracts. They were awarded defense and intelligence contracts, including counterintelligence and counterterrorism programs so sensitive their precise details are confined to those with security clearances. <...>

It is clear that companies belonging to Wilkes and Wade received a few hundred million dollars in sensitive defense and intelligence contracts. Who is investigating whether such companies should be performing such controversial tasks as conducting domestic surveillance on peace groups for the Defense Department? Who is investigating whether MZM and its successor Athena Innovative Solutions should be evaluating which foreign companies supply weapons to the Pentagon -- when MZM may have gotten the initial contract through dubious means? <...> In short, who is investigating the counterintelligence implications of this case to protect against potential breaches of U.S. national security?'

"One place someone might want to look: Cunningham's trips to Saudi Arabia, and what they were all about. I know for a fact that the half of this has not yet been reported."

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/003779.html

Kontogiannis went with Cunningham to Saudi Arabia, his offices were located in the same building as a big oil interest. He was corrupt and sought a presidential pardon with bribes of Cunningham and who knows who else.

[rumpel]

4. You know, the fact that

Yang was a "member of the president's corporate fraud task force" is disturbing.
I saw that when her bio was still posted at the USAO site.
I checked on all the past cases they had prosectued in LA (posted in form of press releases)
No major companies...really
and I also think there are other corporate categories that should have been investigated including real estate, financial and telecom...