Origin of Bush Hatchet Job on Fed Prosecutors AND "the fixer."

[autorank]

I’ve taken the time so summarize Robert Parry’s latest column at the link below. It shows exactly where the Bush firings of Federal Prosecutors originated – meddling with Federal prosecutors by Bush I prior to the 2002 election. Desperate to stop Bill Clinton’s progress, Bush minions cooked up Whitewater and tried to get a Federal Prosecutor in Arkansas to indict Clinton. The prosecutor, no friend of Clinton, refused, and the plot was foiled. This time around, Bush II had special assistance (see end of article) and was able to fire several key Federal Prosecutors; one in Arkansas! Here’s a great history lesson and at the end of the summary, we find out who made the Bush II firings possible.

Bush Family Prosecutors Game
By Robert Parry March 4, 2007

George W. Bush learned at least one lesson from his father: You want your federal prosecutors to be team players who will throw a political elbow or two when the White House needs some help.


Not-so-blind Justice

Iglesias has alleged that two New Mexico legislators – whom he says he will identify only under oath – pressured him to speed up indictments of Democrats before Election 2006. At the time, the Republican congressional majority was in jeopardy, in part, because of a series of GOP corruption scandals.

Some of the fired prosecutors handled those Republican corruption cases or served in offices that could play significant political roles in Campaign 2008. For instance, ousted San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam oversaw the prosecution of Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, whose case had opened a window on Washington war profiteering.

KEY POINTS FROM ROBERT PARRY ARTICLE

• In 1992, the elder George Bush found himself in an uphill battle against the upstart Arkansas governor

• The campaign was desperate to get something on Clinton, anything damaging.

• The big plan – get US Attorney in Arkansas Charles Banks to indict Clinton and all his friends on Whitewater – a referral from a pro Bush Lewis at the Resolution Trust Corporation (set up to save the nation’s S&L’s)

• Sept 2, 1992 – Lewis’ referral on White water, targeting Madison S&L sent to the FBI and Federal Prosecutor Banks.

• Banks responded: “There is absolutely no factual basis to suggest criminal activity on the part of any of the individuals listed as witnesses in the referral,” Banks said…describing an indictment as “prosecutorial misconduct

• There was no indictment BECAUSE Prosecutor Banks was an honest man.

Even Ken Starr agreed that Banks was right.

In the end, Starr’s office chose not to pursue Banks and the other Little Rock Investigators who had gotten in the way. “The evidence was insufficient to prove that any Department of Justice official obstructed justice by engaging in conduct intended to delay or impede the investigation of the RTC’s criminal referral,” the report said.

By the time the Whitewater report was finished in 2002, however, the Bush family was ensconced once again in the White House. And the new President Bush had learned an important lesson about the value of having federal prosecutors who see things your way.

WHO GAVE BUSH THE ABILITY TO FIRE THE SPECIAL PROSECUTORS

Prosecutors pushed out thanks to Specter

Arlen "the fixer" Specter gets his marching orders from Bush

Arlen Specter snuck a provision in the Patriot Act that allows “the pResident” to replace Federal prosecutors, at times, without Senate approval. This radical departure from normal procedure was completely outrageous. He couldn't put it in the original Patriot Act without being noticed. Therefore, Specter snuck it in at House-Senate Conference and, we are to believe, no one noticed. It paid off handsomely. Just when Bush was about to take five to 10 indictments, as if by magic, Alberto (no doubt with Arlen's coaching)goes Gonzo and "resigns" a bunch of the best prosecutors who just coincidentally have plans to indict REPUBLICAN CROOKS. I bet old George W went to church that Sunday. The Specter emerged, did its job, and receded into the shadows of rhetorical and political obscurity and obfuscation.

Specter gets the nod as tyrant enabler of the month for allowing Bush this “get out of jail card.” Thanks Arlen, this is some of your finest to work since the Warren Commission

[monarch]

1. K & R n/t

[autorank]

2. Morning monarch

:hi:

[sendero]

3. Once again..

... Arlen Specter proves he is bereft of any integrity whatsoever. One would think a brush with death would steel one to do the right thing, but Specter, for all his talk, always seems to manage not to.

[autorank]

4. Holy cow, I better do "spell check" and head to confessoin;)

What the heck are you doing up at this hour? Feeding the chickens?

I've concluded that you can have sterling personal qualities, i.e., deal with imminent death with great dignity (as it seems Specter did) and still be just dreadful politically. He screwed us totally with this Patriot Act trick, didn'nt he.

Enjoy the sun and fun;)

:donut:

[DemReadingDU]

5. I don't understand Specter either

Of all the Republicans (and there are more corrupt Republicans than Specter), why was Specter the one to give Bush the authority to fire prosecutors? What kind of 'favor' did Bush give Specter in return for this authority?

[autorank]

6. Good question...

Maybe Bush called off the dogs in Pennsylvania during the Specter re-election about the time Specter was feeling besieged by everything...that would generate some gratitude, understandably. But I've always figured Specter knows who shot Kennedy, therefore he's "covered" so to speak. The Patriot Act stunt is a career defining move, one that will cause him to be viewed, at least in legal circles, as a skivatz! Odd move on his part, not a "legacy" builder.

[Hubert Flottz]

7. Arlen Sphincter hates America!

What an actor...he should win an Oscar a week!

[autorank]

9. He sure helped the anti-social "Hippie Guru" who murdered his girl friend ...

... and stuffed her in a trunk. Wonder how he feels about that one? Well, he's not too upset about Iraq, so I've just answered my question.

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/09/30/einhorn.trial/index.html

[Hubert Flottz]

10. He will go down in history as a liar, a traitor and a coward.

Should be deported to Red China to practice his kind of "LAW"!

Quite a showman.

Edit...Arlen practices legal scumbaggery, instead of real law! Our legal system is getting more like the one Hitler set up every day.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Congress giveth and Congress can taketh away.

Nancy and Harry should start to garner the necessary override votes to repeal this provision STAT.

[DemReadingDU]

11. Yes, that needs to be done, ASAP

[DemReadingDU]

12. afternoon kick

[MagickMuffin]

16. I have to disagree with the STAT part

I think we should wait until we take control of the WH in '08. Otherwise it might backfire. Since these new provisions allow the "replacement prosecutors" to serve indefinitely as an “interim” prosecutor.

Wouldn't it make more sense to make sure we can get rid of these "replacement prosecutors" before we close the loop hole?

I worry about making it worse before it gets better...

[autorank]

17. Good point. These are some real turkeys.

The guy taking the place of the Arkansas prosecutor (who people seem to regard highly, the one being replaced) is a Rove trained operative. Terrific. Anyone taking these positions has to be desperate or a total fanatic. Their careers are basically over, serious legal careers where they have respect and are viewed as people to be trusted (vital for litigation). They're worse off than Bork when he took the job after Richardson and Ruckelshaus guit. At least he was smart;)

[MagickMuffin]

18. Funny you should mention Rove's minion Tim Griffin

This is posted @ Think Progress: Did White House Pull Nomination To Avoid Questions Over 2004 Minority Voter Suppression?

This post is all about Timmy Griffin and how he decided to have his name withdrawn from nomination so he wouldn't have to testify before the senate.

This is the only way these thugs can obtain power is by stealing it from the presidency to all of the other thefts that has been committed under this Regime/Cartel/Cabal.

DISGRACEFUL!

[understandinglife]

13. # 6

Peace.

[cascadiance]

14. Yup, I want congress to ask Carol Lam if she was pressured to back off of Hunter!

... until after the election in her investigations of the Cunningham/Wilkes/Foggo/etc., etc. fiasco here.

I was even told in effect that there were efforts to "delay his indictment" to avoid him losing to Rinaldi by default here. Don't know if I can believe that, but I think it is a question that needs to be asked on Tuesday!

[autorank]

19. The Foggo indictment is devastating,. It's a total hot potato.

Why, not because of "HookerGate," the dumbest scandal ever*; because of the pictures and video tapes. You had how many Republicans limo'ed form the Hill to the Watergate to get their jollies. Somebody took pictures and that's dy-no-mite if it ever leaks. We've got a little scandal locally with an escort madam, a major one, charged by IRS with tax evasion. She's threatening to sell her list to a paper in order to raise money for her defense;) She may be connected with the HookerGate deal. Don't they know they're not supposed to bust their pros? 13 years of phone records, God knows how many names. Well, the list of Congressmen is much smaller but far more explosive. It would wipe out the Republican Party in the House if even the names got out.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/hookergate/">TPMmuckraker
Back in October, the feds busted a long-time prostitution service in the Washington, D.C. area. The madam, Jean Palfrey, soon caught attention by telling a reporter from the Smoking Gun that they must be going after her as part of a larger investigation into "some Duke Cunningham-type bigwig client that got caught up in something<.>"

As we noted back in December, Palfrey hasn't actually named a member of Congress. But she seems determined to make it easier for those who want to find out. Though her firm's policy was that "no record is a good record!!" she's now apparently mulling selling her phone records from the last thirteen years to raise funds for her defense.

Here's the seminal research on Wilkes (I think, correct me if I'm wrong). Joseph Cannon did it and it's amazing. It may even have the Wilkes Industries web sites, showing defense related companies that had no products or customers. It's truly the "Matrix." Amazing times...

http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2005/12/wilkes-invisible-empire.html

This is the toxic House of Cards that Specter is supporting; the people getting those "Get Out of Jail Free" cards.

*Dumbest scandal ever. The money for the hooker operation came through this company $21 million:

Shirlington Limousine - still in business.
http://shirlington-limousine-transporation.fedvendor.com/profile.htm

A limo service for Federal employees is trulyi conspicuous. Why funnel money through smething that raises a red flag run by a guy with a record for petty larceny (form SourceWatch).

This is record setting stupidity. They must have thought they'd never lose power.

[cascadiance]

20. The scarey thing, if we don't impeach soon...

This is record setting stupidity. They must have thought they'd never lose power.

... is I wonder if they still think that now! Can't have those elections if we're at war in Iran y'know!

[bleever]

15. K&R!

Thank you!

:yourock:

[Morgana LaFey]

21. Magnificient work

I knew intuitively -- these Bushies have inadvertently trained me (and most of us) well -- that there was a little more to the story, a "bigger picture," so to speak. You found it. Thanks.

[autorank]

23. Thank you very much and THANK Robert Parry...He's got those Bush folks

down cold. The have about three tricks. Roves basic, leak the truth through a disreputable source so nobody will believe it, say whatever it takes to smear the other guy, and break every rule you possibly can to gain leverage. The Bush clan - take whatever you think you need or want, just take it, don't take no, just take it. Use others regardless of what it means to the others. Just get what you want and need. Never admit any mistake, ever, never.

That about sums up the whole operation. They do the same thing again and again. They get people like Specter, who had tried to pull back from being a brilliant attack pawn, and use him up when he's dying, make him betray his profession and country (and you know there was a very strong arm applied). They start wars and kill hundreds of thousands. There is nothing they won't do. There is no shame, no public regret, only smirking defiance.

What I can't figure out is this. Everything they do fails and harm people and the planet. What's their point? They're just a total disaster and W is the epitome of the dysfunctional infection of the body politic.

They serve some cosmic purpose but we may never know what. Stunning stupidity, non stop, and no opposition, except from the people against all odds given the information lock down.

* is despised and reviled by over 60% of we the people, and you know it's an understatement. It's probably 70% opposed/disapprove 24% favorable/approve.

I know one thing, we will know the truth, all will be revealed and those of us who knew from the start will be able to move on to the big repair effort.

[Morgana LaFey]

24. Hah! MORE magnificence

I don't quite understand what you mean here, tho:

What I can't figure out is this. Everything they do fails and harm people and the planet. What's their point? They're just a total disaster and W is the epitome of the dysfunctional infection of the body politic.

What's their point? To get as much as they can and get away with it, that's all. There are some people -- sociopaths -- whose "values" mainly involve how can they screw others, and get away with it. To their minds, anyone whom they took advantage of "deserved it" precisely beause they were weak (or stupid, or whatever) enough to BE taken advantage of.

I really don't like the term, but they ARE the Illuminati, and they serve masters for whom there will never, CAN never, be "enough" (enough money, enough power, enough greed, enough exploitation of the masses and the poor, enough human slavery, enough sex and sexual depravity, etc., etc., etc.). They are just evil incarnate. Shrug. Not much more about them to figure out, near as I can tell.

Or do you mean something else?

[autorank]

25. Nope, you got it right....

...but they screw up everything. If I were the powers that be I'd say, "Look fellas, you tried hard but you're just screwing up everything and you're about to draw a lot of attention to us. besides, we can't leave this place and we'll die too form all this warming business. You're fired."

I agree with your description, it's just a puzzle. I do think that there's a civil war raging within "management" (i.e., "Carnivale"). The contradiction of * by Gen. Pace on Iran and the Teardown of the House Republicans before the 2006 mid terms were clearly organized affairs (Voice of America is the "news" organization that got to Pace in Australia just before the last * press conference).

They want as much as they can get, now, not later. I guess they're like the Cone Heads from SNL, "massive amounts" of everything that they like. They're just so lousy at what they do.

I just figured it out, Cheney is Caligula and * is the horse!

Cheers!!!!!

[Me.]

22. K & R

Give them hell, Autorank

[loudsue]

26. DUers all need to see this....kickin' it back up

:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[Emit]

27. Kick! Specter is now questioning Iglesias n/t