Remember this? Bush removal ended Guam investigation (US Attorney)

[rumpel]

US attorney's demotion halted probe of lobbyist

By Walter F. Roche Jr., Los Angeles Times | August 8, 2005

WASHINGTON -- A US grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor, and the probe ended soon after.

The previously undisclosed Guam inquiry is separate from a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia that is investigating allegations that Abramoff bilked Indian tribes out of millions of dollars.

In Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, investigators were looking into Abramoff's secret arrangement with Superior Court officials to lobby against a court reform bill then pending in Congress. The legislation, since approved, gave the Guam Supreme Court authority over the Superior Court.

In 2002, Abramoff was retained by the Superior Court in what was an unusual arrangement for a public agency. The Los Angeles Times reported in May that Abramoff was paid with a series of $9,000 checks funneled through a Laguna Beach, Calif., lawyer to disguise the lobbyist's role working for the Guam court. No separate contract was authorized for Abramoff's work.

Guam court officials have never explained the contractual arrangement. At the time, Abramoff was a well-known lobbying figure in the Pacific islands because of his work for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Saipan garment manufacturers, accused of employing workers in what critics called sweatshop conditions.

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

be back later

[Justice]

1. I think they wanted to get rid of Lam, and the other USA firings were

just collateral - people some where happy to see go, but absent Lam, they would likely not have pursued their firings.

[whistle]

2. Right and who else was being investigated by the nine attorneys

...I think Senator Boxer may be talking about this on C-Span 2

[autorank]

3. This was #1...should have known... K&R

But this is when he was saving the world from whatever menace he imagined and the public fell for.

Excellent!

[rumpel]

4. the newest article from Guam says it will be added to Waxman's investigation

March 15, 2007
Section: LOCAL
Page: 4A

Call for Abramoff probe renewed
David V. Crisostomo Pacific Daily News

Two House committee chairmen yesterday asked that the congressional probe into the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys be widened to include the case of acting U.S. Attorney Fred Black who was replaced in 2002 after he began investigating the now-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his dealings with Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
California Congressman George Miller, the Education and Labor Committee chairman, and West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall, the Natural Resources Committee chairman, have repeatedly pressed for a full investigation of Abramoff's dealings with the CNMI and its sweatshop industry and of the replacement of Fred Black, the then-acting U.S. Attorney for Guam and the CNMI.

A Justice Department Inspector General report released last year concluded that by the time Abramoff attempted to influence the selection of the U.S. Attorney on Guam and the CNMI, he was too late because a Justice Department selection panel already had chosen Leonardo Rapadas for the position. However, Abramoff and his associates, according to the report, tried to take credit for removing Black.

"During this lengthy investigation, I remained confident the allegations would be (shown to be) unfounded and without merit," said U.S. Attorney Leonardo Rapadas at the time.

"The report speaks for itself, but as to the allegations, there should be no more questions," Rapadas said. "The Inspector General found no wrongdoing in my selection as U.S. Attorney, and found that Fred Black was not 'demoted' due to any retaliation against him for raising the allegations about Jack Abramoff."

Black remains in the U.S. Attorney's Office as senior litigation counsel.

According to the federal report, Black also alleged that a federal security report -- about the potential for national security to be compromised by the Northern Marianas' local control over its borders -- was improperly leaked to Abramoff.

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=117F14255FCE70D8&p_docnum=3&p_theme=gannett&s_site=guampdn&p_product=PFNB

tons on this in their archives:
but the archives all cost money - sorry

1. Camacho: Report shows no ties to Abramoff
October 3, 2006 •• 1051 words •• ID: gua3150067
An e-mail that Jack Abramoff wrote in November 2002 while he was a Washington, D.C. power broker alleges that Gov. Felix Camacho, fresh from winning the gubernatorial race, had sent a representative to try to hire the lobbyist. The e-mail is one of many Abramoff e-mails quoted in a report issued Sept. 29 by the Congress' Government Reform Committee, which had subpoenaed documents as part of an investigation into Abramoff lobbying activities in the nation's capital.

2. Investigation completed
July 2, 2006 •• 1462 words •• ID: gua2935954
Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has told federal investigators and said in e-mails that he worked on behalf of then-Gov. Carl Gutierrez to remove Frederick Black from being the top federal prosecutor on Guam, a new federal report states. In a Feb. 25, 2002, e-mail, Abramoff wrote Black is "a total commie ... and has been bashing the CNMI nonstop in the past ... we need to get this guy sniped out of there." The e-mail is quoted in the newly released U.S. Department of

3. Call for Abramoff probe renewed
March 15, 2007 •• 402 words •• ID: gua3562498
Two House committee chairmen yesterday asked that the congressional probe into the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys be widened to include the case of acting U.S. Attorney Fred Black who was replaced in 2002 after he began investigating the now-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his dealings with Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. California Congressman George Miller, the Education and Labor Committee chairman, and West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall, the Natural

4. Key players in DOJ investigation
July 2, 2006 •• 1356 words •• ID: gua2936942
What the Justice Department report says about lobbyist Jack Abramoff and key figures on Guam: Gov. Carl Gutierrez Democratic governor of Guam from 1995 to 2003. Lobbyist Jack Abramoff told investigators he met Gutierrez at a dinner in Washington, D.C., during which he and Gutierrez discussed a plan to remove U.S. Attorney Frederick Black from office. Abramoff said Gutierrez mentioned the possibility of using a letter, written by Gutierrez years earlier — in which he

5. Court probably off the hook
July 8, 2006 •• 1179 words •• ID: gua2950699
Guam taxpayers will not likely see federal authorities hold anyone accountable for the $400,000 that the Superior Court had paid indirectly to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The same Justice Department Office of Inspector General report that outlines the disgraced lobbyist's statements and e-mails about his alleged ties with former Gov. Carl Gutierrez and former Sen. Mark Charfauros, also confirms that the 2002 investigation into the local court's payments to Abramoff has

6. Bordallo: I have no further statements
July 6, 2006 •• 572 words •• ID: gua2945532
Because federal investigations into disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff are ongoing, Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo will wait and see before commenting further on the Office of the Inspector General's report. "Until such time that it is concluded, I don't have any further statements to make," Bordallo yesterday said after a luncheon with the Rotary Club of Northern Guam at the Hyatt Regency Guam. "But I think the people of Guam deserve

7. 'Carl Gutierrez had nothing to do with this'
July 2, 2006 •• 483 words •• ID: gua2936066
Former Democratic Sen. Mark Charfauros yesterday acknowledged that he probably was lobbyist Jack Abramoff's closest friend on Guam, but he disputed a U.S. Department of Justice report released yesterday, linking Charfauros and former Gov. Carl Gutierrez to a plan to remove interim U.S. Attorney Frederick Black. According to the report, investigators found a January 2001 e-mail from Charfauros to Abramoff, stating that Gutierrez would be unofficially

8. Panel indicts Hills, Sanchez
December 13, 2006 •• 740 words •• ID: gua3305594
A Superior Court of Guam grand jury indicted former court Administrative Director Tony Sanchez and California attorney Howard Hills in connection with the local court's check payments to now disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The payments amounted to $324,000, and were issued in checks of $9,000 each, the indictment states. The Superior Court indictment yesterday states that Sanchez and Hills have been charged with: unlawful influence, conspiracy for unlawful influence, theft of

9. Unclear what impact DOJ report may have
July 3, 2006 •• 704 words •• ID: gua2937223
The fallout over the federal investigation of a possible link between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Democratic Gov. Carl Gutierrez remains unclear. The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday issued a report on the replacement of Frederick Black as the island's U.S. Attorney, in which lobbyist Jack Abramoff told investigators he was helping Gutierrez get rid of Black. Gutierrez on Saturday denied those allegations. Former Guam delegate and Democratic gubernatorial

10. Sanchez pleads not guilty
February 8, 2007 •• 512 words •• ID: gua3458287
After he appeared in court and pleaded not guilty, former Superior Court of Guam Administrative Director Tony Sanchez's next move includes requesting a dismissal of his case, which stems from the local court's $324,000 payments to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Superior Court Judge Arthur Barcinas heard Sanchez's not-guilty plea yesterday morning. The defendant's attorney, Mike Phillips, said his client waives his right to a speedy trial.

[rumpel]

5. and here is one on election tampering on Guam

14. Abramoff tied to Guam election
April 3, 2006 •• 480 words •• ID: gua2006040310233590
By Gene Park Pacific Daily News [e-mail] Federally convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff was linked to Guam's 1998 gubernatorial election, according to an article published in The Wall Street Journal Saturday. In e-mails reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Abramoff had asked Tony Rudy, Rep. Tom DeLay's deputy chief of staff, to see if he could garner any assistance in helping the 1998 gubernatorial candidacy of former Gov. Joseph Ada and then Sen. Felix

(unfortunately we would need to buy this one, too)