Help Researching USAs Needed!

[hootinholler]

Good Sunday, DU.

I'm hoping I can get a little help here. I've been digging through google results regarding the USA firings and trying to identify a common motive. Can you help me fill in some blanks?

I'm taking the tack that they are related to shutting down investigations and the first 3 on my list are blank so far. So what were these 3 working on?

• Tom Heffelfinger: Minnesota - Just discovered
  
  
• Paul Warner of Utah - Took federal bench position (Magistrate)
  
  
• Todd Graves of Missouri
  
  
• Margaret Chiara, the 63-year-old U.S. attorney in Grand Rapids, Mich., Indian populations?
  
  
• John McKay in Seattle, -Possibly related to handling of Gov elections? Contacted by Rep Doc Hastings, DeLay protege -Hastings involved in Guam
  
  
• David C. Iglesias in New Mexico, Not prosecuting democratic candidates. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032107D.shtml -Pueblo
  
  
• * Kevin V. Ryan in San Francisco
  
  
• * Carol S. Lam in San Diego,
  
  
• * Daniel G. Bogden in Nevada and
  
  
• * Paul K. Charlton in Arizona.
  
  
• * Bud Cummins, the former U.S. attorney in Little Rock
  who was asked to resign earlier than the others to make way for a former White House aide,
  
  
• * Peter Clark: - Deputy Chief of the Fraud Section of the. Criminal Division of the US Department of Justice
  
  
• * Frederick K Black: USA Guam
  

Here are the investigations that I've found that will be negatively impacted by the firings:

Cunningham conspiracy: (Lam) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/18/AR2007031801263.html
Cunningham -Plea bargain -Cooperated
Brent Wilkes, Dusty Foggo -indicted
The U.S. attorney in San Diego notified the Justice Department of search warrants in a Republican bribery scandal last May 10, one day before the attorney general's chief of staff warned the White House of a "real problem" with her, a Democratic senator said yesterday.

The prosecutor, Carol S. Lam, was dismissed seven months later as part of an effort by the Justice Department and the White House to fire eight U.S. attorneys.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070121/news_1n21lam.html
I applaud the theory of going after white-collar crime, but some of the individual decisions over who to go after have been lax, said defense attorney Michael Crowley. He represented City Council aide David Cowan, a minor figure in the San Diego City Hall strip club case who was acquitted of a single charge but was devastated by the ordeal.

In that case, council members were charged with accepting campaign contributions in exchange for eliminating rules banning touching between patrons and dancers. The convictions of former Councilman Michael Zucchet were thrown out by a federal judge after the trial. The case is now on appeal.
{what judge?}

Rep Jerry Lewis: (Lam) http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-usattys15mar15,1,5413433.story?coll=la-news-a_section
On May 11 the month after Sampson told the White House counsel's office that Lam was being targeted for dismissal. The Times reported that federal prosecutors in Los Angeles had begun an investigation into Lewis. They were trying to connect Lewis, who at that time chaired the powerful House Appropriations Committee, to a Washington lobbyist linked to the Cunningham bribery case, The Times said.

Shortly before noon Washington time that day, Sampson e-mailed Kelley to complain about Lam.

The Lewis probe was an extension of the case Lam started in San Diego. But it was being handled by the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles because Lewis' Redlands headquarters falls under its purview.

Abramoff Conspiracy: (Black) http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/08/bush_removal_ended_guam_investigation/
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.
...

The transactions were the target of a grand jury subpoena issued Nov. 18, 2002, according to the subpoena. It demanded that Anthony Sanchez, administrative director of the Guam Superior Court, turn over all records involving the lobbying contract, including bills and payments.

A day later, the chief prosecutor, US Attorney Frederick A. Black, who had launched the investigation, was demoted. A White House news release announced that Bush was replacing Black.

Halliburton - KBR - Foriegn Corrupt Practices Act: (Clark)
Instead, I explained to Mr. Clark that the young man who maintained Halliburton’s e-mail backups for the Arlington, Virginia office could surely produce copies directly from the company’s own storage system, and also pointed out that the e-mails that would be of most interest to the ongoing FCPA investigation would be those e-mails that were exchanged by the damage control fire brigade after the correct David Smith was looped in (e.g., what did the Tax group down in Houston have to say about how to spin the dirty bribe money’s tax status and offshore source?). Excitedly, Mr. Clark rang off, promising to call with further updates.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x494116
It is noteworthy that soon after the general election in 2004, Peter Clark resigned from the Justice Department, and went into private practice. Since then, the investigation and enforcement activities appear to have languished. I surmise that Mr. Clark was worn out, after trying to butt heads with those above his pay grade: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=peter+clark+deputy... .

BALCO: (Ryan) http://www.sfgate.com/balco/

Stock Options Back-dating: (Ryan) http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/17/MNGFLNK1A61.DTL
It's not clear what effect Ryan's departure will have on his office's investigation of Bay Area companies for allegedly concealing their backdating of stock options granted to top executives. Ryan appointed a task force last summer to look into the practice and has obtained two criminal indictments and a flurry of executive resignations.

Representative Renzi: (Charlton) http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070402/blumenthal
In September 2006, just weeks before pivotal Congressional midterm elections, Paul Charlton, US Attorney for Arizona, opened a preliminary investigation into Republican Representative Rick Renzi of the state's First Congressional District for an alleged pattern of corruption involving influence-peddling and land deals. Almost immediately, Charlton's name was added to a blacklist of federal prosecutors the White House wanted to force from their jobs. Charlton is someone "we should now consider pushing out," D. Kyle Sampson, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez's chief of staff, wrote to then White House Counsel Harriet Miers on September 13. In his previously safe Republican district, Renzi had barely held on in the election. On December 7, the White House demanded Charlton's resignation without offering him any explanation

Nevada Gov Gibbons: (Bogden) http://www.prwatch.org/node/5883
Daniel Bogden, U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada: On February 15, 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported that Daniel Bogden was investigating the newly elected Governor of Nevada, former-Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.), for allegedly accepting unreported gifts and/or payments from a campaign contributor and earmark recipient, Warren Trepp. The investigation examined the relationship between the former congressman and Trepp between the years 1997-2007. The Journal did not report when the investigation was opened.

http://misterapologist.blogspot.com/2007/03/what-was-next-for-daniel-bogden.html
The political corruption investigation instituted by now fired US Attorney Daniel Bogden which utilized the Patriot Act for the first time in a non-terrorism related case not only highlighted $190,000 in campaign contributions by billionaire Sheldon Adelson (who's political connections are well established in my older posts) but also left him vulnerable to being charged with his own crimes for the manner in which he used nearly $2 million dollars in 1998 to not only get convicted felon Lance Malone elected into the county commission but also attempted to force other members from their seats. (The County Commission is extremely powerful in Las Vegas and possibly worth $2 million dollars to someone with a large vested interest like Mr. Adelson.) The investigation by Daniel Bogden that led to three convictions of former members of the County Commission also opened up the possibility that Sheldon Adelson could be investigated for his interference in earlier County Commissions. The only way to kill this investigation before it started was to have Mr. Bogden removed before the first corruption investigation was completed. Sheldon Adelson donated $10,000 dollars to Governor Jim Gibbons' secret legal fund EXACTLY one day before the official resignation of Daniel Bogden was to take place. The Gibbon's campaign initially said it was a "gift." They also initially "left" Sheldon Adleson off the list of donors by "mistake." Sheldon Adelson either buys his enemies silence or pays people to silence his enemies for him. I will prove both of these claims:

Missouri Gov Blunt: (Cummins) http://www.prwatch.org/node/5883
Bud Cummins, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arkansas: In January 2006, Cummins opened an investigation into "allegations that Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt had rewarded GOP supporters with lucrative contracts to run the state's driver's license offices." Cummins handled the case because the U.S. Attorneys for Missouri recused themselves over conflict of interest concerns. Cummins stated that he was told he would be fired in June as he was wrapping up the case. Cummins eventually brought no indictments against Gov. Blunt, the son of powerful Republican Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). Cummins has since questioned whether he was fired for opening an investigation into a powerful Republican in a battleground state.

And finally, what are the other 2 states?

Key '08 election states
....Last April, while the Justice Department and the White House were planning the firings, Rove gave a speech in Washington to the Republican National Lawyers Association. He ticked off 11 states that he said could be pivotal in the 2008 elections. Bush has appointed new U.S. attorneys in nine of them since 2005: Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Arkansas, Michigan, Nevada and New Mexico. U.S. attorneys in the latter four were among those fired.

Edit to add 3 more USAs

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Wow, great research!

K&R

[WillyT]

2. I'll Second THAT !!! - K & R !!!

:kick:

[Robbien]

3. On Margaret Chiara

There was a good entry on
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/2/23/172741/684

which discussed some reasons for the dismissal such as

Do the rumored efforts to barge nuclear waste across the Great Lakes enter into this picture? What about the Abramoff scandal, and its impact on several of Michigan's members of Congress and the Saginaw Chippewa tribe? Or was this merely bench clearing to deepen the farm team of future federal judges that may be selected from USA's with a couple years of DOJ experience under the belts, should the next administration be Republican (Heaven forbid)?

the diary entry along with the comments give links and other possibilities such as Chiara wasn't a good Federalist lawyer and there were other good Federalist lawyers waiting in the wings.

[hootinholler]

4. I've begun to wonder about Federalist Society placements also...

Especially after discovering Hefflinger's replacement is a young federalist placed one step from the Federal Bench.

[EVDebs]

7. Roberts and Alito, both approved Reagan-era REX84 martial law

executive orders...

Federalist Society's agenda is basically fascism, under a Constitution I've never heard of ! but all done 'perfectly legal' you see.

You may also want to investigate The Octopus that Danny Casolaro and Gary Webb stumbled across near San Diego. Perhaps Ms Lam was going there so to speak ? Begin by investigating the Wackenhut / Cabazon tribe agreement re WMD demonstrations on the tribe's lands.

Don't want to go near WMDs and Brewster Jennings connections do we ?

[hootinholler]

13. Indian tribes seem to be a recurring theme in some of these.

Quashing that investigation before it starts would be motive enough.

-Hoot

[EVDebs]

50. Ties to the Abramoff scandal...but this goes even deeper

http://www.indiantrust.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=OtherMedia.ViewDetail&Other_id=11&Month=3&Year=2007

The Indian Trust set up after BILLIONS were stolen from the tribes seems to have allowed for further skims by our intelligence/national security network, hence the old Wackenhut/Cabazon agreement re WMD demos on the tribe's lands. When Cuba was lost to the moneylaundering/dope-running CIA they went to SE Asia; when that was lost they went to Afganistan all the while using Howard Hughes's Las Vegas as both a cover to 'clean up' Vegas from the mob while simultaneously skimming from Hughes.

For further laundering they used efforts like the Nugan Hand Bank and the investment outfit Bishop Baldwin Rewald Dillingham and Wong. Looks to me like the Bureau of Indian Affairs history of losing money for the Indians was another source of readily launderable $, hence the CIA's interest in the Cabazons, the tribe whose case during the Reagan administration went all the way to the Supreme Court and ended up legalizing Indian gaming in the USA.

My guess is Ms Lam in the San Diego area along with the AR and other states US Attnys were closing in on the connection to the Octopus that Danny Casolaro and Gary Webb were starting to flesh out. Pliable congressmen/women and others would soon be getting looked at. Bushco couldn't allow that.

Indian Trust Cobell vs Norton
http://www.indiantrust.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Overview.Home

And ties to Iran Contra figures with CIA moneylaundering in the background

CUNNINGHAM SCANDAL FIGURE LINKED
TO IRAN CONTRA COCAINE TRAFFICKING
http://www.madcowprod.com/12072005.html

[EVDebs]

51. Did US intel agencies fund GOP illegally ? This is the question that everyone needs an answer to...

CUNNINGHAM SCANDAL FIGURE LINKED
TO IRAN CONTRA COCAINE TRAFFICKING
http://www.madcowprod.com/12072005.html

the article poses this important question:

"" Did U.S. intelligence agencies assist in funneling rivers of cash from suspect defense contractors into the campaign coffers of pro-war Republican lawmakers?

Was U.S. taxpayer money secretly used to subvert American democracy? ""

I think the answer is YES, but Congress needs to do the investigating, not just madcowprod.com et al, don't you think ?

[hootinholler]

52. I shoulda figured we'd land at madcow sooner or later.

Thanks.

-Hoot

[EVDebs]

53. Whereever the truth takes us and whoever is tellin' it.... nt

[hootinholler]

9. Another good entry same site:

http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/3/15/01839/7456

Chiara also appeared to take seriously her role as the new chair of the U.S. Attorney General's Native American Issues Subcommittee (NAIS), dedicating a substantial amount of effort to a webpage at the USA-Western Michigan's website to the concerns of Native Americans. Chiara had only recently become chair after Minnesota's U.S. Attorney Thomas Heffelfinger stepped down in February of 2006. Only a very small number of USAs have ever been identified publicly as NAIS members under this administration - and three of them in addition to Chiara have stepped down or been dismissed.

Western Michigan is not known for a high crime rate, due in part to its demographics. With the exception of more urban areas like Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Muskegon, population density is moderate to thin and rural. Consequently, crimes investigated and prosecuted are not as colorful or remarkable as those in substantially more urban areas, as the press releases published at the USA-Western Michigan's website show. However, three cases within Chiara's district have generated substantial news coverage: the CyberNET/Cyberco scheme run by Barton Watson in the Grand Rapids area, a drug-related murder case in northern Michigan, and an investigation into companies hiring illegal aliens.

[Robbien]

5. On John McCay

another blog
http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2007/03/legal-services-angle-on-mckay.html

From The News-Tribune:

Known as “Johnny” to friends and family, John McKay served as president of the Legal Services Corp. in Washington, D.C., before being named U.S. attorney. The Legal Services Corp. was created by Congress in 1974 as a private nonprofit corporation to provide legal services to the poor.

Though McKay headed Legal Services Corp. during the Clinton administration, he wasn’t appointed by the president and didn’t work for the administration. Even so, Vance and others said the perception among conservatives was that McKay had worked for the Clinton administration.

“I knew who he was,” Tom McCabe, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Washington, said of John McKay. “He worked in the Clinton administration.”

Which shows, once again, that Tom McCabe is one of the most relentlessly partisan big interest group leaders in the history of this state. But it shows the mindset among the hard-core conservatives: to them McKay had already been defined as a traitor to their cause because he maybe thought poor people should have proper representation, and as the article notes, had worked to defend Legal Services Corporation from Congressional attacks.

Tony Williams, Gorton’s former chief of staff, recalled that when passions were running high following the 2004 governor’s race, McKay’s connection to Legal Services and mistaken connection to the Clinton administration raised some eyebrows in conservative circles.

“If people Googled him and saw he ran Legal Services … I can only imagine what my more conservative friends thought,” Williams said.

and more good links in blog posting.

[hootinholler]

6. Yeah, but...

What was he working on?

-Hoot

[Robbien]

16. I really believe it was because he wasn't a good enough GOPer

this
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002699.php

even says they had McKay down as a Democrat

Tom McCabe of the Building Industry Association of Washington, even wrote to Hastings demanding that Hastings "please ask the White House to replace Mr. McKay." Cc'ed on the letter (pdf) (which calls McKay a Democrat, even though he is a Republican), were John Fund of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board, Greg Van Tatenhove, a former U.S. attorney who was successfully nominated to the federal bench, and Bob Williams of the conservative Evergreen Freedom Foundation, who went so far as to file a formal complaint with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in 2005 about McKay's handling of the voter fraud allegations.

Looking at McKay's prosecuting record, he really didn't seem to do much of anything.

[Robbien]

26. By the way Washington is the tenth state of the eleven

pivotal states Rove was talking about. They needed McKay's seat to be filled with a loyal GOPer.

Which it appears McKay wasn't. This site
soundpolitics.com/archives/008249.html

Especially worth noting: (1) a bi-partisan panel split on party lines whether to recommend McKay for a federal judgeship. (only the Democrats supporting him)
(2) McKay's public criticism of the DoJ on policy issues. A reader well-versed in the unwritten code of conduct for political appointees wrote that this is a career-limiting move:

Talking to the press outside of talking points or approved messaging from HQ is bad, especially when you're voicing personal opinion over being a spokesperson for the administration. Publicly pressuring HQ on a policy issue is really bad.

(3) Still no documentation of what McKay actually did to investigate election crimes from 2004.

then there is another site collecting the info on the memo dump
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/3/20/173718/984

which are saying McKay is pissing off the GOPers in the Justice Dept.


this article

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6431867p-5731916c.html

Top officials at the Justice Department, including Gonzales, were aware of Republican anger over McKay’s refusal to investigate the governor’s race after Democrat Chris Gregoire came from behind on the second recount and beat Republican Dino Rossi by 129 votes.

Six months after the election, six Republican members of the King County Council sent a letter to Gonzales requesting a federal investigation.

In follow-up letters to Gonzales, the conservative Evergreen Freedom Foundation in Olympia accused McKay of “malfeasance” and asked for his removal if he didn’t act.

The letters were widely circulated within the Justice Department.

Evidence points to McKay not being a good team player for the GOP and they needed a good team player for Washington state for 2008.

[Justice Is Comin]

8. Marvelous coordinating.

And on a parallel track, wasn't there one of the eight, a Bushie, that had a dismal performance record that they weren't going to fire?

Then somebody pointed out that would be very hard to justify considering whacking the other seven, so they decided to fire him to cover up the rest of the plan.

I know I heard that someplace.

[Emit]

10. On Daniel G. Bogden

One theory is that the new direction might have taken the federal prosecutor's office away from a corruption probe into newly elected Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons' financial dealings with a federal contractor.

~snip~

The Gibbons investigation, dating from his time in Congress, which he left when he was elected governor in 2006, is continuing.

In an e-mail the contractor's wife sent her husband before the couple took a Caribbean cruise with then-Rep. Gibbons and his wife in March 2005, she said: "Please don't forget to bring the money you promised Jim and Dawn." The contractor replied, according to documents that have emerged in the probe: "Don't you ever send this kind of message to me! Erase this message from your computer right now!" Gibbons denies any wrongdoing in the matter.

More discussion concerning the possible reasons for his dismissal at link: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-bogden25mar25,1,6898845.story?coll=la-news-politics-national&track=crosspromo

[Emit]

18. Here's another possibility

Does Sheldon Adelson have more than one puppet?

Is Sheldon Adelson the man behind the suggestion to fire Las Vegas based U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden?

"They didn’t feel Dan was being aggressive enough in two areas: adult obscenity cases and anti-terror cases." -Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty speaking to Republican Senator John Ensign.

The Attorney General says Daniel Bogden wasn't aggressive enough with adult obscenity cases... or perhaps was it that he was TOO AGGRESIVE with one particular obscenity case?

Particularly ones involving the now convicted ex- County Commissioner/ lobbyist Lance Malone whose client/billionaire hotel mogul Sheldon G. Adelson has given nearly $750,000 to the Republican party

From the Review Journal- "...Sheldon Adelson, owner of The Venetian, who filtered $190,000 to Malone's campaign through his companies and the Republican Party.The significant contributions from a controversial figure became the first of many nicks to Malone's reputation. He was labeled Adelson's puppet."(my emphasis)

So a hugely influential Republican Donor loses his "puppet" to some self-serving U.S. Attorney named Daniel Bogden. I'm sure Adelson had plenty of connections in the Nevada Republican Party and in the White House that could relay the message to dump this attorney. The explanations given so far have been incomplete and incongruous to the facts.

Sheldon Adelson has donated at a Republican to Democrat ratio of nearly four to one that includes 0$ in donations for Democrats since 98' ...doesn't this sound like the kind of donor that might get special treatment from this Administration?....

His $746,963 in Donations include but are not limited to:
Rick Sanatorum- $2,100
Tom Delay- $6,200
George Bush Re-election Campaign- $4,000
Republican National Committee- $50,000
National Republican Senatorial Committee- $125,000 Soft money
RNC Republican State Elections Committee (during the Gore recount)- $122,000 Soft Money
John Ensign- Almost $65,000 including money to the NRSC, which he heads. - Could Adelson have kept his name secret in this process to protect his relationship with one of his most prized possessions? --- John Ensign and his comments on Dan Bogden.

The Attorney General and his staff have given conflicting accounts of the firing of Daniel Bogden. What else haven't they mentioned and who else might be involved in these supposedly "random" firings?

http://misterapologist.blogspot.com/2007_03_14_archive.html

(Although, I see you already have most of this info)

[Emit]

19. Lam and Bogden both were investigating Lance Malone et al

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:LHb9yxRpwRcJ:misterapologist.blogspot.com/2007/03/bogden-lam-gonzales-rove-corallo.html+Daniel+Bogden+Republican+Party&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us

This post is going to show that Mark Corallo is the most likely source of back door information sharing between Karl Rove, the Attorney General and the highly influential Republican Donor Sheldon Adelson in a case of political retribution spanning two states and regarding two US Attorney's: Dan Bogden of Las Vegas and Carol C. Lam of San Diego. My earlier post will catch you up on who convicted felon Lance Malone is and how he is connected to Sheldon Adelson.

~snip~

From the Washington Post,

"Bogden and Lam are among a handful of declared independents who worked as U.S. attorneys in the Bush administration."---The other thing Bogden and Lam have in common is their investigation of Lance Malone et all. They were also the first two US Attorneys to use the Patriot Act to attempt to analyze financial records in a non-terrorism related case... which didn't go over well with politicians and businessmen in both states...

"Bogden in Nevada and Charlton in Arizona were also in the midst of investigations targeting current or former Republican members of Congress when they were fired."

[hootinholler]

21. Yeah, that's a cached copy of the link I have above. n/t

[Emit]

22. I saw that, too. Sorry for the dupe. n/t

[Emit]

23. Actually, it isn't exactly the same

I was trying to point out that Lam and Bogden were both investigating Malone -- it's the same source, however.

[hootinholler]

29. I'll have a closer look, thanks! n/t

[Emit]

47. Seems that Trepp, the guy Gibson allegedly helped get Gov't contracts

Has some interesting connections, for what it's worth, although Bogden claims he was not involved in this case:

Former U.S. Attorney for Nevada Dan Bogden, who was among the eight recently fired, declined to say who was involved at that time, but said it wasn't him.

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070318/NEWS/703180343/1002:


Here are Trepp's connections:

~snip~

Trepp, who has never been convicted of a crime and has strongly proclaimed his innocence, is nevertheless connected - sometimes tangentially - to some of the most infamous financial and political scandals of the past 15 years.

~snip~

... Letitia White.

White disclosed that she lobbied on behalf of eTreppid on budget and defense issues. The Wall Street Journal's story about Trepp refers to an unnamed lobbyist working on behalf of eTreppid, hoping to influence Gibbons to obtain special federal contracts for the company. (Other Nevada lawmakers also worked to get contracts for eTreppid.)

A New York Times story dubbed White "K Street's queen of earmarks," a reference to federal money that members of Congress direct to a favorite cause or company.

The same story said White is under investigation in connection with her ties to Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and other members of Congress at the nexus of appropriations, defense and intelligence.

That investigation is said to be an outgrowth of the one that landed former California Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham in prison.

Trepp wrote in his e-mailed responses that he never hired White. And a spokesman for White's firm said that she was never paid to lobby for eTreppid.

And from the same article, connected to Noe:

~snip~

Trepp also had an interest in rare coins, and in 1991 he formed Spectrum Numismatics International Inc., a privately held wholesaler of rare coins. In December 1999, Spectrum merged with publicly traded Greg Manning Auctions Inc., an auction house. Spectrum was to be paid $25 million in GMAI stock in exchange for becoming a subsidiary of GMAI.

On Jan. 14, 2002, Trepp sold 500,000 shares of GMAI to Noe at a 36 percent discount, according to a wire transfer obtained by the Ohio state auditor, who was investigating Noe's theft of money from the state's workers' compensation fund. The stock sale was first reported by The (Toledo) Blade.

Noe went on to lend money from the Ohio worker's compensation money that he controlled to GMAI, which gave him coins as collateral. Noe fraudulently used the coins as part of his coin inventory, even though they were actually collateral for the loans to GMAI. Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison term for Noe.

~snip~

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2006/nov/19/566616429.html

Re: Trepp, eTreppid, Jim Gibbons, and Dennis Montgomery, some more details:

~snip~

Now, though, his software company and his relationship with Gibbons are at the center of an explosive lawsuit and countersuit involving national security secrets and allegations of the misuse of a law enforcement agency for narrow financial gain.

The lawsuit and countersuit between Trepp and a software developer and former business partner in eTreppid, Dennis Montgomery, involve a conflict over valuable computer code used by the government in national security matters.

Trepp has accused Montgomery of stealing and deleting eTreppid property. Montgomery has alleged that Trepp gave Gibbons unreported gifts in exchange for helping Trepp muscle Montgomery out of ownership of the disputed software code, which Montgomery developed. Specifically, Montgomery contends that Trepp influenced Gibbons, who in turn pressured the FBI and a U.S. attorney's office to conduct an illegal search of Montgomery's home and storage unit in an attempt to steal the software code.

~snip~

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2006/nov/19/566616429.html

[Emit]

11. Also noted on Bogden

Bogden was fired for one reason only: he was the guy who Gibbons and Trepp used to obtain a search warrant under false pretext, to search and seize all of Montgomery's computers, files, and papers, as detailed in the November 1, 2006 front page article by the Wall Street Journal. Everyone needs to re-read this article carefully, and then go the the federal court file in the Reno federal case of Montgomery vs Trepp, case no. 3:06-cv-00056 (available on PACER which allows free registration). Specifically located court document no. 106 - the pleading entitled: "Montgomery Certification of Interested Parties," an 8-page document filed in court in case 3:06-cv-00056 by Montgomery's attorney. READ THAT DOCUMENT CAREFULLY AND YOU WILL SEE WHY THE PREZ WAS COMPELLED TO FIRE BOGDEN, who is under investigation by the FBI and the federal Public Integrity Sector for this escapade.

Posted by: withheld by request
Date: January 16, 2007 06:15 PM

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:SpLmMcSD1LQJ:www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002340.php+Daniel+Bogden+Gibbons&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us



I'll see what this leads to.

[Emit]

17. Also, Bogden was the one McNulty said of "I'm a little skittish about Bogden," ...

In the run-up to the firings, McNulty questioned the dismissal of U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden in Nevada. 'I'm a little skittish about Bogden," McNulty wrote in a Dec. 7 e-mail to Sampson. "He has been with DOJ since 1990 and, at age 50, has never had a job outside government."

Still, McNulty concluded: "I'll admit have not looked at his district's performance. Sorry to be raising this again/now; it was just on my mind last night and this morning."

Sorry for the link, there are others, including the DOJ emails, but this was handy: http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Mar20/0,4670,FiredProsecutors,00.html

Thought I'd throw this in for context.

[Emit]

32. Here's the link to the Wall Street Journal article

that the poster in the above link refers to:

November 1, 2006 PAGE ONE Under Cover

Congressman's Favors for Friend Include Help in Secret Budget

With Rep. Gibbons's Backing, An Ex-Trader for Milken Wins Millions in Contracts

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:olX82WuJIL0J:votegibbonsout.blogs.com/votegibbonsout/Gibbons_WSJ_Article.pdf+Under+Cover:+Congressman%27s+Favors+for+Friend+Include+Help+in+Secret+Budget&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

[Patsy Stone]

12. Todd P Graves

Progress Report 2001-2006: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/progress_report.pdf

[Patsy Stone]

35. Actually, reading more,

if this is correct, then Graves was already bad, and Cummins was there because Graves had to recuse himself. I'll bet he got out before the excrement flew.

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:zszcyhJ7CcsJ:mparent7777.blogspot.com/search/label/corruption+%22todd+graves%22+%22mark+foley%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us

"In January 2006, he had begun looking into allegations that Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt had rewarded GOP supporters with lucrative contracts to run the state's driver's license offices. Cummins handled the case because U.S. attorneys in Missouri had recused themselves over potential conflicts of interest."

<snip>

"The Missouri corruption allegations centered on a change in the law that allowed for privatization of the state's license fee agencies. In 2005, Missouri newspapers began reporting that some of the contracts went to Blunt's supporters, including the wife of the U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Todd Graves."

[hootinholler]

36. Oh, thanks for that

I didn't know about the Graves-Cummins link.

-Hoot

[Octafish]

40. A bit more on Cummins-Graves...

Salon said the USA-removal provision was slipped in just for Mr. Graves:

How U.S. attorneys were used to spread voter-fraud fears

Long before it fired eight U.S. attorneys for political reasons, the Bush administration had politicized their jobs by making them push a favorite GOP talking point.

By Mark Follman, Alex Koppelman and Jonathan Vanian

March 21, 2007 | Under intense criticism for firing eight United States attorneys, the Bush administration has spent the past few weeks casting about for an explanation for the dismissals that involves performance rather than politics. On March 13, White House spokesman Dan Bartlett tried to come up with one. "Over the course of several years, we have received complaints about U.S. attorneys," he insisted, "particularly when it comes to election fraud cases." On Tuesday, President Bush pressed home this claim with a similar statement during his defense of embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. "We did hear complaints and concerns about U.S. attorneys," said Bush. "Some complained about the lack of vigorous prosecution of election fraud cases."

Bush and Bartlett were arguing that some of the fired attorneys had underperformed by failing to prosecute the raft of offenses that make up voter fraud -- things like vote buying, double voting, and voting by felons, illegal aliens and the deceased. And it is true that at least two of the prosecutors who were let go might not have pursued voter fraud cases to the satisfaction of their bosses at the Department of Justice. But under the Bush administration, pursuing voter fraud is not always about performance. It's often about politics.

A belief in rampant voter fraud in Democratic strongholds -- big cities, minority neighborhoods -- is widespread among Republicans, and claims of vote buying and the like have long been a mainstay of GOP rhetoric. The party has used these claims of voter fraud to help build public support for what it considers electoral reforms, like requiring voters to show photo ID -- reforms that also tend to suppress Democratic turnout on Election Day.

During the Bush administration, a rhetorical tool became public policy. The Republicans could not get a photo ID law through the Senate, but they were able to enlist the 93 United States attorneys in their crusade against voter fraud. In 2002, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft announced an initiative that required "all components of the Department" to "place a high priority on the investigation and prosecution of election fraud."

Five years later, Ashcroft's initiative hasn't produced all that much in the way of convictions, at least relative to the overall Department of Justice caseload. Prosecutions for electoral fraud remain a minuscule part of the federal criminal docket. In 2002 alone, there were 80,424 criminal cases concluded nationwide in the 94 U.S. District Courts. By comparison, according to a DOJ document, between the fall of 2002 and the fall of 2005, there were only 95 defendants charged with federal election-fraud-related crimes in the whole country.

CONTINUED (free subscription)...

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/21/us_attorneys/

Gee. No honor among election thieves, eh?

Whistling Past the Grave(s') Yard?

The US Attorney Questions No One Is Asking

Submitted by Howard Beale on Thu, 03/22/2007 - 6:07pm.
Abuse of Power | Blunt-Kinder Administration | GOP AbraMafia | National Politics

Seemingly lost in the national controversy over the Department of Justice's U.S. Attorney purge is the strange case of Missouri's own Todd Graves, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District. A Salon.com story from yesterday points out an underpublicized fact: that the statutory provision which facilitated the purge by allowing President Bush to make confirmation-free appointments of federal prosecutors was first employed to replace none other than Todd Graves. Salon notes:

...the Bush administration had used a loophole in the Patriot Act to appoint Bradley Schlozman, who had supervised the voting section of the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ at headquarters in Washington, as Graves' successor in the Western District. The loophole was closed by a vote of the Senate on Tuesday, but in March of 2006 Alberto Gonzales was able to make Schlozman a U.S. attorney without seeking confirmation from the Senate.

The appointment, the first under the controversial Patriot Act provision, raised eyebrows at DOJ...

Free of context, this may seem inconsequential. But consider the timing; Graves announced his resignation on March 10, 2006. This is smack in the middle of the period during which U.S. Attorney for Arkansas's Eastern District Bud Cummins was investigating Governor Matt Blunt's award of fee offices to political supporters. Press accounts have indicated that Cummins' investigation of Missouri's license offices began in January of 2006, but there was no public recognition of the existence of such an investigation until April 2006.

In other words, Graves left the U.S. Attorney's office while the only people who knew anything of the fee office investigation were the United States Department of Justice its representatives, and those being contacted as part of the investigation. And, of course, the critical piece of the puzzle is Graves' role as a recipient of one of the patronage fee offices the award of which was the very thing being investigated by the Justice Department.

Simple logic would dictate to even the amateur sleuth that the intersection of Graves' departure with the fee office investigation is worthy of a much closer look. And the amateur would naturally have a number of very pertinent questions immediately spring to mind...

CONTINUED...

http://www.firedupmissouri.com/graves_replaced_midst_of_investigation

This is what the Internets were made for...

[Hepburn]

14. Probe of Jerry Lewis ~~ here is some interesting info:

Yes, Central District LA would most likely have been the correct jurisdiction to file against Lewis although Lam could have most likely have properly done so in South Dist in San Diego if there was a connection to the Cunningham/Wilkes/Foggo investigations and indictments. But...as we all know, Lam got axed.

However, in Central district? the USAtty quit ... and GET THIS: Went to work for the law firm, Gibson Dunn, which represents Lewis in the DOJ investigation against him.

My mouth dropped open on this. For those who do not know, I am a Calif Atty, retired, and I have done a fair amount of crim defense work although that was not what my practice was devoted to primarily. So I do know this area of the law a bit ~~ most of my crim defense work was in State Court, but I have done a few major cases in feddie court and particular in Central District. So I do know that this event with the former USAtty in Central is very out of the ordinary.

IMO, with the hiring of the former Central USAtty, Gibson Dunn has a real conflict of interest problem with her. Now, the rule is on case law, if the lawyer with the conflict can be "walled off" from the matter, then all is OK. However, I am having a real problem with this. It just does not pass the smell test in one little way at all. Lam is fired and Debra Wong Yang, the USAtty in Central, "suddenly" is given a very financially beneficial job by one of the biggest and priciest law firms ever and the firm that is investigating Lewis??? GMAB! And....then the Lewis investigation stalls? IMO, that Kyle Sampson email about the Lam problem was about this issue because as soon as Foggo fell, Lam was going to get Lewis because he was linked to Cunningham through the House Appropriations Committee approving the contracts. Lewis would have to have been blind, dumb and deaf to NOT know what the heck was going on. IMO, the new USAtty in Central must not have considered the Lewis investigation a priority. Ya think?

So far on his legal fees, that piece of scum Lewis has spent tons of money from his campaign donations. IIRC, just to Gibson Dunn, he has spent to the tune of $800K! Yes, nearly a million bucks.

So....what's he hiding and why hasn't he been indicted?

BTW: Lewis has other problems, too ~~ those which are not not connected with the Cunningham/Foggo matters. That has to deal with a lobbying firm and allegedly using influence to steer monies their way. That would have righteously been filed in Calif Central District. But, again, the new USAtty in Central appears to have other priorities.

IMO, Jerry Lewis and the power he had as chair of the House Appropriations Committee and his connections to the Cunningham matter has a ton to do with why Lam was asked to resign.

JMHO

[hootinholler]

27. Gibson Dunn seems to be poaching from the DOJ...

They also Hired an asst. USA:

Douglas M. Fuchs will join the firm's Los Angeles office as of counsel. Fuchs was previously an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Central District of California, where he served as Deputy Chief of the Major Frauds Section.

Thanks for those pointers!

Who was the USA who got the signing bonus?

-Hoot

[Hepburn]

33. IIRC....

...it was Yang and her signing bonus was around $1.5+ million. Nice piece of change, huh?

[hootinholler]

37. Indeed...

Your memory seems fine to me.

Yang resigned last November from her office to take a job with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher - the same firm Lewis has paid at least $900,000 to defend him.

She reportedly was paid a $1.5 million bonus for joining the firm, one of the most powerful in Los Angeles.

And while Yang was not one of the eight fired prosecutors, some speculation has arisen that she, too, was a casualty of the Justice Department's purge.

Edit to say, how can I become a $1.5M casualty?

-Hoot

[Hepburn]

39. Hell, I would become a casuality for a lot less than that! n/t

[hootinholler]

41. I'll split it with ya!

:rofl:

-Hoot

[Lex]

15. I still wonder what US Attorney Jonathan Luna was killed for (never solved).

He was out of the Baltimore office.

http://www.yardbird.com/luna.htm

[Sydnie]

20. Renzi connection

[merh]

24. I'll post this again

in the hopes that it helps in your efforts

-snip-

In the last few days we’ve also learned that Republican members of Congress called prosecutors to pressure them on politically charged cases, even though doing so seems unethical and possibly illegal. The bigger scandal, however, almost surely involves prosecutors still in office. The Gonzales Eight were fired because they wouldn’t go along with the Bush administration’s politicization of justice. But statistical evidence suggests that many other prosecutors decided to protect their jobs or further their careers by doing what the administration wanted them to do: harass Democrats while turning a blind eye to Republican malfeasance.

Donald Shields and John Cragan, two professors of communication, have compiled a database of investigations and/or indictments of candidates and elected officials by U.S. attorneys since the Bush administration came to power. Of the 375 cases they identified, 10 involved independents, 67 involved Republicans, and 298 involved Democrats. The main source of this partisan tilt was a huge disparity in investigations of local politicians, in which Democrats were seven times as likely as Republicans to face Justice Department scrutiny.

How can this have been happening without a national uproar? The authors explain: “We believe that this tremendous disparity is politically motivated and it occurs because the local (non-statewide and non-Congressional) investigations occur under the radar of a diligent national press. Each instance is treated by a local beat reporter as an isolated case that is only of local interest.”

And let’s not forget that Karl Rove’s candidates have a history of benefiting from conveniently timed federal investigations. Last year Molly Ivins reminded her readers of a curious pattern during Mr. Rove’s time in Texas: “In election years, there always seemed to be an F.B.I. investigation of some sitting Democrat either announced or leaked to the press. After the election was over, the allegations often vanished.”

-snip-

scroll down to Krugman's March 9, 2007 entry at this link http://mgpaquin.blogspot.com/search/label/Krugman

The Donald C. Shields and John F. Cragan preview of their study, complete with the statistical data/charts can be found at this link http://www.epluribusmedia.org/columns/2007/20070212_political_profiling.html
(look at the end of the article for the charts)

merh
Wed Mar-21-07 11:20 PM
17. Here is the list

* Carol Lam (Southern District of California)
* David Iglesias (District of New Mexico)
* H. E. Cummins III (Eastern District of Arkansas)
* Paul K. Charlton (District of Arizona)
* John McKay (Western District of Washington)
* Kevin V. Ryan (Northern District of California)
* Daniel Bogden (District of Nevada)
* Margaret Chiara (Western District of Michigan)

Let's see, Arkansas, could that be because Hillary Clinton has baggage worth investigating in Arkansas? Didn't Clark announce his 2004 presidential bid from Arkansas? And isn't Arkansas a week red state?

New Mexico, Richardson is a dem candidate, does he need further scrutiny and isn't New Mexico a barely red state that had voting issues in 2004? Weren't New Mexico's electoral votes important in 2004?

Nevada, a barely red state.

California, a blue state that has the most electoral votes and a republican governor, do they think it is vulnerable and do they need to increase the investigations into dems?

Arizona - McCain? Is he not their annointed successor?

Michigan - 17 electoral votes and a state that is barely blue.

Washington ??



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3175377&mesg_id=3175426

McClatchy Newspapers: New U.S. attorneys seem to have partisan records
By Greg Gordon, Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor
McClatchy Newspapers

....Last April, while the Justice Department and the White House were planning the firings, Rove gave a speech in Washington to the Republican National Lawyers Association. He ticked off 11 states that he said could be pivotal in the 2008 elections. Bush has appointed new U.S. attorneys in nine of them since 2005: Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Arkansas, Michigan, Nevada and New Mexico. U.S. attorneys in the latter four were among those fired.

Rove thanked the audience for "all that you are doing in those hot spots around the country to ensure that the integrity of the ballot is protected." He added, "A lot in American politics is up for grabs."

The department's civil rights division, for example, supported a Georgia voter identification law that a court later said discriminated against poor, minority voters. It also declined to oppose an unusual Texas redistricting plan that helped expand the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. That plan was partially reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Frank DiMarino, a former federal prosecutor who served six U.S. attorneys in Florida and Georgia during an 18-year Justice Department career, said that too much emphasis on voter fraud investigations "smacks of trying to use prosecutorial power to investigate and potentially indict political enemies."

Several former voting rights lawyers, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of antagonizing the administration, said the division's political appointees reversed the recommendations of career lawyers in key cases and transferred or drove out most of the unit's veteran attorneys....

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16962753.htm

[Emit]

25. Thanks for posting that again, merh.

I had not seen that yet.

[merh]

28. Your welcome

The only thing I can ascertain about Washington is the election contest/questions of '04 and the repubs thinking that the press on that has left Washington vulnerable to the taking if they can continue to question the ethics of dems.

[Octafish]

30. Tom Heffelfinger didn't bury Moussaoui

...Bush family motto is "Dead Men Tell No Tales." When the state failed to get the death penalty for the so-called 20th hijacker, the White House felt some intrepid soul one day might connect the dots from the flight school to the FBI to the CIA and to the White House. So when Heffelfinger didn't bury Bushco's mistake, they decided to bury someone. Poor Tom.

For those new to the subject: Flight instructors grew suspicious about a student who was not interested in learning to take off and land, but only interested in learning how to turn a 747 in flight and get it to a pre-selected destination. The school called the local FAA and they told them to call the local FBI. That agent (unkwown to me) told the school to "Fuhgedaboudid." The instructors grew alarmed and contactd their Congressional representatives, James Oberstar and Martin Sabo. They called the FBI in Washington and the local office finally moved on Moussaoui, arresting him in August 2001.

Later, FBI Washington refused FBI attorney Colleen Rowley's (who worked out of the Minneapolis FBI office) request to search Moussaoui's laptop. The FBI wouldn't even take the matter before the FISA court. Rowley wondered if there was a mole working inside Washington. If they'd searched the laptop, there's a damn good chance the FBI would've had to alert the American flying public in the days before 911.

Great thread, Hoot-san. Very much obliged for the info.

[hootinholler]

31. Thank you! Der Fishie!

That complement means a lot comming from an intrepid BFEE researcher like you.

Now then, I hadn't considered the Moussaoui angle, forgot all about it originating in Minnesooota. Hmmm back to google.

-Hoot

[hootinholler]

34. Seems like he was on the up and up...

Here:

If that is so, however, Operation Green Quest's performance last week appears to leave marked room for improvement. "They never contacted me," says U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger. "It's our case, and they didn't talk to us at all." Privately, federal agents in other cities echoed Heffelfinger's frustration with Green Quest's lack of communication.

Heffelfinger guesses that the confusion might have been the result of a conversation between a local and a Washington-based ICE agent. But he does not share the opinion that Green Quest's media coup amounted to a harmless miscommunication. "The thing that's of the greatest concern is the implication raised that the Haidari case is a terrorism case," he continues. "That's not true. I'm not prepared to make the assumption that because the money is going to the Middle East, it's going to fund terrorism. I'm not going to stand by and let a press release from Washington misconstrue what these two men are charged with."

[bleever]

38. McKay seems to have been too eager to implement LlnX,

a system for sharing info between federal and local law enforcement:

On Aug. 30 - two weeks before he wound up on Sampson's list - McKay sent McNulty a letter, co-signed by 16 U.S. attorneys. It thanked him for his leadership and outlined LInX successes, but parts were worded strongly: "We are puzzled by the delays we are experiencing in the face of our written requests and briefings and trust you understand how urgently we seek your input and assistance."

McKay spoke with McNulty before sending the letter to ensure he would welcome it, but it was not well received. McNulty e-mailed the letter's signers: "I am quite disappointed .... It reads like a letter from Capitol Hill, not one from friends on the same team."

http://www.komotv.com/news/6685087.html

ProSense posted this yesterday: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x495651

[hootinholler]

42. They keep coming out of the woodwork: Noel Hillman

From a HuffPo blog:

President George W. Bush has not made many moves more unethical than offering Noel L. Hillman, the Abramoff prosecutor, a federal judgeship. Hillman has apparently been talking with Bush's representatives since last year, and on last Thursday, he publicly announced he was accepting the appointment.

Let me make this perfectly clear.
At the same time that Mr. Hillman was conducting a grand jury and submitting evidence aimed at Bush's allies and perhaps Bush himself, he was meeting with Bush, who was, in effect, offering him a bribe.

How many more...

Props to madfloridian

-Hoot

[madfloridian]

43. Kick.

:hi:

[PhilipShore]

44. The PNAC...

and the CIA/Military-Industrial-complex -- is the real scandal.

[Morgana LaFey]

45. I think this is THE answer or common motive for all cases --

or at least 9 or 11. I'll give you several links:


New U.S. attorneys seem to have partisan records
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2779726

ROVE IDENTIFIED 11 PIVOTAL STATES FOR '08; BUSH HAS APPOINTED NEW U.S. ATTORNEYS IN NINE OF THEM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x491130

Justice's new U.S. attorneys have partisan records (Dem vote suppression experience!)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2779325

BUSH Appointed Attorney Accused Of Participating In Florida 04-Dem Voter Suppression (McClatchy)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x487446


That's not to say the other reasons aren't also valid. But I think that this is THE compelling and overriding motive, and I also think it needs to be spread far and wide.

[hootinholler]

46. While that's possible...

There sure were a lot of investigations quashed. How many USAs were less vigorous because of partisan reasons? Your guess is as good as mine.

-Hoot

[Morgana LaFey]

48. I think you misunderstood me

I'm not saying you're wrong. Not at all. I'm saying there's yet another explanation that appears to cut across all (or 9 of 11 for sure) "firings" and that is an extremely important one.

Rove wants people in place in key states where they can put their various election theft mechanisms in place. These US Attorneys can help by (a) thoroughly investigating "votER fraud" which is virtually non-existent and in fact sometimes even bogus but which would help prime the state in question for voting laws which end up suppressing Democratic votes and (b) make a big, distracting stink in the opposite direction if the election results look squirrelly or even pre-emptively (better yet!) and (c) serve the GOP in political ways the New Mexico and Washington USAs did NOT during the last election with those close votes.

If you know much about Rove's M.O., just the (unwarranted) allegation of potential wrong-doing can scotch elections. In-the-pocket USAs could be VERY useful there.

I don't doubt these investigations were also targeted, but IMO this is the underlying reason and in fact, you may not come up with something else for each and every USA fired.

[hootinholler]

49. I didn't mean to imply it's an either-or thing...

It's just that no one has been interested in the election theft angle, but, obstruction of corruption investigations seems to be quite the attention grabber even in the hall of Congress where election fruad should be a higher priority.

Not only can strategic announcements turn elections, but, election theft investigations are time critical,as the Bilbray race pointed out among other examples.

-Hoot