After Bush/Rove/Ashcroft the federal "justice" system is totally illegitimate

The CBS report on the miscarriage of "justice" that the political prosecution of Alabama Democratic Governor Don Siegelman represents has exposed the total corruption of the American government under Bush and the Republican Party. Dday at Hullabaloo summarizes the case itself:

The nub of the case is that Siegelman allowed HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy to remain on an oversight board on which he had already served, and in return Scrushy gave money to a noble effort to improve education in the state of Alabama, an effort Siegelman approved of. That's literally the reason that Siegelman is in a jail cell right now. This is the kind of thing that, were it actually considered bribery, would put every politician in America in jail. The case hung on evidence that Siegelman walked out of a meeting with Scrushy with the check, a baseless lie spouted by a convicted criminal on Siegelman's staff, and the Justice Department KNEW it was a lie and yet continued the case. 60 Minutes tried to talk with the accuser, a man named Nick Bailey, but the DoJ refused to authorize the interview (he's in a federal prison).

There has been no doubt that the Department of Justice was politicized under both Ashcroft and Gonzalez to bring politically-motivated prosecutions against successful Democratic politicians so that the Republican control of government could be increased, but until now the republicans have been successful in concealing the facts from a media that simply hasn't wanted to search for the Truth. That's what makes the firing of U.S. Attorneys for NOT bringing politicized prosecutions has been all about. But cases like firing San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam because of her successful prosecution of Republican Congressman and her indictments of Brent Wilkes, Mitchell Wade and Dusty Foggo for corrupt dealings with Cunningham and others; for the manner in which Los Angeles U.S. Attorney Debra Yang was bribed to halt her investigations of corrupt Congressmen John Doolittle and Jerry Lewis; the removal of Arizona U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton because he was actively investigating corruption by Congressman Rick Renzi (crimes for which Renzi has recently been indicted after the investigation was slow-walked but did not disappear); and on the opposite side, how Milwaukee U.S. Attorney Steve Biscupic was able to hold onto his job by conducting a similar political prosecution of an innocent Wisconsin civil servant, Georgia Thompson, in order to create an issue to use to defeat the Democratic Governor of Wisconsin.

The prosecution of Governor Siegelman is only the most blatant of these efforts to use the U.S. Federal Courts to elect Republicans by falsely indicting and even imprisoning Democrats. In so doing, the Bush administration has turned the Federal Courts into a bad joke. Dday at Hullabaloo presents this:

Here's the state of justice in America.

It has been 20 months since Siegelman’s trial ended and no trial transcript has been produced by Fuller's court. This is in violation of the rules of criminal procedure which require a transcript within 30 days of sentencing. Siegelman can't appeal his conviction with out an official trial transcript.

The Attorney General, by the way, has said he would rather let the case go through the normal appeals process rather than open an investigation.

Kafka would be proud.

America could get better justice from turning the government over to the Mafia than it has gotten from the Republican Party. At least the Mafia Dons have a reputation for Honor. The Republicans steal more and lack even the pretense of Honor.

How many top DoJ resignations now?

On December 7, 2006 the Bush Department of Justice (DoJ) fired eight U. S. Attorneys in a single day, stating that it was for performance reasons. This Pearl Harbor Day purge was unique in the history of the DoJ. The Washington, D.C. media made a one-day story of it, and moved on to more interesting things, like the latest from Nicole Richie or Lindsay Lohen.

The unique event and the failure of the Bush administration to provide a satisfying explanation for it must have bugged Josh Marshall, because he didn't let the issue go. Josh's refusal to let the issue go has led the Congress to look more closely at the DoJ and also to a series of interesting stories out of the Department of Justice this year. Let's look at some of the stories that have resulted from Josh Marshall's curiosity and refusal to let a good story be ignored.

Of particular interest was (and continues to be) the U.S. Attorney for San Diego, CA who had successfully investigated, prosecuted and imprisoned California Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (for longer than any other Congressman has ever been imprisoned) and continued to investigate Cunningham's briber, Brent Wilkes as well as the Number three ranking CIA executive, "Dusty" Foggo. Carol Lam's firing has all the appearance of being an effort by the Bush administration at Obstruction of Justice.

Next we learn that the U.S. Attorney from Los Angeles, Debra Yang, had been on the list to be fired, but resigned in late November to take a Partnership at the Republican law firm which was defending Rep. Jerry Lewis as he was being investigated by (oops) U.S, Attorney Debra Yang. The partnership came along with a $1.5 million signing bonus. There is a saying in Latin America. "Plata o plomo." Silver or lead. It looks very much as though Debra Yang, a 47 year-old divorced mother of two young children was given the option of taking the signing bonus or being fired on Pearl Harbor Day with the rest.

News reports state that Rep. Jerry Lewis has decided to retire rather than run for a 16th tern, although his office denies that he has made such a decision.

Another U.S. Attorney, Paul Charlton of Arizona, was fired because he was investigating a crooked land deal by Republican Rep. Rick Renzi. While the investigation into Rep. Renzi has been slow-walked since U.S. Attorney Charlton was fired, Rep. Renzi has just recently announced that he is not going to run for reelection in 2008. That is one short step short of a guilty plea.

Two more of the Pearl Harbor Day purge, David Iglesias, fired U.S. Attorney from New Mexico, and John McKay, fired U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, present a good case that they were fired for refusing to bring flimsy indictments against Democrats that would influence an up-coming election.

The cases of Iglesias and McKay show what happened when the DoJ tried to order ethical attorneys to bring politically-motivated cases to influence elections so the Republicans could win. They refused and were fired. Then there is the unethical U.S. Attorney in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Steve Biscupic, who was on the list to be purged on Pearl Harbor Day until he brought corruption charges against Georgia Thompson who worked as a civil servant for the State of Wisconsin. This case was so weak that the Appeals Court threw it out at the end of oral argument and chastised the U.S. Attorney for even bringing it. See also NY Times gets it right! See editorial today.. Ms. Thompson was accused of a crime that had not occurred and was convicted with no evidence. But that didn't matter to U.S. Attorney Biskupic. He created an issue the Republican candidate for governor of Wisconsin could use to attack the Democratic incumbent, and Biskupic kept his job when ethical attorney's were being fired. [Biskupic remains as a U.S. Attorney today.]

There are more situations which deserve close investigation, but the real set of problems all go back to the politisation and mismanagement of the Department of Justice. See my earlier article The deeper problem revealed by the US attorney Purge.

It should be no surprise when Paul Kiel at talking points memo muckraker lists the recent top level resignations from the Department of Justice.

"1) Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, today.
2) Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty announced his resignation May 14th.
3) Acting Associate Attorney General William Mercer (the Department's #3) announced that he was withdrawing his nomination for the position June 22nd.
4) Kyle Sampson, Gonzales' chief of staff, resigned March 13th.
5) Department White House liaison Monica Goodling resigned April 6th.
6) Michael Elston, McNulty's chief of staff, resigned June 15th.
7) Executive Director of the Executive Office of United States Attorneys Michael Battle, announced his resignation in mid-February.
8) Bradley Schlozman, an attorney in the Counsel to the Director staff at the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, formerly the U.S. attorney for Kansas City and a former acting assistant attorney for the Civil Rights Division, resigned mid August.

And, finally, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Wan Kim was another notable resignation (on August 23rd), although Kim's troubles were unrelated to the firings scandal.

High personnel turnover is a symptom of a poorly run organization. It is an especially bad sign when the guys at the top are all leaving at once. This isn't politics so much as it is bad management and an attempt to politicize the DoJ. And, like Alberto Gonzales himself, the major problems of the DoJ have come out of the White House.

Gonzales took over as Attorney General on February 3, 2005. It has taken him two years and seven months to literally destroy that organization and its reputation.

It is really strange that no one in the Washington D.C. press corps was curious about the Pearl Harbor Day U.S. Attorney Purge like Josh Marshall was.

Victim of Republican political prosecution demands reimbursement for costs

Georgia Thompson, a state of Wisconsin employee who was falsely accused of corruption by Milwaukee U.S. Attorney, Steven Biskupic, has requested that that the state reimburse her $360.000 for the costs she incurred when Biskupic tried to throw the governor's race to the Republican candidate by faking a case and prosecuting Thompson for illegally steering a state contract to -- oops - the lowest bidder(??). This was a case that the Wisconsin Dane County District Attorney turned down because there was no evidence that any crime had been committed.

Ms. Thompson resigned when she was convicted, and was immediately sent to federal prison, where she spent four months while her case was on appeal. The Appeals Court looked at the case and immediately threw out the conviction due to a simple lack of evidence and the Appeals Court Judges were so incensed at the miscarriage of "Justice" that they took the extremely unusual action of dismissing the case from the bench at the end of oral arguments.

Ms. Thompson has been reinstated in her job with back-pay.

Doyle [Democratic governor of Wisconsin and the target of U.S. Attorney Biskupic's criminal action] against Ms. Thompson] aide Matt Canter said the governor supports the claim.

"It's actually the U.S. Department of Justice who should pay this, not Wisconsin taxpayers," Canter said. "But she is an innocent woman, and she shouldn't be caught up in this any longer."

In the claim, Hurley said the state should pay because the charges against her related to her job duties - duties the appeals court found she performed legally.

"Georgia Thompson's criminal prosecution, then, was wholly related to the proper discharge of her position within state employment," Hurley wrote.

This single case is the clearest evidence of the politicization of the federal government under Bush and Rove to try to create an American single-Party government which cannot be removed by democratic methods. Steven Biskupic had been on the firing list of U. S. Attorneys, the rest of whom were fired in the Pearl Harbor Day U.S. Attorney Purge. Immediately after this conviction of Georgia Harris became fodder for the Republican attack machine against Governor Doyle, Biskupic's name came off the firing list.

Biskupic is still the U. S. Attorney in Milwaukee.

Steve Benin provided an abbreviated list of other similar criminal actions in which the Department of Justice has been used to sway elections to the Republicans:

• Paul Krugman noted a couple of weeks ago, for example, that Chris Christie, the former Bush “Pioneer” who is now the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, issued subpoenas as part of an investigation against Sen. Bob Menendez (D) shortly before last year’s election.
• In New Hampshire, Democrats want Congress to investigate whether prosecution of a Republican phone-jamming scheme on Election Day 2002 was intentionally delayed until after the presidential election two years later.
• Did the U.S. Attorney’s office in Pennsylvania intentionally target Bob Casey allies to undermine his Senate campaign against Rick Santorum?
• Why was the career U.S. Attorney in Guam removed in 2002 after he started investigating disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff?
• Why has Western Pennsylvania’s U.S. attorney, Mary Beth Buchanan, spent a disproportionate amount of her time launching public-corruption investigations against Democrats, while overlooking Republicans?
• In July 2005, the U.S. Attorney in Denver decided not to pursue a matter in which bouncers at a Bush event impersonated Secret Service agents to throw out three law-abiding ticket-holders because of their bumper sticker (the Denver Three controversy). Did politics dictate the decision?

These and many other similar criminal activities by the Bush administration have led to the investigation of the politicization of 20 federal agencies for the express purpose of creating a single-party non-democratic state of the United States.

George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Alberto Gonzales are working hard to implement Karl Rove's vision of a single party Republican dominated authoritarian regime. Steven Biskupic is one of the members of the new, destroyed American so-called Justice system.

Carol Lam, then Republican U.S. Attorney of San Diego, successfully prosecuted the single most corrupt Congressman ever to "grace" the halls of Congress, Randy "Duke" Cunningham. This case has also led to other indictments and has ended the similarly corrupt careers of Republican Representatives Jerry Lewis and John Doolittle. Carol Lam was then fired as U.S. Attorney December 7, 2006.

Biskupic has prosecuted an innocent person for the specific purpose of creating an issue that can be used by the Republican candidate for governor of Wisconsin to replace the otherwise well-respected Democrat, Doyle. Biskupic was pressured by the Department of Justice to do something to sway that election, as indicated by his position on the firing list of U. S. Attorneys, and as confirmed by his removal from that list after he convicted the innocent Georgia Thompson for a non-crime. That he did this was made perfectly clear by the Appeals Court who threw out the conviction. Biskupic is still the U. S. Attorney in Milwaukee under Alberto Gonzales and George W. Bush.

It looks to me like it could be time for a special prosecutor to investigate the Republican Party in the Federal government under the RICO statutes.

Can there be any doubt that the Republican Party is in fact a corrupt organization? All of the growing evidence says yes, and there are no countering defenses.

US attorney Biscupic (Eastern Wi.) again reversed by Appeals Court - can't convict for no crime.

According to the Chippewa Herald from Wisconsin U.S. Atorney Steven Biskupic prosecuted and convicted Damien Jones, the supervisor of a voter registration drive, for something that was not a crime.

This is more of the Republican Department of Justice's effort to prove that there was extensive voter fraud in Wisconsin in the 2004 Presidential election.

Republicans repeatedly alleged that Democrats engaged in voter fraud in Milwaukee, but only five out of 14 area residents eventually charged by federal prosecutors were convicted.

U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic's record in pursuing the cases has been in the spotlight after the White House acknowledged President Bush discussed concerns about the handling of voter fraud in Milwaukee and other cities with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Biskupic has said his name was on a list of targeted prosecutors whose performance and loyalty to Bush were questioned.

The appeals court ruling shows other prosecutors have struggled with the cases, too.

Jones, who worked for Acorn, a national organization that advocates for low- and moderate-income families, was charged by the Racine County District Attorney's office with eight counts of election fraud and misconduct in office just days before the election.

As described in this post, Biscupic was on the Department of Justice list to be fired with the Pearl Harbor Day Eight. His failure was to not work hard enough to bring cases against people responsible for voting fraud. This case shows that it really wasn't for lack of trying.

That is probably why he had to go after Georgia Thompson. See also Wisconsin US attorney rammed through fake corruption case of Democrat before last Governor's election..

So add this to the efforts Steven Biscupic rammed through at the behest of Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove.

Did Republicans pay Debra Yang $1.5 million to stop the investigation of Rep. Jerry Lewis?

James Risser is asking this question over at dKos now. Regular readers here will remember that I was asking this question previously here and here last month. Mr. Risser has tracked the story of Debra Yang back a way. Here is part fo what he dug up regarding Ms. Yang:

"Here is her tangled story, an iceberg-tip view of the Rep. Jerry Lewis scandals which she was investigating as a US Attorney, and the treacherous firm of Bush Crime Family consigliere in Los Angeles who serve as Defense Council for Rep. Lewis, the same firm where Yang currently receives her blood-money.

We will soon enough get to her official bio from the firm that paid her $1.5 million, Gibson Dunn in Los Angeles--the same firm that, coincidentally enough, was defending Rep. Jerry Lewis of California. Let me say that again so there is no confusion: She was in charge of the case against Rep. Jerry Lewis. He is being defended against these charges by Gibson Dunn in Los Angeles. Ms Yang received $1.5 million from the firm defending Rep. Lewis, Gibson Dunn, to leave the Justice Department where she was prosecuting Rep. Lewis. And, remarkably, this is the second time that Jerry Lewis has hired a former US Attorney to handle his defense. Thanks to the fine work of TPMuckracker from June 2006, we find that Lewis did the same thing with Robert Bonner, a member in good-standing of the Bush Crime Family since Daddy Bush made Bonner his Drug Czar in the 1990s through the present!

His lead lawyer is Robert Bonner, a man with a long, impressive CV -- featuring one clincher: Bonner used to run the U.S. Attorney's Office that's now investigating Lewis.

Who better to handle an investigation concerning the revolving door between Lewis' office and that of his lobbyist pal Bill Lowery than a man who's switched sides himself?

Bonner headed up the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California from 1984 through 1989 before he went on to serve as a judge in that district. That same office is conducting the investigation of Lewis.

Mr Bonner is a partner at Gibson Dunn in their Los Angeles office in the same practice group as Ms Yang where he has recently been called to do some work for the Bush Crime Family. Once you are in, you only get out at death. But, the money is good, if you can stand it: In 2006, Rep. Lewis rang up a $971,000 legal bill; that sort of money adds up after a few years.

From 2003 through December 2005, Mr. Bonner served as the first Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency of the Department of Homeland Security responsible for managing, controlling and securing the United States' borders, while facilitating global trade and travel.

Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Mr. Bonner created the unprecedented Container Security Initiative (CSI) and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) – both continue to revolutionize the security and more efficient movement of trade around the world. At the same time Mr. Bonner focused on securing international supply chains from the terrorist threat, he also pursued and implemented a national border control strategy to secure America’s borders. This strategy consists of a centralized command structure, rapid response capability, and a defense-in-depth, while relying upon highly-trained personnel, strengthened infrastructure and improved technology.

This is how the San Bernardino County Sun announced it on June 13, 2006:

Robert Bonner, former head of the U.S. Attorney's Office Central District of California, leads a group of attorneys that include former Santa Monica congressman Mel Levine, former federal Solicitor General Ted Olson and Joe Warin of the Los Angeles- based firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Lewis' new legal team was confirmed Thursday by another new Lewis hire, spokeswoman Barbara Comstock, a former Department of Justice spokeswoman. Comstock also worked for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff.

Lewis and his ties to lobbyist and former San Diego congressman Bill Lowery are part of a federal criminal investigation that has reached San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Numerous local government agencies have been subpoenaed for records regarding Lewis and lobbying firm Copeland Lowery Jacquez Denton & White.

Lewis, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees $900 billion in federal outlays, has not been charged with any crimes or wrongdoing.

Bonner's past clients include former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, who served three years in federal prison for tax evasion.

This is not a nice story, but the facts support it.

What the White House and the Department of Justice have been doing as part of the politicization of the U.S. Attorneys is to pressure them to bring the kinds of bogus cases against Democrats that Biscupic did to Georgia Thompson of Wisconsin or to buy out those U.S. Attorneys who were getting too close to corrupt politicians. Then at least some of the ones who would not cooperate or allow themselves to be bought off were fired in the Pearl Harbor Day Massacre.

The source of this conspiracy is in the White House, which is why Bush is yelling "Executive Privilege" and trying to stretch it to cover documents that were intentionally not using the official system of emails to avoid legal retention requirements.

Expect the Bush White House to fight any efforts to get White House personnel to testify, or to get them to turn over significant documents.

US attorney Iglesias (NM) was fired after Bush decided to accomodate Sen. Domenici

The sequence of events that put David Iglesias (U.S. attorney, New Mexico) on the list to be fired in December included a demand by six term Senator Domenici (NM- R) of Bush that he direct Gonzales to fire him. The story is reported today in the Albuquerque Journal (and is excerpted by Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo.)

Alberto Gonzales thought highly of David Iglesias, and told Sen. Domenici that he would only fire Iglesia if George Bush told him to. So Sen. Domenici called Karl Rove and asked him to go to George Bush and get Iglesias fired. Karl did so, and President Bush then directed Alberto Gonzales to fire him. Iglesias was fired as part of the eight U.S. attorneys fired In December 2006.

It's clear that Iglesias was fired for not bringing indictments against Democrats just before the November 2006 election. Iglesias was unwilling to give in to the pressure from both Sen. Domenici and Rep. Wilson to bring purely political cases to indictment in the manner done by Steve Biscupic of Wisconsin.

My previous post on the David Iglesias story is here:

• Ex-New Mexico US attorney David Iglesias is not happy
  March 20, 2007

My previous posts on the Steve Biscupic story:

• US Atty Biscupic (Wisc) saved his job by prosecuting Georgia Thompson
  April 14, 2007
• Georgia Thompson was convicted by right-wing media
  April 13, 2007,
• NY Times gets it right! See editorial today.
  April 09, 2007, and
• Wisconsin US attorney rammed through fake corruption case of Democrat before last Governor's election.
  April 06, 2007.

---

Addendum 12:41 PM
Josh Marshall ties up all the loose threads and tells what is important about the Iglesias firing story:

No one disputes that Domenici's call to Iglesias was at best inappropriate. But there's been a lack of direct evidence that Iglesias's refusal to bow to political pressure led directly to his firing. Now we have have that evidence. And it's not Kyle Sampson or even Alberto Gonzales who Domenici went to to get sign off for Iglesias's ouster. It was right to the president. And the available evidence now points strongly the conclusion that the final decision to fire David Iglesias. [was made by George W. Bush.]

US Atty Biscupic (Wisc) saved his job by prosecuting Georgia Thompson

McKlatchy reports today that US attorney Steve Biscupic in Milwaukee, WI. was originally on the list of US attorneys to be fired for not bringing voter fraud cases against Democrats. He saved his job by prosecuting a Wisconsin civil servant, Georgia Thompson, for improperly giving a state travel contract to the Adelman Travel Group. The Adelman Travel Group is run by a politically involved family which prefers Democrats.

This prosecution is the one which the normally conservative Appeals court recently sent back to the District Court with direction to acquit because of an utter lack of evidence to support the conviction. [See Georgia Thompson was convicted by right-wing media [Friday, April 13, 2007], NY Times gets it right in an Editorial today [Monday, April 09, 2007] and Wisconsin US attorney rammed through fake corruption case of Democrat before last Governor's election [Friday, April 6, 2007].]

Georgia Thompson was convicted by right-wing media

According to a local Milwaukee weekly Newspaper, the Shepherd-Express.com, the jury which convicted Georgia Thompson did so based on information that was blared by the media during election year.

April 12, 2007
Thursday’s ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, which immediately freed former state worker Georgia Thompson, was a stunner. Not only did the three federal judges immediately give Thompson her freedom, but they also delivered a smack-down to the Milwaukee office of U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic, calling the evidence in the case “beyond thin.” [Snip]

Why? Because the political climate—in George W. Bush’s America, in Wisconsin and in Milwaukee, in particular, where the case was decided—is so poisoned by political games that the jury sent a message that wasn’t based on the evidence introduced in the courtroom. [Snip]

Last June, just as the race for governor was heating up, Georgia Thompson was convicted of improperly steering a state contract to the Adelman Travel Group, which is run by a politically involved family that has a history of favoring Democrats.

Predictably, almost daily headlines blaring the latest developments in the “travelgate” saga were used in campaign advertisements against Doyle. Mark Green supporters—right-wing WTMJ radio talkers and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel included—plumped up the allegations against Thompson and buried her defense, if it reported her side of the story at all. (In interviews after the verdict, juror Marvin Bizzelle claimed that Doyle had orchestrated the whole matter, even though Biskupic didn’t make that allegation. Gee, wonder where Bizzelle could have gotten that information? And why did he bring that information into deliberations, when jurors are supposed to render a verdict on the evidence brought forth in the courtroom?)

As Thompson’s attorney, Stephen Hurley, noted, the state worker was a civil servant hired during Republican Gov. Scott McCallum’s tenure, making Thompson’s supposed bias toward Doyle seem improbable; she didn’t profit from the contract; no one else was named in connection with her supposed fraud; she didn’t name names or plead to a lesser charge to save herself; and the contract did, indeed, go to the lowest bidder, as is required. So where’s the crime?

But other factors bothered us. Why was Thompson charged with federal crimes? As we noted in a news article last summer, Thompson’s attorney argued that “at best, the evidence demonstrates a violation of the applicable sections of the Wisconsin Administrative Code.”

The article points out that even though the alleged crime would have most appropriately be a crime against state law, and Georgia Thompson was an employee in the state capital, Madison, the Dane County District Attorney who shared in the investigation did not indict her. The Move to have the US attorney in Milwaukee indict and try her is a strong indication of the political nature of the indictment and trial.

Josh Marshall has produced a UTube report on this case that provides a lot of very good background in Republican national politics with Karl Rove and the Department of "Justice". Here it is:



There is more coming in the case of Biscupic's inappropriate indictment (as well as the next inappropriate indictment Biscupic has brought for similar political reasons, that of:

...Dennis Troha for illegally channeling donations to Doyle. Once again, the political target of Biskupic is being tried in the press, on the front pages of the Journal Sentinel, which has already decided that Doyle is corrupt and just needs the right case—or perhaps the right prosecutor—to prove it. [Also from the Shepherd-Express.com.]

We need to support the reporters who are investigating these events, and especially Talking Points Memo which has been ground central for this and the other stories related to the firing of the US attorneys.

NY Times gets it right! See editorial today.

The New York Times has opined on the rather disgusting political prosecution of a Wisconsin state employee, Georgia Thompson, in an effort to defeat the Governor Jim Doyle (Democrat) in his effort to be reelected.

As Congress investigates the politicization of the United States attorney offices by the Bush administration, it should review the extraordinary events the other day in a federal courtroom in Wisconsin. The case involved Georgia Thompson, a state employee sent to prison on the flimsiest of corruption charges just as her boss, a Democrat, was fighting off a Republican challenger. It just might shed some light on a question that lurks behind the firing of eight top federal prosecutors: what did the surviving attorneys do to escape the axe?

Ms. Thompson, a purchasing official in the state’s Department of Administration, was accused by the United States attorney in Milwaukee, Steven Biskupic, of awarding a travel contract to a company whose chief executive contributed to the campaign of Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat. Ms. Thompson said the decision was made on the merits, but she was convicted and sent to prison before she could appeal.

The prosecution was a boon to Mr. Doyle’s opponent. Republicans ran a barrage of attack ads that purported to tie Ms. Thompson’s “corruption” to Mr. Doyle. Ms. Thompson was sentenced shortly before the election, which Governor Doyle won.

The Chicago-based United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit seemed shocked by the injustice of her conviction. It took the extraordinary step of releasing Ms. Thompson from prison immediately after hearing arguments, without waiting to issue a ruling. One of the judges hinted that Ms. Thompson may have been railroaded. “It strikes me that your evidence is beyond thin,” Judge Diane Wood told the lawyer from Mr. Biskupic’s office.

It's good to see the Grey Lady get on board and recognize the real danger behind the firing of the U.S. attorneys who resisted bringing such unfounded cases for political reasons.

The U.S. attorney in Wisconsin, Biscupic, kept his job. How many others conducted such unethical and even illegal investigations, prosecutions, and despicable Press Releases to stay on the good side of the Department of Justice and Karl Rove?

---

See also my previous post.

• 
  Wisconsin US attorney rammed through fake corruption case of Democrat before last Governor's election.
  Friday, April 6, 2007

Wisconsin US attorney rammed through fake corruption case of Democrat before last Governor's election.

The US attorneys who were fired for being ethical and not bringing unfounded charges against Democrats may have been exceptions among the Republican US attorneys. Here is an example of what one US attorney did to manipulate a state election:

In a stunning reversal, a federal court of appeals struck down a state worker's fraud conviction that Wisconsin Republicans used in efforts to paint Gov. Jim Doyle's administration as corrupt.

Attorneys on both sides of the case said the three-judge panel likely overruled the trial jury's conviction of former state purchasing officer Georgia Thompson within hours of oral arguments due to a simple lack of evidence. [Snip]

During oral arguments Thursday, one of the members the three-judge panel said the charges against Thompson were unfounded.

"I have to say it strikes me that your evidence is beyond thin," federal Appeals Judge Diane Wood told prosecutors. "I'm not sure what your actual theory in this case is." [Snip]

[Her attorney, Stephen Hurley of Madison] ... noted that the appeals court acquitted Thompson rather than sending her case back to a trial court.

Federal prosecutors could appeal the decision - the acquittal was stayed for 14 days to allow them to ask for a rehearing - but said they probably would not do so.

"It's extraordinary for a U.S. Court of Appeals to issue a decision on the day of oral arguments without a written opinion," Hurley said. "What they're saying is, 'There's no evidence, she's acquitted.'" [Editor - underlining mine.]

As Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker points out, this case answers the question about the rest of the Bush US attorneys, the ones who weren't fired for being ethical and not bringing weak or fake charges against Democrats to sway local elections. They are out there, but their cases are not as clear as the situation of the US attorney purge for US attorneys who refused to bring such unethical charges against Democrats in order to flip local elections.

US attorney Steve Biscupic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a Republican hack with a total absence of ethics to have brought this case at all. But, unlike the US attorney of New Mexico, or San Diego, or Oregon he kept his job - so far. I wonder how many others like this we will find?

Steve Benen of the Carpetbagger Report lists some of the more recent suspicious prosecutions by US attorneys who stayed off Kyle Sampson's firing list and kept their jobs:

I recently started a list.

* Paul Krugman noted a couple of weeks ago, for example, that Chris Christie, the former Bush “Pioneer” who is now the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, issued subpoenas as part of an investigation against Sen. Bob Menendez (D) shortly before last year’s election.

* In New Hampshire, Democrats want Congress to investigate whether prosecution of a Republican phone-jamming scheme on Election Day 2002 was intentionally delayed until after the presidential election two years later.

* Did the U.S. Attorney’s office in Pennsylvania intentionally target Bob Casey allies to undermine his Senate campaign against Rick Santorum?

* Why was the career U.S. Attorney in Guam removed in 2002 after he started investigating disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff?

* Why has Western Pennsylvania’s U.S. attorney, Mary Beth Buchanan, spent a disproportionate amount of her time launching public-corruption investigations against Democrats, while overlooking Republicans?

* In July 2005, the U.S. Attorney in Denver decided not to pursue a matter in which bouncers at a Bush event impersonated Secret Service agents to throw out three law-abiding ticket-holders because of their bumper sticker (the Denver Three controversy). Did politics dictate the decision?

Even if every one of those US attorneys operated completely ethically and honesty, the current Department of Justice has trashed the reputation of these very central law enforcement officers.

Then we have the 33-year old US attorney for Minnesota, Rachal Paulose, who has had her four top deputies take demotions back to the job of Assistant U.S. Attorney as protest against her complete incompetence.

The Rule of Law requires that the law enforcement officers both be, and appear to be, above politics. The Gonzales Department of Justice now appears to be right down in the middle of the worst of the political muck, working hard to replace the Rule of Law with instead the Rule by Law.