Face facts. Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling know all the dirt about what went down in California (and a lot about Iraq and Sadaam's oil for food program, too). They know how much *, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney knew. They know why plans to invade Afghanistan were on Condie's desk before 9-11 (hint gas pipeline).
It is in not in the administration's best interest for Skilling or Lay to come clean with prosecutors. But, they cant appear to go easy on them, either. So, what can they do?
They can go hard on them. Too hard. They can get really nasty, engage in all kinds of prosecutorial misconduct, get caught doing it. Not bad enough that any one career government lawyer will lose a lisence over it or get sent to jail. Just bad enough that convictions can be overturned by Chief Justice Roberts and the rest of the gang at the SCOTUS.
Dont believe me. Skilling and Lay's legal team are already laying the ground work. Call it the Oliver North strategy.
READ THE EXCERPT FROM THE ARTICLE BELOW. THE FEDERAL PROSECUTORS HAVE AN OPEN AND SHUT CASE. WHY ON EARTH WOULD THEY TRY TACTICS LIKE THIS UNLESS THEY ARE TRYING TO THROW THEIR OWN CASE?
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/special/enron/3342249The motion refers to an email from a task force member telling a lawyer for a cooperating government witness to stop talking to Skilling's lawyer or "get rid" of him. The judge has viewed that email and has so far barred the lawyers from revealing its full content.
Also not yet available to the public are affidavits from six attorneys filed under seal to support the motion from Lay, Skilling and Causey. Prosecutors asked the judge today to make those lawyer statements available to the public.
According to the motion, those attorney affidavits state the lawyers or their clients were told by the government that Skilling's and Lay's lawyers were "bad news," and their clients would "pay" or the government would "go after" them if they cooperated with the defendants. One lawyer allegedly says the Enron Task Force made a "veiled threat" to an attorney about it being "dangerous" for his client to help Enron defendants.