The Case of the Absentee Attorney, William Mercer, Montana (He is NOT

the kind of AG I would want. Scroll down---lots of information:


The Case of the Absentee Attorney, William Mercer, Montana

ePluribus Staff Writers: TheFatLadySings, Cho, AvaHome & Roxy
26 March 2007

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Expansion of Federal Powers

Mercer has apparently also been instrumental in furthering a key policy of the Bush administration: the unprecedented expansion of federal authority.

Upon taking office as U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Mr. Mercer immediately announced that his top priority would be identical to that of the Justice Department -- namely, the investigation and prosecution of "terrorism." He identified himself as a strong proponent of the Patriot Act (which many believe greatly expanded federal authority to intrude on the lives of private citizens), believing it would aid in the DOJ's fight against "terror."11

Mercer served on the U.S. Attorney General's Advisory Committee (AGAC), a group of 15 U.S. Attorneys who advised former Attorney General John Ashcroft on policy matters, in 2002 and 2003.12 In 2003, Ashcroft was deeply embarrassed when a draft of Patriot 2, or the "Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003," was leaked to the press. The document was secretly developed by the Department of Justice with the approval of then Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, and Vice President Dick Cheney.13

The draft proposed huge expansions of powers for the Attorney General, including:

1) The administrative power to revoke citizenship without trial of individuals suspected of broadly defined "terrorist acts;"

2) The administrative power to incarcerate non-citizens indefinitely without trial or notification.

3) Greatly expanded powers to collect data, issue wiretaps, etc.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Center for Public Integrity, and Bill Moyers made the draft public.14 Follow the public outcry over its erosion of civil liberties, the act was never introduced into Congress....

.....more--of cases he has been involved in........

http://www.epluribusmedia.org/features/2007/us_attorney_william_mercer.html

The Unprosecution of Jack Abramoff

Previously, in 2005, Mercer had come under fire by both Montana's state Democratic Party and Judge Molloy for perceived conflicts of interest resulting from his simultaneous appointments as U.S. Attorney for Montana and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General in Washington, D.C.

The Chairman of the State Democratic Party wrote him a letter criticizing his failure to investigate the widely publicized potential involvement of (former) Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) with Jack Abramoff.

The following is a letter sent by the Montana Democrats to Bill Mercer. ......