SCOOP Michael Collins: US Attorney Carol Lam Hit List As Early As 2005? -- PLUS Bilking Billions $$$

L. Coyote

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Sat Jun-09-07 08:41 AM
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SCOOP Michael Collins: US Attorney Carol Lam Hit List As Early As 2005? -- PLUS Bilking Billions $$$

Edited on Sat Jun-09-07 08:59 AM by L. Coyote

Collins: US Attorney Hit List As Early As 2005?
Saturday, 9 June 2007, 7:45 pm
Opinion: Michael Collins
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0706/S00061.htm
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1077354

�Scoop� Independent Media - Washington, D.C.

Carol Lam was one outstanding United States Attorney. She nailed down one of the biggest political corruption cases in recent history with a guilty plea from former Republican Congressman Randal �Duke� Cunningham in November, 2005. His crimes included conspiracy to commit bribery, mail and wire fraud.

The San Diego Republican admitted to taking over $1.0 million alone from San Diego defense contractor Brent Wilkes. The jailed Cunningham is now serving an eight year sentence for this and other crimes. In one of her last official acts, Lam indicted Wilkes for bribing former CIA senior executive �Dusty� Foggo, who was also indicted. These crimes allegedly took place over a period as far back to 2002.

A recently released Department of Justice email carried by Talking Points Memo Document Collection (http://tinyurl.com/2k2a79) raises an interesting question. The message is dated�3/7/2005� from leoleonard to MaryBeth Buchanan .....

.....

Was There a Bigger Story to Cover Up?

Maybe there was and it would have been percolating form about the time Lam came on as a U.S. Attorney in 2002 through the April 2005 date listed in the Foggo - Wilkes indictment. What was going on at that time in Lam�s back yard?

According to Brent Wilkes, he was in the ongoing business of doling out money for congressmen in return for favorable consideration ....

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NOTE THIS: "Acknowledgement: Special thanks to internet poster mod mom for her tips and suggestions."

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I wish to add these speculations, based on considerable independent research.

Regarding Collins' question, "Was There a Bigger Story to Cover Up?"

The BEEF in his story: "... public funds ... were funneled to G.O.P. candidates and causes."

I prefer the generic (leave out "earmarked for national defense") broad scope version. There were $5-6 billion in Medicare and Medicaid funds skimmed too, $1.6B by Senate majority leader Frist's (R-TN) HCA alone. Another $1.4 by Tenet Healthcare, the corporation Lam and HHC were about to cut off from Medicare payments, and Graves and NO TX USA were investigating. Tenet was the subject of investigation in TX where three AUSAs/Prosecutors were dismissed early in the timeline.

In 2006 Tenet hired Gillespie for a cool $360,000, a change in their lobbying firms. Gillespie is considered a 1600 Pennsylvania lobbyist, not a K Streeter. He was Bush's hand-picked RNC chairman.

The Medicare fraud inquiry parallels the timeline with the defense fraud front, and I view them as one front, the $$ Bilking Billions $$ front. This is why the WHY in the Carol Lam firing should remain an open question.

Unlike other USA firings, where election (voter fraud) issues are known and happily spun to the fore, in the San Diego case the debate continues over the reason(s). Corporate fraud charging overlaps on the same days in the timeline of the Sampson e-mail. Less than Wiley, Eagar Republicans have gone overboard promoting the "Coyote" excuse for Lam's firing, including at hearings, where the most complicitous predators in her besmearment were comical in their obvious ineptitude meep, meeping that melody.

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TIMELINE:
June 2003 - Barry Weinbaum, CEO Alvarado Hospital (owned by Tenet), indicted for conspiracy to violate the federal statutes
Oct. 2004 - Leonard Senerote, Michael Uhl and Michael Snipes dismissed on No TX USA office
Feb. 2005 - Lam's name first appears on a firings list
Mar. 2005 - Leonard Leo e-mail
Oct. 2005 - 18 Republican lawmakers criticize Lam's handling of immigration cases (letter signed by Cunningham while under investigation).
Mar. 2006 - Bush signs the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act.
Apr. 2006 - Second mistrial in Lam's illegal-kickback trial of Alvarado execs.
May 05, 2006 - CIA director Porter Goss resigns unexpectedly.
May 10, 2006 - Lam notifies DoJ she planned to serve search warrants on Kyle Foggo, who resigned two days earlier as No. 3 official at the CIA.
May 10, 2006 - HHS announces forthcoming termination of Medicare payments to Alvarado/Tenet
May 11, 2006 - Kyle Sampson e-mails deputy White House counsel William Kelley, re "the real problem we have right now with Carol Lam ....
May 11, 2006 - LA Times reports Cunningham probe expanded to House Appropriations Chair Jerry Lewis (R-CA).
May 12, 2006 - FBI agents seizes records from Foggo's CIA offices and his suburban Vienna, Va.
May 17, 2006 - Tenet Healthcare Agrees to Divest Alvarado Hospital. Tenet will not lose Medicare money, civil settlement with the federal government.
May 18, 2006 - Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) provides false information to AP that Lam has prosecuted only 6% of 289 suspected immigrant smugglers.
Jul 31, 2006 - London Times quotes Prakash Sethi "GPOs extract extra profits of $5 billion to $6 billion" illegitimately
Dec 07, 2006 - Michael Battle, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, calls seven U.S. Attorneys to ask for their resignations.
Dec 13, 2006 - AAG McNulty curbs USAs' prosecutorial powers, centralizes corporate fraud charging decision making.
Feb 15, 2007 - Carol Lam resigns as U.S. Attorney for San Diego just days after filing indictments in public corruption case.

MORE: Follow the links in this post
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1060043&mesg_id=1061265

NEXT: Can you obtain precise dates on lobbying money moving from Tenet to Gillespie?

Another aspect to investigate is the So NY USA office and the SEC. The SEC settles fraud charging when it involves stock scams. Inflating the stock value of the Hospital corporations with fraudulent high profits and selling off before the stock crashed filled pockedts, including Tenet's chair ($143M) who was fined a cool $1M in a gravy settlement. Note also that the White House just promoted several SO NY USA attorneys to White House counsels.

So, the big picture I see is bilking billions, and defense bilking is just one aspect of the BIG $$BILLIONS$$ bilking!

One last questions: "$$$ Where do the Bucks STOP? $$$"

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NOW THIS TOO:

Report: U.S. Attorney Buchanan to meet with House Judiciary investigators
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - 06/06/2007
http://www.yorkdispatch.com/pennsylvania/ci_6073529

PITTSBURGH -- U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan of Pittsburgh will meet privately Thursday with House Judiciary Committee investigators looking into the Justice Department's firing of eight federal prosecutors last year, her attorney told a newspaper.

Buchanan's attorney, Roscoe C. Howard J. -- the former U.S. Attorney of Washington, D.C. -- told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he's representing Buchanan at the meeting in Washington.

Howard said Buchanan is cooperating with the investigation, but said it was premature to speculate about what she might be asked.

"They might go into areas that surprise us," Howard told the newspaper..............