PROOF-Admin Fired Fed Prosecutors For Political Reasons -They were told so!

The evidence builds that the administration fired a group of federal prosecutors in December just to install political loyalists in the spots.

Salon is reporting that two of the prosecutors were told as much when they asked why they were being forced out.

Salon: Prosecutors Told Purge Was Political
By Paul Kiel - February 28, 2007

It gets clearer and clearer: Salon reports that at least two of the federal prosecutors forced out in December were told by a senior Justice official that there was no other reason for their dismissal than to make room for another appointee.
From Salon:http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/02/28/attorneys/?source=whitelist



http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002641.php

nt

in favor of positioning those who are most likely to cover for them and their cronies.

KandR

This country is a monarchy.

What do you expect from an immoral man? Fairness?

There sure seenms to be a LOT of similarities. You know, fired prosecutors, dirty VP, all the lies, etc.

Hmmm...I sure hope the results ofTHIS admin are similar too! The sooner the better!

we can not let have them take over the judiciary more than they already have.

Out with the truth towards correction and accountability.

At http://feinstein.senate.gov/07releases/r-usattorney-stmnt0215.htm available at her Senate.gov website and delevered as a speech on the floor of the Senate on February 15th, Sen. Dianne Feinstein gave a really good resume of Carol Lam's great career as a Federal prosecutor (and the others), and many of the hugely important cases she has won. Lam is the most outrageous example of this Soviet-style removal, someone who has done great work for the American people, and bravely uncovered and prosecuted many, many cases of corruption. This is one of the most chilling examples of the Cheney-Bush-Gonzales Administration totally negating and dismissing laws they don't agree with, and "massacring" anyone who stands in their way, anyone who enforces the law. This is the kind of treason that should be exposed:

"Today is U.S. Attorney Carol Lam's last day in office. I want to commend her. I thank her for the work she has done in that office. She was sworn in as U.S. attorney in September of 2002 and was appointed by the President in November 2002. Prior to serving as U.S. attorney, she was a judge of the Superior Court of San Diego, and she served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the southern district of California for 11 years. So she was no newcomer. She has been successful in bringing many of the country's most important corruption cases. I want to go through a few of them.

"In March of 2004, Steven Mark Lash, the former chief financial officer of FPA Medical Management, was sentenced for his role in defrauding shareholders and lenders of FPA. The collapse of the company left more than 1,600 doctors being owed more than $60 million and patients reported being unable to obtain medical care because FPA had ceased paying providers. Thank you, Carol Lam.

"In January 2005, Mark Anthony Kolowich, owner of World Express Rx, pled guilty to conspiracy to selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and smuggle pharmaceuticals, and conspiracy to launder money. Mr. Kolowich had run an Internet pharmacy Web site where customers could order prescription drugs without a valid prescription. The judge called him the kingpin and architect of an elicit pharmaceutical ring that recruited many others to smuggle drugs across the United States-Mexico border at San Ysidro. Ms. Lam also announced that charges had been filed against five other individuals in a related case involving MyRxForLess.com. Thank you, Carol Lam.

"In July 2005, Ms. Lam brought a case against San Diego councilman Ralph Inzunza and Las Vegas lobbyist Lance Malone. They were convicted on multiple counts of extortion, wire fraud conspiracy, and wire fraud. They were accused of trading money for efforts to repeal a law.

"In November 2005, Ms. Lam secured a guilty plea from former Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham for taking more than $2 million in bribes in a criminal conspiracy case involving at least three defense contractors, after he accepted cash and gifts and then tried to influence the Defense Department on behalf of donors. He also pled guilty to a separate tax evasion violation for failing to disclose income in 2004. Thank you, Carol Lam.

"In addition, earlier this week, Carol Lam announced two more indictments of Kyl "Dusty" Foggo, former top officer at the CIA, and Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor accused of bribing Duke Cunningham and the prime benefactor of the secret CIA contracts. Thank you, Carol Lam.

"This woman was called and told to resign by a date specific, after she has done all of this good work. Ms. Lam and the San Diego U.S. Attorney's office have also pursued and successfully prosecuted other important cases, including:

"In September 2005, the president of the San Diego chapter of Hell’s Angels pled guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering. Guy Russell Castiglione admitted that he conspired to kill members of a rival motorcycle gang, the Mongols, and to sell methamphetamine. Thank you, Carol Lam.

"Then in December 2005, Daymond Buchanan, member of Hells Angels, was sentenced to 92 months in Federal prison for participating in a pattern of racketeering. He admitted in his guilty plea that he and other Hell’s Angels also inflicted serious bodily injury upon one victim and that another Hell’s Angel brandished a firearm during the offense.
"At that time, Ms. Lam announced, “With the president, sergeant at arms, secretary, treasurer, and six other members of the Hell's Angels convicted of racketeering charges and facing long prison sentences, the San Diego chapter of the Hell's Angels has been effectively shut down for the foreseeable future.” Thank you, Carol Lam.

"And what does she get? Fired without cause.

"In September, 2006, Jose Ernesto Beltran-Quinonez, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty to making false statements about weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Quinonez was sentenced to 3 years in Federal prison for making up a story about Chinese terrorists sneaking into the United States with a nuclear warhead. That hoax prompted a massive investigation, Federal warnings, discussions at one of President Bush's security briefings, and a nationwide hunt for the group of Chinese supposedly plotting the attack. Thank you, Carol Lam.

"In December 2006, Mel Kay, of Golden State Fence Company, and Michael McLaughlin, pleaded guilty to felony charges of hiring illegal immigrants and agreed to pay fines of $200,000 and $100,000, respectively. The company, which built more than a mile of the 15-foot-high fence near the Otay Mesa border crossing in San Diego, agreed separately to pay $5 million on a misdemeanor count, one of the largest fines ever imposed on a company for an immigration violation. Thank you, Carol Lam.

"These are just some of the important cases Carol Lam has pursued during her tenure. She does not deserve this kind of treatment.

"In addition, during her previous time in the office, Ms. Lam prosecuted and convicted several high-ranking members of La Cosa Nostra, a Chicago-based organized crime family. She also secured a guilty plea and settlement of $110 million against National Health Laboratories, Inc., in a Medicare fraud case.

"Ms. Lam has had a distinguished career and she served the Southern District of San Diego well, and everyone in that district knows that. I regret that main Justice does not. I am quite disappointed that main Justice chose to remove her, especially given the ongoing work in which the office is involved.
"Now, like Senator Schumer, I was present yesterday when the Justice Department briefed us and several other Senators as to why they asked these U.S. attorneys to leave. With the record I just pointed out, nothing that was said yesterday justifies asking this U.S. attorney to leave without cause -- nothing."

Impeach, indict, imprison.

This is downright treasonous!!

:kick:

...because you just have to wonder...what in the heck are
these thugs planning?

They're stacking the deck in their favor--and they have
the legal and authoritative structure to pull of
Fascism and then some.

It's really very frightening. When you lay out all of the
"freedoms" this administration has--wiretapping, reading
our mail, torture, detaining people indefinitely and without
counsel (by declaring them enemy combatants). Bush can now
over rule states and force the National Guard in.

There's so much that they're able to do. Right now,
we're just relying on their ability to control their
evil selves--and that doesn't give me much comfort.

It's as if we've given Charles Manson the keys to
his own cell---while we hope that he doesn't
decide to use the key and walk out the prison doors.

There has GOT to be a reason for them to do something so egregious.

I am not sure why this comes as a surprise to anyone. The tenure of these attorneys is at the pleasure of the President. That means that if you do not openly support the party in power, then you are out. Political orthodoxy trumps prosecutorial competence. When we win the Presidency in 08, I would expect the new administration to fully review actions of the people holding those posts and remove any of them that are un supportive of the administration. Maybe what needs to be done is to change the law to give the Federal attorneys life time tenure ala Federal Judges.

They are being replaced "at the pleasure" only because of a last-minute addition to the Patriot Act renewal that was inserted by Arlen Specter which allowed bush/gonzo to do this nasty piece of work, without any oversight. People were turning over every rock trying to find out who inserted this, and eventually a Specter staffer acknowledged that Specter did. At first, he denied it, and then finally said yes, it was his doing.

Please check the archives of http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com and you will find all the information which discusses precisely why this has "surprised" everyone. Josh Marshall did a great job of digging down and finding the truth.

It isn't a surprise, given bush's character. It is most definitely shocking in the realm of law and justice. Why do you think everyone is making such a big deal of it? This is most definitely not business as usual. This is another form of "first let's kill all the lawyers."

:kick: