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Gonzales Could Be Prosecuted

By Leslie on October 24, 2007 at 1:43 PM in Current Affairs

Fired former US Attorney John McKay, from Washington state, told Keith Olbermann last Friday that a report due out soon from the DOJ’s Inspector General’s office “likely will include recommendations for criminal prosecution of Gonzales and maybe others.

The House Judiciary Committee has been hearing testimony about the alleged politicization of the DOJ. Crossing party lines, former Republican Governor Richard Thornburgh testified before Congress:

Richard L. Thornburgh, attorney general in the Reagan and first Bush administrations, charged Tuesday that political reasons motivated the Justice Department to open corruption investigations against Democrats in Mr. Thornburgh’s home state, Pennsylvania. In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Thornburgh became the first former Republican attorney general to join with Democratic lawmakers to suggest that the Justice Department under Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales had singled out Democratic politicians for prosecution.”

The citizens of the United States must have confidence that the department is conducting itself in a fair and impartial manner without actual political influence or the appearance of political influence,” said Mr. Thornburgh, who is now in private practice. He is defending the former elected Democratic coroner of Allegheny County, Pa., against federal corruption charges. “Unfortunately that may no longer be the case.”

The coroner in the case, former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht, was indicted in 2006 on 84 counts of various federal crimes, including theft from an organization that receives federal funds.

From the Carpetbagger Report:

What, exactly, did Wecht do? Apparently, his transgressions include the improper use of the coroner’s fax machine for private work. (He’s obviously history’s greatest monster.) There’s no evidence “of a bribe or kickback” and no evidence that Wecht traded on a conflict of interest.

At the heart of the controversy is Mary Beth Buchanan, the U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh, who has long been the subject of questions about partisan prosecutions.

It’s hard to rank the most offensive efforts to politicize the justice system from the loyal Bushies, but Buchanan’s efforts have to be considered among the most blatant.

While the Bush administration has successfully politicized the DOJ and targeted Democrats with dubious charges, especially before elections, the administration’s track record on prosecuting terrorists has declined:

From 1993 to 2001, prosecutors in Manhattan convicted some three dozen terrorists through guilty pleas and in six major trials.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the government’s track record has been decidedly spottier, and its failure to obtain a single conviction on Monday in its terrorism-financing prosecution of what was once the nation’s largest Islamic charity was another in a series of missteps and setbacks.

The Bush administration has its priorities.