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.
Once $299.98, now yours for $149.99.
+ ALL 
Gonzales should have already been prosecuted.
Fixed the typo…
Thanks Mr. Murder!
Last week there was an article over at talkingpointsmemo.com about McConnell, the NSA guy, saying he could very well scrub the investigation of the Inspector Generals office. I assume that means the IG’s office has the goods on everyone, including Gonzales?
FYI note that various agencies have their own IG. CIA Director Hayden is the one trying to step on the CIA IG. McConnell is DNI, the so-called ‘intelligence czar’, and folks have been telling him Hayden’s unprecedented investigation of CIA’s own IG compromises CIA IG autonomy.
Glenn Fine is the DOJ IG.
thanks for correcting me. I knew as soon as I hit the submit button, I had the names wrong.
WOW, I’m so glad to hear that, Waiting in Texas because in addition to many good people, there are lots of nasties in Texas. Maybe we will even learn who tried to decapitate that lovely, blonde woman from Austin in May of 2000. Gee, it might have even been a practice run for Abu Ghraib.
[...] ineolitgsyfw wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThornburgh 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. … [...]
I never quite know how to take you Centrocitta. This isn’t the first time you have slammed me about being from Texas. Your comments are often sarcastic in tone towards me like you know me. Just back off and lets stay on the subject at hand.
My comments arn’t directed to you at all, Waiting. It’s just that when the Pandora’s box is opened by whomever, I merely take an opportunity to comment. In futher retrospect, I figure that in May of 2000, the fradulent November election was already a done deal. All the more reason for Abu Ghraib practice to begin.
And just to give you peace of mind, I don’t know you, Waiting. But you wouldn’t happen to be the person who let all the Freon out of my new heat pump would you? Here’s hoping you have a nice sense of humor.
thank you centrocitta and how did you know it was me that let the freon out?!
LOL
so what murder are referencing in Austin? Austin is a great place but it does have its share of oddities and unsolved murders.
Well, were you the one who had my electricity turned off three times before my actual moving day? LOL.
Regarding the woman who got her throat slit in Brodie Oaks Shopping Center. She lived and apparently recuperated in Brackenridge. But that’s the last I’ve heard about it. I don’t know if the perpetrator was ever caught or not. Maybe he went to Baghdad from Brodie Oaks.
You know, this business of prosecuting and imprisoning Democratic officials on bogus charges is really one of the most frightening aspects of the whole Bush cabal. It’s one of the clearest signs that they’re moving us into a real honest-to-goodness fascist state. That’s what fascists do. They seize control of the means of justice and police in a society and they start using them to imprison their political enemies. This isn’t the first one either. There was that woman in the state bureaucracy in Minnesota who was falsely imprisoned for a while before a judge threw out the case. And there’s Siegelman in Arkansas (is that right?) Those are just the ones we know about. And we know the winger bloggers and talking heads have been shrieking about liberal treason for years. That’s another step down this same road. If the same unreconstructed gooper party manages to stay in power, it will soon become illegal to be a Democrat.
The misconduct in the Justice Department had been quite obvious for some time. The persecution of Cyril Wecht, M.D. is a perfect example of the mean-spirited and vindictive misuse of Justice Department power we’ve come to expect from this particular political sub-class.
I have little cause for optimism that anyone in a position of power will ever be held to account for these outrageous crimes. Absent an overwhelming nationwide outrage in the streets, I just do not see any commitment to justice in the Democrats. They’d like to stop the abuse, but they seem not to see the value that makes the risk of a fight for justice worthwhile.
In the mean time, the Wingnut hold on major media is such that even if there was a massive show of outrage in the streets of America, no one would know about it.
I certainly hope my pessimism turns out to be over the top. But I’m not holding my breath. After all, didn’t a certain House Subcommitte forward a recommendation to the Justice Department advising further investigation and prosecution in a certain 15-year-old murder back in 1978? I don’t recall much coming out of that one, either.
Last May, John McKay, David Iglesias and Paul Charleton spoke at a CLE conference called “U.S. Attorneys — Roles and Responsibilities” at Seattle University Law School. I attended (and blogged about it). It was a very interesting forum, to say the least.
All the attendees recieved a booklet which includes the Shields and Cragen study on political profiling of elected officials. The numbers don’t lie. The study results show that for all elected officials in the U.S. (national, state and local), the disparity between Democrats and Republicans investigated by the Bush DOJ is very wide indeed.
Democrats investigated: 298
Republicans investigated: 67
From the conclusion of the study:
I don’t know about everyone else, but I find this fascinating. So I looked it up. The documentation is in PDF format here. The stats that shoephone refers to start on PDF page 65.
“…disparity…very wide indeed”
Yeah, no kidding!
Supporting appendices at the end.
Thanks for looking up the pdf Ybnormal.
Sorry - I should have included the link. Thanks, ybnormal.
I couldn’t resist.
Don’t thank me, thank YOU for the heads up.
You know, documentation is a wonderfull thing isn’t it?
I looked at this study before, and some comments that appeared at the ePluribus Media site where it was posted. It leaves a lot to be desired in experimental method. The definitions for what constitutes an investigation seem unclear, and there was no comparison to previous administrations. In short, no baseline. How wierd is the ratio of Democrats investigated versus Republicans? I have no idea.
There are plausible reasons why the number of people from each party who are investigated by the DoJ wouldn’t be equal. One reason is that a great deal of official corruption occurs in party machines, something usuually controlled by Democrats. States, presumably, can investigate when Boss Hogg starts shaking down moonshiners.
Article:
http://www.epluribusmedia.org/columns/2007/20070212_political_profiling.html
Discussion:
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/2/16/22142/2142
Scroll down to #12 for other questions about methodology.
At the risk of sounding religious:
From your keyboard to God’s monitor!
When Emperor Shit-for-Brains already has the pardons and commutations written up and waiting for the names and dates to be filled out, the point of prosecuting any of this trash is…what?
the point of prosecuting any of this trash is…what?
that is Faulty Reasoning - to not prosecute because of potential pardons.
Make the emperor USE his filthy pardons. Make ‘em spend that political capital…
Prosecution means the crimes can be further exposed for all to see.
Even if the rats get off, there is value in prosecution. The Scooter Libby trial hurt the Repubs and made more people aware of how craven the “mainstream media” j@ckasses are. Even though Scooter won’t go to jail it was worthwhile
I also seem to remember that if a President actually has used a pardon for personal gain, he’s committed a crime for which he can be prosecuted after he leaves office (or during, but we know the chances of that happening).
So why didn’t Bush 41 get prosecuted for just that? He was on the way to court as a witness for his pal Casper and the pardons for the criminals in his administration prevented the obvious lies regarding him being out of the loop from getting exposure.
The Bush family is a sick and pathetic one.
Yep, pardons are on the way and they don’t give a rats ass what we think.
I’m still waiting for the ‘pinata’ theory to be introduced. I believe Gonzales will become the BushCo party favor and when ultimately left twisting in the breeze, will spill the beans as the house of cards tumbles.
Thanks Larry. I am truly a fan of your blog and your vigilance in regards to restoring our nation’s health.
Larry -
Thanks for the good news.
Whenever I think of Gonzo I’m reminded of the stereotypical Mexican Bandit in “The Treasure of Sierra Madre.” When the bandits pretend to be Mexican Police the American prospectors demand to see their badges. The bandit chief responds: “Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges.”
I can see Gonzo now, leading a squad of Blackwater’s Worst. Citizens quail in fear, screaming: “Look out! It’s the ex-Attorney General and his pistoleros! Run away!” Larry comes by driving a buckboard wagon with a blanket covering something in the back. He’s under cover as a poor peasant, wearing a serape and a floppy sombrero. Gonzo and his thugs accost him:
Gonzo: “Hey Muchacho, whatever you’ve got there,
we’re going to kill you and take it.”
Larry: “Oh, have mercy, Patron! It’s just a pipe
organ I’m taking to the Church.”
Gonzo: “A pipe organ, eh? Well this is your lucky
day, Pobrecito. Because if you can play this
organ good, maybe we won’t kill you–today.”
Larry: “Well, I’ll try, but I’m afraid I’m a little
rusty.” (Pulls blanket off to reveal a
Gatling Gun, which he begins to crank,
filling the Frito Banditos with lead) “Hey,
Senores, how you like my playing? Does
it move you to tears?”
Larry = James Gandolfini
Gonzo = Antonio Banderas
Psycho Bandit = either Klaus Kinski (who’s dead) or Dick Cheney (who’s undead)
Man With No Shame (who backshoots his own sidekicks)= Scooter Libby
Vainglorious Sheriff (who keeps out of the line of fire whenever possible) = George W. Bush
Klaus Kinski is dead?
I had hopes for him as a GOP write-in candidate for POTUS in 2008.
Drat!
Possibly a Kinski Inaugural produced by Werner Herzog?
Oww! Too many old movies this week while waiting for my new job to start, making my head hurt.
Must…get…chicaroonies and cervesa…
Montag:
Not to be a pissant here, but the Mexican Bandit character in Treasure of the Sierra Madre was “Gold Hat,” played by one Alfonso Bedoya (1904-1957), Mexican character actor. (see also: “The Big Country,” 1958 release)
The most-misquoted line in American cinema, spoken by Bedoya as, “Gold Hat,” is:
“Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges.”
:::::::
Always remember: “If you know what’s good for you, you won’t monkey around with Fred C. Dobbs!”
How come the content on this blog is starting to remind me of the intergalactic bar scene from the original STAR WARS movie? Because nearly everyone here is dangerous, some of us even have prices on our heads, and NO ONE is as harmless as they outwardly seem. Pick a fight with the wrong blogger and PFFFFTTTT–the next thing you know, you’re picking up your own severed arm from the floor.
Under this Administration I guess we have a new class of crimes, VWD. Voting while Democratic.
I agree with TrainWreck, we still have to go after and prosecute this and force Bush to use those pardons. We must make an example of this kind of raw political behavior or it will continue. I don’t want it happening to Democrats or Republicans. Can you even imagine the feelings of Don Siegelman, first having a fair election stolen from you and then being prosecuted and put in prison for daring to talk about it, basically? This is disturbing on so many levels not to mention the posibility of becoming an enemy just because you are of the oposite party.
I’ll be amazed if it actually happens, but Gonzi is lawyering up…
He will be pardoned, no doubt about it!
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
At the risk of complementing a GOP AG. I don’t ever recall having many issues with Thornburgh when he was AG.. He seemed like a pretty straight up guy generally. i may be wrong but I thought he tried to keep politics at somewhat arms length during his tenure..Does anyone remember anything different?
Gonzo will be pardoned.
Just use Scooter Libby as an example, anyone in this administration that obviously breaks ANY law will get away with that crime.
Dumbya will pardon more people than any president in history, regard my prediction, it will come true! These tyrants don’t give a shit what anyone thinks, anyone that disagrees with their tyranny isn’t patriotic.
The pardons of the Iran/Contra criminals will be pale compared to what Dumbya has planned, Gonzo will walk and then get some cushy job at some regressive “think” (gasp) tank and continue his treasonous activity in the private sector.
Unfortunately, you’re right: if Gonzales is prosecuted and convicted of anything, Bush will either pardon him or commute his sentence.
But why should that stop us from trying to uphold the law?
It shouldn’t stop us from trying to hold their feet to the fire, I would say there is no reason to give up. I do have my doubts that Gonzo will see a jail cell for his obvious crimes.
How crazy is it when the US AG commits perjury on national TV and walks?? That will be the outcome, he will get big money speaking fees and to explain why he isn’t a tyrant.
Mr Dobbs you are as eloquent as ever. Your posts light up my day.
But I think Camp Bush needs a fall guy. Gonzales is perfect. Isn’t he a mexican, or sommat like that? Aren’t they half savage [anyone reading who is 'something like that', do not be offended as I was speaking rhetorically and implying Camp Bush thinking. Some of my most respected comrades are 'something like that' and certainly are not savage in any sense of the word]?
This Administration has violated more laws, moral and ethical standards, destroyed more lives and squandered the greatest amount of taxpayer money in American history . . . yet our Congress argues about a fucking newspaper ad . . . the time for “investigate” is way past due, we should be into serious prosecution, impeachment and removal.
Bush has destroyed America’s treasury, international stature and has taken judicial integrity as he’s dragged out the door . . . quite a “legacy”.
Gonzales was in over his head when he helped dump then candidate Bush’s drunk driving record . . . this just caps his “brilliant legal career”.