Mods: Posted in entirety with permission.http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/05/obama-justice-department-continues-to-cover-up-bush-era-crimesObama Justice Department continues to cover up Bush-Era crimes by Larisa Alexandrovna
Something very questionable is happening in Obama’s Department of Justice. I don’t know if it is simply institutional loyalty that is the reason for a once admired office of justice to simply abdicate from its official duty. Whatever the reason, there is one question that no one will answer and this question only grows more urgent as new developments are made public.
Why is no one being held accountable? It is one thing to overlook a series of bad choices made in good faith. But the issues at hand have nothing to do with good faith or even bad choices. The allegations of criminal activity and extreme and willful abuses of power by officials of the Bush administration fall directly under the very definition of high crimes. The crimes are not small ones either.
The Watergate break-in, for example, appears insignificant against the backdrop of the Bush-Cheney legacy. No, the crimes are not small or even limited to a single genre or type of crime.
From the outing of a CIA officer for political payback, to the massive illegal domestic surveillance program, to a policy of torture that resulted in multiple homicides; high crimes were committed and more startling, no one has been held to account.Why?
The Manipulation of LanguageIn all other times in the past, when a crime occurred involving officials in the highest positions of government, no one thought to dare argue the necessity for committing the crime or how truly patriotic the crime was. Now we are told that we were spied on for our own good, that torture saves lives, that outing a CIA officer is okay, that starting an illegal war was just a series of decisions based on bad intelligence.
The debate over these various crimes has been drawn in such a way as to make it seem too complicated for the average American, too steeped in national security for the average American to understand, and missing in important details because those are too classified for the average American to see.
What of the domestic political prosecutions then and the victims who were targeted for political reasons ? Why is no one being held accountable? Worse still, why is Obama’s DOJ seemingly engaging in payback given the latest news? Have you seen the latest news?
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Federal prosecutors have recommended that former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman be sentenced to 20 years in prison when he receives a new sentencing hearing in federal court in Montgomery.
That's a much longer sentence than the more than 7-year prison term Siegelman originally received for his 2006 conviction in a federal government corruption case. The recommendation comes after a panel of 3 appellate judges dismissed 2 of the seven charges the former governor was convicted of and ordered a new sentencing hearing.
Don SiegelmanHere you have a case that is so visibly flawed, so visibly unethical and possibly even criminal on the part of the prosecutors, and so visibly implicating the Bush White House, that it calls into question everything the DOJ did during Bush’s 8 year reign (yes, you read that right).
Attorney General Holder stepped into former Senator Ted Steven’s corruption case on the grounds that federal prosecutors behaved unethically and possibly in a criminal way. This was the right decision, but why Stevens and no one else? Why are federal prosecutors demanding harsher sentencing in a case where the prosecutorial misconduct was far worse than it was in the Stevens’ case?
Why are we getting no answers to any of this?
Siegelman’s case is not remotely related to national security nor are we missing important details because those are too classified for us to see. We know a good deal about what happened and yet we are still unable to get any answers to the basic question: why is no one being held accountable?
Consider that this is a case where it has been demonstrated beyond any shadow of doubt that a man was targeted for political reasons, the main witness against him was coached and intimidated, and the US Attorney directed the case despite recusing herself because of her conflicts of interest. Yet Holder does worse than nothing.
To make my point more clear, let me provide but a few highlights of what we know to be true with regard to Siegelman’s prosecution.
The US Attorney who prosecuted Siegelman is married to William Canary, a business associate of former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and prosecuted Siegelman during the latter’s employment at the White House. Moreover, the US Attorney’s husband was at the an advisor to Siegelman’s opponent in the 2002 gubernatorial elections while his wife was investigating Siegelman.
This US Attorney, Leura Canary, has claimed publicly time and time again that she had recused herself due to the conflict of interest. Time Magazine, however, uncovered emails from Canary to her team in which she detailed to day-to-day objectives of the prosecution.
As Siegelman was being investigated and prosecuted by Leura Canary, Karl Rove was actively running the Alabama gubernatorial campaign with Bill Canary for Siegelman’s opponent. In addition, he had clandestine meetings on street corners with Alabama GOP operatives.
Remember, that his business partner in Alabama is married to the US Attorney who prosecuted Siegelman while also acting as an advisor to Siegelman’s opponent in the election. All of this alone would be enough to throw Siegelman’s case out entirely. Why then is his case instead being pushed through with harsher terms?
Yet another remarkable development is the direct communication between the prosecutors and the jury, DURING jury deliberations. That raises questions of jury tampering and any such activities on the part of the prosecution usually result in a mistrial. The prosecutors not only engaged in this conduct, but failed to inform both the defense and the court. That alone should have been enough reason for throwing out Siegelman’s case entirely.
The judge in the case, Mark Fuller, claims to have investigated the issues and found no evidence of jury tampering. Yet despite having a long-standing grudge against Siegelman, Fuller did not recuse himself from the case.
More astounding are the allegations from Republican whistle-blower Dana Jill Simpson, who swore under oath that Fuller was selected/appointed to be a judge in order to “hang Siegelman.” She also testified that Rove was directly involved in Siegelman’s prosecution.
Why is this not enough to demand the DOJ’s full intervention as with the Stevens’ case?
These are but a few examples of the many issues around this case and the facts that are now well established and known. But let me provide you with one more example relating to this case that rather clearly illustrates that something is terribly wrong at the DOJ.
During the trial and sentencing, the targets of two allegedly political prosecutions – Siegelman being one –as well as their attorneys experienced 8 break-ins and two cases of arson.
Simpson, the whistle-blower in the Siegelman case, was another victim, having been run off the road by a former police officer and her house was set on fire. Yet no one has investigated for these series of crimes individually or collectively. Why?
The Watergate scandal began with a single break-in. Why is no one investigating these break-ins, arson, and other strange crimes that have plagued Siegelman, his attorney, and the whistle-blower in the case?
Now consider the news today that the DOJ is seeking a 20-year sentence for Siegelman against the backdrop of the above facts. Consider too that 54 former state Attorneys General of both parties filed several letters with the DOJ demanding a full investigation into the prosecution of Don Siegelman. What had initially gotten roughly 30 of them interested in the case was the extreme sentence imposed on Siegelman – a seven-year term. By the way, the number of former state Attorneys General of both parties demanding a full accounting in the Siegelman case is now 70.
Yet even after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals dropped two of the charges, Siegelman’s sentence appears to be growing rather than dwindling in the DOJ’s version of reality.
Why? Is this payback for embarrassing the DOJ? What possible reason could account for the prosecution seeking an unheard of 20-year prison term? Most importantly, why does the Obama DOJ appear to be covering up Bush administration crimes, including those against American citizens prosecuted for political reasons?
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If you are not familiar with the Siegelman case or the other cases of political prosecution, I urge you to read the links below and view snips from a new documentary. Incidentally, the producer/director of the documentary John McTiernan has now also been indicted. No, I am not joking.
;li'Part 1: Political Prisoner
Part 2: Siegelman's Daughter Speaks Out
Part 3: Running Elections from the White House
Part 4: Mississippi Prosecutions
Part 5: Interview with Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver E. Diaz, Jr.
Part 6: Break-Ins Plague Targets of Political Prosecutions
Part 7: Justice for Sale
Judge who denied Paul Minor's release protoge of Karl Rove
DOJ Investigating 2 US Attorneys in alleged political prosecutions
60 Minutes signal dropped in Alabama only during Siegelman portion
Interview with Dana Jill Simpson on Karl Rove's alleged smears
Karl Rove's next move: A Million Dollar House in Florida
Abramoff said he had agreement with White House aid regarding communications
Treasury Department investigating US Attorney for sharing private income tax returns of a case target
Project Save Justice:
GO TO LINK AT TOP FOR ACTIVE LINKS
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