CORRUPTION UPDATES 43
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Next Corruption Updates: Page 44
1) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE: AP, 3-23-07:
Ex-Deputy Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Case
By JOHN HEILPRIN
The Associated Press
Friday,
March 23, 2007; 3:57 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032300671_pf.html
WASHNINGTON -- Former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles on Friday became the highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, pleading guilty to obstructing justice by lying to a Senate committee.
The former No. 2 official in the Interior Department admitted in federal court that he lied to investigators about his relationship with convicted lobbyist Abramoff, who repeatedly sought Griles' intervention at Interior on behalf of Indian tribal clients.
Griles, an oil and gas lobbyist who became an architect of President Bush's energy policies, is the ninth person convicted in a continuing Justice Department probe.
Griles pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction, admitting in a plea agreement that he lied in testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Nov. 2, 2005, and during an earlier deposition with the panel's investigators on October 20, 2005.
Prosecutors recommended that Griles serve no more than a 10-month sentence _ the minimum they could seek under sentencing guidelines _ but only half of it in prison. The other five months would be in either a halfway house or under house arrest. The maximum sentence he could face is five years and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is set for June 26.
Second in rank only to Norton, Griles effectively was Interior's chief operating officer while at the agency between July 2001 and January 2005, and its top representative on Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force.
The AP reported in February that Wooldridge, who became the nation's environmental prosecutor in November 2005, bought a $980,000 vacation home last year with Griles and Donald R. Duncan, the top Washington lobbyist for ConocoPhillips. Nine months later, she signed an agreement giving the company more time to clean up air pollution at some of its refineries.
Abramoff directed his tribal clients to give $500,000 to Federici's Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy from March 2001 to May 2003, about the time when Griles and Federici ended their romantic relationship. They began dating in 1998.
Federici co-founded the advocacy council with Norton _ before Norton joined the Bush administration _ and with Grover Norquist, a conservative GOP activist, college friend of Abramoff and a close ally of Bush.
Abramoff also sent e-mails to aides about meetings with Griles that don't appear on Griles' office calendars. Federici and Abramoff regularly exchanged e-mails from 2001 through most of 2003, seeking meetings with Griles or favors from him. Griles routinely passed on departmental information to Federici, who passed it on to Abramoff, according to e-mails and other evidence obtained by the Senate committee.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Justice Department letting Political Crooks, Liars to Congress, Traitors off the Hook of Justice
As I had predicted, the Department of InJustice is trying to sweep the Abramoff Corruption Scandal under the carpet.
Very Short prison sentences are being sought by the Justice department for serious crimes against our government and Constitution.
Abramoff and Ney are going to be allowed to walk early, a reward from Justice department attorneys for not snitching.
Until we take bribery out of politics, politicians and their supporters will continue to be unpunished, and unpunishable criminals.
Corruption Updates 11, 5th article on page; Norquest and Reed, and a Rogues Gallery of Thieves, Consulting at White House while All Parties Worked for Abramoff”
Corruption Update 12, 1st article on page; "Political Corruption Infiltrates Interior Dept."
Corruption Update 15, 6th article on page; "Interior Department Web Porn and Shopping Spree"
Corruption Update 24, 4th article on page; "Big Oil Owns Interior Department"
Corruption Updates 26, 8th article on page: President Appoints Tainted Lobbyist/Interior Official to Fed Bench
Corruption Updates 29, 3rd article on page, "ENERGY LOBBYIST WHO WAS INTERIOR DEPT #2 TARGET IN ETHICS PROBE: ANOTHER LOBBYIST APPOINTED TO GOVERNMENT SUSPECTED OF BETRAYING PUBLIC TRUST WITH ABRAMOFF"
Corruption Updates 35, 6th article on page, "ARE FED PROSECUTORS GOING TO BUST OPEN CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION? IT LOOKS AS IF FEDS ARE GOING TO ACCEPT EASY PLEAS, LET THEM KEEP MONEY, AND KEEP SILENT"
Corruption Updates 42, 5th article on page, "Fed Attorney trying to Reduce Abramoff's Time: This is how Justice Dept. Lawyers keep their jobs in the Bush Administration
Corruption Updates 43 , 1st article on page, “Ex-Deputy Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Case"
Search the Corruption Database under
Abramoff
Griles
Lobbyists
2) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : Washington Post, 3-23-07:
E-Mails
Show Machinations to Replace Prosecutor
Administration
Worked for Months to Make Rove Aide U.S. Attorney in Arkansas
By Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein
Washington
Post Staff Writers
Friday, March 23, 2007; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032202266_pf.html
Two months before Bud Cummins was fired as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, a protege of presidential adviser Karl Rove was maneuvering with the Justice Department to take his place.
Last April, Tim Griffin, a Rove aide and longtime GOP operative, sent the attorney general's chief of staff a flattering letter about himself written by Cummins, the prosecutor he was trying to replace...
The e-mails show how D. Kyle Sampson, then the attorney general's chief of staff, and other Justice officials prepared to use a change in federal law to bypass input from Arkansas' two Democratic senators, who had expressed doubts about placing a former Republican National Committee operative in charge of a U.S. attorney's office. The evidence runs contrary to assurances from Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales that no such move had been planned.
...documents show that Cummins was clearly a target of Sampson's two-year effort to fire a group of U.S. attorneys who did not qualify as what he called "loyal Bushies." He was recommended for removal as early as March 2005.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
GONALES CAUGHT IN OPEN LIES TO CONGRESS
Is there anybody in this Administration who is not a confirmed, proven Liar? A long term plan to manipulate US Attorneys, by begriming partisan investigations against political enemies, and end corruption prosecutions against political friends, has emerged from the emails and testimony of Justice Officials.
This information proves that Gonzales and his staff lied openly, and intentionally, to Congress and the American people, in a pathetic attempt to cover their corrupt manipulations of our justice system.
Gonzales must be removed from any office of public trust. Bush must be impeached, and subsequently charged for his domestic and international crimes. This is our only path towards reestablishing our credibility.
The crimes of this Administration must be stopped now. The bribery and corruption which is the source of these crimes must be ended immediately. Our initiative is an excellent first attack on political corruption.
Join the Committee to end political bribery and help us restore our democratic rights in California.
Corruption Updates 34, 2nd article on page, “SCARY NEO-CON POLITICAL OPERATIVE REPLACES US ATTORNEY IN ARKANSAS”
Corruption Updates 37, 5th article on page, “Fired U.S. attorneys testify before Congress”
Corruption Updates 37, 6th article on page, “Republicans could face new ethics probes”
Corruption Updates 37, 7th article on page, “Keating case prompted intervention rules
Corruption Updates 38, 1st article on page, “Fired U.S. attorney's testimony raises broader concerns”
Corruption Updates 38, 5th article on page, “LA TIMES OFFERS BUSH POLITICAL COVER FOR FIRING PROSECUTOR OF DUKE CUNNINGHAM”
Corruption Updates 39, 3rd article on page, “Rove's role in firings is focus”
Corruption Updates 39, 4th article on page, “Fed Attny Firing Report:TRIBUNE CO HAS MADE LATIMES A TOOL”
Corruption Updates 39, 5th article on page, “GOP official urged Rove to fire prosecutor”
Corruption Updates 39, 6th article on page, “House panel expands inquiry into prosecutor firings”
Corruption Updates 39, 7th article on page, “Gonzales is urged to quit 'for the nation' ”
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Unconstitutional Presidential Power
3) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : Bee, 3-23-07:
State oil regulator had close ties to companies
Audit says findings 'discredited' state.
By Matt Weiser - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am
PDT Friday, March 23, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/111/v-print/story/142722.html
An oil and gas engineer at the state Department of Conservation could face thousands of dollars in fines and jail time for getting too cozy with oil companies he regulated, according to a probe by the state auditor released Thursday.
The employee, whose name was withheld, allegedly concealed stock holdings in numerous oil companies, which are not named in the report.
He also solicited donations from those companies for a charity where his wife worked, and failed to curtail his activities even after warnings from his supervisor.
The investigation found that the employee's supervisor failed to disclose his own stock holdings in regulated oil companies, and that one of those companies paid his way to events that the employee organized for his wife's charity.
The agency referred the case to the state attorney general for further investigation, which could bring civil or criminal charges.
Separately, the state auditor referred the case to the Fair Political Practices Commission for possible civil penalties.
The employee's actions may have violated the state Political Reform Act, which could result in thousands of dollars in fines and jail time.
Department director Bridgett Luther said during a news conference Thursday that concern first emerged when a local government official, also unnamed by the report, alerted the state to the unusual speed with which drilling permits were being approved.
The employee was granting permits within 24 hours instead of the usual four to five days.
In one case, the employee urged one company, in which he held stock, to rush any permit requests because other officials were growing concerned about environmental problems related to the company's activities.
The employee subsequently approved 24 new permits for the company in a three-day period.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Big Oil Never Sleeps
Yet another example of the power and influence big oil wields over politicians and government.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 1, 11th article on page, "BIG OIL OWNS OUR POLITICIANS"
Corruption Updates 24, 4th article on page, "BIG OIL OWNS INTERIOR DEPARTMENT"
Corruption Updates 26, 8th article on page, "PRESIDENT APPOINTS TAINTED LOBBYIST/INTERIOR OFFICIAL TO FEDERAL BENCH: INTERIOR DEPT CRONY OF SPECIAL INTERESTS TO DEFY LAW-HONOR FROM BENCH
Check out articles about Big Oil
Search the Corruption Database under
Big Oil
4) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : Washington Post, 3-24-07:
Gonzales
Met With Top Aides On Firings
Papers Appear to
Contradict Denial
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post
Staff Writer
Saturday, March 24, 2007; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301396_pf.html
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales met with senior aides on Nov. 27 to review a plan to fire a group of U.S. attorneys, according to documents released last night, a disclosure that contradicts Gonzales's previous statement that he was not involved in "any discussions" about the dismissals.
The hour-long November meeting in the attorney general's conference room included Gonzales, Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty and four other senior Justice officials, including the Gonzales aide who coordinated the firings, then-Chief of Staff D. Kyle Sampson, records show.
Sampson, who resigned March 12 after the discovery of e-mails contradicting assertions that the White House was not closely involved in the firings, may be the official best positioned to describe the roles top Justice and White House officials played in the ouster of the federal prosecutors.
The Justice Department also said yesterday that Monica Goodling, a senior counselor to Gonzales who worked closely with Sampson on the firings, took an indefinite personal leave from her job on Monday. A Justice official said that she is still employed there but that it is not clear when she will return.
Gonzales and other Justice Department officials have said that Sampson quit because he withheld information from other officials and Sampson's action may have led them to give misleading testimony before Congress. Sampson's attorney has disputed that characterization and has said that others in the Justice Department were fully aware of "several years" of discussions with the White House about dismissing the prosecutors.
The point is crucial because Justice officials said in previous statements and testimony that the White House was involved only tangentially, at the end of the process.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
See Corruption Updates article 2, above:
GONALES CAUGHT IN OPEN LIES TO CONGRESS
This article, above, focuses on the broad outlines of Gonzales' Lies about the US Attorney firings. Let's recap.
Gonzales, and his staff, lied in earlier testimony to Congress. This only came out in the emails, provoking Sampson's resignation. Sampson lied, and directed the lies of Gonzales until he was busted red-handed.
Gonzales now says it was Sampson who suborned Congress. If this is true, Gonzales should resign for losing control of his staff.
If Sampson was following orders from Gonzales, which seems likely, both Sampson and Gonzales should be charged with lying to Congress, and conspiring to lie to Congress.
Article Two, further above, reveals the internal machinations and details of the Command Level Decisions by Justice Department and White House leaders. Their plan was to fire US Attorneys who put their duty to the Constitution before loyalty to party.
Put together, these reports indicate Gonzales and the White House worked up a plan to use US Attorneys, and Federal Law, for partisan political purposes.
The depth and seriousness of this misuse of office requires the appointment of a special prosecutor with full power to investigate the polarization of all the executive branch agencies.
Also See:
See the Links at the bottom of Article Two, Above.
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5) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : LA Times3-25-07:
Firing of Nevada prosecutor Bogden sparks anger
Maybe the dismissal stemmed from an investigation of the governor, or insufficient attention to obscenity cases. Or maybe there was no good reason.
By Sam Howe Verhovek
Times
Staff Writer
March 25,
2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-bogden25mar25,1,156696,print.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
LAS VEGAS — When Daniel G. Bogden was named by President Bush to be the U.S. attorney for Nevada, it was the culmination of a career dream for a man steeped in public law.
(Then Gonzales fired him to "move the office in another direction" )
One theory is that the new direction might have taken the federal prosecutor's office away from a corruption probe into newly elected Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons' financial dealings with a federal contractor.
"I
was flabbergasted when I heard this," said Sen. John
Ensign, the powerful Republican who recommended Bogden, 51, a
declared political independent, for the post.
Ensign
said that the matter was "completely mishandled" by
the Bush administration and that "a very good man has been
wronged."
And
John L. Smith, a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal,
wrote recently: "Those looking for a good reason
for Bogden's ouster won't find one. In fact, his office is
credited with taking big risks by pursuing public corruption
cases — worthy work that in southern Nevada's
recent past often resulted in the vicious lambasting of federal
prosecutors and FBI agents."
During his tenure,
three former members of the Clark County Commission,
a powerful post here, were convicted of taking bribes
from a local strip-club owner.
The Gibbons
investigation, dating from his time in Congress, which
he left when he was elected governor in 2006, is continuing.
In an e-mail the contractor's wife sent her husband
before the couple took a Caribbean cruise with then-Rep. Gibbons
and his wife in March 2005, she said: "Please don't
forget to bring the money you promised Jim and Dawn."
The contractor replied, according to documents that have emerged
in the probe: "Don't you ever send
this kind of message to me! Erase this message from your
computer right now!" Gibbons denies any
wrongdoing in the matter.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Corruption Probe of Nevada Governor Ended by US Attorney Firing
Like Carol Lam, the fired US Attorney from San Diego, Bogden had dared to prosecute Republican Political Corruption.
In Bogden's case, he had the termitiy to investigate the tangled web of bribery and deceit that encases the newly elected governor of Nevada, Gov. Gibbons.
The depth of corruption Bush has achieved cannot be laid on his shoulders alone. Bush has built on generations of political corruption.
Each successive generation of Corporate Politicians has further eroded our democratic principals, allowing the subsequent generation greater freedom from democratic election and Constitutional check.
Now we stand at the precipice, our democracy and Constitutional rights no more than words on the winds of corruption blowing out of Washington.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 25, 8th article on page, “FBI CHIEF DEFYS CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT REFUSAL TO DISCLOSE ILLEGAL PROGRAM...”
Corruption
Updates 34, 2nd article on page, “SCARY
NEO-CON POLITICAL OPERATIVE REPLACES US ATTORNEY IN ARKANSAS”
Corruption Update 34, Jan., 31, 2006, 7th article on page, "ALBERTO
FIGHTS FOR UNCONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENTIAL POWERS"
Corruption Updates 35, 12th article on page, “DOMENICI FINALLY ADMITS TO UNETHICAL, IF NOT CRIMINAL, CONTACT WITH FEDERAL PROSECUTOR”
Corruption Updates 38, 1st article on page, “Fired U.S. attorney's testimony raises broader concerns”
Corruption Updates 38, 5th article on page, “LA TIMES OFFERS BUSH POLITICAL COVER FOR FIRING PROSECUTOR OF DUKE CUNNINGHAM”
Corruption Updates 39, 3rd article on page, “Rove's role in firings is focus”
Corruption Updates 39, 4th article on page, “Fed Attny Firing Report:TRIBUNE CO HAS MADE LATIMES A TOOL”
Corruption Updates 39, 5th article on page, “GOP official urged Rove to fire prosecutor”
Corruption Updates 39, 6th article on page, “House panel expands inquiry into prosecutor firings”
Corruption Updates 39, 7th article on page, “Gonzales is urged to quit 'for the nation'
Corruption Update 43 2nd article on the page, "GONALES CAUGHT IN OPEN LIES TO CONGRESS"
Read more articles About Abuse of the US Attorney
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Gonzales
6) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : AP, 3-26-07:
Bush impeachment on the table, Hagel says
From the Associated Press
March 26, 2007
WASHINGTON
— Some lawmakers who complain
that President Bush is flouting Congress and the public with his
Iraq policies are
considering impeachment an option, a Republican senator said
Sunday.
Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a member of the
Foreign Relations Committee and a frequent critic of the war,
stopped short of calling for Bush's impeachment.
But he
made clear that some lawmakers viewed that as an option should
Bush choose to push ahead despite public sentiment against the
war.
"Any president who says 'I don't care' or 'I
will not respond to what the people of this country are saying
about Iraq or anything else' or 'I don't care what the Congress
does, I am going to proceed' — if a president really
believes that, then there are … ways to deal with that,"
Hagel said on ABC's "This Week."
The White
House had no immediate reaction to Hagel's comments.
"You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment," Hagel told the magazine.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Hegel accuses Bush of Everything but High Crimes and Treason
Senator Hagel's tepid warning to Bush concerns "not listening" to "what the people...are saying about Iraq...or anything else," makes it sound as if impeachment proceedings resulted from a failed popularity contest, rather than a failed Presidency imploding into the fires of its own lies and crimes.
Maybe Hegel's correct. Maybe popular opinion is the only restraint on political office. If this is correct, our response to Bush's crimes will confirm or deny our country's legitimacy.
The legitimacy of our government hinges on Bush being impeached. Without impeachment, Bush's crimes of taking and using illegal, unconstitutional powers will become a precedent for future administrations.
If Bush is not impeached, it signals that Congress has failed, and the president is no longer held under Constitutional Restraint.
Hell, his election was funded by Corporate Special Interests, and his victory assured by electoral fraud and Judicial Corruption.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 16, 1st article on page, October 5, 2006, “BUSH TRAINING CONGRESS TO OBEDIENCE PROBLEM TEACHING THEM TO ROLL OVER WHEN THEY ARE ASLEEP”
Corruption Updates 22, 7th article on page, “Reid Threatens Bush with Oversight”
Corruption Updates 23, 4th article on page, “Bush Claims to Unlimited Power Contested”
Corruption Updates 23, 8th article on page, “Harmon Calls Wiretapping Illegal”
Corruption Updates 23, 9th article on page, NYTIMES, 12-3-06: “TIMES SOFTPEDALS PRESIDENTIAL WAR CRIMES AND DOMESTIC CRIMES. LEAVE IT TO THE TIMES TO PUT LIPSTICK ON PIGS”
Corruption Updates 25, 2nd article on page, December 8, 2006, “GOP senator says war may be 'criminal'”
Corruption Updates 25, 7th article on page, 12-6-06, “Italy Seeks Indictments of C.I.A. Operatives in Egyptian’s Abduction”
Corruption Updates 25, 8th article on page, 12-6-06, “Senators rap FBI over domestic spying”
Corruption Updates 31, 1st article on page, 1-17-07, “AG criticizes judges for terror rulings”
Corruption Updates 31, 2nd and 3rd articles on page, “Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Indefensible,” and “A Bush appointee's crude gambit on detainees' legal rights”
Corruption Updates 31, 6th article on page, 1-17-07, “Secret Court to Govern Warrantless Taps”
Corruption Updates 31, 7th article on page, 1-19-07, “Pentagon Revises Its Rules on Prosecution of Terrorists”
Corruption Updates 31, 8th article on page, 1-19-07, “Pentagon sets rules for detainee trials”
Corruption
Updates 43 , 6th article on page, "Hegel
accuses Bush of Everything but High Crimes and Treason"
Search the Corruption Database under
Executive Branch Officials
Unconstitutional Presidential Powers
7) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : NY Times, 3-26-07:
The Circular Firing Squad in California
By DAVID CARR NYT, march 26 07
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/26/business/media/26carr.html?
Reporting on the contretemps at The Los Angeles Times last week brings to mind a scene in which you come upon a sinking vessel and see people scrambling everywhere. And then you realize they are not looking for buckets, but guns.
Since the Tribune Company acquired The Los Angeles Times in 2000, there have been a series of mutinies at the newspaper, with John Carroll leaving as editor after refusing to make cuts and then a publisher, Jeffrey M. Johnson, and Mr. Carroll’s successor as editor, Dean Baquet, being ousted after declining to make further cuts.
And when Mr. Martinez took over as editorial page editor, he reported directly to the publisher, and not to the editor as his predecessors had — a change that exacerbated tension between the news and opinion sides of the paper.
Where one sits on the fault line depends on where one sits in the building. On the second floor, where the opinion pages reside, people argued that a witch-hunting group of reporters had found and exploited a nonmaterial conflict. Reporters in the third-floor newsroom suggested that a rogue editorial operation had come dangerously close to colluding with the entertainment business, based on inappropriate personal relationships.
Mr. Mayer : “This is about an extremely toxic relationship newspaper between the newsroom and the editorial pages that is destroying what could and should be a great newspaper,”
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
LA Times: Looks Like the Hindenberg is Burning
Since the firing of the Time's independent Editors and a Publisher, The Times has lost a bit of its edge.
Indications are the newsroom is pissed-off, and the Tribune Team is moving the paper towards the "Katie Couric" stlye of reporting; "Hi, everything's fine with America. Go shopping. The latest movie is So Good."
Did anyone see Curic's Superbowl commercials? They went something like this: "Hi everybody. People are saying bad things about America. CBS news will report the good news about America." What a whore.
Now, The Times has a whiff of the Katie about it, and the percentage of incisive, hard-hitting articles has declined noticeably.
Also
See:
Corruption Updates
16, 7th article on page, "Times
Publisher Johnson Forced Out"
Reports on the Free Press
Search the Corruption Database under
Media
8) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE : Washington Post, 3-26-07:
Gonzales's Senior Counselor Refuses to Testify
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post
Staff Writer
Monday, March 26, 2007; 6:40 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600935_pf.html
The senior counselor to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales will refuse to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the unfolding U.S. attorneys scandal, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, her attorneys said today.
Monica M. Goodling -- who is on an indefinite leave of absence from Gonzales's office -- also said that at least one senior Justice Department official blames her for failing to fully brief him prior to a Senate appearance, leading to "less than candid" testimony.
The reference is to Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty, who told the Senate Judiciary Committee in early February that most of the prosecutors were fired for "performance-related" reasons."
The American people are left to wonder what conduct is at the base of Ms. Goodling's concern that she may incriminate herself in connection with criminal charges if she appears before the committee under oath," Leahy said.
New documents released last week also showed that Gonzales was more closely involved than he had acknowledged, fueling calls for his resignation.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Justice Department Lawyer Taking the 5th over Lying to Congress, Political Manipulation of US Attorneys
Let's face it: Everything Bush and his underlings touch turns to crap. The list of corrupted agencies is extensive. Starting with the costs of War, Bush has trashed the Army, the Pentagon, our treasury, and our honor.
The CIA has no credibility. The Interior Department is a branch of Big Oil. The Forest Service, NASA, and NOAA have worked hard to kill or censor science and scientists.The FDA, and EPA have been gutted by Corporate special interests, producing dangerous drugs and Environmental standards fit for Venus.
The Department of Transportation is run by the trucking lobby, and they are bringing death to our highways to make a few more bucks. The GSA has a self-dealing political tool in command. The Justice Department is no more than a cover for the crimes of this administration, their bribers, and their political allies.
This circumstance is not the product of an isolated Administration, but the product of decades of systematic political corruption. Our Country is democratic in name only.
The source of this corruption is the replacement of democracy by the open bribery that funds both parties.It is time for true patriots to rise above selfish self interest, and party politics to reform our democracy.
Also See
Read more articles About Abuse of the US Attorney
Search the Corruption Database under
Gonzales
US AttorneyKilling
Safety Regulations
Killing Market Regulations
Unconstitutional Presidential Power
9) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Washington Post, 3-26-07:
GSA
Chief Is Accused of Playing Politics
Doan Denies
'Improper' Use of Agency for GOP
By Scott Higham and Robert O'Harrow
Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, March 26, 2007;
A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/25/AR2007032501048_pf.html
Witnesses have told congressional investigators that the chief of the General Services Administration and a deputy in Karl Rove's political affairs office at the White House joined in a videoconference earlier this year with top GSA political appointees, who discussed ways to help Republican candidates.
With GSA Administrator Lurita Alexis Doan and up to 40 regional administrators on hand, J. Scott Jennings, the White House's deputy director of political affairs, gave a PowerPoint presentation on Jan. 26 of polling data about the 2006 elections.
When Jennings concluded his presentation to the GSA political appointees, Doan allegedly asked them how they could "help 'our candidates' in the next elections..."On Wednesday, Doan is scheduled to appear before Waxman's committee to answer questions about the videoconference and other issues. The committee is investigating whether remarks made during the videoconference violated the Hatch Act, a federal law that restricts executive-branch employees from using their positions for political purposes.
The committee is also expected to question Doan about her attempt to give a no-bid job to a friend and professional associate last summer. In addition, the committee plans to look at Waxman's charge that Doan "intervened" in a troubled technology contract with Sun Microsystems that could cost taxpayers millions more than necessary.
Waxman's investigation began in response to a Jan. 19 story in The Washington Post about a no-bid job Doan tried to give to firms run by Edie Fraser, a veteran Washington public relations executive who had served as a paid consultant to Doan. Waxman's investigators concluded that the two women had "a long-standing business relationship" that was not "previously disclosed," according to Waxman's letter.
On July 25, two months after Doan took office, she took the unusual step of personally signing the no-bid arrangement with Diversity Best Practices and Business Women's Network, firms then run by Fraser, to produce a report about GSA's use of businesses owned by minorities or women. The GSA's general counsel at the time, Alan R. Swendiman, told Waxman's investigators he was "alarmed" that the project was not competitively bid.
But Swendiman, now a special assistant to President Bush, told Waxman's investigators that he "immediately and repeatedly" advised Doan to terminate the arrangement. When he was unable to persuade her, Swendiman directed a GSA contracting officer to terminate the arrangement. The investigators found evidence indicating that Doan continued to try to find ways to award the project to her friend.
Waxman's committee also plans to question Doan about her alleged involvement last year in a technology contract with Sun Microsystems. Two GSA contracting officers had balked at renewing the deal, citing findings by the GSA's inspector general that Sun was allegedly overcharging taxpayers, not giving discounts to the government that were made available to private companies.
Waxman's letter alleged that Doan "intervened" in the matter and that she suggested one of the contracting officers was too "stressed" and might be replaced. Days later, the agency brought in a new contracting officer, who approved the deal within two weeks.
"The allegations alone should have been a showstopper, but they instead chose to turn a blind eye, failed to take corrective action, and allowed a bad contract to move forward that will cost taxpayers millions of dollars," Grassley said. "It's unacceptable."
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
GSA Chief on Hot Seat for Corruption, lack of Ethics, and Political use of Office
Also See:
Corruption Updates 33, 8th article on page, "GSA HEAD CHEATS LIKE THE THIEVES SHE IS SUPPOSED TO REGULATE"
Also See, Quick note on Doan's behavior in
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10) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Washington Post, 3-26-07:
Ex-Prosecutor Says He Faced Partisan Questions Before Firing
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post
Staff Writer
Monday, March 26, 2007; A03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/AR2007032401122_pf.html
One of the eight former U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration said yesterday that White House officials questioned his performance in highly partisan political terms at a meeting in Washington in September, three months before his dismissal.
John McKay of Washington state, who had decided two years earlier not to bring voter fraud charges that could have undermined a Democratic victory in a closely fought gubernatorial race, said White House counsel Harriet Miers and her deputy, William Kelley, "asked me why Republicans in the state of Washington would be angry with me."
He added that he took umbrage at the idea that he had other responsibilities beyond focusing "on the evidence and not allow[ing] politics into the work that we do in criminal prosecutions." Those involved in the scandal over the firings who acted unprofessionally "or even illegally" must be held accountable for what they did, he said.
McKay's disclosure of an explicit White House question about the damage his decision caused to his standing among party loyalists added new detail to his previous statement that Miers accused him of having "mishandled" the voter fraud inquiry.
Iglesias, a Republican, also said that "right now, I've got serious doubts" about the integrity and leadership of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Honest Republicans getting FED UP with White House Corruptions
The scandals and corruptions of this administration are a clarion call to Honest Republicans to heed the call of democracy, and rid our body politic of the bribery and corruption infecting us.
To the Dems, this crisis is a call to go beyond petty politics, and strike at the root of the bribery infecting both parties.
It
is past time to form committees for democracy across our state,
and seize our government back from the greedy and corrupt
political culture which has captured our country, destroyed our Constitution, and stolen all the wealth they can.
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CORRUPTION UPDATES 43
March 23rd to March 26th, 2007: