The DOJ prosecuted attorney Geoffrey Feiger for allegedly reimbursing his employees for donations to candidate John Edwards a few years ago.
How about taking on a GOPer?
January 25, 5:49 AM, 2008 · No Comment · Previous · Next
A Political Prosecution Goes Under the Microscope
By Scott Horton
Has the Bush Justice Department used the criminal justice system to punish its political adversaries all across the country? As the countdown begins to the end of the Bush Administration, abuse of the criminal justice system is finally coming into focus.
Within the Justice Department itself, the Office of Professional Responsibility and the Inspector General are conducting a joint investigation into the case of the “Gonzales Eight,” namely the firing of eight U.S. attorneys on December 7, 2006. Preliminary inquiries by Congress produced the resignation in disgrace of most of the senior leadership of the Justice Department, including Attorney General Gonzales. Now we hear that Alberto Gonzales has “lawyered up” — for good reason. The internal probe will, I am told, demonstrate a stunning pattern of management of political prosecutions out of the White House. Karl Rove himself figures at the center of the process. And George W. Bush will put in more than a couple of key appearances in the process before this drama has been played out. The internal probe has already assembled explosive evidence of precisely this sort of abuse in its examination of the dismissal of New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. And the inquiry has barely begun to address the parallel facts in Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Las Vegas and Little Rock. I will be discussing all of this in much greater detail in a feature article which will appear in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned.
But let us shift the scene for a moment to the Detroit area. As I have noted many times, the far more troubling cases involve not the U.S. attorneys who were dismissed, but the U.S. attorneys who kept their jobs through a process of quiet participation in the political shenanigans which will be the hallmark of the Bush Justice Department. Last year a Justice Department source suggested I keep a close eye on the prosecution of Geoffrey Fieger, a high-flying trial lawyer associated with Democratic causes and campaigns, who became an object of ridicule and attack by George W. Bush personally. This helped make him into a “marked man.” The alleged crime–which gives rise to an allocation of millions of dollars in federal prosecutorial resources, and which most people will be very surprised to hear is a crime–comes from a simple set of facts. Fieger allegedly raised campaign money for presidential candidate John Edwards. When his own employees gave money, he allegedly gave them bonuses or other payments to reimburse them for their donations. Yes, if he did it, it would be illegal. Nothing to compare with the sort of violent crime which transpires almost every day in Iraq and Afghanistan, such as the gang rape of Jamie Leigh Jones, to which the Bush Justice Department turns a totally blind eye, of course. Still, I for one believe that it should be aggressively pursued—by the FEC, which usually levies strong fines for this sort of thing. But that’s not what happened here. And there’s one question everyone who’s looked at this case keeps in the back of his mind: if Fieger had been raising money for the Bush-Cheney campaign instead of a Democrat, would he have been investigated and prosecuted? The answer to that question is increasingly obvious.
Although nothing about the Fieger case is anywhere near what should happen in a criminal investigation, it does fit a nationwide pattern. When trial lawyers backing Democrats are involved, the mundane campaign finance review process is converted into a Holy Crusade of retribution. There are at least a half dozen cases like this one in which the same heavy-handed techniques are being used. This case has involved two attorneys general, dozens of FBI agents (one who says he was hauled back from Iraq to work on it), and a small army at the U.S. attorney’s office. Most observers who have taken a look at this case have come to the same conclusion that a Justice Department figure suggested to me: this is not a prosecution. It is a political vendetta. Its objective is not to enforce campaign finance rules, but rather to squelch fundraising by Democrats. It is an assault on the democratic process, driven by an abuse of the criminal justice system.
more...
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/01/hbc-90002241
= new reply since forum marked as read
