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Attorney firings may have been against the law (Four potential crimes)

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Hepburn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-19-07 09:27 PM
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Attorney firings may have been against the law (Four potential crimes)
...

Cohen writes that "It is illegal to lie to Congress" and to impede its getting information. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as well as Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and Gonzales' chief of staff Kyle Sampson are all under scrutiny for conflicting statements made to Congress.

Contacting prosecutors to influence or impede investigations is also a punishable crime, writes Cohen. Both Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) have been found to have contacted one of the fired U.S. attorneys, David Iglesias, in order to inquire about ongoing investigations.

The intimidation of Congressional wittnesses also violates the law, writes Cohen. One of the fired U.S. attorneys, H.E. Cummins, stated that he had been contacted and threatened with retaliation by McNulty's chief of staff.

Finally, the firings themselves may be punishable. "United States attorneys can be fired whenever a president wants, but not, as § 1512 (c) puts it, to corruptly obstruct, influence, or impede an official proceeding," writes Cohen. "Anyone involved in firing a United States attorney to obstruct or influence an official proceeding could have broken the law."

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Attorney_firings_may_have_been_against_0319.html

Four specific crimes are listed and IMO I agree that all four have a foundational basis.

Let's get this b*stards impeached!
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rumpel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-19-07 09:31 PM
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1. agree
high crimes and high times to impeach
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soothsayer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-19-07 09:39 PM
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2. how come ollie north could lie to congress without punishment?
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knight_of_the_star Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-19-07 09:45 PM
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3. He didn't get away with it
At least not until Poppy pardoned him.
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