Justice Dept. accused of blocking Gonzales probe

[Octafish]

Here's an important story ABCNNBCBSFauxNoiseNutwork find difficult to tell:

How Gonzalez and Bushco are getting away with corruption and obstruction of justice by claiming the U.S. attorney firings are mere political decisions.

Justice Dept. accused of blocking Gonzales probe

Office of Special Counsel chief says his investigation into alleged politicization of the attorney general's agency has been repeatedly 'impeded.'

By Richard B. Schmitt and Tom Hamburger
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
January 29, 2008



Scott J. Bloch, who runs the federal Office of Special Counsel, testifies on Capitol Hill in February, 2007. Bloch maintains the Justice Department blocked his investigation by refusing to share documents and provide answers to written questions.

WASHINGTON -- The government agency that enforces one of the principal laws aimed at keeping politics out of the civil service has accused the Justice Department of blocking its investigation into alleged politicizing of the department under former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales.

Scott J. Bloch, head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, wrote Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey last week that the department had repeatedly "impeded" his investigation by refusing to share documents and provide answers to written questions, according to a copy of Bloch's letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

The Justice Department wants Bloch to wait until its own internal investigation is completed. A department official signaled recently that the investigation is examining the possibility of criminal charges.

But that, the regulator wrote, could take until the last months of the Bush administration, "when there is little hope of any corrective measures or discipline possible" being taken by his office.

Bloch's allegations show how the controversy, which mostly focused on the dismissals of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006, continues to boil inside government.

SNIP...

He said that he had asked Justice officials on several occasions for access to documents and other evidence and that he had been repeatedly rebuffed.

CONTINUED...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-probe29jan29,1,1914657.story

The U.S. Gonzo and Smirko fired were doing their jobs -- enforcing the law. The turds they like, however, go after law-abiding Democrats and ignore criminality by Republicans. Don Sigelman and Jerry Lewis being two examples.

The truth will bell their evil cat.

[sam sarrha]

1. his suit doesn't fit... probably didn't own one before his appointment

[Octafish]

3. “Nine Fingers” and the Third Man

Like Duke Cunningham and Jerry Lewis in Congress, Dusty Foggo and Porter Goss at CIA were positioned to empty the trough.

“Nine Fingers” and the Third Man

DEPARTMENT Washington Babylon
BY Ken Silverstein
PUBLISHED May 9, 2006

Justin Rood at TPM Muckraker posted an interesting story yesterday, explaining why the Bush Administration’s explanation for Porter Goss’s sudden departure from the CIA looks increasingly lame. Here’s another piece of evidence suggesting that the CIA chief’s dismissal was wholly unexpected: one of Goss’s top aides traveled to Iraq just days before his boss was let go and had absolutely no idea of what was coming down the pike. “The turf-battle line is purely a cover story,” said a former CIA official I spoke with. “The reason they had to act now was because they were scared about what’s going to come out about .”

Goss has no direct role in the Cunningham affair, at least nothing that has been definitively reported, but several key people close to him do. They include Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, whom Goss had picked to fill the number-three slot at the CIA and who resigned yesterday, and Brant Bassett (nickname “Nine Fingers”), previously a CIA official and senior staffer on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence when Goss was chairman.

Foggo is closely tied to Brent Wilkes, the San Diego defense contractor who is alleged to have bribed Cunningham and provided him with prostitutes. Foggo has admitted he was at some of Wilkes’s now-infamous parties at Washington hotels—though he denies any knowledge of the prostitutes—and the CIA and law enforcement authorities are carefully examining his relationship with the defense contractor. Newsweek has reported that Foggo, Cunningham, and Bassett/“Nine Fingers” attended a Wilkes poker party at the Westin Grand Hotel.

I’ve learned that Bassett’s role in the broader story may be more involved than that. Two former CIA officers told me that Foggo, Bassett, and a third man—a CIA official close to Goss, whose name I learned but am withholding because he remains undercover—have been friends for years and worked together overseas. According to these two sources, Bassett and the undercover officer (whom Goss brought up to the 7th Floor at Langley when he took over the CIA) positioned Foggo to be picked by Goss for the number-three slot.

Perhaps more importantly, I’m told that Bassett, like Foggo, has connections to Wilkes. Bassett was born in 1949 and raised in the San Diego area (home turf to Wilkes, Foggo, and several other players in the Cunningham affair), where he attended Escondido High School. According to two sources, Bassett and Wilkes know each other and have ties that go beyond the merely social. Bassett has been deployed by the CIA to various overseas assignments and has seen duty in Mexico and Germany, among other places; he previously used State Department and United States Information Agency cover.

Foggo, said my sources, is considered a competent administrator, if not a shining star. “He’s a great logistics guy,” one former intelligence official told me. “He makes the trains run on time. If you need something delivered to Afghanistan, he can make it happen.” But Foggo has apparently gotten into personal trouble at the agency on a few occasions (see Jason Vest’s April 28 post at the POGO blog, which refers to those matters), and one important, not-yet-answered question is: why would Goss name Foggo, a man whom he knew to have a checkered past, to such a high position at the CIA?

CONTINUED w LINKS...

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2006/05/sb-ninefingers-and-third-2308948203

Gee. No wonder DoJ is dragging their feet. The man whom they serve at his pleasure is nothing better than a crook.

I know the feeling. I'm a fat guy, too, and my sleeves stick out.

Heh heh heh. I keep telling myself to eat less and exercise more.

[KharmaTrain]

2. Bloch Is No Hero...He's A Whitewasher...

He's a political appointee who loves to see his name in the newspapers. But he has zero authority other than to write reports and tell his bosses how "bad" they are. While its amusing to see him encountering problems in getting answers, I smell a false flag operation going on here...creating a diversion from the real investigations...ones with real legal teeth.

Of course the corporate media has troubles with this story...it's one they can't manipulate or frame to their advantage. Now if it were a sex scandal, they'd be all over it like white on rice. Hell...these village idiots can't even say the word "lie" about this regime...like it's some nuclear word they're afraid to use...or to admit they were used.

There are several court cases being brought by the fired attorneys that may be the ultimate salvation here. Because they're outside the beltway, they won't be under the same political pressures and won't put up with the stonewalling like the politicians and the corporate media do.

[Octafish]

4. Firing the Foggo Prosecutor: Sacked U.S. Attorney Bags CIA Official

Agree about the whitesashing speciality. Disagree re the court cases. Even if their cases aren't tossed by SCOTUS, I don't believe the fired attorneys can get to the bottom of things in court. Only Congress can investigate fully. And, so far, the Leadership has shown zero interest in the case.

For those new to the subject:

Firing the Foggo Prosecutor: Sacked U.S. Attorney Bags CIA Official

By Scott Lilly
February 14, 2007
AmericanProgress.org

Two days before giving up her position as the U.S. Attorney for San Diego, Carol Lam won indictments against a former top official in the Central Intelligence Agency and a California businessman who was a top contributor to the Bush 2004 reelection campaign. The Justice Department says she is being asked to step down because of “performance-related” issues.

Last year, Lam convicted Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) of tax evasion, conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, and wire fraud. In his plea agreement he admitted to accepting $2.4 million in bribes, making his case many times larger than the next biggest public corruption case in the history of the country.

Also convicted last year as a result of Lam’s efforts was Mitchell Wade, a major defense contractor. Wade plead guilty to bribing Cunningham as well as corrupting officials at the U.S. Department of Defense and to election fraud.

What is disturbing about Lam’s departure is not simply that her efforts seemed to have been judged unfairly but that she is being forced to leave behind so much of the work that she started. Not only must the prosecution of former CIA official Kyle “Dusty” Foggo and businessman Brent Wilkes be placed in the hands of someone else, but investigation of numerous remaining questions will also fall to her successor.

Foggo, who was indicted yesterday, had languished for years as a mid-level bureaucrat passed over by supervisors who viewed him as ethically challenged and prone to poor judgment. When President Bush asked Congress to approve Porter Goss to replace George Tenet as Director of CIA, Goss brought with him long-time associate Patrick Murray, whom President Bush had previously appointed as Associate Deputy Attorney General.

Between the two of them, they conducted a major house cleaning of senior agency personnel and to the amazement of almost everyone, elevated Foggo from running a logistics shop in Germany to becoming Executive Director of the CIA, the No. 3 position in the agency and the office charged with not only running day-to-day operations but also with responsibility for all agency contracts and procurements. The crimes that Foggo is alleged to have committed had already occurred when he became Executive Director.

CONTINUED...

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/02/foggo.html

I won't hold my breath waiting for the day Corporate McPravda starts investigating the BFEE. That's why DU is so important.

[KharmaTrain]

5. We Agree On That...Our Biggest Job Is Ahead...Accountability

A year ago, I remember Henry Waxman saying his problem wasn't where to find the criminality, it was where to start. The man's plate is overloaded now and he's faced with a regime that obstructs and stonewalls every step of the way. I'm very frustrated at how long things are taking and how tepid Democrats have been in going after this regime, but there's also the knowledge that as long as this regime is in power it will use all its weapons to obstruct any and all investigations...and we know they won't hesitate to pardon.

In some ways I don't think real justice can't start until after 1-20-09. As frustrating as that is, it may be the best chance to bring a lot of the criminality to light and, providing we have a Democratic administration and majorities in both Houses, the investigations can move forward in concert with criminal cases. I also expect that once the boooosh regime is removed, there'll be an attitude change in the country and this could also demand for accountability for a lot of the things that have occured over the past 7 years...or at least that's my hope.

We have a lot of puzzle pieces out there that still need to be put together and done with solid evidence...things that won't get done while this regime is still around. Our job is to prevent another repugnican administration from coming in to continue the stonewall and then to demand...with millions of others...for answers and justice for all the crimes the booosh regime and its repugnican enablers have created. And this also includes pushing for the World Court to act.

[msongs]

6. democrats in congress are afraid of george w bush and will do nothing, as usual nt

[Octafish]

7. Carol Lam's Firing Clearly Obstruction of Justice

Weird how our friends keep... rolling over. Perhaps ESCHALON got the goods on all of them. IMFO, it's more likely their families have been threatened by Warmonkey and his supporters.

Here's an excellent summary of the case:

Carol Lam's Firing Clearly Obstruction of Justice

Joseph A. Palermo
Posted March 29, 2007 | 06:57 PM (EST)

After hearing Kyle Sampson, who was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's chief of staff, testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, it is clear that top officials of the Justice Department obstructed justice. Carol Lam, the Yale and Stanford educated former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, was abruptly given the axe because she had stumbled upon the old boys' network, and began prosecuting people George W. Bush didn't want to see prosecuted.

First, Ms. Lam, a Republican, secured a conviction against former California Representative, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the high-flying and completely corrupt defense contract profiteer. The "Duke" was handed an eight-year, four-month prison sentence, the longest one ever meted out to a former member of Congress.

Then Ms. Lam caught the trail of two well-connected associates of Cunningham's, Brent Wilkes and his old high-school buddy, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. Wilkes had been the Bush/Cheney finance co-chairman for California, and was also involved in the Arnold Schwarzenegger campaign. Wilkes paid off Cunningham with $2.4 million to help his company secure over $80 million in Pentagon contracts. "Dusty" Foggo was the third-ranking official of the CIA under the directorship of Porter Goss, who also abruptly resigned his post when Cunningham got in trouble. Dusty Foggo helped Wilkes score lucrative contracts for the CIA, and he was charged with fraud in the Cunningham case.

As soon as U.S. Attorney Lam began to secure search warrants against Wilkes and Foggo, Gonzales had her fired. The Attorney General's office initially claimed Ms. Lam was terminated for "performance" reasons, but that was dismissed as ludicrous by anyone remotely familiar with her superlative work. Then the DOJ said she was axed because she didn't pursue immigration cases vigorously, which also proved to be false.

SNIP...

Another reason for this blatant obstruction of justice in the Wilkes-Foggo case might be related to the activities of Wilkes' company, the Shirlington Limousine and Transportation Service of Virginia. This limousine service was providing more than just transportation for Dusty, Duke, and their buddies. It has been alleged that Wilkes' company provided high-priced prostitutes to satisfy the carnal pleasures of Cunningham and his well-connected defense and CIA-contractor pals on the taxpayer's dime. The boys at Justice might have fired Lam, not only to protect their colleagues' kickbacks, but to block the exposure of a full-throttle sex scandal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/carol-lams-firing-clearl_b_44568.html

Bleet. Bleet. Bleet.

No more silence of the lambs or sheep or whatever.