THIS is why Bush doesn't want Rove under oath.

[Fridays Child]

Karl's fingerprints are all over this clear obstruction of justice:

US attorney's demotion halted probe of lobbyist
By Walter F. Roche Jr., Los Angeles Times | August 8, 2005

WASHINGTON -- A US grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor, and the probe ended soon after.

snip

In 2002, Abramoff was retained by the Superior Court in what was an unusual arrangement for a public agency. The Los Angeles Times reported in May that Abramoff was paid with a series of $9,000 checks funneled through a Laguna Beach, Calif., lawyer to disguise the lobbyist's role working for the Guam court. No separate contract was authorized for Abramoff's work.

snip

The transactions were the target of a grand jury subpoena issued Nov. 18, 2002, according to the subpoena. It demanded that Anthony Sanchez, administrative director of the Guam Superior Court, turn over all records involving the lobbying contract, including bills and payments.

A day later, the chief prosecutor, US Attorney Frederick A. Black, who had launched the investigation, was demoted. A White House news release announced that Bush was replacing Black.

snip

His replacement, Leonardo Rapadas, was confirmed in May 2003 without any debate. Rapadas had been recommended for the job by the Guam Republican Party. Fred Radewagen, a lobbyist who had been under contract to the Gutierrez administration, said he carried that recommendation to top Bush aide Karl Rove in early 2003.



http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/08/bush_removal_ended_guam_investigation/

[TomInTib]

1. And that is just one instance in a string of many.

I hope the Dems raise hell about this and never, ever stop.


Oh, well, one can dream.

Right?

[Fridays Child]

2. The networks are already piling on the Dems and just sucking up Bush's...

...crap about show trials, fishing expeditions, etc. And, regarding the document dump (or, as Bush so cynically called it, "an extraordinary level of disclosure of an internal agency in White House communications"), is any of it related to the Guam-Abramoff case or is it all in reference to the 2005 firings?

[TomInTib]

3. The dump is related to the recent "resignations".

I hope the Judiciary Committee looks into this one.

[Fridays Child]

9. It needs to come up on Keith Olbermann.

Tweety has already made it clear whose side he's on in this matter. He's back to licking Bush's ass, big time. And it's not surprising that he wouldn't want to touch the Abramoff angle, considering he told Tom DeLay he "owed him," not quite a year ago.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harry-shearer/found-object-delay-on-ha_b_18506.html

[WinkyDink]

13. And TDL is going to be on Tweety's show tomorrow, I think.

[Cha]

4. The networks are so

blatantly hiding bush's, rove's, & gonza's role in these firings of the bush appointed USAttorneys..what are they AFRAID OF?

[Fridays Child]

20. That's a good question!

Does the press have a dog in this hunt, beyond the obvious corporate money trail that leads to the GOP, as it always has?

[Vincardog]

49. corporate money OWNES the GOP as well as the DLC and faux 'moderate' Democrats

The Corporate Controlled Media is afraid we will find out they they are owned and working for the privileged reich wing nutz against our interests.

[robinlynne]

16. most of the pages are duplicates. at least 50%.

[bleever]

7. More than just a dream now.

Well within reach.

:thumbsup:

[Patsy Stone]

33. BTW -- Remember...

Where there's Rove and Abramoff, you're bound to find Skybox Susie.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100600965.html

"A congressional report showed last week that Ralston accepted sometimes-pricey tickets to nine sports and entertainment events from Abramoff while she provided him with inside White House information."

<snip>

"On Oct. 21, 2001, Ralston e-mailed Abramoff that Rove had read an Abramoff memo about a political endorsement in the Mariana Islands governor's race, a little-noticed election but one important to Abramoff because he had lucrative clients there. Ralston reported to Abramoff that Rove had agreed, writing the next day: 'You win :).'"

[bleever]

35. Complete with smilie.

Probably a nice girl, but boy did SHE fall in with the wrong crowd.

[Patsy Stone]

47. Undermining democracy

and blind allegiance to a criminal regime isn't good for the complexion. Poor Susan.

The only thing that article was missing (as evidenced by said smiley face) was a picture of Abramoff with Karl's testicles in his hand.

[donkeyotay]

42. I like the way these 2 paragraphs fall together. There's plausible deniability

that bush and abramoff didn't know each other, but Ralston was a special assistant to the president:

She leaves without any animosity from us," said White House counselor Dan Bartlett. "She's been a tireless worker for the president, and we will be sad to see her leave."

As a former Abramoff assistant, Ralston played intermediary between the lobbyist and Rove. The congressional report found 66 Abramoff contacts with the White House, more than half of them with Ralston. In addition, Abramoff's lobbying colleagues contacted Ralston 69 times.

[TomInTib]

5. Here's another one for you.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070321/ap_on_go_co/fired_prosecutors_yang

[Fridays Child]

10. It just keeps getting worse.

[Patsy Stone]

18. Thanks for that.

I was wondered what her connection was last night. I knew she'd resigned and gone private, but I couldn't figure out why such a loyal Bushie would leave. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=452264&mesg_id=453134

[TomInTib]

21. Pretty interesting, eh?

These bastards never give up.

[Supersedeas]

43. thanks for the link

[donkeyotay]

44. Good grief. It seems like it should be illegal. It sure looks bad.

About five months before Yang's departure, her office had opened an investigation into ties between Rep. Jerry Lewis (news, bio, voting record), R-Calif., and a lobbyist. Gibson Dunn, the firm that hired her, is also the firm where Lewis' legal team works, but government rules required that she step aside in that case or any other she was involved with while a government prosecutor.

[IWantAChange]

50. Didn't she receive a huge 'signing bonus' despite bring no clients to the firm?

[donkeyotay]

52. $1.5 million. She's co-chairing their "crisis management practice group"

with Theodore B. Olson. She was on Bush's task force on corporate crime.

Unbelievable. At this rate the peasants will lose confidence in the rule of law. I know I have.

[Recursion]

6. No, that's really not it, IMO

I really don't think being under oath holds any special sway for Rove or Gonzales or Rice or Bush. I don't think they're hesitate to lie under oath any more than they hesitated to lie not under oath. I think the reason * is against swearing in is because he thinks it makes him look weak.

[Tigress DEM]

11. He's objecting because subpeonas are enforced by ATTY General.

He has an ace in the hole with Assistant Atty General John Negroponte who is a slimball that makes Gonzales look like a little girl scout selling year old cookies.

[Fridays Child]

17. There may be multiple reasons for Bush to turn this into a pissing match.

Among them is the White House's fear of key insiders being under oath. For all of Bush's swagger he does not want Rove or any of his other flying monkeys to face perjury charges.

[donkeyotay]

45. It's also an effective distraction from the investigation and obstruction. nt

[Tansy_Gold]

36. "It makes him look weak." You've got a good point there.

I think we need to remember that appearances -- some might prefer the term "illusions" -- are very important to the boooooosh/cheeeeeeeney administration. We know it's all smoke and mirrors, but that 25-30% base of true believers (plus, of course, the 1% of have-too-muches) needs those all-important illusions: the illusion of electoral victory, the illusion of democracy, the illusion of justice, the illusion of WMDs, and the list goes on.

But it's also the deep-down-beyond-denial fear that, like most bullies, they have about having the truth revealed: If they give in on one issue, if they admit to being wrong about one decision, then they fear they will be perceived as having admitted to being wrong on others, even ALL others. Theirs truly is a house of cards: remove one, and the whole thing comes tumbling down.

People -- and governments -- that are secure in the rightness of their decisions will almost always WELCOME inquiry and investigation, because they believe they will either be proven correct or they will learn about the errors that keep them from being correct so that they can fix them and THEN be correct. On the other hand, people -- and governments -- that are only secure in the RIGHTEOUSNESS of their decisions will almost always FEAR any inquiry.

Guess which one we got now?

TG

[goforit]

8. 1st question I would ask Karl Rove....Did you murder Carnahan and Welstone?

Why would I ask that????

He ran Asscroft's campaign for two terms!!!

And when the polls showed Carnahan ahead....Carnahan was taken out!!!

Was Welstone a stumbling block to the mantra of the PNAC????......Hell yah!!!

Both mysteriously died in plane crashes!!!

[Tigress DEM]

14. 2nd Question -- Did you personally fire the pulse generator at New Orleans and breach the levys

Or did you just keep turning all the TVs off so Bush could pretend not to know about an entire city going under?

WWWD?

[Seabiscuit]

40. 3rd question: Did you murder JFK, Jr.?

[heatstreak]

12. Dayum, nail these bastards to the wall!

[Generic Brad]

25. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[NastyRiffraff]

15. OMG, that's IT!

That's what's been nagging me in the back of my mind ever since I heard about Carol Lam. I had forgotten about Black being demoted, or fired. (I have a memory like a sieve).

As for Rove, I agree that he wouldn't hesitate to lie to Congress, but I want to see him squirm.

[Patsy Stone]

19. Maybe Mr. Black

should testify? I'm sure he has a few things to say.

ed: to include Raw Story link from 2003. Conyers had already noticed it might be political. http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Guam_envoy_to_Congress_calls_for_Abramoff_investiga_0823.html

[EndElectoral]

22. Does anyone think Rove woudl tell the truth under oath? He doesn't know the meaning of the word.

[Fridays Child]

24. He could be arrogant enough to think he won't get caught perjuring himself...

...but those advising Bush to fight the subpeonas may not be so sure.

[DearAbby]

26. Isn't this the same guy

who had to go before the Fitzgerald grand jury an unprecedented five times? Rove has a problem with testifying under oath...that has already been proven.

Why would we believe these people anyway...under oath or not?

[BuyingThyme]

23. Isn't Guam in Sununu's USA's jurisdiction?

[Fridays Child]

27. That I don't know.

But Sununu is in favor of Gonzo's resignation, I think.

[BuyingThyme]

29. My theory is that all of the Pukes calling for Gonzo's resignation

have something to hide. (Like inappropriate telephone calls to USA's.)

Once Gonzo is out, the heat may be turned down.

[BuyingThyme]

30. Oh, I got it. It's Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands which

are in the same USA jurisdiction.

Remember? Sweat shops? Tom Delay? Sex trade? Minimum wage not?

That's where this goes, to the Northern Mariana Islands.

[UpInArms]

28. here's the background:

July 5, 2006

That access came in handy. Abramoff used it when he set out to "get rid of Fred Black," the pesky US Attorney for Guam and the Northern Marianas. In March of 2002, Abramoff dispatched Ring to work his insider connections with Ashcroft's office to find out how Black could be booted. Another Abramoff aide, Tony Rudy, worked contacts at the DoJ and White House as well.

The recent IG report also disclosed that Abramoff's buddy Ken Mehlman in the White House's Office of Political Affairs made an effort to keep Abramoff up to date on issues related to his client. Earlier, we learned that Mehlman had killed the nomination of one Interior Department official, and in this case he'd assigned the underling dealing with Guam and Marianas to reach out to Abramoff to make sure that he was happy with the US Attorney nominations.

So at one point - but too late for Abramoff to act on it - Mehlman's staffer, Leonard Rodriguez, called up Abramoff to give him the message that he should "feel free to contact me directly for any requests from Guam."

This access, both to Ashcroft and Mehlman, didn't turn out to be needed in the case of Fred Black. But they would have come in handy in the fall of 2002 when the Departments of Justice and Interior were on the brink of acting on a DoJ report on the Marianas. The report said the lax immigration standards on the islands was a national security threat and recommended federal intervention - a nightmare for Abramoff's garment industry clients, whose business depended on immigrant labor.

...more...

[Fridays Child]

31. This should be its own thread, if it isn't already...

The page you linked leads to this further elaboration:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001039.php

[Patsy Stone]

32. More from TPM

http://tpmmuckraker.com/black.php

From 1991 to 2002 Frederick Black was Acting U.S. Attorney in Guam. Black's appointment was intended to be temporary, but he developed a solid reputation that helped him keep the position. He was demoted in 2002 after launching an investigation into Jack Abramoff's dealings in Guam, though the Inspector General at the Department of Justice determined that Abramoff was not involved in Black's demotion.

Key Points:

The Guam Superior Court covertly hired Abramoff to stop congressional legislation that would put the Guam Supreme Court above the Superior Court.

The deal was made between California lawyer Howard Hills, Superior Court Judge Alberto Lamorean, and Abramoff at Abramoff's restaurant, "Signatures." The Superior Court paid Abramoff through Howard Hills to avoid suspicion.

Black launched an investigation into Abramoff's lobbying. The day after his grand jury issued subpoenas, he was demoted.

[peacetalksforall]

34. The partisan media refused to understand Whitewater. They are

incapable of figuring out Abramoff. Plus Guam? - where is that? Why should precious reporters care?

[sofa king]

37. Connecting some dots and having some thoughts....

The article is clever about dropping Rove's name into the article without pointing out the obvious: Rove was solicited for approval of the replacement, but who had the first guy demoted?

The answer to that is pretty obvious to those of us who have followed Abramoff's nefarious deeds: Abramoff only had to call his former personal assistant, Susan Ralston, who had moved up in the world to being Karl Rove's personal assistant in the White House.

I'll be curious to see if that's the case, because however it was done, it was almost certainly the same way that another investigation was silently killed: the question of how and why the 9/11 terrorists showed up on Jack Abramoff's SunCruz casino boat less than a week before the attacks and the day after the terrorists were directed to launder their remaining funds back to al Qaeda. The FBI picked up the surveillance tapes and wandered away, saying "we'll, um, get back to you on this."

And nothing was ever heard about it again.

I'd sure like to cite that paragraph, but the memory hole runs deep these days. Those of you with Lexis-Nexis may want to do a news search on an AP article from September, 2001 by Vicky Chachere, entitled, "Attack: SunCruz turns over documents in terrorist probe."

[watrwefitinfor]

39. Speaking of SunCruz,

Whatever was the outcome of the Florida murder case that was in some way connected to Abramoff or his associate? Wasn't that related to the SunCruz affair somehow? Wasn't it a Florida state case? Last I heard about it two men had been arrested, and one was supposed to be singing, and was expected to implicate higher ups. Then the story died, even on the internets.

Wat

[sofa king]

56. As of June, 2006, two men were still awaiting trial.

The wheels of justice move very slowly whenever Abramoff is involved.

[Fridays Child]

41. Daniel Hopsicker has an article about this at Mad Cow Morning News...

http://www.madcowprod.com/06202005.html

[riverdeep]

38. Somenone needs to slip some sodium pentathol

into his water before he testifies. Joke, Agent Mike, joke.

[donkeyotay]

46. Abramoff and Cunningham. Links between those 2 would be important. nt

[Patsy Stone]

48. I just called Conyers' office

There was a lovely woman who answered the phone, and she was very interested in this info. I forwarded the link to her and asked her to please see if Conyers would include this in the investigation.

[Fridays Child]

51. Sweet!

[sellitman]

53. Great job Patsy!

Drip

Drip

Drip

[Patsy Stone]

54. We Googled together

She and I. I told her to look for the words Rove, Marianas and Frederick Black. She told me that she was sure Abramoff had influenced every Republican somehow, someway.

It was a wonderful way to spend my lunch hour.

[tom_paine]

55. Plausible, even probable.

The modus operandi of the Busheviks, where their unethical and illegal activities are exposed to the light of day (and how much more remains buried is a mystery for history) is repeatedly manifested itself.

They are as predictable as any totalitarians that ever lived. I say this: This in all likelihood isn't even CLOSE to the top ten most criminal and/or hurtful to the nation actions taken by these tyrants, these felons.

The only question is: How much evidence did Karl Roverer destroy and how much more is outthere? One has to assume he wasn't so foolish as to be using e-mail. He's a burn the paper and swallow the ashes kind of a felon.