Posted by D. Cupples | Months ago, Congress began investigating politicization at President Bush's Justice Department (see scandal overview). Now, a former Pentagon prosecutor says that politics played a part in prosecution of Guantanamo detainees. Is the Bush Administration all politics all the time? The Washington Post reports:
"Politically motivated officials at the Pentagon have pushed for convictions of high-profile detainees ahead of the 2008 elections, the former lead prosecutor for terrorism trials at Guantanamo Bay said last night, adding that the pressure played a part in his decision to resign earlier this month.
"Senior defense officials discussed in a September 2006 meeting the 'strategic political value' of putting some prominent detainees on trial, said Air Force Col. Morris Davis. He said that he felt pressure to pursue cases that were deemed 'sexy' over those that prosecutors believed were the most solid or were ready to go...."
"Davis said his resignation was also prompted by newly appointed senior officials seeking to use classified evidence in what would be closed sessions of court, and by almost all elements of the military commissions process being put under the Defense Department general counsel's command, something he believes could present serious conflicts of interest....
"'There was a big concern that the election of 2008 is coming up,' Davis said. 'People wanted to get the cases going. There was a rush to get high-interest cases into court at the expense of openness.'"
One can't help remember the firing of nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006. Justice Department officials and the White House publicly claimed the firings were performance based, though most of the fired prosecutors had positive job-performance reviews.
This compelled the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to begin investigating in early 2007: one key question was whether Administration officials had fired the prosecutors either for not prosecuting Democrats or for prosecuting Republicans. Evidence did surface that the firings were politically motivated (scandal overview).
For example, former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves (Missouri) refused to pursue a voter-fraud case implicating Democrats in Missouri, despite political pressure to secure indictments before the November 2006 election. Graves' replacement later pursued the case, which ended up dismissed for lack of evidence -- and not on technicalities, as some pundits have said.
Another example: former U.S. Attorney Carol Lam (California) was fired despite positive reviews after she successfully prosecuted former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) for taking millions in bribes. One of the longest serving Republicans in Congress, Cunningham relocated to prison in 2006 (CNN).
In a related case, Lam also secured an indictment against ex-CIA official Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who had ties to the Bush Administration, and his friend Brent Wilkes after Foggo helped Wilkes get a $100 million government contract.
Lam recently did her first interview about the firings, choosing to speak with Stanford Lawyer. When asked if she was surprised by the "public firestorm" that erupted after the U.S. Attorney firings, Lam replied:
"Ironically, it renewed my faith in the country and in the public's ability to focus on important issues. What this situation pointed out to me was that people are very concerned about the justice system. They're very concerned about either the perception or the reality that their justice system is not working in a fair and evenhanded manner."
The idea of prosecutors' targeting people (possibly taking away their freedom) based on political disagreements stabs the heart of America's justice system -- and it should concern all Americans.
Related BN-Politics Posts: (reverse chronological order)
* U.S. Attorney General Resigns
* Gonzales: It's not Just a Perjury Investigation Anymore
* Did Gonzales Tell the Truth? Republican Senator Thinks not
* How Just is our Justice Department? Ask Former USA Paul Charlton
* U.S. Attorney Scandal Update
* Fired U.S. Attorney McKay Speaks Out
* Schlozman Alters his Testimony
* Schlozman Doesn't Recall Much, Apparently Violated Dept. Policy
* Another U.S. Attorney Targeted for Political Reasons?
* Goodling Admits Administration "Caged" Votes in 2004
* This Administration's Monica: Loyal to a Fault?
* Ex-U.S. Attorney Thinks Justice Department in Cover-up Mode
* Overview: Fired U.S. Attorney Scandal
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