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Today's Must Read
For those hoping investigations by the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility might shine some light on the scurrilous activities at the Bush Justice Department, today's Los Angeles Times piece doesn't offer much solace.
The OPR, a watchdog of the Justice Department's lawyers and activities, has ceased to issue regular public reports of its investigations, some of which have resulted in the exoneration of attorneys accused of professional misconduct.
From the U.S. Attorney firing scandal; to selective prosecution of Democratic political figures; to unlawful detainment of terrorist suspects, the OPR is facing increasingly weighty caseloads, and meeting their investigations with decreasing transparency.
As the Times reports, the changes in disclosure have come with a new administration:
After President Bush took office in 2001, the Justice Department reversed a decade-old policy of publicly disclosing detailed summaries of OPR investigations of department lawyers found to have committed professional misconduct. Janet Reno, attorney general since 1993, had believed that publicizing the information would bolster confidence in the department; and during her tenure she had authorized the release of two dozen public summaries of misconduct cases -- including one against then-FBI Director William S. Sessions.The OPR also has been far behind in producing required annual public reports summarizing its activities. Last month, it released its report covering fiscal year 2005. That means many investigations undertaken during the tenure of former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales remain under wraps.
Two weeks ago the OPR issued a report, along with the Office of the Inspector General, that found that the two attorneys in the Justice Department broke federal law when they hired new lawyers for the DOJ's Honors Program based on "political and ideological" factors.
But besides the report with the Inspector General, the OPR has failed to disclose the results of its investigations of misconduct relating to the war on terrorism.
According the documents obtained by the Times, the OPR has exonerated lawyers involved in two high-profile terrorism investigations:
According to a redacted copy of a confidential OPR report obtained by The Times, the office found that department lawyers had not engaged in misconduct in connection with the controversial practice of using special warrants to round up and incarcerate men after Sept. 11 who were considered witnesses to crimes. Human rights groups said the technique was a way to illegally detain, sometimes for months, dozens of Muslims whom the government suspected but could not prove were engaged in criminal activity.The report, issued more than a year ago, concluded: "Department of Justice attorneys involved did not misuse the material witness statute, and thus did not commit professional misconduct or exercise poor judgment."
There's nothing sinister going on in the lack of reports, insists Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis. He says that the decision was merely made to conserve resources and protect the privacy of accused attorneys:
"My goal is to get fair and speedy dispositions of allegations against our attorneys," he said, "and, to the extent possible, let the public know what we did and why we did it without unnecessarily or gratuitously . . . publicly humiliating our line attorneys as individuals."
Comments (14)
Well duh, Little Georgie and The Big Dick continue their dismantling of the Federal Government and turning our nation into a barely functioning oligarchy and fascist state. For the head-in-the-sand crowd, there is still a great amount of damage, some irreversible, that Little Georgie and The Big Dick intend to, can, and will perpetrate on the American people if they are allowed to continue unchecked.
It's NEVER too late.
ITMFA
July 7, 2008 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Every Federal Agency and Department is now open to illegal discrimination in hiring lawsuits.
Fling the doors open - and charge it back to the personal accounts of those who perpetuated it.
July 7, 2008 10:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
If Obama is 1) actually 'elected,' and 2) is serious about reform, among the first things he should do is form a personnel task force to review the records of EVWERY DoJ hire since 2001, and note any and all of those whose degrees come from Xian diploma mills like Regency, Liberty, Ave Maria, ORU, Hillsdale, etc. Then notify every last one of them that they have 15 minutes to clean out their desks, and trun over their hard-drives and keys...don't let the door catch 'em on the ass on the way out...
July 7, 2008 10:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
"There's nothing sinister going on in the lack of reports, insists Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis...the decision was merely made to conserve resources and protect the privacy of accused attorneys:"
In short, we're not going to tell you that we are not going to investigate. But factually, we're not. We intend to sweep it all under the rug by keeping our lack of progress out of the sight of the public until the entire matter fades away and the guilty walk away.
And American citizens can count on the Department of Justice to do the same quality job it has been doing for the past eight years.
You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
July 7, 2008 11:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
i>..."let the public know what we did and why we did it without unnecessarily or gratuitously . . . publicly humiliating our line attorneys as individuals."
when did the public humiliation of such malefactors and bad actors, who knowingly sold out their ethical responsibilities for political expediency and personal aggrandizement become a BAD thing?
ONLY 8 or 9 of almost (more than?) 100 us attorneys were fired for being insufficiently sensitive to the needs of their political benefactors. The rest kept their jobs. What does that tell you about their, oh, let's be kind and call it--malleability? And the 'integrity' of the DoJ under the Busheviks...
oh, and add Bob Jones U to that list of Xian diploma mills whose 'grads' in DoJ positions should start canvassing the DC/Metro area for jobs at MickeyD's or Wendy's...
July 7, 2008 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Expect an omnibus GWOT National Security (AKA Executive Privilege) refusal to share any information regarding illegally detained people of Middle Eastern descent or ancestry.
July 7, 2008 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
The problem is NOT that they are doing these despicable acts... that is what crooks and scoundrels do!
The problem lies in the fact that... for over two hundred years our Congress and Senate (you know... those folks we vote in year after year to protect us and our democracy) never seem to desire to effect laws which STOP this behavior.
WHY? Because we have in place two mobs and we continue to vote these two mobs into office... then complain about the president, who is just a hired mobster.
Why are we still focussing on all these administration actions instead of the long term solutions.
If folks are murdering people year after year and all we do is blast the evil folks who kill people... DuH... they're murderers... that's what they do!!
Perhaps a better long term solution would be to make murder illegal... with harsh penalties for murdering innocent people.
Anyone seen congressmen or senators rushing to stop the important people in Washington from murdering innocent folks?
Of course not. We can't let a few hundred thousand innocent deaths interfere with the important duties of our elite class now, can we?
Of course these guys are protecting their own. Perhaps next time they will be more open...perhaps not. The problem is... BOTH parties are completely leaving their options open so if They need to... they can do the same thing...
We the common folk though, are programmed to just keep rooting for OUR team, as though OUR puppeteers are better at manipulating than THEIR puppeteers... IMHO
July 7, 2008 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
If I recall correctly Mr. Obama said that he would prosecute anyone that had committed a crime in the Bush administration. Does anyone else remember his exact statement. Or am I hallucinating again??
Windancer
July 7, 2008 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
"...we have in place two mobs and we continue to vote these two mobs into office...."
Then we vote to see who's going to be the head mobster.
You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
July 7, 2008 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Winddancer
President to be Obama has indeed promised to prosecute criminal activity in the gwb43 . When he is elected we need to make sure he keeps that promise ...
July 7, 2008 8:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Al in Austx.... Good morning!! This is windancer here. Thank you for your reply.It helps me realize that I still do have a grip on reality as tenuous as it may be. I was wondering how Mr. Obama plans to prosecute the guilty parties if he votes yes on the FISA bill which will give immunity to the telcoms & presumably the government
people who obtained the information illegally??
Windancer
July 8, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Winddancer ,
The FISA immunity controversey is rife with disinformation & misdirection. It also depends on which amended FISA bill you are looking at . IMHO , the best place to try to sort through this controversey is at fINDLAW.com / John Dean's analysis seems to be the most current & credible.
The last time I checked Dean was saying that the criminal liablity for both the government and the telecoms would be intact when the final revised bill is passed - or perhaps has already passed.
The civil liabilities for the telecom were removed .
My "gut check " says Senator Obama once elected President will go after all criminal wrong doing that could be successfully prosecuted .Of course my other "gut check " said that after the Democrats took over both the House & Senate we would have at least impeached Cheney by now ..
Instead we have not only impeachment off the table ,but now Sy Hersh is reporting that we have just funded a four hundred million black ops adventure run out of the OVP's staff to destabilize Iran's leadership.
So these days I can only conclude that Madam Speaker is complicit in the gwb gowt abuses- and that my "gut" is completely tone deaf and or shell shocked from eight years of "strategerry "
Thus that leads back to where this began praying that Obama 44 will hold bushcheney 43 accountable after January 2009 ...
Good to hear from you again windancer ..
"The pessimist may be right in the end , but the optimist has a better time getting there "
Samuel Clemons
July 8, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Windancer ,
I tried to reply earlier and my post 'went south"
The FISA controversey is a thicket of contradictions .The best authority on this cotroversey is JohnDean at fINDLAW . It looks like the version that Senator Obama supports is going to keep the criminal liablity intact for both the telecoms & the government .
My gut tells me that Obama 44 will hold gwb/cheney 43 resposible for any criminal wrong doing across the board that is prosecutable .
Of course my gut also said after the 2006 middterms we would see at least Cheney impeached. Instead we have a black ops program funded by 400 million dollars being run out of the OVP's staff-that ops is directed against Iran.Madam Speaker seems to be complicit in the global mess that gwb has illegally perpertrated .
That leads me back to where I started praying that Obama 44 will hold bushcheney 43 accountable.
"The pessimists may be right in the end -but the optimist has a better time getting there"
Samuel Clemons
good to hear from you again winddancer
July 8, 2008 6:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
All ,
..please forgive the double post regarding FISA -
July 8, 2008 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink