Justice Department Fails to Comply with House Judiciary Subpoena

Surprise! Surprise! The Bush administration just doesn't give a damn about oversight and certainly won't have anything to do with it.

Today, U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) issued the following statement in response to the Justice Department’s failure to comply with the Committee’s subpoena response deadline of 2 p.m. today. The subpoena seeks information the Department has continued to refuse to provide or has provided only in redacted (read conspiratorial) form.

“We are disappointed that the Justice Department failed to produce the documents and other materials for which we issued a subpoena last week. While we understand that the Department considers this effort a priority and we plan to continue working with them, we will review all available legal options to secure compliance with the subpoena.” [emphasis mine or Eli's]

I guess they forget who's holding the reins now.

Each day it seems the Democrats are becoming more like stallions than geldings. They seem to be capable of growing balls.

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H/T Eli

One-third of prosector posts went to Bush insiders

Now this here's news, folks. Big news and you found it here.

About one-third of the nearly four dozen U.S. attorney's jobs that have changed hands since President Bush began his second term have been filled by the White House and the Justice Department with trusted administration insiders.

The people chosen as chief federal prosecutors on a temporary or permanent basis since early 2005 include 10 senior aides to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, according to an analysis of government records. Several came from the White House or other government agencies. Some lacked experience as prosecutors or had no connection to the districts in which they were sent to work, the records and biographical information show.

Why you may ask is this big news? I'll tell you why. That means Bush didn't appoint "loyal Bushies" to about two-thirds of the positions. HE BLEW IT!

Sorry I'm so imprecise there, but I had "About one-third..." and "...nearly four dozen..." as my facts from the story. Why can't the pros do better than that?

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Must Read IMHO

Its sort of a "keep your eye on the ball" thingie. From The Anonymous Liberal.

As the scandal over the politically-motivated firing of eight U.S. Attorneys continues to grow, it's important to keep in mind that there have been a number of incidents over the years involving Alberto Gonzales that likely would have generated similar headlines and calls for resignation had Congress chosen to investigate them.

One such incident was first reported in July of last year. In response to revelations that the Justice Department had approved the use of warrantless surveillance in direct contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) launched an investigation into the propriety and legality of that authorization. This investigation was quickly killed, however, when the President took the unprecedented step of denying to OPR officials the security clearance necessary to conduct their investigation.

Bear in mind Gonzales' first allegiance is to George W, not the American people...always.

There are many reasons Gonzales should go. Strong arming and replacing US Attorneys is just the latest of his nefarious actions.

Federal Prosecutors Widen Pursuit Of Death Penalty as States Ease Off

I'm terribly sorry folks, but I just can't see anything Bush and his hyenas are doing with which I agree.

Disclaimer: At one time I was a proponent of the death penalty because I believed it was a deterrent. Gradually I realized it has almost no affect at all on how people behave. Now I'm very much opposed to the state killing people.

At a time when many states are backing away from capital punishment, the federal government is aggressively pursuing -- and winning -- more death sentences, including in jurisdictions that traditionally oppose them.

On Tuesday, federal prosecutors in New York persuaded a jury to give a death sentence to Ronell Wilson, a 24-year-old man convicted of killing two undercover detectives by shooting each in the back of the head. The decision -- the first time in more than 50 years that a federal jury in New York agreed to sentence someone to death -- marked something of a milestone for the Justice Department in its continuing effort to apply the death penalty more evenly across the country. [emphasis mine]

Oh well, I stand corrected. Federal prosecutors are just trying to level the justice playing field. Whatever was I thinking?

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