Letter of Apology » DOJ Scandal

Mukasey Appoints Special Prosecutor In US Attorneys Firings; DOJ Releases Inquiry Report

Dave Westheimer — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:00:31 +0000

Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Monday announced the appointment of Nora Dannehy, US Attorney for Connecticut, as special prosecutor to investigate the firings of nine US Attorneys in 2006. The announcement came as the DOJ’s Inspector General and its Office of Professional Responsibility released its report on its investigation into the firings. The report called the firing process “fundamentally flawed” and was highly critical of former AG Alberto Gonzales and former Deputy AG Paul McNulty for allegedly abdicating their responsibilities and allowing Gonzales’ former chief of staff Kyle Sampson to oversee the process. Gonzales was also faulted for his “extraordinary lack of recollection about the entire removal process.” The investigators were unable to determine if any indictments were warranted because of the refusal of Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, former DOJ official Monica Goodling and others to cooperate and the White House’s refusal to turn over requested documents.

Unlike the IG and OPR, Dannehy has prosecutorial powers and can compel witnesses from outside the DOJ to appear. Will she empanel a grand jury? It remains to be seen, but she appears to have the confidence of Mukasey, who said “the Justice Department has an obligation to the American people to pursue this case wherever the facts and the law require.” (NYT, WaPo)

Scott Horton: Six Questions For David Iglesias

Dave Westheimer — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:32:06 +0000

Scott Horton at Harper’s interviews former USA David Iglesias about the DOJ scandal and what happened in New Mexico when he was pressured to bring voter fraud prosecutions he believed he couldn’t win. It’s worth noting that Iglesias does not include the case of Paul Minor when discussing possible politically motivated prosecutions. He brings up the cases of Don Siegelman, Cyril Wecht and Wisconsin employee Georgia Thompson, but says, “I am not aware of even the allegation of a ‘Faustian bargain’ with the remaining 81 US Attorneys.”

Special Counsel Bloch’s Deputy Resigns

Dave Westheimer — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:34:42 +0000

NPR reports that Deputy Special Counsel James Byrne, the number two man in the US Office of Special Counsel behind controversial Special Counsel Scott Bloch, announced his resignation on Thursday. The resignation was said to be “in protest over the way the office has been run” under Bloch, who is currently under federal investigation. Our earlier Bloch coverage: 1 2 3.

Executive Branch Lawlessness Continues Unabated

Solomon Wisenberg — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:38:34 +0000

CNN.com reports here on Karl Rove’s refusal to appear before the House Judiciary Committee in response to a subpoena. The subpoena was issued in connection with the Committee’s investigation of alleged political firings and prosecutions in the Department of Justice. The striking thing about this latest episode of Bush Administration arrogance is not that Rove is claiming executive privilege; it is that Rove refused to even appear before the House Juiciary Committee. Under law, when a witness claims a privilege not to testify before a judicial or legislative body he still, unless excused by the entity issuing the subpoena or a court of law, must appear and invoke whatever privilege he is claiming on a question by question basis. Rove and his attorney Robert Luskin have rejected this approach. The only question left is whether Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and the Democratic majority will have the guts to hold Rove in contempt. Don’t hold your breath.

HJC Subpoenas Mukasey For DOJ Documents On Wecht, Siegelman

Dave Westheimer — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:29:13 +0000

A subpoena issued last Friday by the House Judiciary Committee to AG Michael Mukasey for a number of previously requested documents includes a demand for “complete and unredacted versions” of all documents relating to the prosecutions of former Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht and former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. See paragraphs 13-21 of the subpoena. The deadline is July 7; don’t hold your breath.

Schlozman Focus Of Grand Jury Referral

Dave Westheimer — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:16:09 +0000

Former DOJ civil rights division head Bradley Schlozman is apparently the subject of the first grand jury referral in the investigation arising from the 2006 US Attorneys scandal. The referral of Schlozman, who also served for a year as interim USA for the Western District of Missouri after the firing of Todd Graves, is said to involve possible perjury, and that may stem from his 2007 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee which sparked some outrage over his admittedly partisan tactics. The ongoing investigation of the scandal is being handled by the OPR and the OIG (WSJ, WaPo). Scott Horton at Harper’s offers perspective here.

Conyers To Rove: It’s About More Than Siegelman

Dave Westheimer — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:26:11 +0000

In a letter sent on Monday to Karl Rove’s attorney, US Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) made it clear that Rove’s anticipated July 10 testimony before the House Judiciary Committee cannot be limited to questions about the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Conyers’ letter states that “the Siegelman matter, other selective prosecution matters, and the U.S. Attorney firings are clearly related as part of the concerns regarding politicization of the Justice Department under this Administration that the Committee has been investigating.” The letter was also signed by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), chair of the administrative law subcommittee (h/t White Collar Crime Prof Blog).

Bloch Shut Down His Own Office’s Probe Into Siegelman Prosecution

Dave Westheimer — Sun, 11 May 2008 05:36:15 +0000

US Office of Special Counsel head Scott Bloch, whose office and home were raided on Tuesday by the FBI, ordered his agency’s own task force to stop an investigation it had begun into the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. The task force was formed at the agency last year to pursue political investigations in Washington, including whether the White House played politics in firing nine US Attorneys and whether the White House improperly sponsored political briefings at federal agencies. The previously undisclosed investigation came to light in a memo (.pdf) written in January by the four task force attorneys and their three senior advsors and obtained last week by the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight. The memo states that in September and into October 2007, the task force worked to obtain publicly available evidence about the allegations, including the sworn statement and testimony before Congress of former Alabama Republican Party operative Jill Simpson, and had created an investigation plan to include information to be requested from the DOJ. But on October 11, Bloch ordered the investigation closed immediately because he did not authorize it. On October 15, “after concerns are expressed that OSC simply cannot close a file without conducting an investigation,” the task force was directed “to not further investigate this case and to wait for further instructions from the Special Counsel.” As of the January 18 memo, the task force was still requesting authorization to continue.

The AP/Birmingham News story quotes Siegelman: “The question is who told them to shut it down. Why would you start an investigation and let it proceed and then shut it down? The logical conclusion is that somebody intervened and told them to shut down the investigation.” The WaPo story here also discusses other investigations covered in the memo.

FBI Raids Office, Home Of US Special Counsel

Dave Westheimer — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:49:50 +0000

FBI agents today executed search warrants at the Office of Special Counsel in Washington, shutting down the office’s email service and seizing computers and documents. Scott Bloch, who heads the Office, is apparently the target of the raid. Bloch’s suburban Virginia home was also raided.

The independent agency has the responsibility of enforcing protection of federal civil service employees from politicization. Bloch has been under investigation since 2005 in connection with employees’ claims that he retaliated against them after it was leaked that he refused to investigate whistleblower cases which claimed sexual orientation-based discrimination. He is also under investigation for obstruction of justice in connection with hiring of an outside contractor to scrub his computer in December 2006. At the same time, his office has been investigating the firings of eight US Attorneys and he has complained to AG Michael Mukasey that the DOJ is impeding his office’s investigation. WSJ, AP, NPR.

Former Expert Witness Will Plead Guilty To Perjury

Dave Westheimer — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:44:16 +0000

John Torkelsen of Princeton, New Jersey, a former expert witness in numerous class action securities cases for Milberg Weiss and other firms, has agreed to plead guilty to a one count criminal information charging him with perjury, according to a plea agreement filed on Thursday in US District Court in Philadelphia. Torkelsen offered expert witness testimony on plaintiff class damages and the value of settlements. According to the DOJ press release and the criminal information, the firms who hired Torkelsen, including one identified as “the New York Law Firm”, represented to various federal courts that he was an independent expert, which should have precluded them from paying him on a contingency basis; however, the firms allegedly entered into secret arrangements to pay him contingency fees. According to DOJ, the law firms submitted reimbursement requests to courts for contingent fees that Torkelsen had already been paid, and when he had to write off expenses for cases they lost, he submitted fraudulent bills on other cases for work he did not perform, which were then submitted to the courts by the firms. The one perjury count referenced in the guilty plea involved a 1999 case in San Jose, California, in which Torkelsen allegedly attested to a “non-contingent engagement by plaintiff’s counsel” when he was actually paid, according to the criminal information, by “the New York Law firm” on a contingent basis. Lawfuel has the DOJ press release here. No sentencing date has been announced. The DOJ press release was posted on the site of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, which is prosecuting the Milberg Weiss case. Milberg Weiss’ principal office was in New York during the time periods covered in the information. In the press release, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California thanked the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for his assistance. The plea also disposed of tax-related issues in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Torkelsen is currently serving a 70 month prison sentence for stealing SBA funds in an unrelated case. His ex-wife Pamela was also indicted in that case and became a cooperating witness, not only against her ex-husband but against Milberg Weiss. A 2006 Law.com story here provides some interesting background.