Former FBI Agent Goes Down

Because of the Rove Republican Racket's domination of the U.S. Department of Justice, many U.S. Attorneys targeted political opponents. Sadly, many political opponents were tossed in jail because of making false or inaccurate statements to investigators. Many investigators were agents of the FBI.

Can we really trust these federal agents?

We have reported about the dishonest DEA agent from Boston to the dishonest FBI agent in Orange County, California.

This week comes the case of the worst former FBI agent ever.

From the Los Angeles Times:

A former FBI agent convicted of planning an invasion-style robbery of what he thought was a drug stash house containing a half-million dollars in cash was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday by a federal judge in Santa Ana. Ex-agent Vo Duong Tran, 42, and his accomplice, Yu Sung Park, 36, were arrested in possession of bulletproof vests, a machine gun, other weapons, silencers and hundreds of rounds of ammunition that they intended to use to rob the supposed drug house in Fountain Valley, a jury found. In reality, the "stash house" did not exist. It was created as part of a law enforcement sting operation. During the probe, Tran and Park were secretly recorded planning the details of the would-be caper with an undercover federal agent and an informant. Tran and Park told the agent and informant to use one of the drug dealers inside the house as a "human shield" to clear the location and to shoot anyone who did not follow instructions.

Whale, It's Over

The once to be, ego driven, high publicity prosecution by  U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte, Jr. against the Sushi restaurant that served sei whale in Southern California has finally ended.

With a large ego in play, Birotte was hoping to obtain national prominence and celebrity status with the case, but his ego was harpooned when the Hump Restaurant quickly admitted its guilt publicly and closed its doors last month.

As we said in March, all that was left in this silly media show was a press release. Today was the day. Local Los Angeles ABC affiliate reports:

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are asking a judge to dismiss criminal charges against a restaurant accused of serving whale meat to its customers. The U.S. Attorney's office is asking that charges be dismissed against Typhoon Restaurant Inc., the parent company of The Hump, and one of the now-closed eatery's former chefs, Kiyoshiro Yamamoto.

Rove Republican Pleads Guilty

As the walls come tumbling down on the eight years of the political control of  the U.S. Department of Justice, the Rove Republican Racket is getting a taste of justice.

Meet Scott  Bloch (pictured), a top lieutenant in the Rove-Bush-Cheney Administration who spearheaded the U.S. Department of Justice's Task Force for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. According to the Main Justice blog, Bloch later headed U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an agency that protects federal government whistleblowers and gives advice related to the Hatch Act, which regulates the political activities of federal employees.

Yesterday, Bloch plead guilty to charges of obstructing justice. The Washington Post reports: 

The government's former top protector of whistle-blowers has pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress about his decision to have several government computers wiped clean of information. Scott Bloch, the ex-head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel during much of the administration of President George W. Bush, faces a maximum yearlong prison term following Tuesday's plea before a federal magistrate. Bloch came under heavy criticism shortly after taking office in 2004, in part for closing hundreds of whistle-blower cases allegedly without investigating them. In 2008, the FBI raided Bloch's office and home amid allegations that he destroyed evidence and potentially lied to Congress during an Office of Personnel Management investigation of his conduct.

Republican Threats Confirmed in Indianapolis

A wonderful political news report from Indiana: the local  Rove Republican Racket is imploding and the arrogant prosecutor to be, one David Wyser (pictured, with eye modification to reflect his intelligence) has proven he is not one bit wiser than his predecessor.

The campaign to replace Carl Brizzi, the embattled District Attorney of Hamilton County in Indianapolis, Indiana, has caused a huge Republican primary fight.

And the accusations of hardball threats by the once front-runner is gaining steam. Wyser even acknowledges threatening an opponent. What an IDIOT! But then again, what else would you expect from the followers of Karl Rove?

The Indianapolis FOX Affiliate reports:

The race to become the Republican nominee for prosecutor in Hamilton County has been marked with trash talk and warnings of payback according to opponents of the former frontrunner. Marion County Chief Trial Deputy David Wyser was the odds-on favorite. He had approximately $150,000 in campaign donations and the endorsement of nearly every important Republican in the county just north of Indianapolis until scandals about his boss, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, broke in late January. Wyser's involvement in the controversial sentence modification of a convicted killer, along with campaign donations he accepted from the woman's millionaire father, encouraged opponents to consider challenging him."I had concerns, and a number of people had concerns," said Lee Buckingham, a veteran Deputy Prosecutor who eventually entered the race.

"The day after Fox59 News' story broke about the Willoughby case, we thought he had to be stopped," said Westfield attorney Tim Stoesz. Stoesz considered whether his brother Steven should enter the race. The Stoesz candidacy never got off the ground, in part, due to pressure brought by a Wyser supporter and indications of payback.  "It was a specific statement as to what would happen to Steven as a criminal defense attorney in Hamilton County if Mr. Wyser was elected," said Stoesz. "Negative thing."

Wyser told Fox 59 News he never authorized that supporter to make that threat toward the Stoesz campaign. Buckingham told Fox59 News that the day before the deadline to drop out of the race and leave Wyser uncontested, Wyser called him with a warning, "that if I remained as his opponent I would be gone. Anyone from my office who decided to run -- they better take their best shot because if he wins, they'd be gone because they're political opponents."

Wyser told Fox59 News that he told Buckingham his days at the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office would be numbered because "that is the way it works" and "why would he want to work for me?"  The charges of hardball politics come at a time when Wyser is under increasing scrutiny for his role as Carl Brizzi's second-in-command. Wyser admitted to Hamilton County Republicans that he faces a disciplinary complaint for his role in approving the sentence modification of Paula Willoughby. Willhoughby was convicted of killing her husband after her father, Harrison Epperly, donated $2,500 to Wyser's campaign in May of 2009. Willoughby was released later that summer. Wyser returned the money in January of this year.

Reforming Rove's Torture Chambers

The Rove Republican Racket stronghold of the U.S. Department of Justice became notorious because of the political firings of nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006.

Among those to be fired by Karl Rove and company was former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico. Last  August, The New York Times wrote that there was strong evidence of a DOJ firing scandal involving Karl Rove, and the "most disturbing revelations" were in regards to the firing of Iglesias.

In September, Iglesias called for major reforms in the U.S. Department of Justice including appointing U.S. Attorneys for six year terms.

Now, Iglesias has been called to duty: investigating the insidious torture of a Canadian citizen at Guantanamo. The Miami Herald Reports:

For hearings on whether U.S. forces tortured confessions out of a Canadian teenager accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan, the Pentagon Monday unveiled a new face to advocate military commissions: Fired former Bush-era prosecutor David Iglesias, a key figure in the so-called Attorney-Gate scandal. He was mobilized last year to the war court as a U.S. Navy Reserves captain. Iglesias, a Panama-born Republican, served as George W. Bush's U.S. attorney for New Mexico during the Justice Departments of both John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales. Monday, Capt. Iglesias was part of a Pentagon prosecution team going to Guantánamo for up to two weeks of hearings on which, if any, of Omar Khadr's confessions cannot be presented to a jury at his summertime trial.

Utterly Looted and Bled Dry

The political friends of embattled Acting U.S. Attorney Timothy M. Morrison of the Southern District of Indiana are accused of looting Fair Finance Company, according to a bankruptcy trustee who filed suit to recover some of the funds last week.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports:

Fair Finance's court-appointed trustee, Brian Bash .... believes Fair Finance was bled dry by large insider loans. ''At the time of the purchase in 2002, the debtor [Fair Finance] was a strong, viable, reputable company. By 2009, the debtor had been utterly looted through insider loans, resulting in the shutdown of the debtor's business after the FBI raid,'' the lawsuit says.

Fair Finance was run by Timothy S. Durham, a top Rove Republican donor in Indianapolis. Morrison allowed Durham to keep his cash and assets last November after an FBI raid.

Morrison also allowed Durham's partner, James Cochran,to hold an estate sale. Cochran was recently charged with domestic violence against his wife.

Ohio residents were duped into buying investment certificates in the alleged Ponzi scheme and have lost over $200 million in the alleged fraud.

Senior Federal Attorney Convicted of Bribery

In recent weeks, we have written about lying judges, disbarred prosecutors, disgraced FBI agents and other scoundrels of the Rove Republican Racket.

But yesterday, a jury in Southern California convicted one of the most despicable dregs of humanity, a Senior Attorney with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for taking bribes and preying on immigrants.


The San Bernardino Sun reports:

A federal jury today convicted a ... senior attorney with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of taking bribes from immigrants seeking documentation to remain in the U.S. Constantine Peter Kallas, 39, who joined the federal agency in June 1998 as its assistant chief counsel, faces a maximum of 256 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on Aug. 9. Kallas has been in a federal jail since August 2008. He was arrested in June that year during a federal sting operation at San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino near Highland, where he took a $20,000 bribe from an immigrant in exchange for helping the immigrant obtain residency and get a deportation order quashed, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Raymond O. Aghaian. In November 2009, Kallas's 41-year-old wife and co-conspirator, Maria Kallas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, defrauding the U.S. and bribery. She is scheduled for sentencing in June and faces at least 25 years in federal prison, Aghaian said.

Don't Leave Home Without It

Breaking News from Florida

Members of the Rove Republican Racket in the Sunshine State aren't sleeping well tonight, especially Marco Rubio (pictured), the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

The Miami Herald reports tonight:

Federal law enforcement agencies have launched a criminal investigation into the use of American Express cards issued by the Republican Party of Florida to elected officials and staff, according to sources familiar with the probe. The U.S. attorney's office in Tallahassee, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service are all involved in the probe, which grew out of the state investigation into former House Speaker Ray Sansom. He was indicted on criminal charges that he stashed $6 million in the state budget for an airplane hangar for a friend and campaign donor.

In the federal case, Sansom and others could be charged with making false statements on their tax returns and tax evasion. Coming in a high-stakes election year, the investigation could expose the inner-workings of a party that has dominated state government and raked in millions of dollars from lobbyists and special interests.

Meanwhile, in a separate inquiry, the IRS is also looking at the tax records of at least three former party credit card holders -- former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, ex-state party chairman Jim Greer and ex-party executive director Delmar Johnson -- to determine whether they misused their party credit cards for personal expenses, according to a source familiar with the preliminary inquiry.The IRS opened the so-called ``primary'' investigation into Rubio, the leading Republican candidate for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat, and the two state GOP ex-officials to see if there's enough evidence to support a full-fledged criminal probe, according to a source familiar with the IRS examination.

Another Louisiana Prosecutor Permanently Disbarred

Last February, we wrote about an arrogant former New Orleans prosecutor who had his law license stripped from him and he was permanently disbarred from practicing law.

Well, it's deja vu all over again!  The New Orleans Times Picayune reported Saturday:

A former Jefferson Parish prosecutor who once ran for a state judgeship has been permanently barred from practicing law in Louisiana by the state Supreme Court. Richard Bates "knowingly and intentionally violated duties owed to his clients, the public, the legal system and the legal profession," the court wrote in 28-page decision released Friday.

Bates, whose wrongful actions are not tied to his four years as a prosecutor in the late 1990s, could not be reached for comment. Justices suspended him from practicing law two years ago and took his law license this week. The court spelled out 30 cases of professional misconduct and noted that Bates failed to account for or refund to his clients $51,525 in unearned fees. "He has abandoned his law practice and appears to have no intention of ever providing refunds of the unearned fees," the court wrote.

Karl Rove is "No Conservative"

Two political veterans from the Reagan Era, wrote a bold op-ed in last Sunday's Washington Post calling Karl Rove "no conservative."

In their blistering attack of Karl Rove's recently published memoir, Craig Shirley and Donald Devine rip Karl Rove for what they see as a betrayal: the irresponsible fiscal policies, big government programs, and out-of-this-world spending of the Bush-Cheney Administration.

These former Reagan Administration advisors write:

Rove [in his book] concedes that Bush "went deep into Democratic territory to show how government can use the tools of capitalism to soften its rough justice" -- an admission that neglects state, local and individual alternatives to creating a just society, and that confirms our worst fears about hyphenated conservatism. 

The so-called "hyphenated conservatism" also led to a new trend under Rove-Bush-Cheney: the rise of criminal prosecutions of political opponents and incarceration of prominent Democrats.

Rove and friends took over the U.S. Department of Justice to make it an arm of the Republican Party. Many of the 93 U.S. Attorneys from coast to coast went after Democrats for political reasons.

This was unheard of in the era of Ronald Reagan.

Racial Mudslinging in Michigan City, Indiana

The Rove Republican Racket does not own or have exclusivity to destroying the reputations of Democrats.

In some cases, a few Democrats have taken a page from the playbook of Karl Rove and the Republicans.


In LaPorte County, Indiana, a nasty, Democratic primary fight for county prosecutor has led to some heated mudslinging. Rob Beckman (pictured) has been the local prosecutor since 1998 and now words he used in the courtroom are being thrown back at him.

The Herald Angus reports:

Prosecuting Attorney Rob Beckman attempted to appeal to the racial bias of a white jury when he called a black defense witness a “big, black buck” during a 2003 murder trial, La Porte prosecuting attorney hopeful Bob Szilagyi claims. “It’s completely inappropriate, just another instance of his temperament not being right for the job,” said Szilagyi, who is challenging Beckman in the May 4 Democratic primary. He issued a press release on the comment this week.

Beckman countered that this was merely another attempt at “character assassination” from his opponent. “I would assume if such a statement were made, there would have been justification for it, some background to it,” Beckman said. “If it was truly inflammatory, the man’s conviction would have been reversed on appeal.”

According to court transcripts, Beckman made the statement during closing arguments for the October 2003 trial of James N. Smith, a Michigan City man who was convicted of shooting and killing his neighbor Lenny Bradley. The comment pertained to a man, referred to only as Howell in the transcript, who the defense used as a witness supporting Smith’s claim that another man shot Bradley. Smith was originally sentenced to 80 years in prison for the crime, but the sentence was reduced to 73 years on appeal.

Corruption on Cape Cod?

A two-term Rove Republican District Attorney in Massachusetts is allegedly being investigated for being involved with an illegal sports betting corruption ring that has hit top political circles in Boston.

District Attorney Michael D. O'Keefe (pictured) denies any wrongdoing and released a statement yesterday countering the media leak.

The Boston Globe reports:

A federal grand jury is investigating allegations of public corruption against Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael D. O’Keefe that resulted from a wiretap of an alleged bookmaking operation more than a year ago, according to several people with direct knowledge of the investigation. Authorities are looking into whether O’Keefe protected alleged bookmakers operating on the Cape and gave favorable treatment to the grandson of one of them in an unrelated criminal case, said the sources, who insisted on anonymity because grand jury investigations are confidential. The full scope of the grand jury investigation is unclear, and there is no indication it will result in criminal charges against O’Keefe or anyone else. A number of witnesses have testified before the panel in Worcester in recent months, including a state judge on the Cape.

Judicial Misconduct: 949 Phone Calls with Prosecutor

Who says judges and prosecutors don't conspire together or have ex parte communications? The Rove Republican Racket perfected that practice.

Now, a local judge (pictured)  in Broward County Florida is in hot water for describing her relationship with a prosecutor as less than close.

The Sun Sentinel reports:

[Judge Ana] Gardiner is accused of failing to disclose that she had a "close personal relationship" with then-prosecutor Howard Scheinberg while he was prosecuting a death penalty case that she was presiding over. She is also accused of displaying a "lack of candor" when the [Judicial Qualifications Commission] questioned her about their relationship in 2008. Gardiner said they had a social relationship. Phone records later obtained by the commission showed the two exchanged 949 phone calls and 471 text messages in a 155-day period during Omar Loureiro's first-degree murder trial.

Loureiro conviction was tossed out and a retrial ordered.

Probing Morrison's Investments

Meet Carl Brizzi (pictured), the top prosecutor and Rove Republican Racket member of Marion County, Indiana.

A staunch Republican in Indianapolis political circles, Brizzi, who is not seeking re-election, was asked to resign last Wednesday by the head of the local Republican Party and a Republican candidate seeking Brizzi's open seat.

Why? The Indianapolis Star reports:

Trouble had been brewing for six months. Questions about his connections to [alleged Ponzi scheme operator] Timothy Durham, a friend and campaign fundraiser under federal investigation for fraud, led to scrutiny of Brizzi's own investments. Then he belatedly returned campaign donations to the father of a convicted killer who won an early release last year with his office's consent. Lately, Brizzi has defended a no-jail plea deal -- and the return of $10,000 in seized money -- to a drug defendant whose attorney was also Brizzi's partner in a real estate deal. He has denied any impropriety.

Brizzi and his federal counterpart, Acting U.S. Attorney Timothy M. Morrison, have unscrupulously helped their Republican friend who allegedly defrauded hundreds of Ohio retirees.

Now its time for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to probe Morrison's investments and see if they are tied in anyway to Durham.

It makes no sense why Morrison let Durham keep all his cash and assets and let an alleged wife beater and Durham co-conspirator hold an estate sale while Ohio retirees screamed for justice.

Federal Prosecutors "Reach Too Far"

In a unanimous decision, a federal court of appeals rejected the Rove Republican Racket's attempts to reinstate criminal charges against a former corporate financial officer of Bristol-Myers Squibb, a large pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey.

In this case, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey kept changing, or "morphing," the arguments and theories of their case. The case was narrowed and evidence tossed out. The Rove-Bush-Cheney  U.S. Department of Justice appealed the decision in 2008.


The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday:

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals [yesterday] rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to reinstate part of its prosecution of Frederick Schiff, former chief financial officer at Bristol-Myers Squibb, the large pharmaceuticals company.

The Third Circuit, in a unanimous decision, wrote in a 59-page opinion that prosecutors overreached in part of their case. Prosecutors from the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office argued that Schiff had a duty to disclose an inventory-related issue in regulatory filings, such as the 10-K or 10-Q, because he had “a general fiduciary obligation of ‘high corporate executives’ to the company’s shareholders” under Rule 10b-5 of the Securities and Exchange Act.

The Third Circuit stated: “This argument reaches too far.”

In 2005 Schiff was indicted with another former executive on securities-fraud charges for their role in the company’s use of incentives to get wholesalers to buy more products than needed. The practice, known as “channel stuffing,” inflated sales by $2.5 billion and earnings by $900 million from 1999 to 2001, the government alleged.

In 2008 the trial judge, Faith Hochberg, whittled down the case against Schiff by preventing prosecutors from introducing certain evidence and arguments because their legal theories had continued to “morph” until the eve of the trial.

Tea Party Dawson

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Dawson, the dishonest former federal prosecutor from Mississippi who obtained a secret six-month (book writing?) contract from his former boss days after retiring in January of 2009, has gone stupid.

From prosecuting prominent Democrats, to having book writing discussions with a right-wing blogger while STILL SERVING as a federal prosecutor, to hiding his secret contract during live on-the-air radio interviews, Dawson is not the brightest fellow.

But now he's a founding member of the Oxford, Mississippi chapter of the Tea Party, according to a detailed posting on the blog North Mississippi Commentor. Even the Main Justice blog picked up the story.

We always knew that Dawson was a member of the Rove Republican Racket and that innocent Democrats were targeted, prosecuted and tossed in jail. But now Dawson has exhibited his true political underwear: he's a right-wing kook.

With a pile of boxes of unsold books in storage, Dawson's book about the prosecution of two Democrats, which we call "Flop of Tort," has sold miserably.

Maybe Dawson can sell them at bargain prices to his fellow right-wingers of the Tea Party brigades or better yet, dump them in the harbor like tea from the East Indies.

Million-Dollar Bingo Jackpot

Almost exactly a year ago, with the aftermath of the prosecutorial misconduct case against former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, we introduced our readers to  Brenda K. Morris (pictured) , a Rove Republican Racket federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice, who was one of the six prosecutors accused of withholding evidence in the Stevens case.

Our post was about how Morris had to settle another prosecutorial misconduct case for $1.34 million and appeared to have had a pattern of engaging in cases shrouded with controversy or misconduct.

Now Morris has reappeared in another case shadowed with controversy and misconduct. Main Justice reports:

The lead prosecutor in the government’s botched case against former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has resurfaced in  a controversial federal corruption investigation in the Middle District of Alabama.

Brenda Morris, a veteran trial lawyer in the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, was among a group of federal law enforcement officials who met with Alabama legislators on April 1 to inform them of the probe, which is related to a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would legalize electronic bingo.

The investigation has inflamed tensions between state Democrats and Republican-appointed U.S. Attorney Leura Canary, who prosecuted former Gov. Don Siegelman (D) and whose husband has close ties to Republican Gov. Bob Riley, who strongly opposes the amendment. Canary’s office and the Public Integrity Section are jointly investigating bingo proponents’ quest for votes in support of the amendment, which the state Senate passed on March 30.

The state House of Representatives has yet to vote. Alabama Democrats sent a letter to Lanny Breuer, the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, charging that the “unprecedented” disclosure of the investigation was meant to have a “chilling effect” on state legislators who otherwise might have voted for the amendment.

 Who said Democrats weren't still being targeted?

Morrison's Wife Beater

Embattled Acting U.S. Attorney of Southern Indiana Timothy M. Morrison has even more problems after politically helping his unscrupulous Republican friends.

Last November, Morrison let his Republican pal Timothy S. Durham, the alleged mastermind of an alleged Ponzi scheme that duped Ohio retirees, keep all his cash and assets. Durham was one of the highest donors to Republican campaigns in Indiana. Durham has since moved to California.

To add insult to injury, last January, Morrison let Durham's alleged co-conspirator and partner, James F. Cochran (pictured) conduct an estate sale in Florida even though a Congressman and investors pleaded with Morrison to block the sale.

Now Cochran has returned the favor in the most embarrassing way. Independent Station Channel 6 of Indianapolis reports:

The business partner of embattled investment manager Tim Durham is accused of hitting his wife and son during a domestic dispute. James F. Cochran, 54, was arrested at the family's McCordsville home [last month] on preliminary charges of battery resulting in bodily injury and domestic battery.Susan Cochran told police that she and her husband were arguing when he grabbed her by the arms and threw her into a wall, causing her to hit her head.The couple's son, James R. Cochran, 21, said he came into the room to try and protect his mother, and that his father pushed him and punched him in the eye, telling him "I'm going to [expletive] kill you." James F. Cochran, who appeared to have a cut to the face in his mug shot, denied that any assault took place, and told police that he tripped and fell.

Tripped and fell? Please!

As the world crumbles around them, Jimmy appears to have resorted to violence against those closest to him: his family. Yet, Morrison continues to let these "esteemed" pals run free.

Alaska Six Probe Wrapping Up

The Rove Republican Racket's prosecutorial misconduct derailed their case against former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.  U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, "horrified" by the misconduct, vacated the conviction and withdrew the charges last year.

Now the probe of the six Justice Department attorneys involved in the fiasco is wrapping up. Main Justice reports:

The special prosecutor investigating the Justice Department lawyers involved in the government’s case against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R- Alaska) has completed interviews, signaling that the yearlong probe is nearing its conclusion, said two people familiar with the matter.Meanwhile, the Justice Department’s ethics unit is close to finishing a separate investigation of the six lawyers, which will culminate in a report on whether their failure to turn over critical evidence to Stevens’ defense team amounted to professional misconduct, the people said. Special prosecutor Henry Schuelke III, whose investigation began in April 2009, is expected to make his recommendation first. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who presided over the Stevens trial, tapped Schuelke to determine whether department lawyers sought to conceal the evidence in violation of criminal contempt statutes or whether they withheld it by mistake.

Happy Easter!

To our readers, wishing you and your families a Happy Easter!

Political Manipulation at the Highest Level of Government

The Miami Herald had an interesting story Tuesday about how government operatives smeared, spied-on, and then manipulated government Inspector General reports about a fellow government agent for political purposes.

What is bothersome is that this occurred at the highest level of government involving the U.S. Department of State, the CIA and the DEA.

Later, Karl Rove and his henchmen became great manipulators of the U.S. Department of Justice. They successfully targeted, prosecuted and incarcerated Democrats and others who didn't toe the political line.

Who says it cannot be done? Who says Big Brother can't mess with you? Who dismisses the fact that the Rove Republican Racket operated viciously from California to Maine?

Read this, drink your coffee, and think twice, three times about it.

An unhappy federal judge on Tuesday approved a $3 million settlement with a former narcotics officer who said the CIA spied on him overseas. The approved settlement caps a 16-year fight for former Drug Enforcement Administration agent Richard A. Horn and California attorney Brian Leighton. It also leaves the judge grumbling over how the government handled the long-secret case. It does not appear that any government officials have been held accountable for this loss to the taxpayer," U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth wrote. "This is troubling." Driving his point home, Lamberth further noted that "there is disturbing evidence in a sealed motion that misconduct occurred in the Inspector General offices at both the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency." After noting that the case "has already consumed too much time and too many resources for everyone concerned," however, Lamberth agreed to drop potential disciplinary proceedings against CIA officials. He'll formally do so once he has been assured that the allegations have been referred to congressional intelligence committees and the inspector general offices.

Read the full story here.