Closing the Book in Northern Mississippi

With the headline, "Scruggs Investigation Over," and sub-headline, "Closing Book in Bribe Scandal," the Jackson, Mississippi Clarion Ledger declared the Rove Republican Racket's largest and most famous  investigation and prosecution of some of the wealthiest Democratic boosters ever is finally over. 

Dickie Scruggs, the once famous and one of the wealthiest trial attorneys in Mississippi, and his Democratic friends were cleverly set up and stupidly ate the bribery bait of a questionable state judge, who happens to be a Republican. Scruggs and friends were prosecuted and all of them went to jail.

Jim Greenlee, the former Bush-Rove appointed U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Mississippi, prosecuted Scruggs and friends. Greenlee, who left in disgrace and scandal last January after being involved in a racial profiling case, used the power of his office to investigate, intimidate, retaliate against, and scare other prominent Democrats, even some innocent folks associated with Scruggs.

But Greenlee is gone. Gone with the winds of change.

So, finally yesterday, those left behind in Oxford saw the light: no evidence and no political support. Thus, with newly discovered courage, they closed the politically-charged investigation.

The Ledger writes:

Federal prosecutors have ended their criminal  investigation into political operative P.L. Blake in the judicial bribery scandal that imprisoned former trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs, according to those close to the probe. The decision to drop the case involving Blake means  the federal investigation into Scruggs and others officially has ended. Contacted about the decision, Blake's attorney, Doug Jones of Birmingham, confirmed the matter involving his client had been closed, saying prosecutors declined to prosecute.  "We obviously are very pleased," he said, adding that he felt with a fair review of the evidence that  prosecutors would make the right decision.

Flop of Tort

Right-wing Mississippi blogger Alan Lange and his lying co-author, former Assistant U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Mississippi Tom Dawson, self-published a 288-page book that has flopped titled, Kings of Tort.

Sources tell us sales were so awful that each author has lost a huge chunk of change and the only ones to make money on the deal were the owners of Pediment Publishing.

The co-authors, members of the Rove Republican Racket, relied on inside knowledge and set up the idea of writing the book while Dawson was still serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the fall of 2008. Days after retiring in January of 2009, Dawson obtained a secret six-month (book writing?) contract from then-U.S. Attorney Jim H. Greenlee.

Dawson, a former protege of Ken Starr, tells media that he only worked two-days a week on contract and was serving in a "consiglieri" position like in the movie The Godfather.

As they would say in Italy, bugiardo!

Dawson was intricately and centrally involved in plea deals involving a corrupt lawyer and state judge while serving supposedly as a "consiglieri" for the Rove Republican Mafia.

As one reader put it, "Dawson acts like he was the grandfatherly advisor two days a week in Oxford [Mississippi]. He should add a rocking chair and pipe to his bullshit story."

The only thing the Flop of Tort has produced is questions, lots of questions, including the suspicion that a federal employee on the clock was used to help write the book.  The book is about the prosecution of two well-known Democrats: trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs and fundraiser Paul Minor.

Besides being a flop, the book has had disastrous implications about the professional ethics of Dawson and his supervisors in the U.S. Department of Justice.

With a hefty debt and hundreds of copies in storage, sometimes Lange and Dawson may feel they are waking up with a bloody horse's head in their bed, only to realize the nightmare was caused by their own, self-aggrandizing egos.

Who is this Contractor?

The Neilson saga of Northern Mississippi is possibly creating an even larger web of lies. 

The public relations war between disgraced former U.S. Attorney Jim H. Greenlee (pictured) and indicted FBI Agent Hal "The Canary" Neilson has escalated.  Last week, when discussing the secret property partnership Neilson allegedly had in a building and for which he was indicted, we pointedly asked:

How did Greenlee's office learn of Neilson's financial interest in the building?

Now an answer has been given in an article in The Oxford Enterprise:

Sources also say that Neilson’s part ownership of the FBI building was discovered after a local contractor tipped off the U.S. Attorney’s office.

So now we ask: Who is this local contractor? What is his relationship with Greenlee's staff? Does he have some connection to the other three partners of the property deal?

Greenlee looks like he set Neilson up, recused himself, and then kicked the ball over to Louisiana (which eventually indictedNeilson).

And now, are we to believe the U.S. Department of Justice's entire investigation is based on the allegation of a single building contractor?  How did he know? 

This smells dirty. Real dirty. Mississippi dirty.

Neilson Sings like a Canary

The Mississippi Canary has begun to sing.

Let the hemorrhaging begin! Greenlee and his racist, corrupt, unconscionable, and unethical stooges deserve to be publicly humiliated.

As details emerge, it looks more and more like FBI Whistleblower Hal Neilson was set up and retaliated against by Rove Racket Republican and former U.S. Attorney Jim H. Greenlee of the Northern District of Mississippi.

With the headline "Greenlee was out to get me," the Daily Journal reports:

FBI agent Hal Neilson’s professional troubles apparently began some five years ago, when he says he discovered a U.S. attorney’s office investigation for “no reason” into nearly 150 north Mississippi residents of Middle Eastern origins and then later questioned the handling of the Mississippi Beef Plant investigation. When Neilson reported his concerns, he asked his employer for protection against retaliation. At that time, he was the FBI’s resident agent in Oxford. As of today, he reportedly has never heard a response.

Neilson’s accusations come from his own e-mail to Mississippi’s congressional delegation months ago and other documents supplied to the Daily Journal, though not by him. In the messages, he voices his concern about his job and why he believes his relationship with Greenlee fell apart starting about 2004. Chiefly, Neilson points to his opposition to the so-called Convenience Store Initiative, which involved the Middle Easterners, and internal pressure about the beef plant case.

After leading the [Beef Plant] effort for about a year, [Neilson] was removed from the investigation and told by his supervisor that Greenlee complained the case was at a standstill. Neilson apparently told his supervisor that any holdups were due to attempts by the U.S. attorney’s office to steer the investigation.

Neilson, who was indicted last month on a property scheme, states in documents obtained by the Daily Journal:

“A subsequent FBI Inspection investigation followed and found absolutely no wrongdoing on my part,” Neilson’s e-mail said. A few months later, Neilson wrote, he learned he was under investigation about a 2005 investment and its financial disclosure – which bypassed the FBI to the Department of Justice’s inspector general and the Baton Rouge, La., U.S. attorney. Neilson told the congressional delegation he received an “oral” OK from the FBI to make the investment, and offered to take a polygraph and leave the area to get away from the situation.“It has cost me my lifetime savings for my four children’s college education and more,” he noted. “I have just one year left to retire and am concerned if I will even make it.”

We alluded to this scheme last week as Greenlee and friends attempted damage control.  Now the mainstream media has confirmed it.

Sing. Sing a song. Sing out loud. Sing out strong!

h/t NorthMissCommentor

Goodbye Jim!

Embattled and disgraced U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Mississippi Jim Greenlee served his last day in office yesterday.  But it ain't over, yet!

Greenlee, one of the Rove Republican Racket's most loyal members racially targeted innocent convenience store owners for having Islamic-sounding names, offered a "sweet deal" of immunity to a corrupt DA named Ed "Pied Piper" Peters, handed out a secret six month (book-writing?) contract to his lying and "retired" Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Dawson, and finally, retaliated against FBI whistleblower Hal Neilson for betraying his loyalty to Greenlee.

Now that he is a private citizen, Greenlee will most likely be deposed over his immunity deal to the Pied Piper Peters that let Peters keep $425,000 of a $1 million bribery pay-off. Peters claimed he had losses.

Patsy R. Brumfield, a Mississippi journalist, reported last week:

Attorneys for attorney Roberts Wilson of Oxford will ask former State Auditor Steven Patterson under oath questions in their quest to get the federal court to turn over $425,000 to Wilson in the aftermath of the Scruggs et al prosecutions. Wilson claims he is owed the money, which allegedly is what’s left of former D.A. Ed Peters’ fees related to his help against Wilson’s lawsuit v. Scruggs, presided over by then-Judge Bobby DeLaughter in Hinds County.

The questioning, called a deposition, is set for Feb. 24-25 at the Federal Prison Camp at Montgomery, Ala., where Patterson is serving his sentence for his guilty plea in the case in which he and others were accused of attempting to bribe Circuit Judge Henry Lackey of Calhoun City. Wilson also has asked to do the same with others accused of knowledge about these cases.

Justice, even in backwards Mississippi, shall prevail.

Greenlee's Oral Flatulence

Last week, we reported how retiring and disgraced U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Mississippi Jim H. Greenlee retaliated against whistleblower FBI Agent Hal Neilson who was recently indicted for not disclosing a property partnership in which he was a principal.

We raised serious questions including the fact that Greenlee, member of the Rove Republican Racket, was indirectly involved and probably "set the b**ch up."

Following our post, Greenlee and friends began damage control. The Oxford Enterprise reported last Sunday:

Greenlee’s office was never directly involved with the investigation. According to two well-placed sources, Grenelee’s office learned of Neilson’s financial interest in the building and first thought of it as an ethical violation. They referred the case to the Department of Justice’s Inspector General’s office, which reviewed the case, decided it was a criminal matter and immediately assigned it to the Baton Rouge office.

This only leads to further questions.   

1. How did Greenlee's office learn of Neilson's financial interest in the building?
2. How did Neilson become a secret partner?
3. Did Greenlee and friends set Neilson up?
4. Speaking of ethical violations, why didn't  Greenlee's office submit a review of Tom Dawson's book writing deal to the IG's office?

We suspect they had something on one of the other partners involved in the property deal and struck a tit-for-tat deal.

Time that someone write to the IG's office about Dawson, Greenlee, and the secret six-month (book writing?) contract.

Greenlee's Retaliation

Retiring and disgraced U.S. Attorney Jim H. Greenlee of the Northern District of Mississippi looks like he retaliated against a whistleblower who broke the code of silence on breaches of ethics and acts of professional misconduct by members of the Rove Republican Racket.

Last week, FBI Agent Hal Nielson of Oxford, Mississippi was indicted for failing to disclose a secret partnership with owners of a property rented by the FBI.

North Mississippi Commentor writes:

According to the indictment, Neilson was involved in both the site selection, the lease, and an increase in the lease spaces. The building was constructed by C&G Partnership which later incorporated as C&G Properties, LLC; while its principals are not identified in the indictment other than by initials (JC, DG, and their lawyer BW), a quick look at the Secretary of State’s web page discloses that C&G Properties was incorporated by member managers John Covington and Dino Grisanti, along with their lawyer Brad Walsh. ....There is no suggestion in the indictment that any of the three did anything wrong, and paragraph 21 alleges “NEILSON falsely assured JC, DG, and BW that he had checked with an FBI agent and had received approval to own an interest in the Oxford FBI building.” There is a puzzling lack of allegations about what Neilson actually did to get an interest in the building.

But why was Neilson REALLY indicted? According to Mississippi journalist Patsy Brumfield:

Neilson reportedly sought whistleblower protection from DOJ a few years ago when he questioned the U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee for allegedly seeking information on Muslims throughout the region after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and accused the agency of falsifying evidence in some cases and in entrapment and coercion of witnesses.

Neilson also reportedly raised ethics questions about former assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Dawson’s participation in a book about the office’s investigation and prosecution of then-Oxford attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, who was sentenced to prison on two guilty pleas related to judicial bribery indictments. Before the book was released several weeks ago, a DOJ spokesman said Dawson had retired before he worked on it. Tension between Neilson and the U.S. Attorney’s Office first became public when it was mentioned in the book, although reasons for the problems were not given.

We note again that the other partners were not indicted in this property scheme and their names were hidden with initials on the indictment. Although Greenlee was not directly involved in the indictment (he recused himself and had it transferred to Louisiana), we smell his involvement indirectly which eventually led to the indictment.

Serious questions:

• Did Greenlee violate the Civil Rights of Muslims in his district and walk away from the scene of the crime?
• Did Greenlee help cut JC, DG and  BW a "sweet deal" like he did the Pied Piper Ed Peters so he could retaliate against Nielson and "set the b***h up?"
• Was Greenlee, like his embattled Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Dawson, trying to hide the secret six-month (book writing?) contract he dished out to Dawson days after Dawson's retirement last January?
• Did Greenlee try to silence the fact that he may have knowingly allowed his staff to help Dawson write a book while on the federal payroll clock?

 U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder needs to probe these issues and hold Greenlee and his subordinates accountable.

And if Washington is too timid, then Nielson needs to talk directly to the media.

Sacrificing for Dawson

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Mississippi Tom Dawson has done himself in.  The controversial  former prosecutor, who received a secret six-month contract from disgraced U.S. Attorney Jim H. Greenlee a few days after "retiring" last January, co-authored Kings of Tort with right-wing blogger Alan Lange (see post below). Dawson allegedly planned, outlined, and discussed the writing of this book while still serving as a federal prosecutor.

In the Acknowledgements section of the book, Dawson thanks Karen Rushing, his "former legal assistant who not only lived this saga with the rest of us, but endured many sacrifices in helping this technologically challenged co-author get his contributions in on time."

So was Ms. Rushing working on the federal clock? Did she use federal equipment, email servers, fax machines, telephones to help Mr. Dawson? Did Ms. Rushing pull, summarize, or photocopy any files for Mr. Dawson? What "sacrifices" did Ms. Rushing perform on-duty and as a paid employee of the federal government for Mr. Dawson?

Now, come on Tommy. You are not going to tell us Ms. Rushing did all her sacrifices off-hours, on her cell phone, on her own personal computer and gmail account during the evening re-runs of Desperate Housewives, are you?

Scandal as Disgraced U.S. Attorney Exits

U.S. Attorney Jim H. Greenlee of the Northern District of Mississippi (pictured), a pillar of the Rove Republican Racket, will be retiring according to the Main Justice news website.

In September, we called on this disgraceful character to resign or be fired amid the revelation that after 9/11, Greenlee conducted an investigation of convenience store owners with Islamic-sounding names. There were no links whatsoever to terrorism and no one was ever prosecuted for acts of terrorism.

In other words, this backwards Mississippi prosecutor went after "colored" folks just for the hell of it. To justify his broad investigation, Greenlee busted a few convenience store owners for selling too much Sudafed.

But Greenlee is surrounded by scandal.  Main Justice writes:

Greenlee’s departure has been rumored for months, amid various reports that made his Oxford-based office seem something of a soap opera.

The latest: Mississippi journalist Patsy Brumfield reports that an FBI agent who was indicted last week for failing to disclose a personal financial interest in the FBI building in Oxford had sought whistle blower status a couple of years ago after reporting concerns that Greenlee’s office had improperly targeted area Muslims for investigation after the 9/11 attacks.

The so-called Convenience Store Initiative didn’t find any terrorist links, but prosecutors did end up charging some 60 people with selling excessive amounts of pseudoephedrine, used to make methamphetamine, an illegal drug.

The agent, Hal Neilson, also reportedly raised ethics concerns about a book that a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the district, Tom Dawson, wrote about his prosecution of billionaire Mississippi trial lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs in a judicial bribery scandal, Brumfield wrote.

The limited comments on the conflict, scandal, and retaliation between Neilson and Greenlee are just the tip of the iceberg as this Titanic sinks.

Dawson's Dilemma

Tom Dawson, the embattled former Assistant U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Mississippi and former protege of Ken Starr, is trying to hide the truth, even on live radio!

He has co-authored a book with right-wing blogger Alan Lange mostly about the prosecution of famed anti-tobacco attorney Dickie Scruggs and his associates who foolishly bribed a state judge.

As Main Justice reports today:

The book has created a stir in Mississippi; Dawson was still working for the government when he agreed to write it. Dawson retired in January and returned to the office on an usual contract basis until June.

Twice now, once on Mississippi public radio last week and previously on the Northern Mississippi Mike Gallo Radio Show, Tom Dawson has stated he left the U.S. Attorney's office in January.

That's a bold-face lie.

Days after retiring in January , Dawson signed a Secret Contract with U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee that paid him a monthly retainer through June.

Dawson's dilemma is this:

1. Did he sign the Secret Contract so he could research and access files and staff of the U.S. government for his book?
2. Or did he sign a Secret Contract and receive thousands of dollars in fedral funds for little or no work?

The latter sounds like honest services fraud and Dawson should be prosecuted vigorously like Sue Schmitz of Alabama was by the Rove Republican Racket.

We remind readers that Dawson has yet to publicly answer our three questions.

An Important Question from Mississippi

On Sunday night, the Greenwood (Mississippi) Commonwealth newspaper's editorial asked, "Why isn't Peters facing prison, too?"

Ed Peters is the corrupt DA from Mississippi who we affectionately call the "Pied Piper." Pied Piper Peters plays a tune so wonderfully that he worked out a sweet immunity deal with disgraced and embattled U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee of the Northern District of Mississippi. The immunity deal has been sealed tight and the U.S. Department of Justice won't provide details.

The Commonwealth correctly opines:

Why has Ed Peters, who was hired by [Richard] Scruggs and his friends to try to bribe [Judge Bobby] DeLaughter, gotten off so lightly? It was Peters who federal prosecutors say dangled the poisoned fruit -- a lifetime judicial appointment in exchange for a favorable ruling in a multimillion-dollar dispute over legal fees -- in front of DeLaughter. It was Peters who was the go-between, ferrying messages and documents between the judge and the Scruggs team. Yet, the former Hinds County district attorney has been able to skirt prosecution by turning on his onetime protegé. Peters’ only penalty, other than losing his law license, was giving back what was left of the $1 million the Scruggs team had paid him.

“I find it rather odd that the man who got $1 million is out fishing, and Bobby DeLaughter is going to prison,” [DeLaughter's lawyer] said. “At least in Chicago we chase the money.”

So have federal prosecutors in Mississippi, except when it comes to Peters. So far, six plaintiffs’ attorneys, three state judges and a former state auditor have drawn prison time in three judicial bribery cases -- some of them for misdeeds that were a lot less culpable than Peters’.

Why did he get such a sweet deal? That’s a question the feds have yet to answer.

Three Questions for Tom Dawson

Members of the Rove Republican Racket have screwed up in possibly one of the worst cases of prosecutorial misconduct. And now they don't know what to do as the hole gets bigger and bigger.

Two weeks ago, we wrote about two individuals in Mississippi who had written a book and were seeing green.

One of them is former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Dawson who, according to the Main Justice website, was discussing writing the book in the summer of 2008 when he was still a federal prosecutor with the other co-author, a right-wing Republican blogger, Alan Lange.

The political irony is that the book is about prominent Democrats and trial lawyers who were prosecuted by Dawson.

Many believe this was a serious breach of ethics and blatant prosecutorial misconduct especially since Dawson was actively involved in pending investigations related to the original cases and appeared to have a bias in favor of Republicans.

Last week, we posted two posts. One was about Dawson's two contracts: the book contract and a secret employment contract Dawson obtained from the U.S. Attorney just days after he had retired. The other was an expose about how Dawson had been a protege of Kenneth Starr during the Whitewater Investigation of President Bill Clinton.

Then, to our surprise, Alan Lange, the Republican right-wing blogger who has written the book with  Dawson, contacted us by email. 

Lange wrote:

 "I'd like to visit with you about your latest post. You have some completely erroneous information on your post that I'd like to help you clean up."

What a generous blogger!

When we asked, what was exactly erroneous with our two posts, Lange replied:

You stated in your posts that Tom (a) had a contract to work on a book while still a DOJ employee and (b) actually did do work on the book while still a DOJ employee. Both are absolutely false. I'd ask that you to correct that immediately in all posts on your site and cease printing maliciously inaccurate information.

Lange went on to quote three different parts of our posts and claimed our allegations were untrue or our time frame was way off. The three quotes were interestingly all about Tom Dawson.

We replied with three follow-up questions:

Our intent is never to maliciously or intentionally post information that is wrong. To make sure we are understanding one another before we make any editorial changes, we have three follow-up questions based on your email:

[1.] So what you are saying is that you and Dawson didn't discuss the possibility of writing a book last year at the Ole Miss football game, correct?

[2.] When did you and Dawson begin discussing the possibility of writing a book and what date did you both agree to proceed with the project?

[3.] In addition, are you saying unequivocally that Dawson never planned, outlined, or wrote any part of the book while serving as an AUSA or paid consultant for the USA?

What was Lange's reply?

"I don't answer questions from people I don't know."

Wait a minute? Didn't Lange contact us? So, we replied:

You certainly answered our emails before. Now that we wanted to [understand] the whole truth, you don't answer questions. We do not know you either.

So what is the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God?

Tom Dawson has an ethical and moral responsibility to the U.S. Department of Justice and citizens of the Northern District of Mississippi to answer those three questions. Dawson and company should be prepared for the most intrusive investigation of prosecutorial misconduct in recent times.

Weiner Conspiracy

The case against Dr. Roger Weiner (pictured) was formally dismissed by Federal District Judge Neal Biggers on Monday.

It was a dismal failure for embattled and disgraced U.S. Attorney of Northern Mississippi Jim Greenlee, a pillar in the Rove Republican Racket, who at one point dropped the ball on this same case 27 times.

Greenlee has been in the news lately for offering a secret employment contract to Ken Starr's protege and targeting convenience store owners based on their "Islamic sounding names."

In this debacle, Weiner had been charged with interstate prostitution charges where no interstate or federal crime occurred.  He was prosecuted under the infamous Mann Act which historically has been used for political or racially inspired prosecutions. Besides being a cardiologist, Weiner serves as a County Supervisor in Coahoma County, Mississippi.

And now the federal judge in the Weiner case lays out a stunning conspiracy in his dismissal order:

The court is aware from arguments and briefs submitted to the court that Dr. Weiner has acted as a strong advocate for quality healthcare in Clarksdale and the surrounding area. As part of this advocacy, Dr. Weiner has been an outspoken critic of the health care organization which manages the local hospital there – a publicly-held company which Dr. Weiner holds responsible for various deficiencies in the provision of healthcare at the hospital. As a result of his criticism, Dr. Weiner is apparently not in good favor with that company as evidenced by statements such as that made by an agent of the company, a former hospital administrator in Clarksdale, who defense counsel advise allegedly stated prior to Dr. Weiner’s arrest that the corporation was “going to get Dr. Weiner out of there even if it had to do it in handcuffs” (or words to that effect). An e-mail from this same administrator reveals his reaction to the arrest of Dr. Weiner. When advised that Dr. Weiner’s office computer was searched, that the search revealed that Dr. Weiner communicated with persons he thought were women visiting the SugarDaddyForMe website, and that information was taken which, inter alia, led to the indictment herein, the administrator responded in an e-mail, “Alright!!!!!!” The court is also advised that another official in this management company with whom Dr. Weiner has had numerous conflicts is a retired veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The court is further advised that SugarDaddyForMe.com receives thousands of hits a day; yet, according to the information from defense counsel herein, the government has prosecuted not one other individual besides Dr. Weiner for an alleged Mann Act violation accomplished via this website.

We hope Weiner and his legal team file for Hyde Act sanctions and get all defense fees refunded by the federal government. In addition, they should request internal investigations at the FBI and Greenlee's office by approaching the Office of Professional Responsibilty at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Read the full dismissal order here from the North Mississippi Commentor website.

Secret Contract for Ken Starr's Protege

On Monday, we wrote how a former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Dawson from Mississippi discussed writing a book with a right-wing, Republican blogger in the summer of 2008 while still serving as a federal prosecutor, according to the website Main Justice. 

The book, not surprisingly, is about the prosecution and jailing of prominent Democratic boosters and trial lawyers. Dawson also obtained a secret six-month contract from embattled U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee a few days after retiring in January of this year.

So who is Tom Dawson?

We found this flattering introduction from a CNN transcript dated February 5, 1998:

"Let me introduce Tom Dawson, who will be representing the United States as first chair in the trial. Mr. Dawson is a career prosecutor. He's an assistant United States attorney from Oxford, Mississippi, for the District of Mississippi, has tried many cases -- a variety of trials over many years. He has also served in the Justice Department in the criminal division, is one of the Department of Justice's most experienced senior career prosecutors. "

And who was introducing him? None other than the illustrious Kenneth Starr, then the Independent Counsel of the Whitewater and Lewinsky scandals. 

In 1998, Dawson was one of the lead trial attorneys in the Whitewater controversy.  Dawson was part of the legal team that targeted and failed to prosecute the President of the United States Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton in relationship to an obscure land deal.

Two Contracts in Mississippi

Disgraced U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee of the Northern District of Mississippi, who ethnically targeted "Islamic-name sounding" convenience store owners and fumbled the ball 27 times in a high profile criminal prostitution case, has won the ultimate prize: political stupidity.

According to Main Justice, in January, Greenlee signed off on rewarding former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Dawson with a six-month, secret contract only days after he retired.

Some months beforehand, as early as the summer of 2008, while attending an Ole Miss football game, Dawson also met with Republican blogger Alan Lange of Y'All Politics, according to a local Oxford, Mississippi newspaper. (These are the two authors we told you about last week who are cashing in and seeing green.)

According to Main Justice, at some point in the summer of 2008, Dawson, who was still an Assistant U.S. Attorney, discussed the book project with Lange. Then, at some undisclosed point in time, the two agreed to write a book and later signed a book contract.

What are they going to write about? The prosecution of Democratic Mississippi fund-raiser Paul Minor and those Mississippi Democratic trial lawyers and others involved in the Scruggs bribery cases.

And who was the lead prosecutor in those cases? Tom Dawson. Who appeared to be planning, outlining, and thinking about writing a book while still serving as an AUSA and/or USA consultant? Tom Dawson.

Main Justice writes:

The circumstances of Dawson’s employment with the Northern District of Mississippi office were unusual, raising questions about whether he may have skirted Justice Department ethics rules when he began discussing the book project with Lange last summer. Dawson officially retired on Jan. 2, after nearly 36 years as a prosecutor. But he returned to the office on Jan. 15 under contract, working part time behind the scenes on ongoing Scruggs-related investigations until early June.

“It wouldn’t be any conflict necessarily because it was only about two days a week,” [Dawson] said. “But just to remove any criticism of that, I decided to cease the contract.” According to the Justice Department, Dawson was a part-time consultant from Jan. 15 to June 7. His contract originally was to run through the end of June. Justice Department ethics rules advise employees wishing to undertake writing projects to be “cautious to avoid any conflict of interest with their position and to ensure that no interference with the performance of their official duties occurs.”

Looks like Dawson's conscience finally got to him!

Greenlee and his friends in the Rove Republican Racket have been attacked and criticized (including by this blog) for turning the U.S. Department of Justice into the political arm of the Republican Party and now there is proof in the pudding.

We hope Greenlee's irregular and secret contract to a moonlighting writer/active prosecutor--who was joined at the hip to a right-wing blogger a year ago--ignites renewed Congressional scrutiny and catches the ear of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Seeing Green

What do you get when you mix a Rove Republican Racket prosecutor who tossed many leading Democratic boosters in jail and stir him together with a local Mississippi Republican online blogger who rejoiced in the public political lynchings?

A book.

Alan Lange, blogisher of Y'All Politics, and  former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Dawson. who worked under disgraced Northern District of Mississippi U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee, announced today that they're publishing a book about the political prosecutions of Richard Scruggs and Paul Minor.

Lange even says it will make a "GREAT Christmas gift."

As former President George W. Bush is selling himself out as a motivational speaker, his former lieutenants and political prosecutors in the Justice Department are selling themselves out as authors.

To paraphrase U.S. Representative Alan Grayson, what "K Street whores!"

Read the full post here.

Protecting Pied Piper Peters

Last month, we told you how the U.S. Department of Justice is trying to play hide and seek on giving out information on the immunity deal of the Pied Piper of Mississippi, the corrupt former DA, Ed Peters (pictured).

Mississippi Litigation Review (MLR) has been hammering at getting information on this "sweet deal' concocted by disgraced U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee of backwards Mississippi, who racially targeted convenience store owners with Islamic sounding names,

Greenlee and his friends in the Rove Republican Racket gave Peters an immunity deal and in turn threw a couple of high profile Democratic boosters in jail.

MLR made a SECOND request for the records and got a response this week. MLR writes:

Once again the Justice Department refused to turn over Ed Peters' immunity agreement. Here is the DOJ's response. I received what appears to be a form letter like the one that DOJ sent last time, as discussed in this earlier post. But this time DOJ added a note on the last page:

NOTE: We have received your letter dated Sept. 16, 2009. Is the immunity agreement you seek a public record?

Great. A clue. I take this to mean that DOJ is either trying to be helpful, or playing games. I'm a natural cynic, so it's not much of a question to me. But I'll take the bait anyway and request all public records.

U.S. Attorney Should Resign or be Fired

U. S. Attorney of the Northern District of Mississippi Jim Greenlee has done it again and topped them all!

As you may recall, this same prosecutor recently dropped the ball 27 times in a high-profile criminal case. Greenlee also authorized the ridiculous immunity deal for Pied Piper Ed Peters, a corrupt former DA from Mississippi who has taken everyone for a ride.

Now, today, comes breaking news that Greenlee targeted Middle Eastern business operators in the post 9/11 hysteria even though there were no links to terrorism.

According to the Clarion Ledger:

The U.S. attorney's office in Oxford targeted convenience store operators in north Mississippi, many of Middle Eastern descent, despite a lack of any connection to terrorism, according to documents obtained by The Clarion-Ledger. The Convenience Store Initiative arose from meetings with local law enforcement officers in the years following 9-11 - when Middle Eastern terrorists flew hijacked planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center Twin Towers.

U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee of Oxford said the government was "looking to see any links to terrorism, but what we found was criminal conduct." Instead of arrests for alleged terrorist plots, state and federal officials since 2006 have charged more than 60 people in Mississippi with such illegal acts as the sale of excessive amounts of pseudoephedrine - used to make meth. Those who ran the Convenience Store Initiative say the FBI found nothing wrong with the initiative, which arose from tips from local law enforcement. In fact, they say the Justice Department in the Bush administration praised the concept.

Those involved in the initiative say the money from the illegal activity was being sent back overseas, where it couldn't be traced and possibly could have gone to funding terrorism. But they acknowledged the money could have gone to relatives instead. Greenlee denied the suggestion those of Middle Eastern descent were targeted. "Did we look at it from an improper purpose? No," he said.

Improper purpose? Absolutely! These business operators had no links whatsoever to terrorism except being , as they say in backwards Mississippi, "colored."

Instead of finding any problems or links with terrorism, Greenlee busted eight store operators who sold too much cold medicine in an entrapment scheme the feds set up.

This is typical of hillbilly Mississippi: target the "coloreds and foreigners" on a cooked up hysteria terrorism charge and then throw the book at them on something else since you couldn't find anything to begin with.

Greenlee, who probably thought of this "brilliant" idea while buying a cup of coffee from a Middle Eastern looking-fellow at a Kangaroo Express in Oxford, should immediately resign or be fired by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Read the full story here.

U.S. Attorney Drops the Ball 27 Times

The Rove Republican Racket's esteemed member, U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee of Northern Mississippi, has dropped the ball twenty-seven times. Greenlee failed to provide defense counsel in a high-profile criminal case with cell phone records and other vital information that had been requested 27 separate times!

Greenlee's actions are as bad as his New Jersey colleague, U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra, who is under scrutiny for opening his big mouth to the media.

Greenlee, who successfully politically prosecuted several top Democrats in Mississippi for the Rove-Bush-Cheney Administration, suffered this ugly legal black eye last week.

According to the Clarksdale Press Register:

U.S. District Court Judge Neil Biggers Jr. issued a stern warning that prosecutors had until Friday to produce cell phone records and other information which had previously been requested by...defense counsel. Biggers also asked the government to explain the reasons behind their delays. On Friday, prosecutors filed their response. According to the response filed by U.S Attorney Jim Greenlee and assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Roberts, prosecutors and [defense] attorneys had informally agreed upon an August 31 deadline for producing the information. “The government mistakenly did not seek an order from the Court formalizing the August 31st deadline agreement with counsel opposite,” reads a section of the prosecutors response. “The government apologizes for any inconvenience to the Court and respectfully requests that the Court impose no sanction upon the case due to the government’s failure to request an extension of discovery deadline and states that it will keep the Court informed of any problems related to timely discovery in the future.” Defense attorney’s had issued 27 separate requests for detailed information related to the extensive undercover FBI investigation....

Greenlee made a big mistake, 27 times.

If defense counsel had done so once, Greenlee would have sought sanctions. Greenlee apologizes blaming a procedural failure while protecting his apparently sloppy or intentionally contemptuous criminal division.

Like Marra, Greenlee and staff should be under the scrutiny of the Office of Professional Responsibility of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Read the full article here.