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.