David C. Farmer, Successor-Trustee vs. Harmon
(Formerly Woo vs. Harmon & Nicholson vs. Harmon)
U.S. District Court For the District of Hawaii
Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang
—
DEFENDANT’S WITNESS
JOHN ASHCROFT
John Ashcroft is the former U.S. Attorney General, appointed by George W. Bush.
From the United States Department of Justice Website: www.usdoj.gov:
MISSION STATEMENT
To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.
~ ~ ~
Executive Office for United States Trustees
Washington, D.C.
Office of Research and Planning
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
October 30, 2001
U.S. TRUSTEE PROGRAM LAUNCHES
BANKRUPTCY CIVIL ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVE
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The United States Trustee Program has launched an initiative to more aggressively use existing civil enforcement methods to curb abuse of the bankruptcy system, Martha Davis, Acting Director of the Executive Office for United States Trustees, announced today.
"Effective case administration is vital to ensure the American public that the bankruptcy system provides relief for honest but unfortunate debtors overcome by serious financial difficulties," Davis stated. "The Civil Enforcement Initiative emanates from the U.S. Trustee Program's long-standing commitment to enforce the Nation's bankruptcy laws and explore other meaningful strategies to bolster public confidence in the integrity and effectiveness of the bankruptcy system."
"The priorities of the initiative will require a concerted effort nationwide to use existing tools in a way that best accomplishes tangible results and improvements for case administration," Davis continued. "Many of our offices use such strategies today and we hope to build upon their experience. By focusing our resources on these priorities, we also seek to address some of the concerns that have been at the forefront of debate in recent years both before Congress and in other public venues. In the end, this is very much a community effort that will require communication and cooperation with private bankruptcy trustees and with the bankruptcy bench and bar."
These are the priorities of the Civil Enforcement Initiative:
Ensuring that Chapter 7 is not abused and that Chapter 7 debtors are held accountable.
Chapter 7 debtors who do not comply with the law will have their cases converted or dismissed, or their bankruptcy discharges denied or revoked. Enforcement measures include motions to dismiss Chapter 7 cases under 11 U.S.C. §§ 707(a) and 707(b), and complaints to bar or defer discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 727.
Protecting consumer debtors, creditors, and others who are victimized by those who mislead or misinform debtors, make false representations in connection with a bankruptcy case, or otherwise abuse the bankruptcy process.
Attorneys and bankruptcy petition preparers (non-attorneys who prepare bankruptcy documents for a fee) must engage in full disclosure, be free of conflicts of interest, and engage in ethical practices. Enforcement measures include motions for sanctions, contempt of court, and disgorgement under 11 U.S.C. § 329 for misconduct by attorneys, and complaints and motions under 11 U.S.C. § 110 for misconduct by bankruptcy petition preparers....
Fighting fraud and abuse by making criminal referrals and assisting United States Attorneys in criminal prosecutions.
The U.S. Trustee Program is a component of the Justice Department that oversees the administration of bankruptcy cases and intervenes in court to enforce the bankruptcy laws. There are 21 regions in the Program, each headed by a U.S. Trustee appointed by the Attorney General.
The Civil Enforcement Initiative took effect Oct. 1, 2001, with the start of the federal government's 2002 fiscal year. Previous U.S. Trustee Program initiatives have focused on issues such as enhancing the supervision of private trustees who administer Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, increasing the efficiency and speed of Chapter 7 case administration....
Contact:
Jane Limprecht, Public Information Officer
Executive Office for U.S. Trustees
(202) 305-7411
www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/public_affairs/press/docs/pr20011030.htm
~ ~ ~
NEW DISCOVERY (December 13, 2007):
February 19, 2002
Extraordinary Heroes and Scoundrels of Hawaii -
Edward Kubo Total Power Corrupts: Highest Law Enforcement
Officer Real, Real Busy
Edward Kubo, 48, as the state’s newly appointed United States attorney and highest law enforcement officer, has his work cut out for him.
As one of only 92 in this same position throughout the nation, reporting directly to United States Attorney General John Ashcroft, Kubo oversees in Hawaii and surrounding territories prosecution of international drug traffickers, Internet crime and child pornography, and crimes against visitors and the military. But the most complicated cases come by way of more than 40 years of one-party rule in Hawaii and political corruption that inevitably follows.
Kubo has more independence to pursue the political corruption in the state, simply because he is not tied to the party in power. He was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican, and that is a considerably different situation from his predecessor Steve Alm, who had every reason to go after "safe" political corruption, or corruption that did not go too close to the top.
Alm was noted more for his work on weed and seed, or cleaning up communities from drug dealers, than for busting high-profile political powers that be. That focus was rewarded well by incumbent Democrat Gov. Benjamin Cayetano who recently appointed Alm a state judge over many other qualified candidates.
But if there was ever a time for a U.S. attorney to come to the rescue, it is now. Especially with every political office up for re-election in 2002 as mandated in the state constitution. The shake-up is breeding panic amongst long-time incumbents who want to find a place to continue their career in politics, and that panic is creating a money and power grab with more momentum than ever before.
The fanatical activity building everyday in Hawaii’s political arena is keeping Kubo busy, at work 7-days-a-week. Since he took office Jan. 4, 2002, the U.S. attorney’s office has taken on several major cases involving political corruption including some of the largest cases ever taken on by federal investigators.
Take the state Legislative Auditor’s report exposing abuse of federal and state funds set aside for special needs children. The state so far has spent $1.4 billion since 1994 to meet the Felix consent decree, or educational needs of special-needs children, much that is untraceable.
Questions are arising in state’s other than Hawaii including North Carolina, where federal investigators indicted Lenore Behar, who was appointed by U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra to set up and monitor Hawaii’s Felix program. Behar was under indictment for 46 counts of stealing federal and state monies from a similar program for children in her home state. She plead guilty in December 2001 to one count.
Besides the missing money and misappropriations relating to Felix and special education, there is the investigation into Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, who is accused of using state and federal funds to pay off contributors through city contracts and for demanding those who receive contracts pay up or lose out. The investigation, involving several city, state and federal agencies, goes right to the heart of the corruption in the Democratic Party and the way the Democratic machine is funded.
Then there is voter fraud and voting irregularities, including an absentee ballot system abused in 1998 and 2000, naturally ignored by Kubo’s predecessor. There is the 40,000-page document in the state Campaign Spending office and the state attorney general’s office documenting wide-spread campaign funding raising abuse and bribery by former Bishop Estate trustees involving many of the people still in office today.
After being under investigation himself for more than a year, including federal screenings, interviews with congress members and background checks, Kubo is ecstatic by the chance he has been given to make a difference in the place he was born, spent much of his childhood and raised his children.
He agreed to apply for the position of U.S. attorney after meeting and hearing President George W. Bush speak at the presidential inauguration in January 2001.
"I was approached by the Hawaii Bush Presidential Committee and asked if I would consider the position. Just after the inauguration, one of the best experiences in my lifetime, I agreed to seek the position. Just looking back on the inauguration and the speech the president gave, gives me goosebumps."
Kubo, the first public school graduate appointed to this position, for the last 30 years has put in considerable energy, enthusiasm and effort into his law enforcement career. After graduating from Waipahu High School and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, he attended the University of San Diego School of Law, graduating in 1979. During law school, Kubo volunteered with the San Diego Legal Aid Society and interned with the University of San Diego Legal Clinic. Returning to Hawaii in 1979, he clerked for a year with Kobayashi, Watanabe, Sugita & Kawashima Attorneys at Law.
Deciding to take a stab at prosecution, he went to work for the City & County of Honolulu Prosecutor Toga Nakagawa for three years as a deputy city prosecuting attorney. For two years, from 1983 to 1985, he took a break from the prosecutor’s office and went to work in private practice as a senior associate trial attorney with Carlsmith & Dwyer Attorneys at Law. There he specialized in contract, personal injury and insurance litigation.
Charles Marsland, the first elected city prosecutor for the City & County of Honolulu, whom Kubo had worked for before, convinced Kubo to return to the city prosecutor’s office. In addition to his caseload, Kubo worked in two other aspects of law enforcement for several hours each day. He headed for 5 years the Jury Training Unit and was an instructor for police recruit classes and police refresher courses for the Honolulu Police Academy, teaching officers about the legalities of search and seizure laws, laws of arrest, and police testimony in court....
Then, 11 years ago, in December of 1990, Kubo made a decision that would change his life forever. He agreed to take on the job of assistant U.S. attorney offered to him by the then U.S. Attorney Dan Bent.
"My father was in the military and my mother was a substitute teacher. Because of what they taught me, I always believed in the importance of serving your country."
Many of the hundreds of cases Kubo has overseen, tried or assisted with, whether for the city or federal government, have left a lasting impression on him, especially those involving domestic violence or crimes involving minors. Many of the cases he’s overseen have made lasting changes on Hawaii’s case law.
One case in 1989 involved Boy Carvalho and his wife, whom Carvalho beat to death before the couple’s two children. The mother bled to death in Castle Medical Center, running the blood bank dry of 12 gallons of fluid before she died with 44 broken bones and knee caps shot off by a shot gun. But the defense used an unusual strategy to get Carvalho off the hook, by picking men only for the jury.
"The defense attorney began knocking off all women jurors. I objected based on a prior case that said jurors cannot be excluded because of race. I took the case to the Hawaii Supreme Court on a writ (legal demand for a specific action) and the Hawaii Supreme Court was the first in the nation to rule that women could not be excluded as a class."
Other cases Kubo took on as a deputy U.S. attorney include a case in 1999, United States vs. Kaisa Tai, et. al., where Kubo was the sole prosecutor assigned to the case involving an organized group of individuals who were transporting large quantities of both crystal methamphetamine and cocaine to Hawaii from Los Angeles, with some of the drugs destined to distributors in American Samoa. After a hard fought jury trial, two were convicted and sentenced, and one was acquitted, and the case is now on appeal....
The kinds of cases Kubo will now direct his assistant U.S. attorneys to take on are in line with that of the U.S. Attorney General Ashcroft, with the first priority being identifying and preventing terrorist attacks.
"9-11 has changed the priorities of the Bush administration and the federal government – with the number one priority being terrorism. The underlying priority for us is to make people safe, but to do so in a way that is balanced and fair and keeps in mind their liberties and rights."
Kubo also will focus on preventing gun violence by tracking down people who possess or sell firearms illegally and keeping guns out of the hands of violent criminals. He’ll continue to address drug trafficking and addiction, help to prevent violence against military families and their property, and assist local authorities in their efforts to prevent attacks on visitors.
"I know there has been a great deal of crimes focused on the military people here and we are stepping up the effort to protect them and their families. This is important to me, probably because of my background growing up with a father in the military."
Kubo’s upbringing, partially in Germany because his father was transferred there twice in his youth to that snowy country, was different from most of his peers. His family moved every three years, and so he transferred to various new schools, including schools in Germany, where he spent third through fifth grade and his first three years of high school.
He took care of his own family, settling down in 1979 to raise three children: Diana, 22, Dawn, 20; and Ed, 19. He became a grandfather three years ago to Alayna.
"Today I carry my background with me. Because I suffered racial slurs in Germany, I learned to be more independent. My mother taught to be compassionate, to be fair and look at both sides. And my father, a U.S. Army veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam wars, who retired as a Rank E-9 command sergeant major, taught me the importance of service to our country and getting the job done no matter what it took. These experiences and lessons are all going to help me with the tasks I’ll face in this job."
~ ~ ~
January 17, 2006
Attorney General John Ashcroft's
Ties To Jack Abramoff, Guam, And The CNMI
Rep. George Miller (D-California) recently wrote a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asking him to:
appoint an outside counsel to investigate two instances of potential political manipulation by Justice Department officials in criminal and immigration matters concerning Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and the indicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
For such an action to be necessary, there would have to be reason to believe that political manipulation could have taken place, and that internal Justice Department officials might have a conflict of interest.
Could either of those things possibly be true? Let's take a look and see.
Senator John Ashcroft And His Ties To Jack Abramoff
First, let's examine the ties between super-GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff and John Ashcroft.
Ashcroft's Former Legislative Director Went To Work
As A Lobbyist For Abramoff
In August of 1997, John Mashburn left his position as Legislative Director for Senator John Ashcroft and signed on to lobby for Preston Gates, where Jack Abramoff was the Government Affairs Counselor.
As soon as he was legally permitted to do so, Mashburn appeared on the lobbyist registrations for some of Abramoff's biggest clients; Future of Puerto Rico, Inc., Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Ashcroft, Abramoff, and Toward Tradition
In September of 1997, a then-little known group called Toward Tradition was having a conference in Washington, DC and needed a speaker. Senator John Ashcroft was only to glad to help out.
Here's how a story from the September 19. 1997 Ethnic NewsWatch explains how this happened:
How did the group, whose president is Rabbi Daniel Lapin of Mercer Island, Wash., attract such heavy (illegible). The organization relied on its chairman of the board, Jack Abramoff, a former Hollywood movie producer, who, when he's not pushing traditional Jewish values, is lobbying for liquor and gambling interests, not to mention the governments of Pakistan and Zaire.
The executive director of Toward Tradition said at the time that a letter inviting speakers to the conference went out over the names of both Mr. Abramoff and the group's president, Rabbi Daniel Lapin.
Ashcroft was one of three high profile speakers at the event.
Of course we now know, that in addition to Abramoff's role as Chairman of the Board, he also had plenty of other ties to Toward Tradition.
According to the Seattle Times:
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff funneled money through a Mercer Island religious foundation as he tried to influence a top aide to Republican congressional leader Tom DeLay, according to his guilty plea last week to corruption charges.
Rabbi Daniel Lapin confirmed Sunday it was his foundation, Toward Tradition, that took $50,000 from two Abramoff clients and, at Abramoff's suggestion, used it to hire the aide's wife to organize a conference for the group.
Abramoff's plea agreement characterizes the $50,000 payment to former DeLay aide Tony Rudy's wife as a bribe.
The Seattle Times story also relates how Abramoff used Toward Tradition to help in raise money in order to achieve his Pioneer status for the Bush campaign.
Lapin confirmed he urged supporters of President George W. Bush's re-election to give campaign donations through Abramoff, which helped the lobbyist gain Bush "Pioneer" status among top presidential fundraisers.
Key Ashcroft Staffer Takes Trip Paid For By Abramoff Client
In December 1997, Abramoff's client, the government of the CNMI paid for a trip for several GOP aides to visit the Mariana Islands. Among those staffers was Lori Sharpe, a Legislative Assistant in Senator John Ashcroft's office.
Also making the same trip was Leo Giacometto, then-Chief of Staff to Senator Conrad Burns. In 2003, Giacometto would return to the Islands as part of a lobbying team headed by former Ashcroft Justice Department official Juan Carlos Benitez. The team headed by Benitez was awarded a $125,000 per month contract to lobby for the Guam Economic Development and Commerce Authority.
Ashcroft And Abramoff: Hitting The Links At The Tartan Invitational
In September of 1999, Congress Daily reported that Senator John Ashcroft was among a group of six Senators and a few dozen lobbyists who took part in a NRSC sponsored trip to St. Andrews, Scotland.
According to National Journal, Abramoff was among the lobbyists who attended.
Numerous duffer/donors were on the invite list for the trans-Atlantic trek, including Washington lobbyists Jack Abramoff and Steve Hart, National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, and a bevy of corporate and trade group executives, including representatives of AT&T, Bacardi-Martini Inc., Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, BP Amoco, Brown and Williamson, Fannie Mae, the Southern Co., Sprint, United Airlines, and UST Inc. Among the GOP senators joining the lobbyists were Majority Whip Nickles, NRSC Chairman Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Murkowski and Sens. John Ashcroft of Missouri and Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.
The London Times also reports that some aides attended the trip. It is not known if Ashcroft aides attended.
Ashcroft's Appointment As Attorney General Viewed As
Good For Abramoff's Business
In a November 30, 2000 piece in the Washington Post speculating about Abramoff's possible move to Greenberg Traurig, the reporter makes the following observation:
He's a member of the kitchen cabinet of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and is close to other Republican leaders, as well. Abramoff is also said to be close to Republican Sens. John D. Ashcroft (Mo.) and Spencer Abraham (Mich.), both of whom lost their reelection fights and are considered likely picks for a Bush Cabinet--if Bush is the eventual winner of the presidency.
A January 22, 2001 piece in Roll Call makes a similar observation:
Abramoff is close to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas), as well as Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft and Energy Secretary-designate Spence Abraham.
Abramoff Was A Major Contributor To Ashcroft's 2000 Campaign
During Ashcroft's failed bid for re-election in 2000, Jack Abramoff was a major contributor.
Even in 2000, there was a great deal of sensitivity regarding the ties between Ashcroft and Abramoff. During the 2000 campaign, the Carnahan campaign issued a press release criticizing Ashcroft for his ties to Abramoff, and calling particular attention to Abramoff's work for the CNMI and Abramoff's work for a pro-Apartheid group in South Africa.
Within hours of the time the Carnahan campaign issued the press release, the Ashcroft campaign had contacted Abramoff, and Abramoff had directed an attorney within his firm to call and threaten the Carnahan staffer whose name was on the release, unless the press release was rescinded immediately.
Subsequent AP reports indicate that the Team Abramoff lobbyist who made the call to the Carnahan staffer billed the time for the threatening call to the government of the CNMI.
Key Ashcroft Political Staffer Has Ties To Abramoff
Jack Oliver worked on Senator John Ashcroft's official staff, as well as his political arm, the Spirit of America PAC, before departing to become National Finance Director for then Governor George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign.
Oliver worked with Abramoff raising money for Bush's 2000 campaign, and again in 2004 when Oliver returned as National Finance Vice-Chairman for Bush-Cheney ’04 and Victory 2004. During the 2004 campaign, Abramoff raised sufficient funds to achieve the coveted status of Pioneer.
Between stints on Bush's campaigns, Oliver served as Deputy Chairman of the RNC, where he made news when, on behalf of the RNC, he accepted a $100,000 contribution from one of Abramoff's tribal clients, the Agua Caliente. Oliver currently serves as Finance Chair of Senator Jim Talent's re-election bid.
Speaking of the Agua Caliente...
Former Ashcroft Staffer Kevin Ring Was
Part Of Abramoff's Inner Circle
According to Kevin Ring's bio:
In 1998, Mr. Ring was named by then-U.S. Senator John Ashcroft to serve as a counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights Subcommittee that Sen. Ashcroft chaired. Among other duties, he advised Sen. Ashcroft on federal judicial nominations.
And by 2000, Ring was part of the Abramoff lobbying team at Greenberg Traurig. He eventually registered to lobby on behalf of Abramoff's Indian gaming clients--including the Agua Caliente, his Puerto Rico client, the Guam clients, and the CNMI clients.
Ring is also a former staffer to Rep. John Doolittle and to the Republican Study Committee. Ed Buckham of the Alexander Strategy Group is also an alum of the RSC.
In a hearing last summer before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, the constitutional expertise which Ashcroft hired Ring for on the Judiciary Committee was on full display. In that hearing, Ring asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Abramoff Was Warned Of Impending Report Unfavorable
To Abramoff's Client By Ashcroft Chief Of Staff
Sometime in 2001, at the request of the acting U.S. Attorney for Guam and the CNMI, Frederick A. Black, a report analyzing security on the CNMI was prepared inside the Justice Department that found that weaknesses in the enforcement of immigration laws on the islands posed a serious threat to national security.
According to a recent Bloomberg story, Abramoff was warned about the impending report as early as October of 2001:
In an Oct, 1, 2001, e-mail to the Marianas government, Abramoff said he was alerted to the pending immigration report by the Justice Department chief of staff, whom he hosted in his luxury box at a Washington Redskins football game. He said he would pass on to the government any information he receivedfrom the official. At the time, David Ayres was chief of staff.
More Bloomberg:
Abramoff, whose law firm was paid $3.5 million by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, to lobby between 1998 and 2002, tried to block the report, according to an e-mail released this month by House Democrats.
In January 2002, Ashcroft Dispatched His Special Counsel For
Immigration To Guam And The CNMI To The Region
In January 2002, Juan Carlos Benitez, Ashcroft's Special Counsel Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices and Abel Guerra of the White House Office of Public Liaison made a trip to both Guam and the CNMI.
They met with several local politicians in Guam, including then-Sen. Felix Camacho. Camacho is now the Governor of Guam and was subsequently involved in securing a major contract for Benitez when Benitez left the Justice Department. According to news reports on Guam, Camacho has had dealings with Abramoff since 1998.
In May 2002, a few months after Benitez visit, Abramoff began lobbying for the for the Superior Court of Guam, but cloaked the identity of his actual client by registering on behalf of a Los Angeles attorney, Howard Hills, and funnelling the money from the Guam client, through Hills' law firm.
During Benitez's January 2002 visit to Guam, he explained that filling the vacancies relating to the Insular Areas in the Department of Interior was taking lots of time because the Bush administration was taking time to find just the right people.
According to the Pacific Daily News:
Benitez last week told senators the appointment for insular affairs has taken so long because the administration is trying to find the right person for the job.
The search by the Bush administration continued over the course of the next year until they found someone who Benitez undoubtedly felt fit that bill, his wife. In February 2003, Ramona Jones was appointed as Special Advisor for Economic Policy for the Insular Areas.
After their stop in Guam in January of 2002, Benitez and Guerra attended the inauguration of the new Governor of the CNMI in Saipan where Jack Abramoff still continued to pull in large fees.
It is unknown at this time if either Benitez or Guerra discussed the impending DOJ report with officials in either Guam or the CNMI.
The Terrorism Report
According to Bloomberg, the final report on security issues impacting the Insular areas was prepared on May 6, 2002.
From the October 31, 2005 Bloomberg story:
The 2002 report, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News, warns that continued local control over the Marianas' borders will ``seriously jeopardize the national security'' of the U.S.
Despite the ominous warnings in the report, all indications are that Abramoff was successful in killing the report, as the recommendations contained in it were never implemented, members of Congress with oversight responsibilities were never notified of the report, and the author of the report was demoted.
The Initial Abramoff Investigation Was Killed
And U.S. Attorney Black Was Demoted
According to a August 7, 2005 story from the LA Times, on November 18, 2002, Frederick A. Black, the same acting U.S. Attorney who has requested the report that had so threatened Abramoff, issued subpoenas that demanded that Anthony Sanchez, administrative director of the Guam Superior Court, release records involving Abramoff's lobbying contract, including bills and payments.
In a September 27, 2005 story, the NY Times reports that Black had been in contact with the Public Integrity section at the DOJ in November 2002 regarding his plans to investigate Abramoff.
Within days of Black's subpoenas, a replacement U.S. Attorney for Guam and CNMI was named and Black was demoted. According to press accounts, the new U.S. Attorney had been recommended to Karl Rove by the Republican Party Chair of Guam.
Black was subsequently forbidden by DOJ officials from pursuing the Abramoff case, and the new U.S. Attorney never pursued the matter.
Did Mr. Ashcroft Act Properly?
Given all that you have just read, do you believe that political manipulation could have taken place? Do you believe that DOJ officials had a conflict of interest? I do, and according to his letter, so does Rep. George Miller.
John Ashcroft, his staff, and many officials at the DOJ clearly had a conflict of interest in matters that related to Jack Abramoff. The moment Abramoff's name came up in the context of an investigation, Ashcroft and all those close to him should have immediately recused themselves. Why didn't they?
It is not yet known whether it was pressure from Ashcroft, or pressure from the White House that killed the initial investigation. But we have a right to know.
Do you believe that the Office of the Inspector General is being diligent in their investigation of this matter?
Do you believe that the DOJ is capable of conducting an investigation internally that could potentially implicate Senior White House Officials, and maybe even the Attorney General himself?
Oh, so many questions.....
www.firedupamerica.com/abramoff_ashcroft
~ ~ ~
January 17, 2006
The Abramoff-Puerto Rico-Guam Connection
Submitted by Roy Temple
Over the next several days I will be laying out a story that I believe will carry significant implications for numerous big names in the GOP. It’s a tale that at various points will take us to Guam and Puerto Rico, inside the White House and the Justice Department, through the campaign finance reports of some of the leaders of the GOP in Congress, and on detours through the complex and hazy world of Jack Abramoff’s financial schemes.
Much of this story has never been told before.
This tale has the potential to have major implications for the current Justice Department corruption investigation in Washington, D.C., and will also raise serious questions regarding the investigation by the Inspector General at the Justice Department into the removal of Frederick A. Black as the U.S. Attorney for Guam in the fall of 2002. The LA Times and the NY Times have reported that Mr. Black was demoted after he initiated an investigation into the activities of Mr. Jack Abramoff on Guam in 2002.
Please stay tuned as we make our way through this important, but complex story, and if you have information that might help tie up loose ends, you can send it to me at roy at firedupamerica.com....
www.firedupamerica.com/abramoff_ashcroft
~ ~ ~
June 2, 2004
How Far Would They Go?
Beware of Credible Intelligence
By RAY McGOVERN
Former CIA analyst
Last Wednesday it was Attorney General John Ashcroft - joined Friday by me-too Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge - claiming that "credible intelligence from multiple sources indicates that al-Qaeda plans to attempt an attack on the United States" between now and the November election.
If "credible intelligence" sounds to you like protesting too much, there is ample reason to be skeptical. Overshadowing Ashcroft's dramatic warning that al-Qaeda planned to "hit the United States hard" was the headline-grabbing, specific claim that "an al-Qaeda spokesman announced that 90 per cent of the arrangements for an attack on the United States were complete."
Had Ashcroft thought to check this out with the CIA-or even NBC-he would have learned that the "al-Qaeda spokesman" was actually "Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades"-a fact later conceded with some embarrassment by the FBI. According to a senior US intelligence official, this "group" may consist of no more than one person with a fax machine. The "Brigades" have nonetheless claimed responsibility for the power blackout in the Northeast last year, a power outage in London, and the March 11 train bombings in Madrid. NBC news analyst Roger Cressey, a former deputy to counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke, notes, "The only thing they haven't claimed credit for recently is the cicada invasion of Washington."
What's going on?
"Intelligence" is being conjured up once again to serve the political purposes of the Bush administration. Merely recall the litany of spurious claims against Iraq, all said to have been based on "solid sources," that Secretary of State Colin Powell dwelled on in his UN speech of February 5, 2003.
But what purposes are served in the current political context? Fanning further fear of terror is the only remaining ploy to boost the president's sinking poll numbers. The struggle against terrorism is the issue on which George W. Bush still gets relatively good marks. Small wonder that he used "terror/terrorist/terrorism" no less than nineteen times in his speech at the Army War College on May 24. But is that all that is afoot here?
I believe there may be considerably more. With only five months before the election, the president's men are getting desperate. Iraq is going from bad to worse and the prospect of substantial improvement before November is virtually nil. Worse still, revelations of the past few weeks strongly suggest that the president, Ashcroft, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, et al. have deeply personal incentive to make four more years for Bush a sure thing.
The Nettle of the Geneva Conventions
Put yourself in their position. Addressing whether or not Washington should honor the Geneva Conventions on Prisoners of War, the president's chief legal counsel, Alberto Gonzales, warned him in a memorandum of January 25, 2002 that US law-the War Crimes Act of 1996 (18 U.S.C. 2441)-prohibits "war crimes" defined to include any grave breach of the Geneva Conventions on Prisoners of War. Gonzales made it clear that this prohibition applies to US officials and noted that punishments for violations of Section 2441 include the death penalty.
Gonzales advised the president that, in the opinion of Ashcroft's Justice Department, the Geneva Conventions do not apply to al-Qaeda and that the president had the authority to determine that they also do not apply to the Taliban. (This would not be the first time that forces branded "terrorists" were declared exempt from the Geneva Conventions. In World War II when armed, uniformed Allied troops landed behind German lines, Hitler ordered them to be executed for "terrorist activities," as Professor Frederick Sweet noted in a recent article in Intervention magazine.)
Gonzales described Ashcroft's opinion as "definitive," but added that the State Department had expressed "a different view." Buried in the legalese is thinly disguised nervousness that others, too, might have a different view. Under the "positives," Gonzales notes:
"It is difficult to predict the motives of prosecutors and independent counsels who may in the future decide to pursue unwarranted charges based on Section 2441. Your determination would create a reasonable basis in law that Section 2441 does not apply, which would provide a solid defense to any future prosecution."
The president's lawyer concluded that a determination by President Bush that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to the Taliban "substantially reduces the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. 2441)."
"A reasonable basis in law?" "Substantially reduces" the threat of prosecution? If I were President Bush I would not find these phrases altogether reassuring. And neither, one would assume, does Attorney General Ashcroft.
And if this were not worrisome enough, Gonzales adds an eerily prophetic statement in listing the "negatives:"
"A determination that the Geneva Convention does not apply to al-Qaeda and the Taliban could undermine US military culture which emphasizes maintaining the highest standards of conduct in combat, and could introduce an element of uncertainty in the status of adversaries."
Then there was Abu Ghraib.
There is nothing in the Geneva Conventions that gives anyone the right to make a unilateral decision to exempt opposing forces. And the Conventions hold the "Detaining Power"-not individual soldiers-responsible for maltreatment of detainees.
From the catbird seat of the "sole remaining superpower," however, the Bush administration has shown considerable disdain for international law. On occasion it has stretched it well beyond the breaking point-as in claiming that the invasion of Iraq was authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 1441. Section 2441 of the War Crimes Act of 1996 is different. This is US law, in which the strictures of the Geneva Conventions are embedded.
Nightmares
For the Bush administration, the nightmare is losing the November election-a prospect believed to be unlikely until just recently. For many of us citizens, the nightmare is the president and his associates resorting to extra-legal measures to ensure that there is no "regime change" in Washington for four more years. Logic and human nature would suggest that possible liability to prosecution under the War Crimes Act are among the more weighty factors they take into account.
Bush administration leaders may even look on the prospect of a terrorist event in the US in the coming months as a possible opportunity as well as a risk. I do not suggest they would perverse enough to allow one to happen, or-still less-to orchestrate one. But there is ample reason to believe that they would take full political advantage of a terrorist attack-or even just the threat of one. Ashcroft's remarks last week might be regarded as the opening salvo in a campaign to condition the country for this.
No less a figure than Gen. Tommy Franks, who led the war on Iraq, went so far as to predict publicly last November that if terrorists attacked the US with "weapons of mass destruction," the Constitution would probably be discarded in favor of a military form of government.
But, you say, that would mean a constitutional crisis without parallel in the history of our country. Perhaps. But was there not a good warm-up in the fall of 2002? Did we not then experience a constitutional crisis when Congress was duped into ceding to the president its constitutional power to declare war? And it was all accomplished by spreading the myth that Saddam Hussein was close to exploding a "mushroom cloud" over us-a myth based on a known forgery alleging that Iraq was