The reason this hearing is so important is that the attorneys in question had been called by politcal officials previous to their firings. This contact was unprecedented and inappropriate. In one case the elected official actually hung up on the attorney in question when he reported something which displeased him (that he wasn't investigating Democrats before the election). Elected and political officials asked about sealed documents and possible coming procedutions. In essense, they wanted to hasten investigattion into Democrats prior to, and during, the Nov. election.
In December the attorneys who received calls all received notice that they were being relieved of their duties.
The House committee read an e-mail which was sent to one of the attorneys. It was chilling and just plain creepy. It was quite chilling, using the word "threat" several times. The e-mail was sent to relay information from "on high". It appears that, not only were the attorneys contacted inappropriately, they were theatened with retaliation if they talked to the press about the dismissals.
These attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President. However, traditionally dismissal always happened at the beginning of a new adminsitration. The Patriot Act included a provision which allowed the President to replace US attorneys WITHOUT confirmation by the Senate. This has opened the door for what we are seeing here, dismissal on political basis. In other words, obey the mob in charge. This provision, put forth in the Patriot Act, is the beginning of fascism, and in this case, the use of US Attorneys for political reasons.
Here's the story on the Maryland attorney fired.
"The Justice Department acknowledged yesterday that Thomas M. DiBiagio, the Maryland U.S. attorney who stepped down early in 2005, was forced from office and did not, as he said at the time, decide on his own to leave for personal reasons."
Thanks!
Steve
Thanks!
Steve
According to Greg Palast:
"But the Committee missed a big one: Timothy Griffin, Karl Rove's assistant, the President's pick as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Griffin, according to BBC Television, was the hidden hand behind a scheme to wipe out the voting rights of 70,000 citizens prior to the 2004 election.
Key voters on Griffin's hit list: Black soldiers and homeless men and women. Nice guy, eh? Naughty or nice, however, is not the issue. Targeting voters where race is a factor is a felony crime under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In October 2004, our investigations team at BBC Newsnight received a series of astonishing emails from Mr. Griffin, then Research Director for the Republican National Committee. He didn't mean to send them to us. They were highly confidential memos meant only for RNC honchos."
Read the entire article here:
Here is the link and it's well worth watching.....
Mark debates Republican Strategist Mike Lane on what Mark has dubbed the PATRIOT Act Massacre (the mass political firing of eight federal prosecutors)