'Wiping' BlackBerrys Leads to Arrest for (PA State) Senator's Aides

[djg21]

'Wiping' BlackBerrys Leads to Arrest for Senator's Aides
By Shannon P. Duffy
The Legal Intelligencer
June 2, 2006


Two aides to Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Fumo (D) were arrested yesterday on obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges for allegedly setting out to protect Fumo in a federal grand jury probe by systematically erasing all e-mail to and from him -- including a "wipe" of all BlackBerrys held by Fumo staffers.

In the wake of the arrests, prosecutors released a 65-page affidavit from FBI Special Agent Vicki Humphreys that includes astonishing details of the alleged activities of Fumo and his staff as news spread that Fumo was under investigation.

The affidavit quotes an e-mail in which one of the staffers allegedly wrote: "The FBI probe into the Senator has really set him off he wants us to do a number of security checks starting tomorrow. ... He wants all of the BlackBerrys wiped and and I have to bring in all laptops and do DOD wipes on them etc."

. . . .

Although Fumo's name does not appear in any court documents released yesterday -- and he has not yet been charged with any wrongdoing -- it is clear that he is the senator under investigation.

Prosecutors also strongly suggested that Fumo is the ultimate target of the investigation, saying in a press release that "there is evidence that the Senator himself was aware of and approved the effort to destroy evidence."

Fumo's lawyer, Richard A. Sprague, also confirmed that Fumo is the target in a statement released yesterday that harshly criticized the government's handling of the case.

. . . .

According to the FBI affidavit, the plans to erase e-mail were launched on the same days that the Philadelphia Inquirer ran articles relating to the grand jury probe of Fumo's ties with Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, a nonprofit organization that has obtained millions of dollars in donations from powerful entities that lobby the state Legislature.

The Inquirer reported that Fumo brokered a secret deal in which Peco Energy Co. donated $17 million to the charity.

[aquart]

1. Vigorously prosecuting Democrats, I see.

[Tempest]

2. How long did it take them to arrest Ken Lay?

Or Tom DeLay?
Or Jack Abramoff?

It doesn't pay to be a Democrat in Bush's fascist Amerika.

[Kagemusha]

3. None of them got caught on something as blatant like this.

They got caught doing complex white collar financial crimes, not obstruction of justice which can be demonstrated by placing a newspaper with the same date as the data wiping in front of the jury.

[Freddie Stubbs]

4. Tell that to Randy “Duke” Cunningham

and Jack Abrahamoff.

[ShockediSay]

7. ShitCan all crooked politicians

and maybe we'll get a taste of democracy

[Orsino]

14. Let it eat them. n/t

[liberalnurse]

11. That is the price we pay in this battle

for America. The GOP under the supreme direction of the *bushites has become the most powerful kingdom in the universe. We, the opposition and patriots of the U.S Constitution will take casualties. We can't continue to view our America in the old tradition terms like "the land of the free" because we are now under dictatorship.

[underpants]

5. The FBI is just another part of the Rove political machine

[screembloodymurder]

6. The FBI is being used as the Neocon SS Troops

They didn't even bother looking into huge scandals involving the Republicans. They're only going after Democrats. Gonzales is a fucking traitor.

[sweetheart]

8. gives me a business idea

A cafe called "clean past cafe".

A sign would warn diners that any electronic device brought past
this point will likely suffer from the magnetic fields in the
entry-way and the very strong fields in the cloakroom.
The company denise all responsibility for any lost data or
electronic malfunction could possibly be related to the
20Kw electromagnet in the coat closet. :-)

Gosh, what hapened to the hard disk while we were at dinner?

[formercia]

9. They will run out of crooked Democrats soon enough.

Then, where's the excuse?

It's called selective enforcement. Poppy was famous for it.

[nolabels]

10. The epic moment I remember about Poppy's tenure is the L.A. riots

Many other stupid and inane things happened, but since it was up and down our streets with crackers and gang-bangers shooting at each other, it was just the kind thing that seemed more memorable

Don't worry (or do worry)the bigger and badder failure is coming for dimson, it's inevitable

[msanthrope]

12. Good----Vince the Prince is a Dirty Crook, and we in

his fiefdom will be happy to see him go. It would be nice to have a Dem who isn't on the grift.

And his use of the word "faggot" on the PA Senate floor shows what his character is...low.

[Ian David]

13. Fumo is being persecuted because he's a Christian! n/t

[jollyreaper2112]

15. so..

How does law enforcement figure out that shredding is about obstruction of justice? Because everyone jokes about late night shredding sessions at places where lawsuits are likely to come but we don't hear about obstruction charges as a result of that.