MONEY TRAILS LEAD TO BUSH JUDGES - 4 Month Investigation (Salon)

[kpete]

Money trails lead to Bush judges
By Will Evans
A four-month investigation reveals that dozens of federal judges gave contributions to President Bush and top Republicans who helped place them on the bench. A Salon/CIR exclusive.

Editor's note: This story continues a series by Salon and the Center for Investigative Reporting scrutinizing the federal judiciary under Bush. To learn more about the data and public records cited in this story, and to view CIR's full report,
click here http://www.muckraker.org/pg_one_investigation-1253-7-0.html.


Illustration by Mignon Khargie

Oct. 31, 2006 | At least two dozen federal judges appointed by President Bush since 2001 made political contributions to key Republicans or to the president himself while under consideration for their judgeships, government records show. A four-month investigation of Bush-appointed judges by the Center for Investigative Reporting reveals that six appellate court judges and 18 district court judges contributed a total of more than $44,000 to politicians who were influential in their appointments. Some gave money directly to Bush after he officially nominated them. Other judges contributed to Republican campaign committees while they were under consideration for a judgeship.

Republicans who received money from judges en route to the bench include Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Gov. George Pataki of New York.

more at:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/10/31/money_trail/

[berni_mccoy]

1. DAMN THIS SHIT!

[rodeodance]

26. i am with you.

[Roland99]

2. Love that graphic!

:)

[happydreams]

8. Something that always amazes me...

how these kind of things spark artistic creativity in some people. I agree, its a great graphic.

[wicket]

3. K & R

:kick:

[in_cog_ni_to]

4. It was probably a prerequisite to be appointed. The Pennsylvania Ave. Project?

Hell, people weren't even allowed in Delay's office unless they pledged themselves to the repuke party and paid a HUGE ransom to the K Street Project.


Dewine?? Specter?? INSANEtorum?? :rofl::rofl: The corruptions flows from the TOP DOWN!

[robinlynne]

5. jail time. no pillows in the jail cells.

[Straight Shooter]

6. One must not only avoid impropriety, but the appearance of impropriety.

Whatever happened to that unspoken rule of ethical conduct? Everything seems to have gone into the sewer in the last 6 years, whereas before it was all kind of hovering around the edges.

[C_U_L8R]

7. corrupt judges need to be impeached

and tossed off the bench and disbarred
(if not jailed)

[Buttercup McToots]

9. Names

Do we have the names of these judges?

[gratuitous]

10. Gee, shouldn't someone investigate this?

Oh wait, Specter chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. So the answer is no, this shouldn't be investigated. All those dreary subpoenas and witnesses and evidence, and at the end, somebody goes to jail. Big whoop. Let's talk about gay marriage!

[happydreams]

11. A more odious corruption than

all the others. Even Sandra Day O'Connor spoke out about the polititization of the courts, which is really soft-pedaling the issue. This is the out and out buying up of the courts. It goes way beyond politics and can be traced back to the election 2000 betrayal by the SCOTUS which hopefully won't be forgotten.

[Hubert Flottz]

12. K&R and

Sent to KO...

[alfredo]

13. Buying judgeships

This needs to be turned over to an independent prosecutor.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Surely the mass corporate media will jump right on this story? n/t

[texpatriot2004]

15. So, under * anyone can be a Federal Judge if they pay-up nm

[bobbieinok]

16. up to time of Crimean War, British officers bought their rank

I've read that before T Roosevelt started to clean up the NYC police department in the late 1890s, the police bought their promotions--a captain rank cost $14,000.

[TheMadMonk]

27. At least that's serious money. Extremely serious money.

At a dollar a day, IIRC that was approximately minimum wage at the time, that's 42 years wages. In todays terms, somewhere around the $400,000 mark.

These people sell their souls and the countrie's institutions for bloody pocket change.

Insulting.

[Marie26]

17. I'm shocked, shocked.

This is how we end up w/Mike Brown & Harriet Miers in positions of power. It's a government of the rich, for the rich, and qualifications matter about as much as the middle class does.

[KoKo]

18. Now THIS is something the MSM definitely wants us NOT to Focus On!

K&R....

[DUBYASCREWEDUS]

19. Someone who is

more savy in computer please send this to the Sherrod Brown campaign. Thanks!

[OzarkDem]

20. Now this is what we need to focus on

Also Coingate - all the dirt is coming out - we have to direct attention to it.

[INdemo]

21. Will this story make the MSM ..We know the answer

they would rather bash Jk and give the Repukes free air time for their ads

[OzarkDem]

22. kick n/t

[magellan]

23. Bet Roberts was one of them

Apparently not a crime but certainly another ethical eyebrow-raiser. The Conservative Right never tire of finding new ways to redefine old values.

Kick.

[asthmaticeog]

24. DEWINE?

Sherrod Brown had better fucking JUMP ALL OVER THIS and widen the gap - in some polls, they're at a statistical dead heat (the spread is smaller than the margin of error).

[ClintonTyree]

25. The Pukes used to scream bloody murder when........

Clinton had someone stay overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom. "He's selling the White House"........I can still hear Limbaugh's pathetic screed (even though he TOO has stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom). The Pukes were OUTRAGED!
Now, we have the president (small "p") of the United States SELLING Judgeships to the highest bidder and not a peep comes from the porcine lips of Limbaugh? :wtf:

God damned "Liberal Media". :eyes:

[montana500]

28. hahahhaha

Breaking News: prospective judges bribe Bush...

oh wait....

[Lars39]

29. "Conflict of interest" is just not in their vocabulary, is it?

:banghead: