“The practical impact was to intimidate my office and shut down the investigations"

[Pirate Smile]

Talking Points Memo

Another prosecutor forced out in 2005 for investigating a Republican?

The former federal prosecutor in Maryland said Monday that he was forced out in early 2005 because of political pressure stemming from public corruption investigations involving associates of the state’s governor, a Republican.
“There was direct pressure not to pursue these investigations,” said the former prosecutor, Thomas M. DiBiagio. “The practical impact was to intimidate my office and shut down the investigations.

Mr. DiBiagio, a controversial figure who clashed with a number of Maryland politicians, had never publicly discussed the reasons behind his departure. But he agreed to an interview with The New York Times because he said he was concerned about what he saw as similarities with the recent firings of eight United States attorneys."

Shocked?

-- Josh Marshall

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/012825.php

NYT:

Former Prosecutor Says Departure Was Pressured

By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: March 6, 2007

WASHINGTON, March 5 — The former federal prosecutor in Maryland said Monday that he was forced out in early 2005 because of political pressure stemming from public corruption investigations involving associates of the state’s governor, a Republican.

“There was direct pressure not to pursue these investigations,” said the former prosecutor, Thomas M. DiBiagio. “The practical impact was to intimidate my office and shut down the investigations.”

Mr. DiBiagio, a controversial figure who clashed with a number of Maryland politicians, had never publicly discussed the reasons behind his departure. But he agreed to an interview with The New York Times because he said he was concerned about what he saw as similarities with the recent firings of eight United States attorneys.

-snip-
His office had been looking into whether associates of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. had improperly funneled money from gambling interests to promote legalized slot machines in Maryland. Mr. DiBiagio said that several prominent Maryland Republicans had pressed him to back away from the inquiries and that one conversation had so troubled him that he reported it to an F.B.I. official as a threat.
But he said that the Justice Department had offered little support and that that made it “impossible for me to stay.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/washington/06prosecutor.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all

[Dr Fate]

1. Is this a "misdemeanor" or is this a "high crime?" n/t

n/t

[John Q. Citizen]

2. Impeach Gonzales!

[bleever]

3. Being one of the first recs is like

being on top a surfboard at the top of a big wave.

:thumbsup:

[Suich]

4. Gets more curious every day, doesn't it?

Now let's go back to January 2000 and see who else was fired!



:)

[AzDar]

5. Kick...n/t

:kick:

[tblue37]

6. K&R

[MissWaverly]

7. Assistant US Attorney was murdered here/Case Unsolved

Sources: Slain prosecutor was tortured
Autopsy reveals multiple stab wounds
Friday, December 5, 2003 Posted: 9:47 PM EST (0247 GMT)


BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) -- The assistant U.S. attorney found dead early Thursday was tortured and stabbed as many as 36 times before his body was found under his blood-drenched car in a Pennsylvania creek 70 miles away from his home, sources said Friday.
A law enforcement source told CNN Friday that prosecutor Jonathan Luna, 38, had returned to the courthouse late Wednesday night to work on a plea agreement in a drug case, and left the courthouse around 11:40 p.m.
Investigators said Luna did not go home after he left the courthouse, but took an indirect route to Pennsylvania. Electronic records show he made two stops along the way, but it's not clear if he was alone.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/05/prosecutor.killed/index.html