Report: 85 percent of indicted locally elected officials under the Bush administration were Dems

[sabra]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/06/26/Bush_DOJ_Hunted_for_Democrats_Panel_Finds.htm

Bush DOJ Hunted for Democrats, Panel Finds


WASHINGTON (CN) - The Department of Justice under the George W. Bush administration took off the blindfold and aimed the sites of prosecution on Democratic officials, a panel of experts has concluded. The report announced Friday was filled with examples of a justice department that had become little more than a weapon with which to pursue political opponents and those not sufficiently on board with the right-wing policies of the administration.

Federal prosecutors "were focused on the man and not on the crime," said the Chief U.S. District Judge in Alabama, U.W. Clemens.
During a press conference at the National Press Club, Project Save Justice Executive Director Gail Sistrunk displayed a report by professors Donald Shields and John Cragan of the University of Minnesota that shows 85 percent of the indicted locally elected officials under the Bush administration were Democrats.

Of the 309 indictments of local elected officials, 262 were Democrats, 37 were Republicans, and ten were independents.
Elliot Mincberg, chief counsel for oversight investigations of the House Judiciary Committee said the chances of this happening randomly would be one in ten thousand.

However, the report shows that the number of charges brought against state and federal officials was roughly even, with 36 Democrats and 30 Republicans indicted by the Bush administration between 2001 and 2006.
Sistrunk explained the discrepancy between more important officials and local officials, and said the department pursued local officials because such indictments tend to get very little news coverage, but that replacing Democrats with Republicans at the local level in swing states could still keep Republicans in power beyond the lifetime of the Bush administration.
She also explained that Democrats were not the only ones indicted. Republicans who were not right-leaning enough were targeted, she said.

[pleah]

1. K&R

[avaistheone1]

31. The problem is that Obama has kept 70% of the Bush appointees in their positions at the DOJ.

That is very disturbing.

[ixion]

2. and they still failed miserably

even after all that cheating.

Now THAT is incompetence.

[Enthusiast]

25. Yes, validation of their claim that

"government doesn't work". :rofl: :fistbump:

[Old and In the Way]

3. With Republicans, it's all about maintaining power and the status quo.

They don't do public service; they use it to deliver financial benefits to those that bankroll their elections.

[DainBramaged]

4. And the MSM will yawn and yap on about Michael Jackson

:shrug:

[Enthusiast]

26. We won't hear a word

on the MSM.

[kestrel91316]

5. The RW will use this to counter our very long list of criminal Repukes

in high office, of course. They'll say it shows that Dems are just bad as Repukes.

[barbtries]

6. absolutely shameful.

it was so obvious and yet they got away with it time and again. a real example of the corrupting nature of power.

[katandmoon]

7. K&R "The Department of Justice was invited to participate at the press conference, but did not send

a representative, and it did not respond to questions."

Shocker.

[ThirdChoice]

8. Check out our Campaign.....

Restore Justice At Justice Campaign - by Velvet Revolution

Under the Bush administration, the Justice Department was driven by ideology, and prosecutions were often used to settle scores and intimidate the opposition. In fact, the GOP, under the direction of Karl Rove, used the DOJ to target political enemies including Democratic contributors and those who were a threat to GOP electoral gains and big business interests. The Department was used as an arm of the White House to destroy these Democrats. This political profiling resulted in the criminal prosecution of many on the enemies list, including Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and trial lawyer Paul Minor.

Barack Obama and Eric Holder promised to return justice to the Justice Department and free the department from politics. We are now insisting that that promise be fulfilled by righting the wrongs of political profiling and prosecutions under the previous administration. We call on Attorney General Holder to immediately vacate the convictions of Siegelman and Minor, to investigate and identify others who have been politically prosecuted, and to vacate their convictions. Political profiling, like racial profiling, is wrong; when it results in a criminal prosecution, it constitutes prosecutorial misconduct. Our letter to AG Holder, endorsed by organizations representing hundreds of thousands of citizens and signed by many patriotic Americans, makes clear that Mr. Holder must act quickly to restore justice at the Department of Justice.

We ask other organizations to sign on to this campaign by sending an email to [e-mail]. Individuals can sign on using the weblink below. This campaign will include a broad public relations push so we urge everyone to spread the word.

Please sign on to our campaign by going here:

http://www.velvetrevolution.us/restore_justice/

[progressoid]

9. Hmm. Those Repubs really overcame the odds huh?

:eyes:

[dem mba]

10. so they indicted 37 repubs and charged 30 of them

and indicted 262 Dems and charged 36 of them? how the holy hell is that even possible?

you know they'll get away with it too...

[drmeow]

15. I think it refers to local

vs state or federal level officials. Indict means to bring charges against. Os a local official (someone at the city or county level) was more likely to be indicted if they were a dem but once you got up to state level or federal positions, it evened out.

[jmowreader]

23. They call it a fishing expedition

Indict any Democrat who even LOOKS like he might be doing something wrong. Then, when the guy turns out to either (1) not have done anything wrong or (2) have done something that wasn't really kosher, but whose misconduct wasn't illegal enough to be worth spending the money to prosecute, he gets to wear the "indicted official" badge all the rest of his days.

Repukes, OTOH...since they charged 30 of the 37, it looks like they indicted people whose malfeasance was at a level that couldn't be ignored anymore.

[Jakes Progress]

11. Maybe it's because we weren't nice enough.

Maybe we need to be more conciliatory and make sure that we don't pass any bills that they don't like.

Maybe they will like us then.

[abq e streeter]

12. There ya go ! You're ready for a leadership position in Washington.

We haven't kissed enough republican ass yet; let's turn it up a notch And besides , we all need to look forward , blah blah blah... (and just in case -- I understand and appreciate your sarcasm and responded with more, but ya never know when someone reading your post or mine won't figure that out. )

[Enthusiast]

27. Worked for Clinton.

:rofl:

[uponit7771]

13. What they did is anti democracy and they should be made to answer. This ranks as high as war crimes

[Wednesdays]

14. Let's not mince words...what all that adds up to is treason.

Nothing less.

[Gman2]

16. That's why we can do no less than club skulls. Go for purge.

They will metastisize. If not prevented. Knock them on their asses.

[Enthusiast]

28. Could there even be a

better reason to hang someone? I mean, really.

[defendandprotect]

34. Exactly, but we need our elected officials to be saying that --

[uberblonde]

17. Yep.

You'll notice they never did convict wacky Curt Weldon.

[verges]

18. Unfortunately, this is useless information.

It's too easy to spin the wrong way. And the RWers will claim that this story IS the LW spin.

[davidswanson]

19. in addition

the repubicans were moderates, not federalist societiers

[pitchforksandtorches]

20. The country will not be safe until every Republican is sedated and

under the care of a mental health professional.

[DFW]

21. No wonder Ahmadinejad is showing such hostility to the Obama adminsitration

They looked at how Cheneybush did business and concluded that though the Republicans
were sons of bitches, at least the Republicans were THEIR kinds of sons of bitches.

[Celtic Merlin]

22. So who gets indicted over this bullshit?

Who was directing the DoJ when this was happening?

Those Attorneys General should be prosecuted.

Who here thinks it will ever happen?

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[Enthusiast]

30. We need to look forward. nt

[Echo In Light]

35. Yeah. Get with The Program and get down with the sickness of American denial/apathy

That's what good, normal people do.

[Enthusiast]

37. So right you are, Celtic Merlin

Carlinist? I like that!

[Celtic Merlin]

42. Thank you. George was moroe than just a comedian.

He had a philosophy about things American that really makes sense.

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[Enthusiast]

24. K&R, imagine, they

have the entire media and the DOJ at their disposal to cheat, subvert, selectively investigate-prosecute and fill the airwaves with misinformation yet they still get crushed in the last two elections. The American citizenry must be waking up.

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. What percentage of local elected officals are Democrats?

Without that information, it is hard to judge the other number.

[defendandprotect]

32. Political profiling . . . by a politicized DOJ under c ontrol of an unelected president ---

[Gman2]

33. If you'll remember, 9/11 is one of those outcomes

The Bush admin intended to focus on the kid blowing a joint on the corner, instead of the terror like organizations that distribute the drugs. Maybe cuz they had so many ties with drug producers. Think Iran-Contra, poppies/opium form Afghan, many dictator types that were rewarded with trouble free drug concessions. The intended perpetual neocon curtain was based on selective prosecution. They were blinkered from the start in the effort to kill the left. Why they target education so forcefully.

[WCGreen]

36. Yesterday, the chairman of the Cuyahoga County Party, Jimmy Dimora

railled against the investigation initiated by the Justice Department in a county rich with Democratic voters. He claimed this was all done in order to try and surpress the democratic vote for Obama.

Cuyahoga County is Cleveland, Ohio.

[20score]

38. What the hell will it take before our incredibly cowardly congress holds someone

responsible for any crime?

Add this to their ever growing list of inaction when action is called for, and action when inaction is called for. i.e. the Iraq War, the war on drugs, a broken health care system.

Damn these people piss me off. IMHO it's time to call them out for being culpable in all the deaths that result from these crimes - including the ones Bush committed.

If you are standing on a pier watching a man drown while holding a life preserver and do nothing, you are not an innocent bystander; you are responsible for a death. Same goes for congress.

[GreenTea]

39. And the lying hateful republicans insist the Dems should be bipartisan these slimy republican fucks

have NEVER been bipartisan when they had the majority, they were & are ruthless and go after ALL democrats like no tomorrow and leave their corrupt republican slime mostly alone....now while out of the majority they insist the democrats should, oh yeah, now be bipartisan....I despise their species!

As they also insist Americans should have a republican congress for "checks & balances....However they NEVER uttered a word of this when the held the executive branch, majorities in the congress, the senate (and the judiciary) the U.S. Supreme court 5-to 4 republican in the Bush years as was and is now!(Dems didn't break through as a majority in congress until Jan 2007).

[Imagevision]

40. now i understand why obama wants to ..."move ahead"

[Deep13]

41. So, were Ds persecuted or were R crimes ignored?

Or was it both?

[Uncle Joe]

43. On edit; Kicked and too late to recommend.

Thanks for the thread, sabra.