E-mails contradict testimony in U.S. attorneys scandal

[SlowDownFast]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

By Marisa Taylor and Margaret Talev
McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON - A U.S. attorney in Wisconsin who prosecuted a state Democratic official on corruption charges during last year's heated governor's race was once targeted for firing by the Department of Justice, but given a reprieve for reasons that remain unclear. A federal appeals court last week threw out the conviction of Wisconsin state worker Georgia Thompson, saying the evidence was "beyond thin."

Congressional investigators looking into the firings of eight U.S. attorneys saw Wisconsin prosecutor Steven M. Biskupic's name on a list of lawyers targeted for removal when they were inspecting a Justice Department document not yet made public, according to an attorney for a lawmaker involved in the investigation. The attorney asked for anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the investigation.

It wasn't clear when Biskupic was added to a Justice Department hit list of prosecutors, or when he was taken off, or whether those developments were connected to the just-overturned corruption case.

Nevertheless, the disclosure aroused investigators' suspicion that Biskupic might have been retained in his job because he agreed to prosecute Democrats, though the evidence was slight. Such politicization of the administration of justice is at the heart of congressional Democrats' concerns over the Bush administration's firings of the U.S. attorneys.

Read more: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington//17075348.htm

[xchrom]

1. this is about the 08 elections -- and this just adds

to a growing pile of evidense that points to the 08 elections.

rove, gonzales and who knows who else cooked something up regarding that -- and this is just continuing to point the way.

[habitual]

2. k&r n/t

[Kahuna]

3. K&R. This is important. nt

[PurityOfEssence]

4. They're just lying sacks of shit and it's obvious to a child

Veracity challenged as Bill Clinton is, these greasy thugs make him look like Diogenes.

Lying to suck a tax giveaway for the plutocrats, lying us into war, lying us into environmental destruction, lying us into extreme economic instability, these schmucks don't even consider telling the truth even when it's the best tack to take. They're like that old Jon Lovitz character on SNL, except that it's not funny.

[aquart]

6. Do you get that Clinton lied ONCE? One lie. One personal defect. One.

They investigated him down to his underwear and COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING.

Please stop repeating Republican memes. Bill Clinton may have been the most honest president we ever had.

[gratuitous]

5. Huh, what do you know?

The original testimony about this seems to have been conceived mostly to cover people's asses. And then, as the documentary evidence is developed, it turns out there's quite a bit more to the story than we were originally led to believe.

I guess I really need to hear again why the White House thinks that it's being "generous" by offering to let its people answer pre-selected questions in closed session with no follow-up. Time and time again, the first story out of this administration has turned out to be the most gossamer tissues of lies imaginable, and as the tale unfolds it just gets worse and worse, not only for the wrongdoers, but for the country, its institutions and reputation.