Will Safavian Knock Down The Right-Wing House of Cards?
Will Safavian Knock Down The Right-Wing House of Cards?
Bloomberg reports that the federal probe into Jack Abramoff has widened to include the big fish of Washington DC’s conservative establishment, including Grover Norquist, Representative Robert Ney of Ohio, Ralph Reed, Tom Delay, and Senator Conrad Burns. Former Representative Jack Quinn of New York said of the investigation’s chilling effect, “Sure there’s a concern. … But like everyone else, we have to wait and see where the investigation goes.”
They should be nervous. It looks like David Safavian, the former White House procurement official whom the FBI arrested yesterday on corruption charges, will get the “squeeze-play strategy†from federal investigators – and it’s anyone’s guess who he’ll rat on:
The lawyer for a former Bush administration official arrested this week says authorities are using the charges to pressure her client to aid their investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
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“This is a creative use of the criminal code to secure his cooperation against someone else,†[Safavian’s lawyer Barbara] Van Gelder said in an interview Wednesday.
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Squeeze-play strategyInvestigators frequently seek to pressure minor players in complex federal probes as they build a case against their principal target. “You squeeze that person and hope he flips as you work your way up to the top,†said Kirby Behre, a former prosecutor who is a partner at the Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker law firm in Washington.
Just call him David “John Dean” Safavian.
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As we know by now, nothing is done until someone is actually convicted of a crime. Don’t hold your breath folks.
In Bob Woodward’s book, Plan of Attack, he clearly says that the President does not throw people overboard, and he does not allow people to jump ship either.
September 22nd, 2005 at 5:41 pmI think there’s a good chance of that; I really do. At least the players directly linked to this terrible scandal.
And, of course, there’s Frist pulling a Martha Stewart. It will be tough for them to defend all of this. One thing at a time can be glossed over, but this is a gaping wound and they are losing blood fast.
Fine by me.
September 22nd, 2005 at 5:47 pmIs it me or does that passage make flipping a witness sound like a novel approach to law enforcement? I guess not as many people watch TV and movies as I thought.
September 22nd, 2005 at 5:47 pmBe still, my beating heart. Will these rats finally be revealed for who they truely are?
Grover Norquist, Robert Ney, Ralph Reed, Tom Delay, and Conrad Burns. What a haul that’d be. Could this be the only logical outcome of compassionate conservatism and faith-based churchianity, eh?
September 22nd, 2005 at 5:47 pmGOP, your corruption is showing.
September 22nd, 2005 at 5:48 pmCool.
September 22nd, 2005 at 5:50 pmTic, toc, tic, toc……
Norquist, Burns(thanks for that seat!), Reed, Delay and Ney what a bucnh of tools! The differnce between the GOP and the Dems is that we wouldn’t take a nickle to see the cow jump over the moon!
Just think how much stealing this group has gotten away with! It is enough to make you get sick!
September 22nd, 2005 at 6:00 pmWell before we get carried away, let’s just watch how it plays out. Bushies protect their flunkies as much as possible. Remember Brownie was “doing a heck of a job” and all the support they gave him until it just got to be too much poo sticking to the shrub. Keep in mind that there wasn’t any blatant criminality involved there. This will make their sphincters pucker a million times tighter. Don’t expect too much. Hope for the best though.
September 22nd, 2005 at 6:26 pmI’ll keep my fingers crossed, but, hey, we’re still waiting for Rove to be crushed by PlameGate (god, I hate those “Gate” names!)
September 22nd, 2005 at 6:45 pmHowever this all plays out, add to it the Plame incident, lack of WMD, forged yellow cake documents, the rise of the Taliban (for the second time), showing their racist colors around Katrina… the list is growing longer… and we’re these the guys who were claiming to bring a new era of responsility to Government?
September 22nd, 2005 at 6:49 pmI bet if we used the old Gitmo interrogation standard he would squeel like a pig.
Quick, get the jumper cables, this one is gonna fry!
I think it is a “good thing”
September 22nd, 2005 at 6:50 pmkj….it’s all good if it has to do with punishing these crooks.
September 22nd, 2005 at 7:26 pmkj,
Unfortunately that’s a fun evening at Bolton’s favorite sex club… The true punishment is taking back power through unrigged elections and demostrating through a progressive leader that they’re utter incompetent idiots! Now that’s my kind of revenge…
September 22nd, 2005 at 7:27 pmGood post’s, I’m for what ever works to get this bunch out, the sooner the better and it has taken to long already. Would be nice if they were arrested, tried and found guilty, then sued for all their assets, including their wives. Broke, felons unable to vote ever and spending time in jail would be almost enough punnishment for their war crimes on Iraq and the american public. I am a dreamer……Blessings
September 22nd, 2005 at 8:22 pmSharon,
And that’s why we love you! The dreamers are why the world is a beautiful place at times – keep up the dream!
September 22nd, 2005 at 8:23 pmGary Trudeau wrote too many years ago:
September 22nd, 2005 at 8:43 pm“Guilty, guilty, guilty!”
I await the glorious day of reckoning.
Why are there more crooks in Washington than in jail?
September 22nd, 2005 at 8:54 pmRegtay,
Because most of the ones in washington are white and rich – OJ showed everyone what a good lawyer and PR can buy you…
September 22nd, 2005 at 8:55 pm“Why are there more crooks in Washington than in jail?”
Money CAN buy you happiness.
September 23rd, 2005 at 1:22 am“Good Morning America, how are Ya”, Thank’s for the great posts. Moveon. org woke me up with a new great ad today, showing bush and instead of lead we are being mislead. Oh Ya! Hope every one in the country saw it along with their morning coffee. Hope eternal, think Ghandi wrote something like we must be the change we want to see. On my first cup so very slow thinker. Please forgive….Blessings
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:40 amWe continue to find places that show Shrub’s administration to be corrupt. The problem is that unless the Democrats pull their heads out of their asses and actually start fighting FOR the people, we’ll just get more of these corrupt bastards in 06 and 08 and beyond. It’s almost painful to watch the Dems these days, you keep wanting to yell at them “Engage god dammit, ENGAGE”. Yet they continue to act like gun shy hunting dogs.
September 23rd, 2005 at 10:02 amJennty#21, I agree, can’t get them to do what’s best even though they won’t win, atleast take a stand and make a fuss. Instead most of them go along with the right. I send out e-mails daily pleading with them to ban together and stand with us the voters who have put them in office, the most I get is a milk toast response. Lately have been keeping track of the ones who have gone against our ideals and written them if they aren’t going to do what is best for our people and country I will help vote them out of office. No response’s yet. I keep working on it. Can’t figure out why so little being said from our side to counter all of bushes photo op’s. Have they all gone to sleep untill the 06 election.? Sad indeed. And what’s going on with the impeach movement.? Want some good tough lefties to surfice….Blessings
September 23rd, 2005 at 10:33 am#17 – “Why are there more crooks in Washington than in jail?â€
Jail got first choice?
September 23rd, 2005 at 11:19 amGood one, me.
September 23rd, 2005 at 12:14 pmSqueeze that zit till he pops.
September 24th, 2005 at 4:51 amIF SOMEONE ON THE HAS A VERY STRONG STOMACH, IT WOULD BE VERY EDUCATIONAL FOR SOMEONE TO MONITOR THE
September 26th, 2005 at 11:06 amMAJOR RIGHT WING TALKING HEADS, R. LIMBAUGH,BILL KRYSTAL,FRED BARNES,BILL O’RILEY, SEAN HANNITY,ET AL..
WE THEN COULD TRACK OF HOW MUCH ATTENTION THEY ARE WILLING TO GIVE THIS NEWS ITEM.
IF THE PAST IS ANY INDICATION THEY WILL
SWIM THE ENTIRE GULF OF MEXICO TO JUSTIFY AND PROTECT ALL REPUBLICANS
IF SOMEONE HAS A VERY STRONG STOMACH, IT WOULD BE VERY EDUCATIONAL FOR SOMEONE TO MONITOR THE RIGHT WING TALKING HEADS CONCERNING THIS NEWS ITEM,ESPECIALLY, LIMBAUGH,HANNITY,BILL KRYSTAL,FRED BARNES, ET. AL..
September 26th, 2005 at 11:23 amI WILL BET THEY WILL ONLY MENTION IT WHEN THEY HAVE TO JUSTIFY, DEFEND, DISTORT AND RATIONALIZE IT FOR ANY AND ALL REPUBLICANS.
The reichwingers simply don’t carry bad news, or if they do, they carry like “the liberal commies mounted a vicious and unwarranted attack today against so and so, I guess they forgot when one of their own did such and such”.
This is called the ‘rationalization clause’. They can help their reichwing stupid audience rationalize the crimes they commit by bringing smears of how the other side is really the one committing the crime. It doesn’t matter if it’s a lie (it really always is), they just have to do it. The poor saps that listen so want to believe the truth, that they take it like mannah from heaven. They allow it to replace their fear and anxiety with a talking point that’s clearly a lie with even the least amount of fact checking, yet they come to sites like this and post those lies over and over again… Even after they’ve been disproven for years…
It’s a really sad case of cognitive dissonance. They so desperately want to believe a lie, that it’s not hard to help them with this little brainwashing technique. The NeoCon fascists know their audience well, poor stupid racist saps who’re scare witless and too lazy to do their own homework…
September 26th, 2005 at 2:16 pm