Thorburgh: Bush DoJ carried out political prosecution.
By on Oct 23rd, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Thorburgh: Bush DoJ carried out political prosecution.
Dick Thornburgh, former Republican Attorney General under President Reagan, told the House Judiciary Committee today that “he thinks the Justice Department had political aims in prosecuting a high-profile Democratic coroner from Pennsylvania.” Thornburgh, who is representing the coroner, said his client was “an ideal target for a Republican U.S. attorney trying to curry favor with a (Justice) Department which demonstrated that if you play by its rules, you will advance.”
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The "I'm a Democrat" defense has become the new insanity defense. No need to even spend a day in rehab.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:35 pmWhy does Dick Thornburgh hate America?
It's a fair question, right?
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:38 pmThornburgh, who also served two terms as Republican governor of Pennsylvania, said that as attorney general he set up strict guidelines to prevent political influence at Justice, ordering that communications from the White House come only through his office.
Thornburg sounds like he knows what he is talking about. BTW what ever happened to the old school Republican conservatives? Have they let the enon-cons hijack their beliefs?
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:43 pm*PLEASE NO COMMENT*
Who the hell cares. Here's the news cycle for next week (and the week after that, and the week after that):
Monday: "The administration admits crimes were committed when ________".
Tuesday: "The administration admits crimes were committed when ________"
Wednesday: "The administration admits crimes were committed when ________"
Thursday: "The administration admits crimes were committed when ________"
Friday: "The administration admits crimes were committed when ________"
Saturday: "The administration admits crimes were committed when ________"
Sunday: "The administration admits crimes were committed when ________"
Eventually there will be a follow up like "President Bush accepts responsbility, but no one in his administration will be disciplined. Congress has also refused to take any action regarding ______".
There you go. That what we'll hear every week or month until The Holy Child leaves office. Bush will eventually give a meaningless "I accept responsibiltiy" if things get bad enough, and Congress will just sit and watch as an endless number of crimes are committed against the people of the United States.
Pelosi and Reid have obviously agreed to not rock the boat and let BushCo do as they wish until their term is up.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:47 pmThornburgh is a republikaan attorney.
he has to hate America!
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:47 pmLet's see -- a Republican former Attorney General is representing a Democratic Coroner and is blasting the current Republican administration.
Hmmm...like John McKay, another Repub who can't be bought or intimidated by the Cheney machine. More power to him.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:51 pmThis is what fascists do - abuse their power and use law enforcement and the legal system to intimidate, harass and jail the opposition. There simply is no tactical difference between this administration and the Soviets or military dictators throughout history.
None.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:59 pmWasn't there a city on fire somewhere?
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:02 pmGood for Thornburgh! I just hope he realizes he has now been added to the "Terrorist Watch List." I'm sure he realizes by now that in the fictional universe known as Bush World, your either with Bush, or your with the terrorists. He just better be careful, or they might just "rendition" him, and "not torture" him with actions defined as torture by both U.S. and International law! One thing's for sure. That 24% base of theirs, you know, the Christian fundamentalists, they better hope their wrong, and that there is no god, because if there is, there is no way Bush, and Cheney won't find themselves facing war crimes charges in an International court somewhere, in the not to distant future after they leave the White House, and various "undisclosed locations."
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:31 pmThis is part of the reason why the Whitehouse emails are important. I'm more concerned with which federal prosecutors DIDN'T get fired and why. It's only logical to assume that if prosecutors were fired for NOT engaging in republican dirty tricks, those who didn't get fired might have been engaging in illegal activity.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:53 pmNo doubt about it Col. Jack!
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:55 pmMy fear comes from knowing Bush, and Cheney have broken more laws than we will probably ever know about, but some will come out, and they have to know that. So tell me, if they know that, and they know they can't pardon themselves once they leave office, what are they planning to do to protect themselves from future prosecution? Are they planning on a way NOT to leave?
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:00 pmA coroner, for chrissake. What possible motive could these assclowns have for falsely prosecuting a coroner? Perhaps one of the bodies showed signs of torture. Or they were planning to let the "dead" person vote for a Repukelican in the next election. Boggles the mind.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:05 pmGuess the coroner committed the ultimate sin. He wasn't a super Christy loyal Bushie!
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:22 pmThe “I’m a Democrat†defense has become the new insanity defense. No need to even spend a day in rehab.
Comment by Menehune
You don't find it odd that the Bush run Justice Department prosecuted 10 times as many Democrats as Republicans but got convictions on 10 times as many Republicans as Democrats?
You don't find it odd that Carol Lam was fired just when she was getting ready to indict Jerry Lewis?
You think all those things were coincidences? Sure you do because you are one of the 24!
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:36 pm15- I know I don't find it odd at all. I find it typical of these criminals! (The criminals in the administration that is)
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:42 pmAt this rate, that 24% may soon be 24 individuals, followed by just Bush, and Barney. Poor Barney!
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:43 pmbilbo, I think Menehune was saying that being a Democrat is enough to throw any indictment under suspicion these days.
I could be wrong.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:45 pmI practiced law for more than a quarter century in both state and federal courts. Indeed, at one point I prosecuted in the federal courts as a judge advocate assigned as a special AUSA to handle cases against civilians from several bases in the local area.
I have never seen such allegations concerning improper political pressure against US Attorneys from any prior administration, Republican or Democratic. One becomes use to seeing the charge of political prosecution whenever a political figure is charged. However, the statistics support the finding that Bush administration US Attorneys target Democrats more than Republicans in state and local corruption cases. Again, this has not been true under other Democratic or Republican administrations. This added to the unprecedented firing of US Attorneys during an administration (with political issues seemingly involved) lends support to that theory. Thornburgh (as an advocate, his credibility is diminished) has not been the only former Regan DoJ senior official to question what has happened at Justice.
The Bush administration tried to turn this country into a one party state. They very nearly succeeded. The alliance with K Street, corporate interests, and the religious right provided powerful political punch. The press remains cowered to this day. The Justice Department politicization was merely part of the process. It was used to stack the deck for voter rights, attack Democrats on the local and state level (where the overall trend would not be apparent and where the state parties would be severely damaged) and to pack DoJ with career attorneys chosen by political test.
There is every reason to question whether prosecutions have been political. The Bush administration has been the most corrupt administration in this regard in modern history. It reeks of the corruption we used to find in both parties that led to the civil service reforms and strict nonpartisan treatment of US Attorneys. It is sorry to see such a decline in our government.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:37 pmActually, Thornburgh was AG under Bush 41. I am also happy to call him a colleague.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:02 pmJMOHR: "I have never seen such allegations concerning improper political pressure against US Attorneys from any prior administration, Republican or Democratic."
Here, here. But it begs the question; why has the media spread this myth that this kind of thing has happened in other administrations.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:11 pm"BUSH+PARAGUAY"
Comment by BUSH_SUKS_GANNONS_COCK — October 23, 2007 @ 5:24 pm
I was thinking the same thing.
October 24th, 2007 at 12:23 amBTW, TP, you've got a typo in the headline--you forgot the 'n' in Thornburgh.
October 24th, 2007 at 12:32 amTrolls..thoughts on this one?
October 24th, 2007 at 11:31 pm