"Fool me once, shame...can't get fooled again." Uh-huh, precisely. Just in time to spare Republicans the embarrassment of having their many crooks exposed before the November elections, Abu Gonzales rides to the rescue again:
"U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle agreed to a joint motion by Justice Department lawyers and Abramoff's attorney for the delay citing the former mega-lobbyist's continuing cooperation in the probe. The motion to delay the court appearance originally scheduled for September 6th, said, "Abramoff has been cooperating with government agents and prosecutors. The government anticipates that Mr. Abramoff's cooperation will continue for the foreseeable future." Judge Huvelle has scheduled a December 8th status hearing for Abramoff.
"Also avoiding a September court appearance is Michael Scanlon, a former partner of Abramoff who also served as spokesman for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Scanlon pleaded guilty in November to trying to bribe public officials."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
More after the jump...
Bush/Rove/Gonzales/DOJ have everything to gain and nothing to lose by postponing both Abramoff's and Scanlon's sentencing hearings, and certainly both defendants and their lawyers want to postpone incarceration as long as possible. Quite obviously, it is their mutual benefit that both parties petition the court for additional time under the guise of continuing cooperation.
If Abramoff has been so terrifically cooperative over the past six-or-so months in helping to expose all the crooks he conspired with on Capitol Hill that investigators need an additional three months to debrief him, then can we conclude there will be dozens of indictments rather than the handful presently envisioned, or is this merely a ploy to delay the final report of the investigation(s)?
Generally, DOJ/FBI investigators work in tandem with the debriefers, following up each fresh lead provided by a perp (in this case Abramoff) on a timely basis, and requesting from time to time additional information from the perp to correct the weak spots in their case(s). Surely, they will not wait until all investigations are complete before announcing the name of at least one official to be indicted, would they? After all, announcing one indictment for corruption exerts significant pressure on subsequent officials to 'fess up to avoid unduly harsh sentences down the road, and that tactic has been used for years in all types of prosections.
Furthermore, shortly after the Abramoff and Scanlon debriefings are completed, one could reasonably expect subsequent indictments or else a public statement from DOJ denying culpability on the part of elected officials and department personnel currently under investigation -- e.g., Ney, Burns, Doolittle, Griles, Norton, Rove, etc. -- shortly thereafter. Did we not see an attorney from DOJ do just that after news reports of Ney's imminent indictment not more than two months ago?
I believe it is reasonable to assume that what we have here is an concerted effort on the part of the administration, with the willing cooperation of Abu Gonzales, to obfuscate the investigations (remember the changing lead attorneys for DOJ?) in order to delay any resolution of the lobbying scandals (three extensions?) until AFTER November 7th in order to salvage as many seats as possible in the House and Senate.
So why, pray tell, have the media refused to acknowledge this sleazy tactic for what it is?