So who is going to be in charge of the Abramoff prosecution?
A Bush recess appointment that couldn't get confirmed because she wouldn't testify about what she knew about torture at Guantamo.
Here is what Senator Leahy has to say about Ms. Fisher
There have been reports that she has had ties to Congressman Tom DeLay's defense team. We will also want to know what steps she intends to take to avoid a conflict of interest in the Department's investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and possibly Mr. DeLay. I would like to know her priorities for the Criminal Division. I will be interested in her plans with respect to the growing problem of computer crime and identity theft, the responses to the Supreme Court's recent sentencing decision, and prosecution of intellectual property theft. .
There's more
Alice Fishser has never worked as a prosecutor. She worked as a litigation associate in the Washington office of New York-based Sullivan & Cromwell. Where she represented corporate scum.
So how is she qualified for the job?
Fisher first worked with Chertoff in 1995, when he hired her as deputy special counsel to the Senate Whitewater investigation. Following her work in Whitewater, Fisher moved into the Washington office of Latham & Watkins in 1996.
In 2001, Michael Chertoff -- now secretary of Homeland Security -- picked Fisher to serve as his deputy assistant attorney general in DOJ's Criminal Division. Fisher also worked with Chertoff at Latham & Watkins.
And what did she do while she was there?
Well it seems she was critical of torture.
Mr. Chertoff said at his confirmation hearing that he did not engage in detailed discussions of interrogation policies and never offered specific advice when he headed the criminal division at the Justice Department from 2001 to 2003, when he left the department to take an appointment to a federal appeals court.
But the newly released version of the memorandum identified for the first time four of Mr. Chertoff's top deputies who, according to the document, attended weekly meetings with F.B.I. officials in which the military's interrogation methods were frequently discussed and criticized as ineffective and unproductive.
The four Chertoff aides, whose names were edited from the previous version of the memorandum, were identified in the newly released version as Alice Fisher, David Nahmias, Laura Parsky and Bruce Swartz.
Leahy letter
This pdf. contains her senate testimony and a list of who's who of the corporate scum she represented, including guess who HCA ( Bill Frist insider trading ).
There is also a wonderful talk around the torture issue. Which is why she never got confirmed. And her Bush campaign cridentials are undisputable. But there is more to the story.
Here is Senator Leahy's entire statement about Ms. Fisher
I am somewhat concerned, however, that Ms. Fisher is nominated for one of the most visible prosecutorial positions in the country without ever having prosecuted a case, and she brings to the position minimal trial experience in any context. In contrast, previous Criminal Division AAG's such as Mike Chertoff, James Robinson, and William Weld were seasoned federal prosecutors prior to taking this job.
I hope that this hearing will illuminate Ms. Fisher's views on checks of controversial provisions of the Patriot Act and her opposition to the Act's sunset provision; her participation in meetings in which the FBI expressed its disagreement with harsh interrogation methods practiced by the military toward detainees held at Guantanamo, and her ideas about appropriate safeguards for the treatment of enemy combatants.
There have been reports that she has had ties to Congressman Tom DeLay's defense team. We will also want to know what steps she intends to take to avoid a conflict of interest in the Department's investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and possibly Mr. DeLay. I would like to know her priorities for the Criminal Division. I will be interested in her plans with respect to the growing problem of computer crime and identity theft, the responses to the Supreme Court's recent sentencing decision, and prosecution of intellectual property theft. .
In the middle of the Katrina disaster Bush made yet another [recess appointment http://talkleft.com/new_archives/012101.html] that of Alice Fisher.
So we have yet another unqualified political hack heading up the biggest scandal to hit Washington perhaps ever. Have Leahy's questions been answered? Have his fears been allieviated? Will there be justice at Justice? Or are we just going to get more of the same bullshit?
So how do we demand that she remove herself from the Abramoff case and we the people get a real prosecutor?
Update I posted this late last night and just started to read through the comments. I would agree that the lead prosecutor is doing an excellent job. However, If you think that the lead prosecutor is making the big decissions on how this plays out you have been living in never never land. Watching "Law and Order" should be enough to tell you that much. Watching how this administration has been functioning over the last five years should be more than enough to prove they don't let the law stand in their way.
So before you minmize the importance of this information I suggest you wait and see how many other indictments are issued. My guess is very few.
Update: They are talking about this on the Majority Reporrt right now!!!!