Hotcha!! New Charges Against Foggo and Wilkes!

I'll make this short and sweet.  Sorry this is so short...I thought it more newsworthy than an open diary but I don't the case all that well...other than what emptywheel discussed today in her diary (whether DOJ consciously blew the case) and my bedtime readings into the Cunningham matter. If this is a duplicate, I'll be happy to delete.  

I saw this on TPM, BTW.  The Fresno Bee is reporting that there are new indictments against Dusty Foggo and Brent Wilkes...the people who allegedly were conspirators with Duke Cunningham. Read what the Bee has to say...it's a tale of slime, perfidy, mendacity and highly sensitive information being traded for wealth. I don't know the case well enough to know whether this is a response to the recent charges that leaks have compromised the case. Rather than facing the original 11 charges, Wilkes and Foggo are facing 30 charges.  Hotcha!!! Definitely schadenfreudalicious.

An exceprt from the Fresno Bee after the flip:

The indictment, returned Thursday by a federal grand jury in San Diego, supersedes charges brought in February against career CIA man Kyle "Dusty" Foggo and Poway-based contractor Brent Wilkes. The charges grew from the bribery scandal that landed former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham in prison.

Foggo resigned from the spy agency a year ago, after his house and office were raided by federal agents. He is the highest-ranking CIA officer to be charged with crimes allegedly committed while working for the agency.

The pair now face 30 wide-ranging counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.

According to the new indictment, Foggo provided Wilkes with "sensitive, internal information related to our national security," including classified information, to help him prepare proposals for providing undercover flights for the CIA under the guise of a civil aviation company and armored vehicles for agency operations. Foggo allegedly then pushed his CIA colleagues to hire Wilkes' companies without disclosing their longstanding friendship.

http://tinyurl.com/...

•  'Bout damned time.

  Dios bo’otik, mayan.

  by Crashing Vor on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:08:35 PM PDT

  •  Holy shitin'ola

    30 counts?!?!

    First I've heard of it, and certainly cause for smiling.

    Thanks for the heads up.

    by Terre on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:11:33 PM PDT

    •  re

      That's some serious time.

      by cookiesandmilk on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:14:44 PM PDT

    •  Certainly put a smile on my face!

      I bet emptywheel's grinnin' too.

      by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:14:55 PM PDT

      •  Laura Rozen has to be smiling, too. n/t

        by Over the Edge on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:46:29 PM PDT

        •  She's been all over this...

          from the beginning apparently.  I gotta read her stuff.

          by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:26:19 PM PDT

          •  War and Piece

            was the first place I recall reading Foggo's name in connection to Wilkes; TPM and others picked it from Rozen.

            Her work is solid and some of the best there is.

            by Over the Edge on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:31:14 PM PDT

            •  Thanks...I'm going to study her

              by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:34:17 PM PDT

              •  LR raised an allegation that isn't referenced

                in this summary of the indictment. Laura Rozen's War&Piece column of December 11, 2005, "Wade, Wilkes and Bad Intelligence?" identified Mitchell Wade's MZM defense contracting firm as a culprit in faulty intelligence generation that led to the invasion of Iraq.

                http://www.warandpiece.com/...

                A source cited by Rozen identified MZM as the private contractor cited for support of an errant CIA Iraq WMD assessment used to justify the Bush Administration's argument for war. An MZM analysis erroneously concluded that aluminum tubes ordered by Saddam Hussein were intended for use in a clandestne nuclear fuel enrichment progam that didn't exist. Now, Rosen comes up with the extraordinary find that consultants working for MZM and other intelligence contractors staffed the Robb-Silberman Commission that investigated the faulty Iraq WMD findings.

                ...SNIP...

                More:  http://www.scoop.co.nz/...  

                What happened to these profoundly more serious charges?  Is this going to be another prosecution like Abramoff's, where the espionage and intelligence corruption elements get submerged in a sea of lesser charges?

                :

                by leveymg on Sat May 12, 2007 at 01:43:13 AM PDT

                •  Excellent Q: ...

                  "What happened to these profoundly more serious charges?"

                  by Yellow Canary on Sat May 12, 2007 at 03:31:13 AM PDT

                •  Iraq corruption

                  Remember all those Iraq missing weapons (few thousands riffles but worth $20 millions or so?) And they are jsut gone after being flown by some shaddy russian service?

                  Bremer is CIA man in Iraq. notice that too.

                  Wanna bet Bremer is involved. Who is watching? It's a war zone.

                  We are missing some $8 to $10 billion in Iraq. that's the one we can count. In the meantime the entire $500Billion budgets are shaddy. Where do they all go?

                  Somewhere right? these are huge amount of money, gotta go somewhere. You can't transfer them by wire without somebody noticing.

                  Who can watch Iraq money transfer?

                  by fugue on Sat May 12, 2007 at 05:27:41 AM PDT

    •  30 counts...

      ...and nothing in there about hookergate? I'm disappointed. Or is "money laundering" supposed to be a euphemism for that part of the deal?

      by reid fan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:39:50 PM PDT

      •  Money Laundring Fuels The Shadow Government

        Sure it buys hookers and blow, but it's the cash and the bag men that are the real trophies here, and thelegal penalties aren't 18 months in Club Fed.

        Nor are these gangsters likely to get Bush pardons if we force the public to pay attention to the magnitude of what they've done.

        by bernardpliers on Fri May 11, 2007 at 10:04:02 PM PDT

    •  Spying!

      They are selling those information to somebody. Just watch. Those information ain't cheap.

      Nevermind the office furniture corruption, child play.  Somebody is stealing from inside the CIA and selling the information to somebody else.

      just watch, major spying scandal. This is why there was major CIA war inside during foggo. Reorganisation, appointment of corrupt GOP boss, etc.

      Who brings in Foggo? (that bush stooge).

      Foggo was No.3 at the CIA. Porter Goss was No.1 and he was resigning pronto.

      I bet Goss know something or involved in corruption/spying scandal too.

      Check out AIPAC. They'll show up in the picture somehow.

      by fugue on Sat May 12, 2007 at 05:23:46 AM PDT

  •  Well dang

    Sorry 'bout that.  Meant to make it a new comment, and not a reply.

    by Terre on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:13:02 PM PDT

•  And there ya go!

  by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:09:47 PM PDT

  •  OT...BTW, NY Times has a good article...

    on Monica Goodling and her Stepfordian quest to install a sleeper cell of evangelical KoolAid drinker deep into the viscera of gummint.

    http://tinyurl.com/...

    Not to hijack my own diary...but seeing as how I can't diary it, folks might want to check it out.

    by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:57:09 PM PDT

    •  Yowza! That's a good one

      Front page too. Highly recommended. Sample:

      Ms. Goodling helped recruit new office managers who included John Nowacki, another Regent University graduate, who had little experience as a prosecutor, but had previously served as the director of legal policy at a conservative research group, the Free Congress Foundation.

      She also insisted that she be given final approval in hiring assistant United States attorneys in offices where there was an interim chief prosecutor. . . .

      But Ms. Goodling’s reviews delayed hiring decisions for weeks or months, creating problems in busy offices, and her concerns at times appeared to be for partisan reasons.

      In one case, Ms. Goodling told a federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia that she was not signing off on an applicant who had graduated from Howard University Law School, and then worked at the Environmental Protection Agency.

      “He appeared, based on his résumé, to be a liberal Democrat,” Ms. Goodling told Jeffrey A. Taylor . . .

      Oh man, I'm already a CSPAN junkie, I can't WAIT 'til we see what her "limited immunity" brings us.

      (Now back to your regularly scheduled diary of outrageous Republican corruption in yet another area.)

      by Janet Strange on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:47:03 PM PDT

      •  ((sob)) Poor Monica. All she ever wanted

        was to serve this President and then it all began to unravel. ((sniff))

        by Over the Edge on Fri May 11, 2007 at 10:11:09 PM PDT

        •  to PLEASURE the president

          in the name of our lord.

          by AshesAllFallDown on Fri May 11, 2007 at 11:06:42 PM PDT

        •  hey sinners

          all she wanted was to put Justice in the hands  of the Lo-ord (Republican christians) and keep it out of the hands of the Deyville (Liberal Dems)

          What's wrong with THAT!!???

          by sooner on Fri May 11, 2007 at 11:18:20 PM PDT

      •  GOODling is like Clear Skies or NCLB

        Whatever the slogan says, think the exact opposite. Mission accomplished.

        She is one bad apple. Say, is she single unmarried premarried, like Condoleeza Rice? Ain't a good Christian girl supposed to be married and staying at home raising the kids?

        by DrReason on Sat May 12, 2007 at 12:35:54 AM PDT

        •  Another Oxymoron from Regent n/t

          by mbayrob on Sat May 12, 2007 at 01:32:33 AM PDT

      •  Prejudice Concealed In Plain Sight

        In one case, Ms. Goodling told a federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia that she was not signing off on an applicant who had graduated from Howard University Law School, and then worked at the Environmental Protection Agency.

        "He appeared, based on his résumé, to be a liberal Democrat," Ms. Goodling told Jeffrey A. Taylor . . .

        As a Howard grad, he also appeared to be...black--isn't that so, Ms. Fake Goodie Goodie?

        Just because there are some high-profile, well-remunerated African-Americans on board the leaky tramp steamer GOP, doesn't mean that racial prejudice doesn't fuel a lot of GOOPERS, especially ones like Trent Lott--more powerful than before, after a fake official reprimand a few years ago.

        In the same way, all those crypto-fascist "Christian" GOP factions also imply that non-Christians are not welcome--isn't that so as well?

        Someone should check and see exactly how many non-whites and non-Christians are in that Regent "University" cadre the GOP has infiltrated the govt. with. And how many are grads of good old Messiah College.

        Masquerading as hard-core "religious" schools is such a cosy way to exclude those who aren't really welcome for quite different reasons. It might otherwise be seen as a cynical front for racism and anti-Semitism.

        by Existentialist on Sat May 12, 2007 at 02:43:11 AM PDT

      •  Hey Janet...

        great to see you. Been a long time since I have run into you. Hope all is well. That is one great article. Pass the popcorn sister, it's going to be a humdinger of a testimony.

        by Alohaleezy on Sat May 12, 2007 at 06:00:52 AM PDT

  •  Sacramento Bee article is actually Assoc Press

    By googling this news item, I found Allison Hoffman's name in several other papers.  For some reason, the Bee didn't identify her as an AP reporter.

    The other missing item from this article is the name of any of the prosecutors.  Who continued running with the ball once Carol Lam was sidelined?

    The Music Room.

    by madhaus on Fri May 11, 2007 at 11:15:31 PM PDT

    •  Karen P. Hewitt replaced Lam

      in the southern Ca San Diego US Atty jurisdiction. Suspect she's just in a holding pattern waiting for the runway to clear so they can bring in whatever Zombie NeoCon Vote Snatcher they really had in mind to replace her.

      by AmericanRiverCanyon on Sat May 12, 2007 at 12:43:57 AM PDT

    •  The prosecutors

      on the original Foggo and Wilkes indictments are Sanjay Bhandari, Jason Forge and Phillip Halpern. I'm positive Forge and Halpern are still working those cases; Bhandari I'm not so certain about.

      I haven't seen the actual documents on the new indictments so I don't know who the prosecutors are, but for now I'm assuming it is the same set.

      Outside of a small brief, all the Washington Post is running right now is Hoffman's article.

      San Diego Union-Tribune has their own up, but no mention of specific prosecutors.

      by Over the Edge on Sat May 12, 2007 at 11:53:46 AM PDT

      •  Yeah I noticed that too.

        Jason Forge named in this article.  And surprise, surprise, the Justice Dept is investigating the "leaks" that Wilkes' attorney, Mark Geragos, complained about in asking the whole case be thrown out.

        The Music Room.

        by madhaus on Sun May 13, 2007 at 12:37:10 AM PDT

•  Selling National Security Information

  Hmmm Another Republican protecting our national interest and keeping our homeland safe for war profiteers it citizens.

  by MO Blue on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:14:47 PM PDT

  •  They are such slime...

    This is like a little hologram microcosm of the Chimp's regime.

    by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:16:09 PM PDT

  •  re

    "Some People" call it Treason.

    by cookiesandmilk on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:28:48 PM PDT

    •  Nah, That Law Only Applies To Democrats Or

      citizens who are not in 100% agreement with Bush and the Republican agenda.

      by MO Blue on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:02:19 PM PDT

      •  Exactly

        What they'll spin on Faux Noise will be something along the lines of, "At least Dusty actually worked at the CIA.  Sandy Berger was long gone out the White House when he snatched his bundle of classified documents.  Foggo and Wilkes were good Americans.  Berger was probably looking to sell his to China."

        I can hear it now.

        by Paper Cup on Sat May 12, 2007 at 02:30:54 AM PDT

        •  O'hannity was all over this

          yesterday. Sandy Berger, Sandy Berger, Sandy Berger.

          by emmasnacker on Sat May 12, 2007 at 05:09:01 AM PDT

•  Aww, just after Gonzo ducked out of the hot seat

  I wonder if Congress will call him back to talk some more about firing Carol Lam, two days after she filed the first indictments against Foggo and Wilkes?

  by kwinz on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:19:24 PM PDT

  •  Interesting...

    all this DOJ scandal hullabaloo must really be hell on those whose cases had been frozen in amber.  Maybe its the revenge of the careerist, government-integrity attorneys.

    by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:22:12 PM PDT

    •  I think even some Repub appointees are going for

      revenge too. Can you imagine how many government employees, whether appointed or civil service career, detest Bush, Cheney and Rove and want to see charges brought against these three before 2009?

      by paige on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:34:55 PM PDT

      •  Debatable, IMO

        If that were the case, why aren't we hearing from them, even anonymously?

        It isn't credible that Mr. Rove has blackmail material on every person who works in the administration or in government. Or is it?

        by oddstray on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:22:22 PM PDT

        •  The NSA says hello...

          by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:27:30 PM PDT

          •  I would bet my left one that...

            Rove has a database with exactly that info.

            by Clive all hat no horse Rodeo on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:43:08 PM PDT

        •  Maybe not EVERY person

          but I'd hate to be one person that "thinks" they might be the one with a skelton, which always leads to (from NYT article mayan linked to):

          The people who spoke about Ms. Goodling’s role at the department, including eight current Justice Department lawyers and staff, did so only on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Several added that they found her activities objectionable and damaging to the integrity of the department.  [snip]

          Last month, a group of department employees wrote anonymously to Congressional investigators alleging that political considerations were influencing the selection of summer interns and applicants for the Attorney General’s Honors Program, which hires promising lawyers right out of law school. The letter did not say if Ms. Goodling was involved in the process. Department officials declined to comment on the matter.

          by Terre on Fri May 11, 2007 at 10:20:21 PM PDT

        •  true, but he might not need material on everyone

          he may just take the first chapter out of the STASI playbook: get dirt on a few key people, then EVERYONE will believe he has dirt on them, not knowing for certain but not taking any chances, of course.  They kept East Germany, an entire nation, under a state of fear for decades that way.  Ask gold medalist Katerina Witt.

          by Jeffersonian Democrat on Sat May 12, 2007 at 02:06:29 AM PDT

        •  Oh, but we are beginning to hear ... and see

          Murray Waas:

          Several of the e-mails that the Bush administration is withholding from Congress, as well as papers from the White House counsel's office describing other withheld documents, were made available to National Journal by a senior executive branch official, who said that the administration has inappropriately kept many of them from Congress.

          The senior official said that Gonzales, in preparing for testimony before Congress, has personally reviewed the withheld records and has a responsibility to make public any information he has about efforts by his former chief of staff, other department aides, and White House officials to conceal Rove's role.

          by carolita on Sat May 12, 2007 at 07:15:14 AM PDT

          •  Yes...that salient item...

            was as explosive as the substance of the e-mails.  

            by mayan on Sat May 12, 2007 at 07:55:22 AM PDT

    •  I hope so

      Maybe its the revenge of the careerist, government-integrity attorneys.

      If there are enough of them left who understand the importance of judicial integrity and value it the right things will be done.

      by fly on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:24:56 PM PDT

  •  Who replaced Carol Lam?

    Do we have a loyal Bushie who's going to take a prosecutorial dive, or will the grown-ups in the DOJ have enough clout to kick Gonzo to the curb and run this case right?

    welcome news, for now.  Thanks, mayan.

    by Dallasdoc on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:24:17 PM PDT

    •  Whoever's responsible...

      they waited until Friday afternoon to announce the story.  These guys are positively brilliant in working the newsdump.

      by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:29:23 PM PDT

      •  Newsdump?

        More like data dump here in the blogosphere.

        by Fabian on Sat May 12, 2007 at 01:53:32 AM PDT

    •  Karen Hewitt is the interim USA

      She was third in command executive assistant under Lam.

      by Over the Edge on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:51:26 PM PDT

      •  Any book on her?

        Good government careerist?  Or loyal Bushie?

        by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:52:55 PM PDT

        •  She's an unknown quantity to me.

          Lam has spoken about her in good terms, so that is encouraging. I can't come up with his name right now, but one of the prosecutors handling the case was also there under Lam.

          No way DOJ can replace Hewitt with one of their preferred loyal Bushies now without holy hell breaking out.

          by Over the Edge on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:13:48 PM PDT

          •  Not the FAUSA?

            By third in command, you mean not the First Assistan USA, right?  I wonder why they skipped FAUSA?

            by Mary2002 on Fri May 11, 2007 at 10:31:40 PM PDT

            •  Correct, not the FAUSA.

              In addition to being a career federal prosecutor, Ms. Hewitt is an experienced attorney manager. She currently serves as the Executive Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of California, supervising approximately 230 attorneys and support staff, and participating in the oversight of the office’s civil and criminal work. Prior to her appointment as the Executive AUSA, Ms. Hewitt served as Deputy Chief of the district’s Civil Division from October 2003 to January 2006, and as an Assistant United States Attorney from October 2000 to October 2003. She previously served as a Trial Attorney and Litigation Team Leader in the Constitutional and Special Torts Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Division from May 1992 to October 2000, where she was co-counsel on a litigation team that received the Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service from the Department of Health and Human Services. From August 1989 to May 1992, Ms. Hewitt was in private practice at the former San Diego firm of McInnis, Fitzgerald, Rees, Sharkey, and McIntyre.

              Ms. Hewitt is a native of San Diego County. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, and received her law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law.

              DOJ Release

              I couldn't find a quick reference who the FAUSA was at the time of Lam's firing and why they were not appointed as the interim.

              by Over the Edge on Sat May 12, 2007 at 12:06:31 PM PDT

    •  very curious

      It’s hard to imagine that they fired Lam (feeling burnt by her disloyalty) w/o making damn certain that her replacement was loyal. They clearly had specific plants for the New Mexico and Arkansas positions.  Something funny here.....

      by enough already on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:15:47 PM PDT

      •  I agree...

        it's strange.  On the surface it certainly flies in the face of they fired Lam because of the prosecution.  The thing is, a hardball prosecution could lead, apparently, up the chain.  All the way.  So either they are doing this so that they can later take a dive OR this really is ther revenge of the careerist.  Any other options?

        by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:22:27 PM PDT

        •  Wow...I'm tired.

          Happy...but tired.  My sentence structure is going to shit.

          by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:23:47 PM PDT

          •  LOL...see my comment below. n/t

            by Over the Edge on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:27:15 PM PDT

        •  I mean...

          thirty indictments does not seem to be the action of a prosecutor who is intent on taking a dive.  They could 've just as easiily taken a dive on the original eleven counts.  Actually the more I think about it, the more infused with hope that there are still honest prosecutors out in the field.  I know a bunch of DOJ attorneys and they are all brilliant careerists who are horrified by what's happening in the regime.  They aren't prosecutors, however.

          by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:28:37 PM PDT

          •  I think it's

            impossible to know right now.  But I sense there is more to it than meets the eye, It will probably become clearer in the next few days.  

            One thought -  There is Cheney and many other big fish to be protected.  These two may be sacrificial lambs of some sort.  

            by enough already on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:40:04 PM PDT

            •  Undercover CIA Flights - Rendition?

              Is that one of the reasons there is so much sensitivity?  Not just that Foggo was cheating for Wllkes, but cheating for him on something he thought no one would ever let be uncovered - rendition flights?

              I have no idea, but that just came to mind.

              And anyone who hasn't read Stephen Gray's Ghost Plane - go do it if you can.  Eye opening. And yet nothing is ever reported on MSM about it.

              by Mary2002 on Fri May 11, 2007 at 10:36:18 PM PDT

              •  That's part of it, the other is false WMD intel

                cooked up by MZM -- bogus aluminum tubes data -- that was used to justify the invasion of Iraq and to batter down the objections of career CIA counter-proliferation officers, such as Valerie Plame.

                See Laura Rozen:http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/003244.html
                and: http://www.scoop.co.nz/...

                by leveymg on Sat May 12, 2007 at 01:55:53 AM PDT

      •  Once it was known Lam was leaving,

        questions and outrage flared up immediately, giving them no time to install one of theirs.

        I don't think putting or keeping Hewitt in that spot was part of their original plan. Sampson named two potential replacements in one of his emails (I think to the WH). One of those was Jeffrey Taylor, now the DC USA and the other is one of the USAs in Alabama (I think). I'm going from memory and my brain is fried from this week's scandal and investigation overload.

        by Over the Edge on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:26:28 PM PDT

        •  I hope this is so

          I don't think putting or keeping Hewitt in that spot was part of their original plan.

          There is more to this story.  If they didn't get to stick their own stooge in there, it's because someone stopped them.  THAT would be a story, because no one has stopped them from doing anything they wanted to do at any other time -that I know of.

          by enough already on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:45:10 PM PDT

          •  Okay, I found this

            Even More Dirty Rats
            « H E » email
            posted Monday, 22 January 2007

            Friday's Union-Tribune says Carol Lam's replacement as San Diego US Attorney will likely be Pat Shea. He's a business lawyer with absolutely no prosecutorial experience whatsoever and a personal friend of President Bush.

            When the local FBI chief said, "Lam's continued employment as U.S. attorney is crucial to the success of multiple ongoing investigations," he didn't know the half of it. He can kiss their corruption cases against Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter goodbye.

            tags: carol lam  darrell issa  duncan hunter  

            No link to the Union-Tribune, came from American Pundit.

            The Music Room.

            by madhaus on Fri May 11, 2007 at 11:05:36 PM PDT

            •  U-T link from January 19

              here.

              Shea says he and the president remain in regular contact with each other and he voices keen interest in the job of U.S. attorney, but says he hasn't had direct talks with anyone at the Justice Department "yet."

              Lam was ousted this week....

              In a clash yesterday with Feinstein during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Gonzales denied that politics had anything to do with the firings of several U.S. attorneys around the country. Shea is widely regarded as a top-notch business lawyer, but speculation that a presidential friend who has no prosecutorial experience is being considered as Lam's successor can only fuel the charges of cronyism being leveled against the Bush administration.

              by Over the Edge on Sat May 12, 2007 at 12:15:09 PM PDT

        •  Yes, too risky. DiFi was already on to it. n/t

          by goodasgold on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:54:12 PM PDT

          •  Yep, here's proof

            This article on Hewitt's interim appointment has Feinstein already asking questions.

            NORTH COUNTY ---- Thursday was a day of change at the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego as Justice Department officials announced an interim replacement for U.S. Attorney Carol Lam, who has taken a job with San Diego wireless technology giant Qualcomm Inc.

            It was Lam's last day on the job. She had announced recently that she would be stepping down from the position she has held since the Bush administration appointed her in 2002. Qualcomm officials announced Thursday that she will begin work Feb. 26 as senior vice president and legal counsel and will help manage and direct the company's litigation worldwide.

            In recent weeks, some Democrats have objected to the Justice Department's decision to ask between seven and 10 U.S. attorneys around the country to resign. Some, including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, have said that Lam was fired.

            The Music Room.

            by madhaus on Fri May 11, 2007 at 11:08:42 PM PDT

      •  This indictment is

        a great defense to obstruction of justice, at least in the Lam case.  I don't think the career AUSA's can go off and do something like this without the USA's approval.  So if the Lam replacement is, in fact, pursuing Foggo & Wilkes, it's hard to show that Lam was fired to stop that prosecution.

        On the other hand, Lam replacement Hewitt might now be worried that if she abandoned the Foggo case, she'd become part of the obstruction conspiracy.

        On the third hand, it could be a set-up to drop it later

        by Upper West on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:29:14 PM PDT

        •  I've learned...

          that one can't be too cynical or questioning when it comes to these sociopaths.

          by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:31:42 PM PDT

          •  I've also learned...

            that you can't have too many hands, for that matter.

            by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:34:41 PM PDT

            •  d'ya ever hear

              the one about the guy who wanted a one-handed lawyer?

              by Upper West on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:42:37 PM PDT

        •  No, they can't

          And they need approvals even higher up the chain. See Elizabeth de la Vega's EXCELLENT (I really can't recommend this one highly enough to anyone interested in the DoJ mess) explanation. She is "a former federal prosecutor with over 20 years' experience, was a member of the Organized Crime Strike Force and Chief of the San Jose Branch of the US attorney's office for the Northern District of California" and she explains very clearly how this works. Sample:

          For cases involving public figures, the US Attorney's Manual requires that "appropriate officials, including the assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division, the associate attorney general, the deputy attorney general and the attorney general" be advised of the initiation of any case "in which public figures or entities are subjects of the investigation." Bottom line? The attorney general is notified immediately, not just when charges are brought in a public corruption case, but when the file is opened and every time that any activity, even procedural, occurs in the case. It was precisely such an Urgent Report that former San Diego US Attorney Carol Lam used to notify the attorney general's office on May 10, 2006 that search warrants were going to be conducted in the Randy "Duke" Cunningham case. The next day, of course, was when Alberto Gonzales's top aide wrote an email talking about the "very real problem we have right now" with Carol Lam.

          by Janet Strange on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:56:49 PM PDT

        •  But...

          Foggo and Wilkes were already indicted.  This ratchets it up, to be sure...but eleven indictments were already in place.  The questions surrounding Lam, however, have to do with Doolittle who has not yet been indicted.  Thus, it seems to me that the obstruction charges aren't totally defended against.  And too...as per the scandals, it's not necessarily about the "base" crime anymore...it's about the cover-up.  And we seem to be seeing plenty about missing e-mails, etc. to think that

          by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 10:25:31 PM PDT

          •  Don't forget, Rep J Lewis was a subject of that

            investigation and the 5/10/06 warrants touched on GOP slush funds operated by Lewis with money contributed by MZM and another corrupt defense contractor, Cerberus-Gabriel.  Others on the receiving end on Lewis' commitee included Reps. Duncan Hunter and Virgil Goode. See, http://www.dailykos.com/...

            Both Cerberus and MZM were giving GOP House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis large amounts of money for distribution to other GOP Congressmen through Lewis' PAC.  Cerberus appears to have been the senior partner in the scheme. Lewis was being investigated by the US Attorney for the Southern District of CA, Debra Wong Yang, who resigned on Nov. 10 to go to work for the powerhouse LA law firm that's defending Lewis. USA Lam, who had the MZM case, meanwhile was fired along with six others in a January purge of the US Attorneys Office that is just now receiving considerable attention.

            Laura Rozen speculates that Yang, upon learning of her impending firing last year, accepted a rather comfortable exit package rather than be fired as was here her colleague, USA Caroline Lam. See, http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/... /

            http://thehill.com/...

            In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Cunningham named four people who had conspired with him to commit the crimes. Although the plea agreement does not refer to the co-conspirators by name, they are widely believed to be Mitchell Wade, the former president of defense intelligence firm MZM Inc., Brent Wilkes, president of defense contractor ADCS Inc., Tom Kontogiannis, a New York real-estate developer, and an unnamed family member of Kontogiannis.

            Wade and Wilkes gave heavily to congressional Republicans in recent years, and now lawmakers must decide whether to keep the campaign largesse.

            Wade, Wilkes, Kontogiannis and others remain under investigation, according to a statement made by the lead federal prosecutor in the case, U.S. Attorney Carol Lam.
            Congressional ethics experts predict that one or more of the co-conspirators would be charged, especially because Cunningham has agreed to continue to cooperate with the investigation.

            "Given that they were both described as co-conspirators in the plea agreement and that the agreement calls for former Rep. Cunningham to cooperate in the investigation, it’s very likely that both Mitchell Wade and Brent Wilkes will be indicted," said Brett Kappel, an ethics lawyer at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP.

            Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) has returned money from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the center of another congressional ethics scandal, while Republican Reps. Jeb Bradley (N.H.), Kenny Hulshof (Mo.), Heather Wilson (N.M.) and Steve LaTourette (Ohio) gave back contributions from DeLay after he was indicted in September.

            Republican Reps. Tom DeLay (Texas), John Doolittle (Calif.) and Jerry Lewis (Calif.) all received at least $30,000 in donations — either through their campaign committee or their leadership PACs — from Wade, Wilkes, their family members and their companies’ PACs over the past four years. These totals do not include individual contributions from employees of these firms. Early this year, Lewis became the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Before that, he headed the defense appropriations subcommittee. Because of these high-profile roles, Lewis often receives more donations than most House members. Doolittle also sits on the Appropriations Committee.

            But Cunningham, who was simply a member of the defense appropriations subcommittee, received the most — at least $66,000 during the same period.

            Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, received just over $28,000, as did Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.). Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) was the recipient of $20,000.

            Wilkes is a prominent Bush fundraiser, earning a designation as a "Bush pioneer" in 2004 for raising more than $100,000. If Wilkes is indicted, he will be the third Bush pioneer, after Abramoff and Ohio fundraiser Tom Noe, to be indicted this year.

            Wade resigned from MZM earlier this year. The company was sold to a private equity firm in August.

            by leveymg on Sat May 12, 2007 at 02:11:37 AM PDT

      •  I think it has to do with WHY, enough

        Not all of the USAs were fired for the same reason.

        In Missouri and Arkansas, the point of replacements was voter suppression, and they had their two goons ready to go in. There were no prosecutions of major Rethugs going on. But in the case of Carol Lam (and some others), the point was to stop her ongoing prosecutions, so just removing her was enough. The insiders in Washington could control the flow of activities sufficiently that anyone put in as a placeholder would do for the time being.

        by carolita on Sat May 12, 2007 at 07:23:38 AM PDT

  •  I wonder...

    if the log jam hasn't busted open so that they could use it for cover.  Ya know..."See, we are prosecuting all those cases you were so concerned about...you crybabies.  So, where's the beef?"

    by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:17:08 PM PDT

    •  umm hmm

      See my comment above.

      by enough already on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:17:23 PM PDT

  •  The entire DOJ is rigged.

    Congress gotta do something about it. No investigation will go properly without replacing Gonzo.

    The entire corrupt structure is STILL there!!!

    Gonzo is in charge, Kyle sampson is still inside the building, just different seat.  

    The backdoor email system is still oeprational. All replacement prosecutors are still in place.

    WTF democrats? Can we stop mucking around?

    by fugue on Sat May 12, 2007 at 06:48:03 AM PDT

•  News Dump! n/t

  by Voodoo on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:29:20 PM PDT

•  Hadn't heard

  this yet. Thanks. Will go and look for information.

  Sure hope a case can be built against these guys. Bringing charges is one thing. Getting them convicted is another. And we have to keep an eye on the WH. Am just guessing that pardons will be handed out to many undeserving.

  by RustyBrown on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:31:43 PM PDT

  •  A thirty count indictment...

    is bound to give pause regarding the possibility of a plea.  Otherwise, the enormous amount of jail time is positively daunting.  I don't know how good the evidence is...but the feds supposedly had Cunningham's cooperation.

    So...as I dream blissfully of pleas...who can they flip on?  Cheney?  Isn't this Dead Eye's bailiwick?

    by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:36:38 PM PDT

    •  Hopefully,

      "Duke" had useful information. If they can be forced to keep flipping, it may finally reach the level of my dreams.

      by RustyBrown on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:02:33 PM PDT

      •  Yeah...

        I guess this could go to the Doolittles and Lewis?  Ed Buckham is somehow involved...Is DeLay also connected to this case?  

        by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:13:15 PM PDT

        •  DeLay has some connections to Wilkes

          In addition, DeLay was ferried three times in 2003 and 2004 on corporate jets owned by the company of Brent Wilkes, a California defense contractor who allegedly made illicit payments to Cunningham in exchange for legislative favors. Neither DeLay nor the company has disclosed the purpose or destination of the trips, which were billed to one of DeLay's PACs at a commercial flight rate as permitted under election law.

          Laura Rozen

          by Over the Edge on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:20:14 PM PDT

          •  Excellent...

            all the aspens turning...on each other.  A John Woo, Quentin Tarrantino moment...a circle of people holding revolvers at each others' heads.  This could create a bidding war..."Be the first to testify or get creamed by your co-conspirators.  And, oh by the way...you better be giving us something new because there are four other people already giving us your information."

            by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:24:55 PM PDT

            •  You gotta love these guys. n/t

              by Over the Edge on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:32:49 PM PDT

        •  Lewis for sure.

          I'm not certain about Doolittle, but only because much of my focus has been elsewhere.

          Entirely possible and no doubt the knowledgeable Doolittle folks here can answer that.

          Duncan Hunter is one I wonder about.

          by Over the Edge on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:36:07 PM PDT

          •  I googled and found this in...

            Down With Tyranny, February 13, 2007.  This seems to indicate that they are, indeed, connected at the roots.  Popcorn futures are up!!!

            With two key GOP operatives in the Republican Culture of Corruption, Brent Wilkes and Kyle Scooter Dusty Foggo, about to be indicted, extreme paranoia is sweeping the Republican congressional caucus. At least two dozen GOP congressmen were on the receiving end of goodies from these two. If either turns state's evidence, you will see crooked congressmen like Virgil Goode, Jr., Jerry Lewis, Duncan Hunter, John Doolittle and many more joining their pals Cunningham and Ney in prison.

            http://tinyurl.com/...

            by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:40:22 PM PDT

            •  Four names

              Well, it's a start. But there's plenty room
              in the Big House for more of them.

              by Woody on Fri May 11, 2007 at 08:46:49 PM PDT

              •  And all this stuff'll be a boon...

                for Charlie Brown...2008 is looming larger.

                by mayan on Fri May 11, 2007 at 09:01:11 PM PDT

            •  Ank can we