Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who represents the Madison area, has asked Congress to look into the potential that Rove Inc. brought undue influence in a case last fall in an attempt to influence the governor's race.
From Madison's Capital Times:
"Congress should also look into whether partisan politics influenced, or even dictated, the investigations conducted by the U.S. attorneys' offices in order to stay in the (Bush) administration's good graces," she [Baldwin] said in a statement. "The 7th Circuit acquittal of Georgia Thompson, after a widely publicized pre-election prosecution, certainly raises serious questions about the integrity and motivation of the prosecutor."
And the Capital Times, in an editorial today, asks that US Attorney Steven Biskupic be investigated.
Editorial: Investigate Biskupic
April 10, 2007
No regular reader of these columns is unaware of the criticism this newspaper has directed at Gov. Jim Doyle's approach to campaign fundraising. We have supported every inquiry into the Doyle team's fundraising and into charges that the governor or his aides might have practiced quid pro quo politics by delivering favors to donors.
Over the years, we have rejected the claims by Democrats that investigations and prosecutions related to Doyle's campaign fundraising were merely political gambits played out by the governor's partisan and ideological foes. In particular, we defended the work of Steven Biskupic, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, even as Biskupic's prosecution of state employee Georgia Thompson seemed to take stranger and stranger turns.
When Democrats criticized Biskupic for pressing what appeared to be a shaky case against Thompson at the same time that the 2006 gubernatorial race was heating up, we defended Biskupic. Even as Republicans began running a parallel campaign that tried to take political advantage of the conviction, we refused to accept that Biskupic had abused his position.
Complete editorial here
The point made at the end of the editorial suggests an issue bigger than replacing less-that-loyal "Bushies"...
Certainly, asking U.S. attorneys to use their positions for political purposes, and then firing them when they refuse, is an assault on the rule of law.
But if a U.S. attorney is asked to use his position for a political purpose, and then does so, the assault is far more severe.
These apparently trumped-up charges brought against a career civil servant came to light within days of the announcement by former Congressman Mark Green that he would seek the Republican nomination for governor. Might the timing have been purely coincidental, or was something more partisan at play?
For his part, US Attorney Biskupic offered this money quote when the Federal Appellate Court in Chicago (no stranger to political curruption cases) said the government's "evidence is beyond thin."
In a statement, Biskupic himself said simply: "We commend the work of Thompson's lawyers."
My question is this: How many other cases like this one are out there? How many people might have been set up with fabricated charges and "evidence beyond thin" by Bush-appointed USAs?
If there is only one other, we need to know. But the cynic in me says there are more. That's where you come in.
Let's start digging, Kossacks. Do a little research in your US Attorney's district. Look at that period 6-10 months before the November elections, and before the primaries. If we don't turn up anything, well, good for our justice system. If we do, then very good for our justice system.
cross-posted at Kerfuffle