Jurors rejected all charges brought by the U.S. attorneys in the trial of Democratic Michigan lawyer Geoffrey Fieger accused of federal crimes for his contributions to John Edwards 2004 campaign. Campaign finance violations are almost always civil cases handled by the Federal Elections Commission, punished by fines. However, Fieger and his law partner Vernon Johnson had raised $127,000 for the 2004 Edwards campaign, attracting the attention of the Bush Department of Justice. This prosecution failed, but, combined with other prosecutions, it achieved its primary goal of hurting John Edwards 2008 fund raising.
"I think it was the lack of evidence that got us to our decision," said juror Krista First 24, an accountant from Adrian.
Don Siegelman's political prosecution and the prosecution of prominent Pittsburgh pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht are being investigated by the House Judiciary committee but the political prosecutions of prominent trial attorneys supporting Edwards, Fieger and Johnson in Michigan and Paul Minor in Mississippi, has had little national attention.
These prosecutions of trial lawyers supporting Edwards, combined with the prosecution of Miami trial attorney Ben Kuehne, who represented Al Gore in the Florida election recount case, likely dampened donations from trial attorneys to prominent Democratic presidential candidates.
Today David Iglesias said on NPR, reiterating material in his new book, that he was fired from his United States' Attorney job for not initiating politically motivated prosecutions before the fall 2006 elections. Yesterday's acquittal by the jury of all charges against Geoffry Fieger is a case where the U.S. Attorney followed the political directives of the Department of Justice and got slapped down by the jury. However, the prosecution was a political success. John Edwards' campaign was unable to raise enough funds to compete effectively. The popular southern white male Democrat, the greatest threat to the Republican's southern strategy, was financially crippled.
Fieger is a free man, but Paul Minor, who was taken before a southern jury, affected by local social structure to be compliant to authority, remains in prison on trumped up charges. Paul Minor's major "crime" was taking on the tobacco industry and raising large amounts of money for Democrats.
When it came to funding Democratic candidates and causes, prominent Mississippi trial lawyer Paul Minor was a go-to guy. He was a major donor to Democratic candidates for office, and he was against tort reform and staunchly opposed limiting injury awards. Between 2001 and 2004, Minor and his law firm donated over $100,000 to a range of Democratic causes, from the John Edwards campaign, to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to the Democratic National Committee.
So we can celebrate today that Geoff Fieger and Don Siegelman are free, Paul Minor is not so lucky. He is serving an 11 year sentence that followed jury instructions from a Republican judge to convict without a quid pro quo, for being an effective Democratic fund raiser.
Paul Minor is the son of Bill Minor, a legendary Mississippi journalist and chronicler of the civil rights movement. He is also a wealthy trial lawyer and a mainstay of Mississippi’s embattled Democratic Party. Mr. Minor has contributed $500,000 to Democrats over the years, including more than $100,000 to John Edwards, a fellow trial lawyer. He fought hard to stop the Mississippi Supreme Court from being taken over by pro-business Republicans.
Mr. Minor’s political activity may have cost him dearly. He is serving an 11-year sentence, convicted of a crime that does not look much like a crime at all. The case is one of several new ones coming to light that suggest that the department’s use of criminal prosecutions to help Republicans win elections may go farther than anyone realizes.
Please communicate your concerns about Paul Minor with the House Judiciary committee. Karl Rove continues to stonewall Congress while appearing on TV as a political expert while Paul Minor serves time in prison for Rove's crimes. Demand that Karl Rove be held in inherent contempt of Congress and forced to testify.
After months of investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department has subpoenaed former Bush White House political adviser Karl Rove to testify about alleged political prosecutions, including probes two prominent Mississippians, lawyer Paul Minor and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz.
The DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility wrote a May 5 letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. John Conyers, Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee Chairwoman U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez and others saying that it was moving forward on "allegations of selective prosecution relating to the prosecutions of Don Siegelman, Georgia Thompson, Oliver Diaz and Paul Minor."
Paul Minor is the victimof a Republican judge seeking higher judicial office and political prosecution by corrupt U.S Attorneys under the influence of Karl Rove.
A jury found the prosecution’s case against Diaz flawed in both instances, and once in Minor’s. The prosecution had an easier time convincing a jury of Minor’s wrongdoing in 2006 after Judge Henry Wingate ruled out the necessity of quid pro quo—proof of bribery—in Minor’s case. Wingate also allowed prosecutors to tell the jury that the allegedly "purchased" rulings could be perfectly "legal and correct."
Diaz told the House Judiciary Committee in 2007 that he feared the U.S. Justice Department pushed local U.S. Attorney Dunnica Lampton to pursue charges against him, even though the indictments were shaky. A 2007 academic study published by University of Missouri communications professor Donald Shields suggests the U.S. Department of Justice had a preference for hunting Democrats. The report found that of 375 investigations released to the public, 10 involved independents, 67 involved Republicans, and 298 involved Democrats.
One of the United States attorneys who prosecuted Minor is accused of having criminal connections with Jack Abramoff.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former high-ranking Justice Department official was accused of criminal conflict of interest on Monday in the latest case stemming from the investigation of the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The official, Robert Coughlin, was deputy chief of staff of the department’s criminal division, which handled the Abramoff inquiry, before resigning a year ago, citing personal reasons. Mr. Coughlin was due in federal court in Washington on Tuesday for a plea hearing.
Prosecutors accused Mr. Coughlin in court papers filed Monday of providing assistance from 2001 to 2003 to a lobbyist and the lobbyist’s firm while receiving gifts from the firm and discussing prospective employment there. The document filed Monday is known as an information and is normally filed as part of a plea deal.
The lid on the Minor case and the Republican cesspool of corruption is coming off.
A major story is breaking in the Paul Minor case in Mississippi, and it is a classic example of the alternative press' ability to piece stories together that have been largely ignored by mainstream news outlets. This story also could have major implications for the Don Siegelman case and the overall Bush Justice Department scandal.
Robert E. Coughlin II, the former deputy chief of staff of the Justice Department's criminal division, pleaded guilty last week to accepting thousands of dollars worth of meals and sports tickets in exchange for helping clients of disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
We must press Congress to investigate harder. We must free Paul Minor.