Is A.G. Holder truly impartial?

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

In over eight years past now, with all our screaming (rallying, calling, e-mailing, LTE’s, etc.), have we Americans ever gotten anything we’ve felt was the morally and legally correct thing to be done?  Even if anything at all was ever offered, it was but mere “crumbs” – a form of appeasement.  And, then, later, we most always learn there was an underlying reason for not wanting to really deal with the issue.  It seems that we may be in the same place, once again, as concerns investigations and prosecutions of Bush Administration officials, with Holder’s idea being the limited focus on some CIA incidents.

Unrelated?  Many of you are aware of the cases of Siegelman, Scrushy, Minor and Walker and Rove’s * involvement.  Yet, nothing seems to be going anywhere with these cases – status quo!  Some of you may even receive Don Siegelman’s appeal e-mail letters now and again.  Dana Jill Simpson, as many of you will recall, is the attorney that has acted as “whistleblower,” in the Siegelman case.  Her home was burnt down and while driving, she was run off the road after having spoken out the truth.  

Ms. Simpson recently received a tip and one that she followed up on.   Why is that important?  Just read!

Next up!



August 7, 2009

Eric Holder’s Conflict of Interest

By Dana Jill Simpson

For months, we have been trying to get to the bottom of why Eric Holder would not really investigate the cases of Mr. Siegelman and Mr. Scrushy,  Mr. Minor, the two other judges in Mississippi and Charles Walker. Well, I finally have the answer .  I got it from writing my Greg Craig article that was located on the Jason Leopold website Public record.

I got a tip and I researched it. And boy, was I shocked at what I learned.  Seems Mr. Holder, before being selected Attorney General of the United States of America, worked for a firm called Covington and Burling.  The tip I got was that the firm had a very important client whose name was George W. Bush and they represented a very important organization I am sure ya’ll all have heard of – the Republican National Committee.  I was in shock when I checked it and it was true.  My favorite research item I ran across is when they were protecting the RNC from having to turn over Karl Rove’s emails that were run on the RNC Servers. It shocked me.  Plus I found it mighty interesting that AG Eric Holder never enlightened anyone about his conflict of coming from a big Washington DC law firm that represented the Republican National Committee and George W. Bush in the 2000 election contest.

But then, it all made sense to me. He would have had to appoint a special A.G. to be over the Stevens case, over the Tobin case, and over the Kott case, and over the Abramoff/Feeney case. But if he just kept his mouth shut maybe just maybe no one would catch him dismissing all those cases. Which no one did until the tip came in.  It has long been reported that the expenses in those cases were picked up by the RNC.  That same RNC that paid A.G. Holder’s law firm, that same law firm  then paid A.G. Holder over two million dollars last year.  Shame on A.G. Holder! He had an ethical duty to tell the citizens of America he had a conflict in investigating all these cases and all the torture cases. Instead, he tried to ignore it or hide it instead of doing the right thing and getting out of the cases.

Additionally, he has ignored to date all the Democrats in this country who are complaining and have proof that they were politically targeted by the RNC and Karl Rove. He has not done the right thing –  ask President Obama to appoint a special counsel, all along knowing he has a conflict because of his firm’s representation of the RNC.  Since Holder has done all this, he should be immediately removed from this position of power. Innocent men are in jail and he has played games.  

The United States citizens should have the right to know when their A.G. has a conflict of interest;  the A.G. has a professional duty to tell them and take appropriate action. Mr Holder failed to do the right thing as A.G. He should be removed.   If you doubt me,  google Eric Holder and Covington and Burling.  Then google Covington and Burling and George W. Bush, and also google them and Karl Rove and RNC emails.  Shame on you, Holder!  You are caught!

Author’s Bio: Simpson is a country lawyer who resides in Rainsville, Alabama. She has appeared on 60 Minutes and Dan Abrams MSNBC. Stories were written in Time Magazine, Harpers Magazine, and the New York Times about her being a witness in the Don Siegelman case on corruption at the Justice Department. She is a political activist currently working on justice issues in America today.

Kenneth Anderson, after reading Ms. Simpson’s article, out of curiosity did a follow-up here

August 14, 2009

AG Holder’s Former Employer

One of Attorney General Eric Holder’s first decisions in office was to vacate the charges and conviction of former Republican senator Ted Stevens. People took notice, though the subject of Holder’s attention surprised some. Nonetheless, it was assumed the troubling case surrounding Don Siegleman’s conviction would surely draw that attention soon.

To date, it has not, despite the growing corus [sic] demanding a full review of the conduct of Bush-appointed US Attorneys in Alabama, and federal judge Mark Fuller, among others. Documented DoJ witness tampering and jury tampering are only two of the many problems swirling around the case. And yet, the Obama administration turned, and continues to turn, a blind eye to the obvious: that Democratic politicians have been politically and falsely persecuted by Bush administration appointees in the Department of Justice. And more, that these operations were overseen by the White House political arm, aka Karl Rove.  . . . . .

At the end, he goes on to cite some of the Political Representations the firm of Covington & Burling LLC, was involved in.

Author’s Bio: An astronomer who has worked on a number of NASA projects, Ken lives in Baltimore, where he devotes his scientific training to observations and inferences about current affairs, politics and the media. He authors Shockfront and The Bonehead Compendium.

Needless to say, I was astounded to learn of the reality of Holder’s tenure at Covington & Burling LLC.  

Yes, we assume that A.G. Holder is, indeed, impartial.  But couldn’t the knowledge of his past involvements be the reason for his reluctance to pursue the cases mentioned above?  And couldn’t it also be the reason for his pursuit of only a “limited investigation” of the CIA’s involvement in torture?  

*Note:  You may wish to check out Ms. Simpson’s response to Rove’s Wall Street article “Closing in on Rove,” of August 20, 2009 here.

47 comments

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  1. yet, then again . . . . .!

    How does this strike you?

  2. Now that he has cleared the first hurdle, standing up to Obama, Rahm and A’rod, we will see if he NOW takes futher moves to go beyond the political straight jacket they have tried to fit him in.

    And do that whole….justice thing.

    If a Truth commission looks into Rove, they WILL get to Siegelman.

  3. The wonderful revolving world of politics.  I’m still waiting for someone to figure out who Obama really worked for out of college.  

  4. bleyme.me.keybord…..So.Sorrey

  5. Holder has taken a small step towards enforcing the rule of law, theConstitution, and the Geneva Conventions, but that’s probably the only step he’s going to take.  

    Not much has changed, RePugs are brazen criminals and Democrats are spineless cowards.

  6. for “lifting me higher!”

  7. Cool find.

    You`d think the man would just come out & divulge the conflict.

    It would then be easier to track his moves, especially since they`re supposed to champion “transparency”.

  8. …tahoebasha3, she said in standard English.  Thanks for digging this up and posting it.  It’s sickening, but extremely important.

  9. Partner Eric Holder in 2007 defended Chiquita International Brands against lawsuits brought by relatives of people slain by terrorists and paramilitia belonging to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which Chiquita paid for protection.[10][11] Chiquita settled the suits in a felony plea accepted by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth which awarded the families $25 million USD, also entailing 5 years probation. Chiquita became the first major U.S. corporation to be convicted of financing terrorism. After the settlement, U.S. Assistant Attorney Jonathan Malis said the $1.7 million in payments “fueled violence” and “paid for weapons and ammunition to kill innocent people.” Holder stressed that Chiquita had asked the Department of Justice in 2003 if the payments should be stopped….. Wiki

    I also see the Halliburton is one of Covington Burling clients. There seems to be no distinction between the government and the corporations in any area or branch. No wonder they felt the need to marginalize and eliminate both Dean and Edwards.

    On the other hand we all lived through and witnessed what went down. Perhaps the movement that Obama channeled to win has momentum that goes beyond his charisma. The truth was always there and the cat is out of the bag. People are not buying the Afghanistan bs. of ‘this is a war of necessity’ and the PO debacle has 77% in favor with over 50% wanting Single Payer. The ignorant fearful 30% that buy their really lame fictions are front and center for all to see. The reality is starting to shine through.  

    Most excepting the really delusional woke up from their collective nightmare. The truth is hard to contain when things become this obvious. Makes me know that we here do make a difference, and they can try like hell to say were left of the left but even that belies the truth. They may have no choice, but this does not bode well for justice.    

  10. I just read this comment by Doug Kahn, of Down with Tyranny, of August 25, 2009, as provided by Did Holder Just Create New Excuse to Keep Torture Photos Secret?

    Why Emanuel Nixed The Release Of The Torture Photos

    -by Doug Kahn

    Appointing John Durham as prosecutor, no matter how broad his scope of investigation, will have only one near-term result: he’ll immediately go into court to make sure the military photos of detainee abuse won’t be released anytime soon. And he’ll win.

    According to the Washington Post: “Durham’s mandate, the sources added, will be relatively narrow: to look at whether there is enough evidence to launch a full-scale criminal investigation of current and former CIA personnel who may have broken the law in their dealings with detainees.” There is absolutely no public support, and no moral justification, for prosecuting the ‘foot soldiers’ (CIA employees and the Blackwater contractors we hired as professional torturers back in 2002 and 2003) while leaving Dick Cheney and his line of command alone. So this appointment is for some other purpose.

    Here’s the timeline. In September 2008, the appeals court decided in favor of the ACLU and its FOIA request for the photos, filed in 2003. This May, the White House announced President Obama had decided not to appeal to the Supreme Court. On May 28, the administration changed its tune and asked the appeals court to “recall its mandate” to release the photos in prospect of a Supreme Court appeal. The appeals court agreed on June 10. Since then, Obama has asked for, and received, two extensions on its deadlines for filing at the Supreme Court. On August 7, they petitioned the Supreme Court to hear an appeal.

    It’s all about the torture photos, and the conniption fit CIA chief Leon Panetta threw at the White House last month. Panetta had a heated argument with a “senior White House official,” a formulation the Washington Post uses when it means Rahm Emanuel. Obama’s chief of staff versus Clinton’s chief of staff. It makes sense to me that Rahm and company concluded early this year to proceed with domestic accomplishments like health care reform and the energy bill, and that prosecuting anyone in the Bush administration would make bipartisan support from Republicans in Congress impossible. Releasing the photos (reportedly displaying horrific abuse at non-military, CIA prisons) would create a firestorm of criticism that would force Obama to act against Cheney and crew, not just the CIA guys. So the photos have to be withheld for as long as possible. You have to figure Panetta objected to having CIA employees taking the heat for boss Cheney.

    The courts have already soundly rejected arguments that letting the public see the photos would harm the detainees; they’d be redacted to hide the identities of the victims. There were claims that anger over the photos would harm US troops, by inciting more attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, also rejected. Rahm needs some specific people to be harmed in order to prevail, and naming a prosecutor gives him those people: a few CIA employees and contractors. They’ll just tell the court that the photos are certain to prejudice people who would end up being on the jury in any trial, and the pool of prospective jurors is every adult American.

    Any ethical, moral Attorney General would reject prosecuting only the little guys. So Holder appoints a prosecutor to start to get ready to begin to prepare to commence looking for evidence to use in asking a grand jury (which might be convened) for an indictment against possible suspects who might have violated the (as yet undetermined) legal instructions from unnamed Bush administration lawyers vis a vis how to grill ‘illegal enemy combatants’ (definition currently in legal limbo) in an ‘enhanced’ manner. As opposed to torturing them fair and square, as it were.

    We shouldn’t hold our breath.

    Could this be Holder’s REAL motivation for appointing a Special Prosecutor?  

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