Explosion of Movement

by emptywheel

Josh Marshall has a thoughtful post exploring why a bunch of long-standing investigations appear to be breaking open.

That said, there's been such an avalanche of developments in recent days and weeks, that I think it's now quite reasonable to conclude that the turnaround is related to the fact that Gonzales and his crew are flat on their backs and aren't able to block them any more. This is the sort of question or charge people only make sheepishly and with some embarrassment. I've been reluctant to come to this conclusion as well. But now I think there are solid reasons to believe this is true.

Josh lists the recent breaks in the Renzi scandal, as well as new movement in the Abramoff scandal, as his evidence that something has worked loose in the corridors of justice.

I agree with Josh that things are moving--though I'll add a very serious caveat in a bit. But I'd like to suggest a very concrete reason why things--particularly the Renzi investigation--has heated up.

This is speculation. But I would suggest that the reason some things are moving along more freely in some public corruption trials has to do with the very concrete fact that key players in the politicization of DOJ have left. Here are people we know to be central to the politicization of justice who are gone:

Harriet Miers, January 4 (with Fred Fielding named to replace her on January 8)
Kyle Sampson, resigns March 13
Monica Goodling, on leave before March 30, resigns April 7
Michael Elston, on leave, dates uncertain

Almost all the most central players in ousting the USAs are now gone. Gonzales is still in place, but he's incompetent and helpless without his minions. McNulty, Mercer, acting Chief of Staff Rosenberg, and soon-to-be Chief of Staff Kevin O'Connor have all served as USAs (though of course Mercer served on the 3-day-a-month plan), and their loyalties are up for debate. Some of the recidivists remain (Rachel Brand hasn't been appointed to any of the USA positions that appear to have been offered to her). But the key roadblock positions have been cleaned out, at least temporarily.

Meanwhile, as I pointed out some time ago, with the exception of Northern District of CA, the interim USAs who replaced the ousted USAs are all career professionals.

In just about every case with the Gonzales 7, they appointed the First Assistant USA or the Criminal Chief to serve as interim USA. Charlton was replaced by FAUSA Daniel Knauss, Lam was replaced by Executive Assistant USA Karen Hewitt, Chiara was replaced by, first, CRM Chief Brian Delaney and, later, FAUSA Charles Gross, Iglesias was replaced FAUSA Larry Gomez, Bogden was replaced by Steven Myhre, and John McKay was replaced by CRM Chief Jeffrey Sullivan. The one exception to this rule is Scott Schools, who replaced Kevin Ryan; Schools work(s) in DOJ, but then again, Northern CA is the one office where there really were management problems in the office, so that move might make sense.

And those professionals will remain in those positions, unless the Democratically-controlled Senate feels very strongly in favor of one or another USA candidate.

...the Democratically-controlled Senate is going to be in no rush to appoint any schlub that Bush is going to name. Now, Sullivan (in WA) is one of the few interim USAs who is also being suggested as a serious contender for the job. But when you think about it, all of the interims may be serving for longer than they otherwise might. For the Republicans, this presents a potential nightmare--you've fired 7 political appointees, yet in doing so, you may have ruined your ability to replace them with the even more politicized replacements you had dreamed of. Instead, you'll be stuck with the relatively unpolitical person who just happened to be second (or third) in command when the original USA was sacked. [my self-celebratory emphasis]

This whole USA thing couldn't have backfired more deliciously--in the seven districts where the USA was fired on December 7.

But here come my cautions. First, there are the districts where they did pull off an ouster: convincing Deborah Wong Yang to switch teams, replacing Heffelfinger with Paulose, Rove's hand-picked choice Tim Griffin in Arkansas. Until we hear news about Congressman Jerry Lewis and Governor Matt Blunt getting indicted, we need to assume that the scheme has worked, at least in part.

And we still have USA Jeff Taylor in charge of enforcing any subpoenas the Democratically controlled Congress might issue. Alice Fisher remains in charge of the Criminal Division of DOJ.

Which is why I remain skeptical on a few cases.Yes, all of Jack Abramoff's top golf partners appear to be flipping like pancakes. But at the same time, Stephen Griles gets a sweetheart no-cooperation plea agreement that may shield two of the key underlying scams Abramoff propagated--the giveaway of our national resources to campaign donors--from any scrutiny.

I guess what I'm saying is, yes, we're seeing movement. But there's still a lot of movement we haven't seen. And in many of the key areas of our criminal justice system, we need to remain vigilant.

Comments

[orionATL]

i suppose.

but my thought on this "movement"
is simply that it has been orchestrated to make it appear doj is working just fine.

that all this "activity" may be co-ordinated is suggested by the fact that renzi and lewis have resigned

very quickly,

and

very quietly -

no lawyers declaring these lads are "completely innocent" and will be found to be so.

put the bloch "investigation" together with the renzi and lewis "investigations"

and you have a picture of?

well, in my opinion,

an effort to prove doj is working just fine.

in addition to shiny objects,

i would be wary of any assumption that gonzales is finished.

recall that bush said,

"a.g. gonzales told the truth about what he could" -

or some such.

it was the "could" in the president's comments that i found revealing.

bush has a surprising tendency to tell the truth about himself, if left unattended.

[obsessed]

On Gonzales, I think Bush & Co. no longer care in the least about appearances or approval ratings - only avoided legal jeopardy, and in that regard, keeping Gonzales in power is clearly to their advantage - both in terms of protecting themselves, and making sure HE doesn't start singing, because the people who know where the most bodies are buried are no doubt Rove, Abu and Miers. If any of them starts singing, Dan Rather will get his job back and spare us from Katie Carsick and his nauseating Reporter's Notebook.

On the other hand, leaving Gonzales in seems to work in the democrats' favor, no? Gates has helped the Admistration's image quite a bit. Can you imagine the Walter Reed scandal with Rumsfeld at the helm?

I'd like to see Gonzales impeached, but short of that, I'd rather see him hanging around Bush's neck like a rotting albatross.

[kaleidescope]

But as time goes on, whistleblowers will become, to use a favorite Bush word, emboldened. More will come out. In my youth I was a Watergate addict and I can tell you that as Nixon got weaker and less scary, pathetic almost, government people who had been intimidated leaked like sieves. This moment is coming soon for Bush, in fact, it has probably already arrived.

[obsessed]

This moment is coming soon for Bush, in fact, it has probably already arrived.

I hope you're right, but I remember Watergate too and that was before Reagan let the corporations completely take over the media. And I don't see too many Howard Baker types in Congress or John Dean types in the Executive branch.

[Mickey]

Josh Marshall has a thoughtful post exploring why a bunch of long-standing investigations appear to be breaking open.

Marcy Wheeler has a thoughtful post too - this one. I agree that it's a partial backfire to have these second-in-command people pressing ahead with investigations, but as you say, Griffin, Paulose, and the vacuum in California remain problems.

My concern is more in the infamous voter fraud campaign. The more I read of the erosion of the voting process and the likes of the Republican Lawyers National Association [with bottom feeders like "Thor" Hearn], the more I think their voter intimidation program is oure biggest agenda. On the Republican Lawyers National Association web site, there's a photo gallery of their annual awards. They give out lucite blocks with things embedded in them. One coveted award was a block with "real chads" from the 2000 election.

Election manipulation is and has been the keystone of their [Rove's] success - the invasion of the Civil Rights Division, the initiative in the Justice Department with the U.S. Attorneys, and the efforts of the Republican Party machinery. With the mood of the country, they can't back down on these efforts. So, I'm for trying to "paralyze" the D.O.J. to stop their voter fraud initiative and for the Congress to carefully scutinize the Republican Party's programs [particularly "poll watchers"], even if we miss the chance for more corruption convictions. Of all their antics, the aggressive attempt to "throw" the vote remains their most malignant...

[Mickey]

But as time goes on, whistleblowers will become, to use a favorite Bush word, emboldened. More will come out. In my youth I was a Watergate addict and I can tell you that as Nixon got weaker and less scary, pathetic almost, government people who had been intimidated leaked like sieves. This moment is coming soon for Bush, in fact, it has probably already arrived.

I hope you're right, but I remember Watergate too and that was before Reagan let the corporations completely take over the media. And I don't see too many Howard Baker types in Congress or John Dean types in the Executive branch.

It feels different from the Watergate days to me. Nixon's people were Conservatives with a smattering of unprincipled confidentes. This time, it's a whole package of people who have some kind of amalgam of Christianity, elitism, and pugilism that's been woven into a bizarre tapestry that sounds like "Onward Christian Soldiers," at least to them. They've consolidated and demonized the enemy [us] in a much more powerful way. With the "Commies" no longer available, they've had to create an alternative - godless liberals supporting sodomy, cloning, judical paganism, and infanticide. It just feels far more malignant and more ideological than the Nixon era [though I wouldn't have thought it possible].

I doubt that we can expect the kind of Whistleblowers John Dean turned out to be. If we get any, they are much more likely to come from the lower ranks - the career government employees - like the group that wrote about the DOJ honors program. I think the Democrats are going to have to do exactly what they're doing, one investigation after another, hacking at the edges until they find someone really small who knows something really big and is ready to retire [and is willing to open the door, preferrably to the missing emails].

[hauksdottir]

When is Abramoff's resentencing hearing? The DoJ might be making some moves public so that there isn't an uproar if he gets a substantial reduction in jail time: cooperation has its benefits. OTOH, he probably wouldn't have talked if the Bushies had been loyal to him. By repudiating his friendship, they hurt his feelings in a way which can't be mended.

BTW, it is perhaps a good thing that I'm not "a major donor". If offered the fee simple deed to the Yosemite high country (or even the half north of the 120), even I might have been tempted. The ranchers and miners looking to get profitable acreage would pony up without a quibble. After centuries of grazing on other people's territory or claim jumping, this would offer a paper veneer of legality.

The problem with corrupt enterprises such as Abramoff's, is that you deal with jerks willing to sell favors to each other involving entire families and offices. Nobody is immune to being tainted. Someone needs to seriously examine the network of wives and other relatives. It appears more extensive week by week.

Before "Dune", Heinlein wrote a book called "The Godmakers", which had a shadowy background of extremely political interconnected women taking over government through their husbands. They were traditional wives: feminine, conservative, quiet... and focussed upon their agenda.

Kingmakers are more influential if they are not obvious.

[hauksdottir]

ooops, make that Herbert. sigh

[J-Ro]

Be vigilant, yes. But hey, you knock out the gatekeeper and then you get to storm the gates right? It's hard not to sit back and enjoy the wave.

[hauksdottir]

Over on eBay I spotted a lovely enameled sign for sale which ought to be screwed onto a pillar in front of the White House:

FULL LINE OF SPECTACLES

Item number: 290108109613

walk away whistling innocently

[prostratedragon]

Item number: 290108109613

Oh please, oh please!

[kirk murphy]

Emptywheel, thanks for keeping an eye on Griles' work for his old employers in Big Mining, Big Energy, and Big Timber.