Some Ask if US Attorney Dismissals Point to Pattern of Investigating Democrats
âWhen a jury acquitted Carl J. Marlinga, a former county prosecutor from suburban Detroit, of bribery charges last year, his initial reaction was to write off the episode as a terrible mistake that at least had been corrected. âProsecutors can make mistakes for innocent reasons,â Mr. Marlinga said. âI know that first hand.â But as he looks back at the case, Mr. Marlinga, 60, who was charged while he was a Democratic candidate for Congress, no longer has such confidence in the integrity of the legal system.â (NY Times)
US Top Court Refuses to Hear Guantanamo Case
“The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a case brought by two detainees at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, who were contesting the legality of the base’s military courts. The court did not give any reason for refusing to hear the case, but said three of the nine judges had been in favor of proceeding with the hearing.” (AFP)
Wolfowitz and Riza Struggle Under the Pressure
Paul D. Wolfowitz defended himself vigorously on Monday, declaring that it would be âunjust and frankly hypocriticalâ for the World Bankâs board to find him guilty of ethical lapses. But, according to the New York Times, he also hinted that he would discuss whether to resign as bank president if the board cleared him of misconduct. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Shaha Riza has taken what some have labeled a decidedly feminist defense of her situation. The Wall Street Journal reports that Riza, refused to use Wolfowitz’s name in her recent didnât use his name in her recent statement, referring to him only as âthe new President.”
DOJ Warns of Crime “Sanctuary”
“If the search of Rep. William Jeffersonâs (D-LA) House office is deemed unconstitutional, such a ruling ‘could not help but convert a Memberâs office into a sanctuary for crime.’ So the government argues in an April 2 brief that previews its legal strategy for gaining access to more than 20,000 paper records and computer files seized in the controversial and unprecedented May 2006 search of Jeffersonâs House office building.” (Roll Call)
Ethics Reexamines Renzi’s Finances
“Signaling that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct may be probing the activities of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), a senior ethics aide pulled the embattled lawmakerâs financial disclosure records on April 19 â the same day the FBI raided Renziâs family business in Sonoita, AZ. The top committee aide to ethics ranking member Doc Hastings (R-WA), Todd Ungerecht, pulled all of Renziâs annual financial disclosure records from 2003 to 2006, according to records available at the Houseâs Legislative Resource Center.” (Roll Call)
A Bush Appointee Goes After the White House
“At first glance, Scott J. Bloch seems to fit the profile of the “loyal Bushie,” the kind of person the White House salted through the Washington bureaucracy to make sure federal agencies heeded administration priorities. But Bloch, 48, is a man who defies expectations. The lifelong Republican runs an agency â the Office of Special Counsel â that is turning its investigative spotlight on the White House, in particular the political operation headed by Karl Rove.” (LA Times)
House Oversight Panel May Look Past Rice, Tenet to Inquiry into Uranium
“Following a subpoena to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a letter to former CIA Director George Tenet last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee may cast an even wider net in its probe into why the administration made false pre-war claims that Iraq was seeking to acquire uranium from Niger. The panelâs chairman, Henry Waxman (D-CA), said last Thursday that the panel had not yet made a decision on how many more individuals it would contact, but indicated that he may consider it.” (Roll Call)
Panel to Probe Handling of Foreign Aid for Katrina
“The Senate homeland security committee plans to hold hearings this summer on the Bush administration’s handling of offers of foreign aid after Hurricane Katrina, senators said yesterday. Of $854 million offered after the storm — in cash and oil that was to be sold for cash — only $44 million has gone to disaster victims or reconstruction so far.” (Washington Post)
Senators Question Halliburton Executive About Dealings in Iran
“A Halliburton executive, facing withering criticism from Democratic lawmakers during a Senate hearing on Monday about the companyâs business dealings in Iran, insisted that the firm had not broken any laws. The official, Sherry Williams, a Halliburton vice president and corporate secretary, said the company had consulted several law firms in 1995 after sanctions were imposed on Iran. Officials of the company, which recently announced it was moving its chief executive from Houston to Dubai and establishing a corporate headquarters there, determined that it was legal for independent foreign subsidiaries of United States companies to do business there, she said.” (NY Times)
