Celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos tries to get the case against (alleged) Duke Cunningham briber, Brent Wilkes, tossed by attacking Carol Lam.
Let’s remember on this one — Duke and Mitchell Wade have already been sent to jail or pled guilty. The big fish, Wilkes, is still out free. And his lawyer may use the White House’s interference in the Lam investigation as the wedge to help his guy beat the rap entirely.
And what about those pictures of Wilkes hanging out with the Vice President?
Here’s the key passage in the piece (emphasis added) …
Geragos contended that Lam wanted the indictments to happen before she was forced from office by the Bush administration. But Lam was meeting resistance from bosses in the Justice Department, who had rejected drafts of indictments against Wilkes and former CIA official Kyle âDustyâ Foggo, saying they needed revisions.
Lam, Geragos theorized, wanted to force reluctant officials to go along with her plans by leaking details of the indictments before they were officially released. Geragos has said he learned about indictments from reporters.
âThese indictments as to my client were returned hours before Ms. Lam was to exit. . . . If it did come back to Carol Lam, it would strike me as the most compelling reason for dismissal,â Geragos told the court.
From separate reporting, I know this to be true: the DOJ was holding up the indictments. Why was that? And in that context what does her subsequent dismissal tell us? Let’s not be fooled on this one. The White House and the politicals at the DOJ were and are doing everything it can to spring Wilkes and Foggo.
Remember, Mitchell Wade really only gets you to Duke Cunningham, the little-lamented hapless federal inmate. Wilkes was tied in with DeLay, Cheney, Doolittle, the whole rotten crew. And he skates.
