Conyers Notices the Similarities to US Attorney Purge, Too
John Conyers has not missed what we’ve been seeing: a replay of the US Attorney scandal. He talks about the attacks on ACORN, the improper use of prosecutorial resources to intimidate voters, the waste of investigative resources when the FBI is already failing to investigate mortgage-related fraud, and the seeming preferential use of federal investigative resources to target Democrats. But here’s my favorite bit:
Furthermore, it is deeply troubling that, just weeks after the Department’s own watchdogs documented the role that specious agitating on alleged vote fraud matters by New Mexico Republicans played in the firing of United States Attorneys in 2006, in this controversy we see the same figures cropping up again and apparently obtaining a new FBI investigation just in time for the 2008 election. Thus a lawyer named Pat Rogers–described in the local press as "an attorney who advises the state GOP" is apparently playing a key role in pressing these current claims. Mr. Rogers, however, appears repeatedly in the report on the U.S. Attorney firings prepared by the Department’s Offices of the Inspector General and Professional Responsibility, which documented his actions making flawed claims of voter fraud and brining unwarranted pressure to bear on law enforcement officials, including Mr. Iglesias, in 2006.
As I glossed the other day,
Republicans are already under criminal investigation for this stuff. Don’t let them get away with the same kind of criminal conduct again.
Of course, as Kagro X has pointed out, Mukasey can blow off Conyers (as he has Conyers’ request for more urgency on voter protection) precisely because we didn’t get the evidence from Miers and Turdblossom to make this case legally before we got back into election fever.
So here we are, with the subpoenas still unenforced in the case that was supposed to crack the "administration’s" engineering of bogus "voter fraud" allegations against Democrats immediately preceding critical elections wide open, and now witnessing… the "administration" engineering bogus "voter fraud" allegations against Democrats immediately preceding a critical election.
Like Alberto Gonzales, Mukasey seems to have lost all shame about allowing the GOP to play these games.
zed? really?
just up on HuffPo: Judy Miller joins Faux nuz. waaahaaahaaahaaa
So maybe the Dems can enforce those subpeonas sooner rather than later. It seems like they are staying in session anyway to look after the 700billion dollar bailout. Maybe they can stay in session to protect Americans right to vote two weeks before the election.
I have asked whether that’s a possibility. Will let yuo know.
Let me help. No. This has been another edition of Atrios’ simple answers to simple questions….
Working on that post. It’s sort of making me depressed.
So instead, I’m talking non-stop about voter suppression.
EW,
What do you think of the Greg Palast & Robert Kennedy Jr. piece in the Rolling Stone?
Bob in HI
Read it several days ago sent it out to everyone on my list. Shazam
There have been a few references to the arrest today of Mark Anthony Jacoby for his own false voter registration. Jacoby and his companies have been accused of circulating false petitions and changing people’s voter registrations in California, Arizona and Florida.
It appears as though someone had a vendetta against Jacoby over a debt. That vendetta was personally aired on youtube (both in video and in comments):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg0s973bNfQ
Jacoby doesn’t seem to be a likeable guy.
I’ve been working around the house all day, had these hearings on all day. Very, very disturbing… feels like 2k recounts all over again.
That “local paper” is the Albuquerque Journal. That lawyer (Rogers) had repeatedly… at least 5 times since attn scandal broke, written incendiary and mostly false OpEDs… sees the ABQJ seeks him out. First time I saw one, he was attributed as an “Albuquerque Lawyer”. I was curious, googled… he is and has been RNC lawyer, elevated to chair (??? not sure exact title) of this group. This is the bunch formed out of 2k RNC recount efford.
I had letter to editor some time ago complaining about his attribution, the Journal printed a correction… once. Since then, he’s been back to “an Albuquerque Lawyer.”
I did not know he was behind ACORN accusations… they’ve been big here, all over papers and TV. I’m not surprised Rogers behind it. I’d sure like to know Conyers sources on this.
I’ve been devoting considerable time to Udall’s effort here, now ramping up early voting GOTV. I haven’t had any direct contact w/ACORN here, but there’s people I know who have. I just don’t believe any of it, based on reliable 2nd hand accounts.
Again, if you can point me to or inform me of Conyer’s source(s) in citing Rogers, I’d really like to know. If reliable, there’s some useful things I’d like to do w/that stuff. I don’t have resources @ hand to get info from Conyer’s office. Will simple email be responded to? Do you have to know someone?
And BTW, saw film today that early voting in dem florida precincts have hours long lines. BradBlog also cites Florida voting machines flipping to Repubs (again), regardless of selections.
This is getting really, really ugly… really really fast.
Several of the repubs testifying before Conyers ripped off whole list of alleged ACORN crimes, as did committee’s ranking Az. Rep. He read off same long list of ACORN allegations, to uninformed sounded pretty bad. Lofgren challenged his sources (FBI investigations in 12 states), he said he’d get back w/the committee on that. W/ more prompting he said his source was WSJ. I have that article, it’s from OpED page last week (whole bunch of these).
Is that Trent Franks you are describing? If so, that is one dumb mofo. I am embarrassed to admit he is from Arizona. Really bad.
Is that Trent Franks you are describing?
Yes.
I find myself wondering if Rogers was deliberately mis-attributed AP source for ACORN FBI investigations…///??? this was done repeatedly, only later confirmed, throughout all kinds of “anonymous” sources cited for various crap disseminated through media during entire Iraq fiasco.
He’s certainly capable of it. ABQJ published “dualing OpED’s” after IG report was released: Iglesias vs. Rogers. Among other things, Rogers cited an example democrat’s voting malfeasance: their denying military votes in 2k election. Those who were paying attention will recognize the utter dishonesty in that one. Those who were paying close attention will recall that that statement is not only false… not only did dems agree to waive laws disallowing late military ballot submissions, repubs went on to litigate accepting them in Florida’s repub precincts while denying them in dem precincts.
This is typical Rogers. Long list of such claims in ABQJ on his behalf. Rogers was petitioning attn in ‘04 attempt to get NADER on prez ballot here, after NADER’s petitions (which rumor mills had Rogers involved in) were thrown out by state’s supreme court… chocked full of invalid sigs.
…
One other thing from the hearings: the US Assistant Civil Rights Attn on the panel (don’t have her name, never heard of her before) was asked about (among other things) her offices actions, if any, on reported caging. Short answer, none… no action. She said (my paraphrase) that “frequently, when we send a representative to the voting locations these things are not done”. Nobody mentioned the damage from caging is completed by that time.
I’ll go back and get here name… I’m wonder if she was one of political appointees along the way? She said she had backround bothe in DOD and Pentagon.
Rogers is an Albuquerque attorney (he’s a shareholder in Modrall), it’s just that he’s rather more than that.
He lists his business as 80% litigation, 10% each to lobbying and administration. My guess is that most of his litigation is on behalf of the RNC and RPNM.
I really hate it when the Journal glosses over that sort of thing.
sorry to go OT so soon, but speaking of depressing:
the next time i run into chief bratton at the local grocery store i will have to use all my powers of self control as i express my displeasure with this statistic.
and by displeasure i mean white hot incandescent rage.
Thank you Senator Schumer for the most nontriumphant Attorney General Mukasey. good job. /s
Thanks ew.digg
I wonder where DIglesias might be in the vote dustdevil at present. One account I read a mere few months ago recounted his early reputation before he was expurgated from the US Atty post, as a Republican US atty already with a rep for asiduous pursuit of any kind of shenanigans in the vote process; the reasoning of the narrative proceded, that special interest of Iglesias’ weakened even further HWilson’s and PDoxxx’s pleas which, according to Rovian PartyLine, depicted Iglesias’ work as malfeased, especially given the US Atty Sampson class A list exercised its most prurient of interests upon US attys whose available replacements would make voter suppressive efforts on behalf of the national Reublican party agenda. Which is to say, Conyers has remained ahead of this story from early on. Linkless, with regrets, on the Iglesias as vote protector reference, as I remain on a backup workstation momentarily, can supply a link, hopefully, in a little while, pending equipment swaps here.
There was an Iglesias OpEd late last week in the Journal that basically said this is the same tired old shit. Don’t expect it to get better.
With Powell’s endorsement yesterday, I would imagine Repulbicans less than ebulliently getting exercised Brooks Brothers manner, concering how necessary a precise count of stationed military’s votes will be this election. Something about the Qahtani process designed by Principals meetings has a feeling of being something Powell would eschew summarily. I would even wonder how he interprets the Armitage phalanx’s support of the 2×4×6. Those two facets of his work as secretary of state seemed likely explanations of his decision to depart the administration. He had refused to state his party of affiliation very early before his recruitment.
Oh, c’mon. Dontcha know that Powell’s endorsement was just (wink) those people stickin’ together?
Golly, everyone’s sayin’ so!
Stanley Kurtz (NRO) currently doing his OBAMA ACORN nexus hit piece on C-SPAN2. Most of what I’ve heard him say was from this article he posted OCT 7.
Worth reading and/or listening to if you want to get idea of story lines OBAMA is up against w/this stuff.
Getting wide play
From Sam Stein at Huff Po
Hey Matt, that dick is from here! Sproul is the theo-wingnut that fronted the campaigns of Trent Franks, Andrew Thomas and Len Munsil. Ugly piece of work.
Rep. Justine Fox-Young, the front-woman on the ABQ registration “fraud” used to work in the office of Mickey Barnett, another of the R lawyers in ABQ. They are all tied together.
I have been suggesting that the voter action folks here have a press conference related to this, just as a way to push back with the facts.
Hey Marcy,
The wingery here in OH is only hearing ACORN, ACORN, ACORN, democrats, democrats, democrats, voter fraud, voter fraud voter fraud.
I just walked a Rep neighbor through the evidence and she walked away saying, “I still think the Dems are going to steal this election.”
There is a story here that needs to get out in the form of a timeline.