Long investigation of Clinton official reaches bitter end

[Lasher]

Washington -- After the longest independent counsel investigation in history, the prosecutor in the case of former U.S. housing secretary Henry Cisneros is finally closing his operation with a scathing report accusing Clinton administration officials of thwarting an inquiry into whether Cisneros evaded paying income taxes.

The legal saga of the prosecutor, David Barrett, lasted more than a decade, consumed some $21 million and came to be a symbol of the sometimes flawed endeavor to prosecute high-level corruption through the use of independent prosecutors.

<snip>

After he was indicted on 18 felony counts, Cisneros pleaded guilty in 1999 to a misdemeanor charge of lying to investigators. He was later pardoned by Clinton.

<snip>

The lengthy investigation became the subject of intense partisan clashes. Democrats asserted it was kept alive in hopes of developing and propagating allegations about the Clinton administration, while Republicans complained that supporters of the former president and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, were eager to suppress Barrett's inquiries. Sen. Clinton, a potential presidential contender in 2008, is up for re-election this year.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/19/MNGM8GPJAM1.DTL

So, why did Barrett come up empty, after wasting eleven years and $21 million on yet another taxpayer-funded partisan witch hunt against a (by now former) Clinton administration official? Why, it's Clinton's fault, of course!

[WhiteTara]

1. sounds like whitewater

they can waste our money everyday, but refuse to do anything that will help us with it. I am sick of repukes.

[blm]

2. Bush killed an inquiry into Jack Abramoff dealings in 2002, didn't he?

Coincidence that this special counsel is bending over BACKWARDS to find some crime in a guy having a girlfriend - AGAIN?

Just more distraction from Bush's White House being run just like Enron.

[Lasher]

9. Yes, Dubya squashed a 2002 Abramoff Investigation

Abramoff was also the target of a 2002 grand jury probe in Guam, involving influence peddling in a case involving court reform. A day after a subpoena was issued, President Bush demoted the federal prosecutor in the case, and the inquiry stalled.
http://www.alternet.org/story/29827

[havocmom]

3. Their repeated failures after such great expense will be used as

arguments against more investigations into antics of public officials... now that the GOP has so many members engaging in REAL crimes and getting exposed.

[MrBenchley]

4. The awesome power of the Clenis....

Once again hiding behind legal technicalities like "no evidence of wrongdoing."

[stepnw1f]

7. You did a Fine Job Yesterday, Mr. Benchley

Glad to see you on our side. These gun nuts are way over the edge. Thank you for clearifying the hypocrisy of the gun lobbyists.

[MrBenchley]

12. No problem....

Here's the plain facts about guns and gun rights:

Let's start with the gun industry itself, made up of folks like
--tax evader and right wing cult leader Sun Myung Moon;
--neoNazi sugar daddy Gaston glock
--convicted stick-up artist J.J. Minder of S&W (forced to step down as chairman, he remains on the gun makers board of directors)
--GOP fundraiser Richard Dyke of Bushmaster.

Then let's go to the "gun rights" movement and its spokespeople:
--Larry Pratt of the Gun Owners of America is a racist so virulent that even Pat Buchanan had to flee his company
--NRA board member Ted Nugent is synonymous with racism
--NRA board member Grover "drown government in a bathtub" Norquist is a right wing crazy
--NRA board member Jeff Cooper calls black people "Orang-outangs"
--NRA board member Robert K. Brown publishes the disgraceful "Soldier of Fortune" magazine, a stroke book for would be mercenaries and hit men
--NRA board members Harry Thomas, T.J. Johnston, Leroy Pyle, and Neal Knox all have ties to white supremacist paramilitary groups
--NRA board member Roy Innis has long had ties to right wing groups and often functions as a conservative token
--NRA keynote speakers in recent years have been Zell Miller, Jeb Bush, Trent Lott, Tom Delay and Dick Cheney
--the Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms were both started by the right wing Young Americans for Freedom and are little more than GOP front organizations
--Second Amendment Foundation and CCRKBA head Alan Gottleib is a Republican fundraiser who has been convicted of tax fraud. He also looms large in the anti-environment movement.
--The Second Amendment Caucus in Congress consists of some of the most right wing members in the GOP, including such racist dimwits as Marilyn Musgrave and Tom Tancredo
--The Pink Pistols, the astroturf "gay gun owners" group, endorses anti-gay political candidates and tried to disrupt a peaceful gay rights march in Ohio last year. Its enemies list includes liberals such as Barney Frank but DOES NOT include right wing gay haters such as Fred Phelps or James Dobson. Until recently, it had a link on its site to the right wing think tank, Northbridge, which created them, that in turn had an essay chortling what a "good trick" the group was "on"liberals."
--Doctors for Reponsible Gun Ownership is an astroturf committee of 1,000 gun nuts (most of whom are not doctors) created by the right wing Claremont Institute to spread disinformation on public health questions about gun proliferation.
--the Law Enforcement Association of America is an astroturf group created by the NRA to pretend that police officers oppose gun control.
--the "Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership" is another astroturf group that routinely promotes neoConfederate and racist gibberish.

[stepnw1f]

14. Have You Thought of Starting a Reasearch Forum?

Seriously... we all could use your brains to battle those who are obviously peddling guns whether out of ignorance or out of purposeful intent. Think about asking the mods if you can start one.

And thanks for this info. My metaphorical gun is loaded.

[MrBenchley]

15. I will ask the moderators....

It's especially funny to watch the trigger-happy amongst us try to pretend that this is a "liberal" issue, and that it must only be discussed on some ethereal plane far removed from the stench of their playmates.

Here's another good way to look at the gun lovers and their cheesy hobby:

Imagine you're a stamp collector.
But it turns out that in buying stamp albums and collectible stamps, you're supporting some of the scummiest corporations and individuals on earth.
And suppose every stamp collector's association and group was headed by racist right wing loonies.
And suppose every stamp collector's journal and website was filled 24/7 with right wing drivel, open bigotry and attacks on Democrats.
And suppose the stamp collecting conventions regularly honored some of the scummiest and most corrupt politicians in the country while the stamp collecting associations funneled them money.
And suppose there was a public health hazard associated with your stamp collecting hobby, but philatelist groups had hired a racist crackpot synonymous with academic fraud to produce a "study" "proving" otherwise.

Would an honest person rethink stamp collecting? Or would they stamp their feet and deny that any of that was true, and make absurd analogies in a desperate attempt to justify their hobby?

[stepnw1f]

5. Another Right Wing Witch Hunt Comes Up Empty

This is where the Clinton gossip from the right comes from. They open up cases and get their pathetic sheep to jump all over allegations that turn up to be false with no evidence whatsoever. Yet they claim the court was stacked against them, or that the case was spoiled somehow....

Sheep, I tell ya... they are bahhh bahh sheep.

[AlCzervik]

6. gee if i were cynical i'd say the timing of this is suspicious.

[Lasher]

13. Inquiry on Clinton Official Ends With Accusations of Cover-Up

That thought occurred to me also, chimpsrsmarter. Consider this from a related NYT article:

Justice Department officials who disputed Mr. Barrett's findings portrayed his investigation as deeply misguided and said the tax case against Mr. Cisneros had little merit. They suggested that the prosecutor had turned his disappointment in his inability to prove the obstruction allegations into unprovable theories.

Robert S. Litt, one of the Justice Department officials involved, wrote in a comment letter on May 31, 2005, that he was allowed to read only edited parts of the report but that he concluded that the report was "a fitting conclusion to one of the most embarrassingly incompetent and wasteful episodes in the history of American law enforcement."

<snip>

Initially, the panel of three judges that oversees the lingering issues involving the independent counsel law agreed in October to the public release of Mr. Barrett's report but said the section with accusations about Clinton officials must be deleted.

But after Congressional Republicans attached a rider to a Department of Housing and Urban Development spending bill requiring publication of the full report, the judicial panel in November ordered a full disclosure.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/politics/19inquire.html?ex=1138338000&en=2dd3029181f33fd1&ei=5043&partner=EXCITE

on edit: correct typo

[papau]

8. So he owed a gift tax on payments to his mistress- or was she deemed an ee

that he forgot to pay a Social Security Withholding tax for.

If possible Tax evasion on gifts to a mistress - well it only cost taxpayers $21 million.

Or did the fellow think he found major fraud in other income accounts that allowed those returns to be re-opened. Obviously his "major fraud" was bull since if it existed no one would have stopped him. And he did get to go through a complete return for one year - getting nothing.

I think it is time to investigate him for ripping off the tax payers by using fraud - lies - to keep open an investigation he knew should be closed just so as to line his own pocket with fees.

[Skink]

10. They just wanted to make sure he could never be President

The former mayor of San Antonio was besmirched back in the 80's cause they were so afraid of him. Hugo Chavez comes to mind.

[rodeodance]

11. $21 million

[PVK]

16. $21 million

n/t

[Lasher]

19. Welcome to DU, PVK!

I think you're gonna like it here.

[PVK]

32. Thanks.

I already do!

[fleabert]

17. OT- Man, I loved Cisneros as a mayor in San Antonio,

he was awesome. a creep to his wife, but an awesome mayor!

[trogdor]

18. I wonder what RW org picked Barrett up?

Eleven years? On a guy who was pardoned by Pres. Clinton five years ago? Was there really investigating going on, or did this guy Barrett just want some job security until he found something better?

Does that mean we get to investigate all the people Poppy Bush pardoned, even though we can't throw them into PMITA prison where they belong?

[MADem]

21. That was my thought, too--he needed the paycheck

And today is as good a day as any to drop the report; so no one will ask the question "Why was this guy milking the taxpayers for all those years?" Everyone is chatting about Ole Samma Bin Hidin', so this will slide off the table right quick...

[f-bush]

20. Sounds like a witch hunt!

[Inland]

22. So? Bush can prosecute, now, can't he? Bring it on!

Tell all your freep contacts to write Al Gonzales immediatly and demand prosecution! And to write every day until it happens!

[Lasher]

23. But wait: Bob 'The Traitor' Novak has weighed in

According to Novak:

No tax prosecution was brought against Cisneros, and IRS conduct has not been questioned. Friends describe Barrett, a Republican lawyer from Washington, as feeling at age 68 that he has failed fully to uncover the scandal and that it is now up to Congress to get out the truth.

This probably would have been just another undiscovered scandal had the whistle not been blown by John J. Filan, chief of the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division in the South Texas District. In a March 31, 1997, memo, Filan expressed outrage that the IRS chief counsel’s office in Washington on Jan. 15 had pulled a tax evasion case out of San Antonio because it required “centralized review.” Told to “box up” his evidence and send it to Washington, Filan wrote: “I am not aware of any other criminal tax cases that have been pulled from experienced District Counsel attorneys.”

http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Robert+Novak%3A+It%E2%80%99s+up+to+Congress+to+get+truth+out+about+IRS+scandal&articleId=fd038a31-93dc-4c48-97e1-9bfdd85e2a78

Now, let's see: Is Filan actually a courageous whistle blower who has blessed us all with The Light of Day? Or is he just a partisan wingnut, beating a drum?

Mr. Barrett said I.R.S. officials in Washington took over a district-level inquiry in Texas into Mr. Cisneros's taxes and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to go ahead with a criminal investigation. But in a 1997 memorandum protesting the decision, an I.R.S. investigator in Texas said there was evidence that Mr. Cisneros had diverted substantial parts of his speaking fees in the early 1990's to the former mistress, without the knowledge of co-workers.

But other I.R.S. and Justice Department officials said that a fairly complete listing of Mr. Cisneros's income from various sources was available to his accountants, whom he relied on to prepare his tax returns. That would have made it impossible to sustain a prosecution, they said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/politics/19inquire.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5043&en=2dd3029181f33fd1&ex=1138338000&partner=EXCITE

Apparently the "I.R.S. investigator in Texas" is none other than our Mr. Filan, who seems to be the only IRS representative who is willing to whore himself out to the Republican Noise Machine.

On edit: Don't you wonder why, what with the 'Values Party' in control since January 2001, that the alleged Clinton administration coverups persist? Is The Hamper covering up for Clinton's former HUD chief? Could it be that Cat Killer Fritz has been covering for him all this time? Maybe Darth Cheney is running interference because they're old pals?

[Inland]

24. Excellent catch! Maybe desrves it's own thread! nt

[Lasher]

25. Cool, Inland, run with it. The torch is passed (EOM)

[Inland]

27. No, no, you should post it indepedently

assuming this "controversy" lasts the entire day.

[Lasher]

28. OK Inland, I will post a new thread in GD

Hope you don't feel like I was trying to dump on you. Give me about an hour, I'm cooking for my Little Dove, for when she gets home from work.

[lovuian]

26. This was harassment and Congress shows what hypocrites

they are with Bush ... he can lie steal and cheat but NOTHING...the only thing so far is Fitzgerald's courtcase...

I wondered did NSA wiretap Fitz???

[nautibits]

29. did Clinton ever illegally wiretap us?

I dont think so

[Up2Late]

30. And according to the NPR report today, the guy STILL thinks he should...

...keep investigating, because NOW......It's a Cover-up.

Probe into Ex-Clinton Official Ends with No Charges

Listen to this story...(at link above)
by Don Gonyea

All Things Considered, January 19, 2006 · The independent counsel's inquiry into former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros ends with no charges, after more than a decade and $21 million spent. The final report accuses the Clinton administration of thwarting the inquiry -- and reminds opponents of what they didn't like about the independent counsel law that expired in 1999.

Cisneros pleaded guilty six years ago for lying to the FBI about cash payments he made to a woman with whom he'd had an affair.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5163853>

Here's the Washington post too: <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011903284.html?nav=rss_politics>

[GoddessOfGuinness]

31. The guy STILL thinks he should keep investigating, because

he wants to STILL keep that nice fat paycheck coming in. I wonder if he enjoys making a living off witch hunting?

[hang a left]

Clinton-Era Coverup on Cisneros Is Alleged Special Counsel Ends 10-Year Pr

Clinton-Era Coverup on Cisneros Is Alleged
Special Counsel Ends 10-Year Probe

By Dan Eggen and Albert B. Crenshaw
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 20, 2006; Page A01

More than a decade and $21 million after it began, the final and longest-running independent counsel investigation in U.S. history ended yesterday with allegations from the prosecutor that "a coverup at high levels of our government" prevented him from bringing further charges in the case of Henry G. Cisneros, former secretary of housing and urban development.

In a 474-page report, independent counsel David M. Barrett conceded that he was "not able to say with certainty whether any criminal laws were broken" by government officials in his inquiry of possible tax violations by Cisneros. But he alleged that officials in the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service "resisted our efforts to investigate" the possibilities.




Henry Cisneros, right, with President Bill Clinton, was indicted on 18 felony charges but pleaded guilty in 1999 to a single misdemeanor of making false statements. Clinton eventually pardoned him.
Henry Cisneros, right, with President Bill Clinton, was indicted on 18 felony charges but pleaded guilty in 1999 to a single misdemeanor of making false statements. Clinton eventually pardoned him. (By J. Scott Applewhite -- Associated Press)


The report itself does not appear to include clear evidence of obstruction, however. Many officials named in the investigation angrily denied Barrett's accusations in written rebuttals attached to the document.

"Mr. Barrett conjured up a far-fetched theory of a wide-reaching government conspiracy to justify prolonging his tenure for another six years," wrote Susan J. Park, a trial lawyer in the Justice Department's public integrity section. "He has nothing to show for his efforts. If Mr. Barrett is serious about exploring the issue of integrity, he should examine his own."

snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011901835.html

[nini]

33. TEN YEARS??

and he has nothing to show other than crap he can't prove? Unbelieveable..


:eyes:

[Der Blaue Engel]

34. And this news will be WAY more "important" than the actual, documentable

crimes going on in this administration every day right in front of our faces.

[Wabbajack]

35. Thank Jeebus the independent conseul lapsed

This is out of control.

[peacetalksforall]

36. Ten years and 21 mil. That means five years under Clinton and five

years under Bush and he claims that Justice and the IRS protected Cisneros? Can you imagine the right wing Justice covering up a Democrat under George?

$21 million - how many homeless people could get aa start with a subsidized apartment during those ten years if the money had been properly spent?

$21 million - how many soldiers could have come off food stamps and would have gotten the right care from the VA?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

37. The Post has found it's balls!

Even their pretend relevency is gone.

[Skink]

38. Which Medal does George give barrett?

better yet how about a tribute to him during the state of the starved union.

[struggle4progress]

39. ... Barrett, .. a Republican activist .. has had a varied career as ..

.. a lobbyist, lawyer and Washington deal-maker ...

Counsel Has Previous HUD Connections
By Dan Morgan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 30, 1999; Page A17
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/cisneros/stories/fbarrett083099.htm

[cap]

40. press manipulation, yet again...

in the midst of the Republican scandal... a very timely reminder of Democratic corruption.

It's all rather obvious.