Mukasey Taps 30-Year Vet Prosecutor for Tapes Probe + Durham's History

[babylonsister]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/005006.php

Mukasey Taps 30-Year Vet Prosecutor for Tapes Probe
By Paul Kiel - January 2, 2008, 3:12PM

The man Michael Mukasey chose to lead the CIA tapes probe is John Durham. Who is John Durham? Well, the short answer is a 30-year veteran prosecutor with some serious experience with tough prosecutions.

We've posted his work experience below, as passed along by the U.S. attorney's office in Connecticut, where Durham serves as the deputy.

As the AP puts it, "Durham has a reputation as one of the nation's most relentless prosecutors. He served as an outside prosecutor overseeing an investigation into the FBI's use of mob informants in Boston and helped send several Connecticut public officials to prison."

Durham's history is below.

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

* March 1994 - Present (except for interim service as United States Attorney and Counsel to the U.S. Attorney) - Deputy United States Attorney: Supervises all Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned in the three offices of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut; evaluates, prepares and prosecutes major felony cases within the District with special emphasis on complex criminal matters

* January 1999 - Present - Special Attorney, District of Massachusetts, Head of Justice Task Force reviewing alleged criminal conduct of FBI and other law enforcement corruption in Boston, MA

* September 1989 - March 1994 - Assistant United States Attorney (Chief, Criminal Division): Supervised all Criminal Division Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned in the three offices of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut; evaluated, prepared and prosecuted major felony cases within the District with special emphasis on organized crime matters

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, ORGANIZED CRIME AND RACKETEERING SECTION (Boston Strike Force/New Haven Field Office)

* December 1982 - September 1989 -- Supervised the New Haven Field Office of the Boston Strike Force from June 1987 until September 1989; evaluated, prepared, and prosecuted major RICO and RICO-related cases directed at Gambino, Genovese, and Patriarca LCN members and associates operating within the District of Connecticut

OFFICE OF THE STATE'S ATTORNEY/NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

* November 1978 - December 1982 - Assistant State's Attorney: Supervised operation of the Career Criminal Unit of the State's Attorney's Office; evaluated, prepared, and prosecuted major violent felony cases against repeat offenders; supervised work of all Unit attorneys, inspectors, and staff

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF STATE'S ATTORNEY

* September 1977 - November 1978 - Deputy Assistant State's Attorney: Preparation and prosecution of criminal cases in various criminal courts throughout the State of Connecticut; preparation and argument of appeals; preparation of legal memoranda, grand materials, and research data

[MidwestTransplant]

1. He seems like a good pick. There is one issue that is brought up by TPM

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/005007.php#more

He has not been tapped as a special counsel (like Patrick Fitzgerald was) -- rather, because the U.S. attorney from the Eastern District of Virginia recused his office from the probe, Durham will be serving as Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Hopefully we will find out what that means soon.

[babylonsister]

2. I'm just happy to see any action on this! And I think he sounds

pretty good; hopefully he won't just roll over a la Gonzo. I wonder if Mukasey made this decision under duress? We know this admin didn't want to see anything investigated.

[grasswire]

3. the rocket docket

Usually, that office is picked to ramrod through fixes for the Bush administration. Look who previously held that office -- Paul (forgot his last name but I'll find it) who was part of the corrupting of the DoJ under Gonzales.

[mod mom]

7. Do you mean Paul McNulty? He's gone but who replaced him?

"Durham will still report to the Deputy Attorney General, who in turn reports to Judge Mukasey."

[babylonsister]

9. Craig Morford is acting deputy-don't know what happened to the

actual one~

http://www.usdoj.gov/dag/

Craig Morford, a twenty-year veteran federal prosecutor, was appointed Acting Deputy Attorney General on August 5, 2007. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Morford served the Department of Justice in a number of capacities.

From 1987 through 2003, Mr. Morford served the Department as a criminal trial attorney in Cleveland, Ohio, first with the Department’s Organized Crime Strike Force, and later as an Assistant United States Attorney after the Strike Force was merged into the United States Attorney’s office. Mr. Morford prosecuted all manners of organized crime, white collar fraud and public corruption cases, including the prosecutions of U.S. Congressman James Traficant, Youngstown mafia boss Lenny Strollo, international porn-czar Reuben Sturman, and numerous lawyers, judges, and other high-ranking public officials.

From 2004 through 2005, he served as Special Counsel to the Attorney General, conducting a Court-ordered investigation into allegations of government misconduct in the Detroit trial of United States v. Koubriti (the first post-September 11 terrorism case to proceed to trial). Based on the findings of Mr. Morford’s case review team, the Court dismissed the defendants’ convictions. From August 2004 through March 2005, Mr. Morford served as United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan under an Attorney General appointment

From March 2005 through October 2006, Mr. Morford returned to Cleveland and served as the First Assistant United States Attorney. From October 2006 until his appointment as Acting Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Morford served as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee under an Attorney General appointment.

Mr. Morford was named the Outstanding Assistant United States Attorney in the nation by the National Association of Former United States Attorneys in 2005. He was awarded the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award by Attorney General Ashcroft in 2003 and Attorney General Gonzales in 2005. He was also awarded the Directors’ Awards for Superior Performance as an AUSA by Attorney General Reno in 1996 and 2000.

In 2005, Mr. Morford was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has also lectured extensively on the topics of organized crime, public corruption, and the RICO statute at conferences here and abroad, including international conferences in Bangkok, Budapest, Bratislava, and Riga.

Mr. Morford is a graduate of Hope College (B.A. in Economics, 1981), and the Valparaiso University School of Law (J.D., 1984). He and his wife of twenty 24 years have four children and have actively served their community in a number of church ministries and community youth programs.

[mod mom]

15. Morford is "acting" Filip is up for confirmation.

Commentor @ Muck asks what if Filip is confirmed?

Filip clerked for Justice Scalia which implies that he supports an outragiously powerful executive office, signing statements, and is a member of the Constitution-undermining Federalist Society.

on edit

For Deputy Attorney General, the number two slot: Mark R. Filip. He has a long record of political engagement in electoral trenches for the Republican Party (as the Chicago Tribune reports, he volunteered to work on the Bush-Cheney Florida vote litigation in 2000, for instance). He served as Vice President of the Federalist Society chapter at his law school. He clerked for Antonin Scalia and is close to Solicitor General Paul Clement. Critics of the Bush Justice Department regularly cite a secret subterranean network of former clerks of three judges (Scalia, Thomas and Silberman) who are highly partisan political ideologues, and who routinely shape policy and decisions outside of the formal channels of bureaucratic communication.

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/11/hbc-90001683

[grasswire]

24. sounds like a nightmare for us -- Filip

I suppose Feinstein will support him.

[grasswire]

23. yes, McNulty

I don't know who replaced him. Perhaps it was an acting appointment.

[mod mom]

8. Craig Morford Acting Deputy AG (I think this is bad-will be back w info)

Craig Morford, a twenty-year veteran federal prosecutor, was appointed Acting Deputy Attorney General on August 5, 2007. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Morford served the Department of Justice in a number of capacities.

From 1987 through 2003, Mr. Morford served the Department as a criminal trial attorney in Cleveland, Ohio, first with the Department’s Organized Crime Strike Force, and later as an Assistant United States Attorney after the Strike Force was merged into the United States Attorney’s office. Mr. Morford prosecuted all manners of organized crime, white collar fraud and public corruption cases, including the prosecutions of U.S. Congressman James Traficant, Youngstown mafia boss Lenny Strollo, international porn-czar Reuben Sturman, and numerous lawyers, judges, and other high-ranking public officials.

From 2004 through 2005, he served as Special Counsel to the Attorney General, conducting a Court-ordered investigation into allegations of government misconduct in the Detroit trial of United States v. Koubriti (the first post-September 11 terrorism case to proceed to trial). Based on the findings of Mr. Morford’s case review team, the Court dismissed the defendants’ convictions. From August 2004 through March 2005, Mr. Morford served as United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan under an Attorney General appointment

From March 2005 through October 2006, Mr. Morford returned to Cleveland and served as the First Assistant United States Attorney. From October 2006 until his appointment as Acting Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Morford served as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee under an Attorney General appointment.

[mod mom]

11. from wiki:

Craig S. Morford is currently the Acting United States Deputy Attorney General. His nomination by President George W. Bush is now pending in the U.S. Senate. He was formerly the Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and the Eastern District of Michigan.
Morford has worked for the Justice Department for twenty years and has spent most of his career pursuing public-corruption and organized-crime cases in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the lead prosecutor in the case of then-Congressman James A. Traficant, who was convicted of bribery and racketeering in 2002.<1>


He's formerly from Ohio, so there' bound to be much more info.

[mod mom]

13. Comey praised Him (that's good):

Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Comey praised Morford, a lanky, self-effacing 6-foot-6 man.
"Because I am one, I have a soft spot in my heart for tall, slow guys who can't jump, but Craig Morford represents the best of the Department of Justice," Comey said Tuesday.
"He is smart, careful, fair, decent and funny. He cares passionately about achieving justice, which is more than just winning. He is one of the good guys, and the people of the United States are lucky to have him as one of their lawyers."

-snip
http://www.detnews.com/2005/metro/0503/10/B01-112197.htm

[babylonsister]

16. mod mom, you're great! Thanks for the research!

:thumbsup:

[mod mom]

17. Thank you for your speedy work in getting us the news!

Happy New Year! :hi:

[hisownpetard]

27. Coming from Comey, those are great words. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[mod mom]

14. Someone has a vendetta against him:

http://www.capri-cafaro.com/Morford.htm

[mod mom]

21. OH THIS IS GETTING INTERESTING (Morford involved in 1st Terrorist case after 9/11)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2005
INJUSTICE EXPOSED
The following article was published in the Detroit Free Press

LOCAL COMMENT: Justice Department retaliation is destructive and uncalled for

January 7, 2005

BY VAL CONVERTINO

In the nation's first terrorism trial after the 9/11 attacks, a federal court jury in Detroit convicted three men.

Despite having those convictions tossed aside, and although they had already served several years in prison, two of the defendants have been re-indicted on lesser charges. The reason for the new indictments should be clear to everyone: The Department of Justice still believes these men are terrorists and wants them out of the country. Without a conviction, they cannot be deported. Why else would the Justice Department invest more time and money on charges that would not normally be brought to state courts, let alone the federal system?

The highly publicized retaliatory efforts against the lead prosecutor in the original terrorism case, my husband, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino, led to the inevitable reversal of those convictions, whether or not the decision was legally warranted. The Justice Department actions against Rick began after he testified before the Senate Finance Committee in September 2003, and were then sanctioned in December 2003 by a court-ordered "file review" of the case. The retaliation snowballed in February 2004 after Rick filed a lawsuit against Attorney General John Ashcroft, former U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins and others in the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Since then, the Justice Department has seized Rick's computer, mail and work files; read all of his e-mails; launched at least four investigations; and purposefully defamed his name and reputation with "anonymous" leaks. All of these actions were done by people who have taken an oath to uphold the law. This was done for two reasons. The Justice Department realized that a stellar career such as Rick's couldn't be destroyed without undermining his past successes, including the terrorism convictions, and that it couldn't allow Rick's lawsuit to proceed because of the internal Justice Department problems that would be exposed.

-snip
Current Detroit U.S. Attorney Craig Morford, who was himself accused of serious prosecutorial misconduct in the past -- although after an investigation, no action was taken against him -- was quoted as saying the Justice Department has "stepped up to the plate" by reversing the terrorism convictions. But Rick, in fact, was really the only one who was willing to step up to the plate by being the first and only federal prosecutor to try a terrorism "sleeper cell" case before a jury. Since then, all the Justice Department has done is throw 95 m.p.h. pitches at his head -- and for internal political reasons, not legal ones.
-snip

http://convertino.blogspot.com/2005/02/injustice-exposed.html

Richard Convertino
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Convertino is a former federal prosecutor in Detroit, Michigan. Convertino was the lead Assistant U.S. Attorney in the "Detroit Sleeper Cell" prosecutions of Karim Koubriti and Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi.<1> However, the U.S. Department of Justicesubsequently removed Convertino from his position and asked courts to dismiss those convictions, on the grounds that Convertino had failed to disclose evidence to which the defense was entitled. <2>
Overview

Federal charges were laid in the Detroit Sleeper Cell in September 2001, very shortly following the attacks of September 11, 2001. DOJ's prosecution in U.S. v. Koubriti alleged that an apparent holiday video five men made while visiting Disneyland was really a clandestine reconnaissance video, which would allow bomb experts to plan where to plant bombs. As lead prosecutor in the Koubriti case, Convertino argued that the five men were not the Westernized, secular Muslims they seemed. The government argued that they were "Takfiris" -- radical jihadists who had a dispensation to drink alcohol, use narcotics and avoid praying, in order to blend in to western societies, while secretly plotting clandestine attacks.<3> Doubt was cast on the prosecution's case in U.S. v. Koubriti when it was alleged that the star witness, a member of the group who turned on the others, was a known con-artist. Convertino had not disclosed this and other potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense.<1>
Convertino has alleged that the DOJ disclosed other information to the news media that is protected by the Privacy Act in order to smear or discredit Convertino for his whistleblowing disclosures to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.<4>
Resolution

On October 31, 2007, Convertino and Smith were found not guilty on all charges. <5>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Convertino

[mod mom]

25. More on Convertino case-WaPo: Justice Dept Concealing Leak Report

Justice Dept. Concealing Leak Report
By LARA JAKES JORDAN and MATT APUZZO
The Associated Press
Friday, January 12, 2007; 10:18 PM


WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department is fighting in court to keep secret a government report concluding that it leaked confidential and damaging information against a former prosecutor accused of bungling a high-profile terror trial.

Justice attorneys say they can't disclose all the contents of the December 2004 report by the department's inspector general without violating employees' privacy.However, ex-Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard G. Convertino of Detroit said the Justice Department violated his own privacy rights by revealing to the media that he was the subject of an internal ethics inquiry after he criticized the Bush administration's counterterrorism strategy.

Two people who have seen the full report confirmed it rules out Convertino as a suspect in the leak case. Those people described the report's findings to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it is sealed under a Justice Department protective order.

-snip

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201556.html

WHERE'S MARK LOMBARDI WHEN YOU NEED HIM! :(

[mod mom]

4. I'm cautiously optimistic.

We've been burned so many times before.

[spanone]

5. that probably means it goes thru cheney's office first

[Solly Mack]

6. It means Durham won't operate autonomously as Fitzgerald did

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/DOJ/wireStory?id=4076112

"He will not serve as a special prosecutor such as Patrick Fitzgerald, who operated autonomously while investigating the 2003 leak of a CIA operative's identity."



It means he won't act independent of others.

[babylonsister]

10. I wonder if he'd carry this admin's water? Seems he's investigated

crooked federales before.

[Solly Mack]

12. Dunno. I'm in wait and see mode

[mod mom]

36. and he reports to the Deputy AG (read-loyal bushie)

[babylonsister]

18. Mukasey's statement + more...

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/justice_ramps_up_cia_interroga.html#more

Mukasey's statement:

“Following a preliminary inquiry into the destruction by CIA personnel of videotapes of detainee interrogations, the Department’s National Security Division has recommended, and I have concluded, that there is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter, and I have taken steps to begin that investigation as outlined below.

“This preliminary inquiry was conducted jointly by the Department’s National Security Division and the CIA’s Office of Inspector General. It was opened on December 8, 2007, following disclosure by CIA Director Michael Hayden on December 6, 2007, that the tapes had been destroyed. A preliminary inquiry is a procedure the Department of Justice uses regularly to gather the initial facts needed to determine whether there is sufficient predication to warrant a criminal investigation of a potential felony or misdemeanor violation. The opening of an investigation does not mean that criminal charges will necessarily follow.

“An investigation of this kind, relating to the CIA, would ordinarily be conducted under the supervision of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, the District in which the CIA headquarters are located. However, in an abundance of caution and on the request of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in accordance with Department of Justice policy, his office has been recused from the investigation of this matter, in order to avoid any possible appearance of a conflict with other matters handled by that office.

“As a result, I have asked John Durham, the First Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, to serve as Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia for purposes of this matter. Mr. Durham is a widely respected and experienced career prosecutor who has supervised a wide range of complex investigations in the past, and I am grateful to him for his willingness to serve in this capacity. As the Acting United States Attorney for purposes of this investigation, Mr. Durham will report to the Deputy Attorney General, as do all United States Attorneys in the ordinary course. I have also directed the FBI to conduct the investigation under Mr. Durham’s supervision.

“Earlier today, the Department provided notice of these developments to Director Hayden and the leadership of the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees of the Congress.”



The Associated Press reports Durham is a hard-charger and that the CIA says it will cooperate:

Durham has a reputation as one of the nation's most relentless prosecutors. He served as an outside prosecutor overseeing an investigation into the FBI's use of mob informants in Boston and helped send several Connecticut public officials to prison.

"The CIA will of course cooperate fully with this investigation as it has with the others into this matter," agency spokesman Mark Mansfield said.

The CIA has already agreed to open its files to congressional investigators, who have begun reviewing documents at the agency's Virginia headquarters. The House Intelligence Committee has ordered Jose Rodriguez, the former CIA official who directed the tapes be destroyed, to appear at a hearing Jan. 16.

Rodriguez's attorney, Robert S. Bennett, had no comment.

[mod mom]

19. We have to see Filip (Deputy AG up for confirmation) get's high scrutiny then!

[babylonsister]

20. He's gone before the panel and played dumb once iirc; Leahy et al

were not amused, especially on the question of torture, which he stonewalled, same as Mukasey did. I hope this adds an extra note of caution.

[mod mom]

22. see # 21

[L. Coyote]

32. One must ask, "What is going on in Virginia that conflicts?"

Another investigation we don't know about??

[derby378]

26. If he's not a special prosecutor, there may not be a criminal probe

Dunham has to be at least as independent as Patrick Fitzgerals and Kenneth Starr were, or else I don't see this going anywhere.

I want it to develop into something, believe me. But I had hoped that Pelosi and Reed would produce actual results in the 110th Congress, too.

[Supersedeas]

28. will the GOP/Media Establishment keep up or cover up

[rhett o rick]

29. This is a BS investigation. It isn't a special prosecutor and it will stop Congress

from a real investigation. The is BS and Mukasey and the republicans win again. Thanks a hell of a lot Schumer and Feinstein.

DUMP THE DINO's.

[rhett o rick]

30. This is a BS investigation. It isn't a special prosecutor and it will prevent Congress

from accomplishing a real investigation. This is BS and Mukasey and the republicans win again.

Thanks a hell of a lot Schumer and Feinstein.

DUMP THE DINO's.

[L. Coyote]

31. Mukasey gives Bush "Get Out of Jail Free" card: Special Prosecutor Limited. Torture off limits!!

Does anyone smell a cover up at work?

Mukasey has acted in a manner that protects Bush (and Cheney) from the new special prosecutor by narrowing the focus of that inquiry.
Apparently, the torture itself is not to be investigated, just the destruction of the evidence of torture!

So, Where is justice now?? Still inside the political domain, it appears.
Does it matter who is investigating this matter if the investigator is too limited?

=================
Tale of the Tapes
By Chris Wilson - Jan. 3, 2008 - http://www.slate.com/id/2181317 /


Tale of the tapes: Attorney General Michael Mukasey has announced a criminal investigation .......

....more: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2591259 .....

[fascisthunter]

35. Common Sense

but hey.... we must "believe".

[spanone]

33. let us pray....

[fascisthunter]

34. The FIX is In

and top Democrats know this, it's why you probably won't hear a peep out of them.

"I couldn't do anything about it. Bush prevented us...."

[in_cog_ni_to]

37. Didn't I read that Durham has never lost a case? n/t