Rep. Wexler: Justice Department Corruption: Gonzales and Rove Should Face Criminal Charges

[kpete]

Rep. Wexler: Justice Department Corruption: Gonzales and Rove Should Face Charges
by Wexler For Congress Campaign
Wed Oct 01, 2008 at 03:04:30 PM PDT

Dear Friends,

Finally, the cold hard truth is coming out: Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the Bush Justice Department fired people for blatantly partisan purposes - breaking the law and injecting politics into our justice system. (A system which can only function in a democracy when it is free from partisan corruption.)

It is sad that none of us are the least bit surprised. This week, Glenn Fine, the Inspector General, assigned to investigate the politicization of the Justice Department released a critically important 392 page report.

In it, he stated they found "significant evidence that political partisan considerations were an important factor in the removal of several of the U.S. attorneys." Remember, this report comes from Bush's own Justice Department investigation. Imagine the scathing report that would come from a fully nonpartisan source.

The report also stated Alberto Gonzales, his chief of staff Kyle Sampson, and his deputy Paul McNulty failed "to provide accurate and truthful statements about the removals and their role in the process." This is a polite way to say that Gonzales and Sampson lied to investigators. This is unacceptable, and Gonzales, Sampson, and Rove should face criminal charges for this this behavior.

The report also stated that one of the US attorneys, David Iglesias, was removed "without any inquiry into his handling of the cases."

The report is so damning of Alberto Gonzales, Rove, Miers, and others that the current Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, has appointed a Special Prosecutor to investigate and, if warranted, issue criminal charges.

Whether this is the beginning of real accountability remains to be seen, but it is my mission to try to make sure Congress does not abdicate its responsibility to do its own investigations.

Later this week, Chairman Conyers and the Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on this matter, where I expect to vigorously question Inspector General Fine and other witnesses.

Like you, I will not be satisfied until I see true justice, blind from partisanship, and a wholesale cleansing of the Justice Department. We must remove anyone who contributed to the corrupting of this critical institution.

Given the fact that John McCain's campaign is chock full of Bush and Rove allies, there is no reason to think a McCain administration would stop the corruption and mismanagement of the justice department. Obviously, working to elect Obama gets us much closer to this goal.

While we are dealing with very serious issues in Congress this week, it is my view that the threat posed by a corrupting of the Justice department is of vital importance and must be dealt with seriously by this Congress.

Nothing less than our system of justice is at stake. We must not be distracted from that reality.

Please keep vigilant.

Sincerely,

Congressman Robert Wexler
www.wexlerforcongress.com
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/1/1801/62117/349/616988

[fascisthunter]

1. yeah but see... this is Fascist America

where the wealthy and powerful are protected regardless of history or morality.