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The Jackson (Mississippi) Free Press has an article strongly critical of the Bush Justice Department.

“Of all the interesting odors hovering in the wake of the exiting Bush administration, the most pervasive smell could prove to be the sickly scent of corruption. The reek sank as far south as Mississippi, and will likely take Congress years to clean, if it manages to get its hands on a big enough mop.
Congressional Democrats are repeating a failed 2007 effort to drag former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove to testify on the alleged politicization of the U.S. Department of Justice under former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Rep. John Conyers, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, fired off another subpoena to Rove last month, demanding his presence at a Feb. 2 hearing.

Conyers also wants Rove to address questions on the Justice Department’s firings of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006, an issue that first prompted suspicion about the politicizing of the Justice Department.

A series of DOJ internal e-mails contains a list of targets, rated first to last according to their sense of “loyalty to the President and Attorney General.”
Rove Goes Local

Mississippi U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton was one of the names on a 26-member hit-list, but Lampton held his job after bringing a series of indictments aimed specifically at Democratic judges and a prominent Democratic fundraiser.”

Read the rest here.

In a letter dated December 12, 2008 Hiram C. Eastland, attorney for Paul Minor, asked House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether the selective prosecution of Paul Minor by Bush Justice Department attorneys was politically motivated. Although the committee directed the Justice Departments Office of Professional Responsibility and its Inspector General’s Office to investigate whether Minor was selectively prosecuted more than eight months ago, “no specific response regarding Paul Minor has been forthcoming.”

The letter closes “. . . justice and fairness demands that a truly independent investigation be undertaken by a special prosecutor with the necessary tools to ensure that the thoughtful objectives of your Committee are accomplished. The public’s confidence that America’s criminal justice system does not in any way tolerate taking political prisoners, Democrat or Republican, and the public’s confidence in the Justice Department’s prosecutive decisions will only be restored when all parties having a role in Paul Minor and other political defendants’ political prosecutions across the country are fully investigated, held accountable and brought to justice.”

You can read the full letter here.

John Byrne and Larisa Alexandrovna have a new story posted at Raw Story as part of their investigative series on the political prosecutions of Governor Siegelman, Paul Minor and others.

“Alabama Governor Don Siegelman had it all — popularity, a governor’s chair and a seemingly normal politician’s life — until he found himself on the other end of a US Attorney appointed by President George W. Bush.

Siegelman, who was convicted of corruption charges in 2006, was released on bail last April pending appeal after media reports — including those of Raw Story — revealed myriad irregularities surrounding his prosecution.

Among the relevations: the husband of the US Attorney who prosecuted Siegelman was a close associate of former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and worked as campaign manager for one of Siegelman’s gubernatorial opponents. An Alabama Republican whistleblower said that Siegelman was deliberately targeted and fingered Rove, asserting that he’d said he’d push the Justice Department to end Siegelman’s political career.”

Read the full story here.

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