Two profoundly important posts today from Scott Horton, of Harper's, shining much needed light on the machinations of the Bush Justice Department.
First, Horton addresses the prosecution of attorney Paul Minor and judges Wes Teel and John Whitfield in Mississippi. "In many respects the case against Minor looks like a rehashing of the prosecution of Governor Don E. Siegelman next door in Alabama," Horton writes.
Horton highlights several key points about the Minor case:
* The charges brought by the government were sloppy and almost incomprehensible. Most public-corruption cases involve a quid pro quo, but that was not present here and was not even required by the judge.
* Circumstances around the selection of Judge Henry Wingate were "mysterious," and Wingate's conduct of the case was "aberrational." (Much more on this coming in Horton's blog and here at Legal Schnauzer.)
* Mississippi lawyer Richard Scruggs, like Minor, made loans to Mississippi judges but was not prosecuted. Of course, Scruggs tends to support Republicans more than Democrats (Minor is an ardent Democrat), and Scruggs' brother-in-law is U.S. Senator Trent Lott (R-MS), who might have played an improper role in protecting Scruggs.
* FBI special agent Matthew Campbell, a forensic-accountancy expert, was reassigned after questioning Scruggs' ties to Lott. Campbell was replaced by Kevin Rust, who according to campaign-finance records, supported a Chamber of Commerce-supported judge.
(Note: Since one of the pluses of having a blog is getting to toot your own horn from time to time, we feel compelled to mention that Horton kindly references the Legal Schnauzer in today's post. The mention comes in blurb/footnote No. 3.)
Horton's second major post today focuses on Time magazine's report about the Don Siegelman prosecution in Alabama.
This information jumped out at your humble blogger? Horton says he knows of at least three cases where people have raised complaints about Republican wrongdoing in Alabama only to be ignored by the Justice Department. If the complainant persists, he or she begins to receive threats.
You can add me to that list. I've had that very experience, and I will be providing readers with the details very soon.
7 comments:
Scott Horton has less journalistic intergrity than I thought if he is quoting Roger.
Hey, Dax. Very clever.
So, let me get this right. If Scruggs is guilty in the Schauzer court, then Minor must have been innocent in Judge Wingate's court. But,wait. I must have missed something. Does the writer have a jurisprudence degree or even a law degree. My his logic, I think not. Lets all wait and see him respond to this or any of the comments on the Minor case. How about seeing if the Clarion Liar will print his editorial. We are waiting. . .
I would be glad to respond to your comment if you could write it in English. In its current form, I have no idea what you are talking about.
What is "Schauzer court?" Not aware of that jurisdiction.
What is the Clarion Liar and what editorial are you referring to?
What writer are you referring to, with or without a law degree?
What is a jurisprudence degree?
"Scruggs tends to support Republicans more than Democrats (Minor is an ardent Democrat)"
Scruggs has give more than 600,000 to Democrats this year with few if any donations to Republicans.
I do agree that he would be less likely to be prosecuted for anything due to family connections.
Hey, Edge - sorry - wrong person. Who is this person you all keep talking about?
P.S. Scott Horton has no journalistic integrity - period.
Since "Anonymous" refuses to tell us who he/she is, I guess that we are left to assume thathe/she is an amoral coward.
Schnauzer may remember better than I do, but wasn't Alice Martin dressed down by a federal judge for her failure to file a complaint against Scruugs over a
Katrrina realted insurancefraud case in Mississippi?
Also as Scruggs is related to former Repub Majority Leader named Trent Lott who was disposed for some rasist remark?
Some political trivia on Lott. He was first elected to the house during the school busing contoversy in the 70s. He introduced a bill calling for the abolition of public education as his way of ending the controversy. Really bright considering that his only previous achievement was being a cheerleader at Mississippi State.
Also, Alice Martin is a native of Mississippi. Could she be related to Senator Lott or maybe even to Scruggs himself.
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