Temperature is Rising on U.S. Attorneys

Our old friend Scott Horton, of Harper's magazine, is back in cyberspace today, and he has some interesting information.

First, Horton notes that Alice Martin, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, is in federal court this morning to answer questions about her handling (manhandling?) of the Axion/Latifi case in Huntsville. You can get a refresher on the Axion/Latifi case here.

Here are Horton's thoughts about Martin's actions in the case:

Alice Martin is scheduled to appear this morning before Judge Inge Johnson, where she will face questions about her prosecution of the Axion/Latifi case. In particular, Judge Johnson has directly questioned whether Martin knowingly prosecuted persons she knew to be innocent for political reasons. To which the answer is an unequivocal "yes." Indeed, there is solid evidence of racist motive in the process as well. Should be quite a spectacle.

Alice says this is about "crime and crooks." Actually her job is about justice, though she seems incapable of understanding that. "Crime and crooks" reflects very accurately her pattern of prejudging everything, and of believing that anyone who opposes her, indeed anyone who's a Democrat is "corrupt" and a "crook." But is there any more corrupt and crooked person in public office than Alice Martin? I doubt it. Her office has been transformed under her leadership into the state's central bastion of corruption and abuse of power.

That is powerful language, and as usual, Horton is right on target. In fact, we are doing our best here at Legal Schnauzer to add to the growing body of evidence pointing to corruption in Alice Martin's office. Our most recent posting on the subject, from yesterday, can be read here. We have more coming later today.

Horton also has more today. In a post at his No Comment blog, Horton notes that the U.S. attorneys case now has officially moved beyond the investigation phase. A grand-jury referral in a case involving possible perjury by former Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. attorney Bradley Schlozman indicates a move toward the criminal-prosecution phase.

Schlozman was a blatantly partisan figure, Horton reports, but his case is only the beginning. Horton's sources say the most compelling cases, so far, linking Justice Department officials to possible criminal conduct come in New Mexico and California. Horton encourages us to stay tuned on those.

And what about Alabama, where this scandal has much of its roots? We will stay tuned for that, as well.