Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Sandbagged Novation LLC Prosecution

[IChing]

Source: Press Release 365

Kansas City, MO 04/16/07 -

Novation LLC a hospital supplier in Irving, Texas admitted in a Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals filing dated April 9th, 2007 that it was identified as a co-conspirator in a 2002 scheme to use US Bancorp’s trust division to prevent Medical Supply Chain from entering the market for hospital supplies by withholding escrow accounts and misusing the USA PATRIOT act as a pretext.

On July 30, 2006 the British newspaper the Daily Mail reported that Novation was under a bribes probe by the US Department of Justice stating Novation; “…is being investigated by American prosecutors following accusations that it has accepted huge 'bribes' from medical manufacturers.”

On March 22, 2007, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales met in St. Louis with U.S. Attorneys Catherine L. Hanaway and Bradley J. Schlozman of Missouri districts to conduct an undisclosed discussion related to the conduct of US Attorney Bradley J. Schlozman.

Disappointed with the continuing US Department of Justice cover up, on April 9, 2007 Samuel Lipari publicly disclosed Medical Supply discovery revealing the US Attorneys targeted by Karl Rove and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales that resulted in Todd Graves being replaced by Bradley J. Schlozman a year earlier. John Wood was finally sworn in as the US Attorney for the Western District of Missouri on April 11, 2007.

Read more: http://www.pressrelease365.com/pr/government/federal/alberto-gonzales-novation-prosecution-1293.htm

---

Another piece to the story

[pberq]

1. Gonzales - criminal

[annabanana]

2. There are enough smoking guns in this guys hand to

re-equip ALL troops...

[chill_wind]

18. And let's not forget the 12 hr Heads Up he gave WH Andrew Card et al

and good old Karl, one might suppose, to have any electronic shred-fest they might have wanted to entertain when the Plame investigation went official.


Memory Lane... July 2005


"What did White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card learn from Alberto Gonzales and when did he learn it...and what did he do with that knowledge? This "whole new can of worms" (to quote CBS News' Bob Schieffer, on Sunday's Face the Nation) is to me the breaking news question of the day.

Why? Because on the show, Alberto Gonzales admitted that he called Andrew Card right after he was notified that the Justice Department had opened its investigation of the Plame leak...even though he formally notified The White House staff 12 hours later.

Here's the transcript of Bob Schieffer talking to Alberto Gonzales about this subject:

SCHIEFFER: Let me also shift to this whole Karl Rove controversy and the leak of the CIA agent who was his wife -- her name. You were the White House counsel when all of this took place. And according to Frank Rich in The New York Times this morning, on September 29th, 2003, when you were the White House counsel, the Justice Department notified you that it had opened an investigation into who outed Joe Wilson's wife, but that you waited 12 hours to notify White House staffers that they had to preserve materials connected to that case. That, of course, would give people time to shred documents and do any number of things. Why didn't you immediately notify the White House staff that this Justice Department investigation was about to commence?

(...)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-g-brant/the-gonzalescard-leak-w_b_4619.html

I always regarded that amazing revelation-- one he himself put out there to the whole world-- as an indication to the White House that he's had no plans ever, should the day come, to hang all by his lonesome.

They could fire him and his thousand smoking gun policy involvements or promote him. They promoted him.

[maddezmom]

3. K&R

[IChing]

4. This story has completely been lost and untold in the American Press

Hopefully someone will send this story to the Senate Judiciary Committee
before the hearings.

[Peace Patriot]

5. Conzo using Patriot Act surveillance and US Atty purge to do business?

Here are two more paragraphs.

"After Alberto Gonzales became Attorney General on February 3, 2005, the investigation of Novation was suppressed even though insider Novation executives came forward to the US Department of Justice with evidence of laundering hospital funds through the publicly traded electronic hospital supply marketplace Neoforma, Inc. that was then controlled by Novation, Volunteer Hospital Association (VHA), and University Health System Consortium (UHC) and is now owned by the electronic hospital supply marketplace GHX, LLC.

"In an April 18, 2005 affidavit, Medical Supply Chain founder Samuel Lipari complained about FBI misuse of USA PATRIOT Act surveillance powers. The affidavit described interception of electronic communications and searches by law enforcement officials being used to interfere with and obstruct Lipari’s civil prosecution of the Novation defendants in Medical Supply Chain, Inc., v. Novation LLC et al, US District Court for the W.D. of Missouri No. 05-0210-CV-W-ODS."

---

I don't quite understand the USA purge connection--the sentence about it is hard to follow--but it appears that USA Scholtzman was Gonzales' bag man on this one. We need to know who at Novation made big contributions to the Bush/Cheney campaign, or...what the connection was. Why was Gonzales protecting Novation?

And I supposed we should tack this question onto all others: When do we get our money back? All the zillions stolen directly from our government coffers--as payouts to the global corporate predators behind this junta--and in salaries and benefits to people like Gonzales, and the money it has cost consumers, pensioners and investors due to Bush Junta protection of favored corporations.

---

I have long suspected that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld were using torture, secret and unsecret prisons, and indefinite detention to do business--interrogating and offing inconvenient people, in their own business interest and that of their cronies; also, to hide/cover up their own crimes. I simply don't buy that these criminals do anything to "keep America safe." I don't think they have any interest whatever in national security. Exxon-Mobile security, maybe. But not that of the American people. So--if the torture is not for the stated purpose (catching terrorists and preventing terrorist attacks)--and I don't think it is--what is the torture FOR?

Similarly, it may be that "prosecuting Democrats" without evidence is a red herring in the US Atty scandal, and that the REAL goal of putting these toadies into US Atty positions was to protect certain corporate interests with ties to the Bush Junta.

[hootinholler]

6. Ok, where did Schlozman go?

Graves resigned. Schlozman stepped in, Wood was sworn in. What happened with Schlozman?

-Hoot

[phoebe]

33. more on Bradley Schlozman

http://www.fairness.com/resources/relation?relation_id=54362

snip

March 2007: "Missouri's photo ID law was struck down by the state Supreme Court in October 2006, just before the midterm elections. But by then, the Bush administration had used a loophole in the Patriot Act to appoint Bradley Schlozman, who had supervised the voting section of the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ at headquarters in Washington, as Graves' successor in the Western District. The loophole was closed by a vote of the Senate on Tuesday, but in March of 2006 Alberto Gonzales was able to make Schlozman a U.S. attorney without seeking confirmation from the Senate."

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/21/us_attorneys/index.html Bradley J. Schlozman Esq. is/has ...

How U.S. attorneys were used to spread voter-fraud fears: Long before it fired eight U.S. attorneys for political reasons, the Bush administration had politicized their jobs by making them push a favo March 21, 2007


by Mark Follman, Alex Koppelman and Jonathan Vanian (Salon)
QUOTE: ...sometimes pursuing an investigation can be just as effective as a conviction in providing that ammunition and creating an impression with the public that some sort of electoral reform is necessary. The battle between Democrats and Republicans over photo ID has been most contentious in so-called battleground states like New Mexico.

[phoebe]

7. more here

found at http://www.1115.org/2007/04/10/novation-llc-medicare-fraud-us-attorneys-accidental-deaths-firings/

snip

On March 9, 2005, Medical Supply Chain, Inc. filed a civil antitrust suit against Texas based Novation LLC, Volunteer Hospital Association (VHA), University Health System Consortium (UHC) and Neoforma, Inc., alleging that the companies formed a cartel and were involved in a scheme to monopolize hospital supplies to defraud Medicare through payments to administrators and kickbacks.

Todd P. Graves, U.S. Attorney for the western District of Missouri, was working on this anti-trust suit (i.e., prosecuting Novation et al).

A U.S. Department of Justice memo unearthed by Medical Supply Chain founder Samuel Lipari in the course of discovery in this anti-trust suit shows that the Attorney General’s office had targeted not eight but ten U.S. Attorneys, including Todd Graves.

The e-mail dated January 9th, 2006 from Kyle Sampson, chief of staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, to Harriet Miers and William Kelley at the White House, shows the ten U.S. Attorneys that were first selected to voluntarily resign or face termination. Attorneys that resigned were redacted. Todd P. Graves of Missouri resigned March 24, 2006.

Graves was replaced by Bradley J. Schlozman.

He worked in the Justice Department - and was one of the primary guys who helped get approval for Tom DeLay</strong>’s controversial Texas redistricting plan. In other words, a true Bush supporter.
<…>
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales used a little known provision of the USA PATRIOT Act to replace Todd P. Graves with Bradley Schlozman. Bradley Schlozman failed to prosecute public corruption related to the Medical Supply Chain litigation and failed to enforce civil rights laws related to the Novation LLC defendants’ success in getting Medical Supply Chain’s counsel Bret D. Landrith disbarred. Samuel Lipari raised these concerns before the US Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit. On January 16, 2007 Attorney General Gonzales tried to quell criticism of the mass US Attorney firings and the misuse of the USA PATRIOT Act by announcing John Wood would be taking Schlozman’s place in Kansas City.

And who, pray, is John Wood? He’s “the husband of Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Julie Myers and an ex-deputy general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget.” So delightfully incestuous, innit?

(2)



so we have more evidence of disenfranchising the voters amongst other things...

on edit :link

[phoebe]

8. more on John Wood

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/gonzales-appointed-attorney-close-to-permanent-replacement-2007-03-19.html

snip

Gonzales-appointed attorney close to permanent replacement
By Elana Schor
March 20, 2007
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a new U.S. attorney for Missouri late last week, replacing an interim prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales under a controversial Patriot Act provision that the upper chamber today will decide whether to reverse.

The Judiciary panel favorably reported U.S. attorney nominee John Wood, former chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and cousin of Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), to the floor last Thursday. Wood’s ascension comes amid the front-page fracas over the Justice Department’s decision to push out a group of U.S. attorneys last year.

If confirmed, Wood would replace Brad Schlozman, named by Gonzales’s office as interim U.S. attorney last March. The U.S. attorneys’ bill slated for a Senate vote today would prevent such interim appointments from serving longer than 120 days without the courts choosing a replacement.

snip

Schlozman was appointed U.S. attorney just as the Supreme Court began hearing a challenge to the redistricting. He replaced Todd Graves, who faced mounting pressure from Missouri Democrats to resign after it was revealed that his family members received contracts to run motor-vehicle license fee offices from Gov. Matt Blunt (R). The governor is the son of House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).


Lest we forget... John Wood was also involved in the management of the govt. role pertaining to Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/02/11/the_white_house_dodge_on_katrina/

snip

That question became even bigger this week as the Times reported yesterday on a fresh batch of e-mails dug up by congressional investigators. The e-mails showed that the White House was well informed on the night that Katrina hit -- much sooner than it has previously admitted -- that the levees were breached by Katrina's tidal surges. One e-mail from FEMA to Homeland Security chief of staff John Wood said that aerial surveys were showing a scene ''far more serious than media reports are currently reflecting. Finding extensive flooding and more stranded people than they had originally thought."

[IChing]

10. Thanks everyone that helped find more of this story n/t

[phoebe]

14. John Wood wrote regulations for 9/11 victims compensation fund

according to this article

http://www.showmenews.com/2007/Apr/20070412News027.asp

snip

Wood earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, then took a year off before entering Harvard Law School. During the interim he worked in the Washington office of another Missouri Republican, then-Sen. Jack Danforth.

He received his law degree at Harvard in 1996, then clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court under Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, himself a former Missouri assistant attorney general.

Wood joined the Bush administration in 2001, helping write regulations for the Sept. 11, 2001, victims’ compensation fund at the U.S. Department of Justice. He moved on to serve as a top adviser to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

more on the fund here

http://www.rmi.gsu.edu/rmi/faculty/klein/RMI_3500/Readings/Other/S11_FundSuccess.htm

[phoebe]

15. John Woods married to Julie Myers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement

another unqualified attorney according to this article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091901930.html

Immigration Nominee's Credentials Questioned

By Dan Eggen and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, September 20, 2005; Page A01

The Bush administration is seeking to appoint a lawyer with little immigration or customs experience to head the troubled law enforcement agency that handles those issues, prompting sharp criticism from some employee groups, immigration advocates and homeland security experts.

The push to appoint Julie Myers to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, comes in the midst of intense debate over the qualifications of department political appointees involved in the sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina.

snip

Concerns over Myers, 36, were acute enough at a Senate hearing last week that lawmakers asked the nominee to detail during her testimony her postings and to account for her management experience. Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) went so far as to tell Myers that her résumé indicates she is not qualified for the job.


snip

Myers also was an associate under independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr for about 16 months and has most recently served as a special assistant to President Bush handling personnel issues.

Her uncle is Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, the departing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She married Chertoff's current chief of staff, John F. Wood, on Saturday.

and there we have it...

[saigon68]

28. Gen. Richard B. Myers= @War criminal

Mass Murderer

[phoebe]

17. more on John F. Wood

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/news2007/wood.htm

Following law school, he served as a law clerk for Judge J. Michael Luttig on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and for Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court of the United States. He then practiced law at a leading national law firm.

Mr. Wood joined the Bush Administration in 2001 and held several prominent positions prior to becoming U.S. Attorney. He has previously served at the Department of Justice as a Deputy Associate Attorney General and as a Counselor to Attorney General John D. Ashcroft. He has also worked at the White House as Deputy General Counsel for the Office of Management and Budget. His last job prior to being nominated by the President to serve as U.S. Attorney was as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is the third largest department of the federal government with approximately 180,000 employees and an annual budget of over $40 billion.

[seafan]

9. SEND THIS TO LEAHY, WAXMAN, CONYERS before Gonzales testifies tomorrow.

US Attorney General's office stalled investigation of Novation, LLC's hospital supply kickback practices. Alberto Gonzales was a senior partner in the law firm representing Novation, LLC.


Full story

Press Release 365 : 04/16/2007 - Novation LLC a hospital supplier in Irving, Texas admitted in a Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals filing dated April 9th, 2007 that it was identified as a co-conspirator in a 2002 scheme to use US Bancorp’s trust division to prevent Medical Supply Chain from entering the market for hospital supplies by withholding escrow accounts and misusing the USA PATRIOT act as a pretext.

.....

On July 31, 2006 the London Times reported the existence of the US Department of Justice investigation of Novation’s conduct as a hospital group purchasing organization or “GPO” and quoted Professor Prakash Sethi, president of the International Center for Corporate Accountability at Baruch College in New York who stated “My most conservative estimates suggest that GPOs extract extra profits of $5 billion (£2.6 billion) to $6 billion which legitimately belong to their principal clients, the hospitals.”

After Alberto Gonzales became Attorney General on February 3, 2005, the investigation of Novation was suppressed even though insider Novation executives came forward to the US Department of Justice with evidence of laundering hospital funds through the publicly traded electronic hospital supply marketplace Neoforma, Inc. that was then controlled by Novation, Volunteer Hospital Association (VHA), and University Health System Consortium (UHC) and is now owned by the electronic hospital supply marketplace GHX, LLC.

In an April 18, 2005 affidavit, Medical Supply Chain founder Samuel Lipari complained about FBI misuse of USA PATRIOT Act surveillance powers. The affidavit described interception of electronic communications and searches by law enforcement officials being used to interfere with and obstruct Lipari’s civil prosecution of the Novation defendants in Medical Supply Chain, Inc., v. Novation LLC et al, US District Court for the W.D. of Missouri No. 05-0210-CV-W-ODS

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales confirmed the existence of the program for warrantless surveillance, first reported in The New York Times, on December 19, 2005. However on January 25, 2006 Gonzales wrote that “there has not been a single verified abuse of any of the provisions” of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Samuel Lipari again complained on October 12, 2006 in the US Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit in St. Louis, Missouri that US District Attorney Bradley J. Schlozman failed to investigate evidence of public corruption brought to his office and permitted obstruction of justice to continue despite the injuries to Samuel Lipari, his family and associates.

On January 16, 2007 Attorney General Gonzales responded to criticism of his misuse of the USA PATRIOT Act by announcing John Wood would be taking Bradley Schlozman's place in Kansas City two days before he gave his previous testimony to Congress.

And, just 4 days ago we learned that Jeb Bush has just been appointed to the Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare board. This company was the subject of multiple investigations into Medicare overbilling, and finally reached a $900 million settlement with the US government last year.


Well, now, isn't that interesting that old Jeb's suddenly found *a new priority*.

[blossomstar]

41. Isn't Tenet the company Carol Lamm was working on?

right before she was fired?

[phoebe]

11. More on Todd P. Graves

http://www.firedupmissouri.com/todd_graves_to_resign

Sources tell Fired Up! that Todd P. Graves, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, will be resigning his position.

Through his spokesman, Don Ledford, U.S. Attorney Graves declined to comment for this story.

Speculation in Jefferson City was rampant over the reasons for Graves decision. The most popular theory is that he fears that there may be investigations coming before his office that he would find personally uncomfortable to oversee. He might also be concerned about having to suffer the public embarassment of recusing himself from very important cases because of his conflicts of interest.

Graves has been no stranger to controversy during his tenure as U.S. Attorney. Last year, Graves was criticized for accepting a lucrative no-bid contract from the administration of Governor Matt Blunt, a politician whose actions are subject to scrutiny by Graves' office. The contract is worth several million dollars to Graves and his wife.

By tradition, senior U.S. Senator Kit Bond would play a key role in the selection of Graves replacement.

However, given the ongoing feud between the Graves family, Senator Bond, and GOP House Speaker Rod Jetton, the selection process in this situation might be quite complex.

In addition, given the recent questions over Speaker Rod Jetton's financial shenanigans, Bond's role in the Missouri Millenium Fund, and the fee office pyramid scheme run by Governor Blunt and his political allies--including Graves, his family, and their political associates--the Public Integrity Unit at the Justice Deparment may also weigh in on the selection process.

[IChing]

12. Could the missing e-mails be tied to this story too?

This sounds like it came from justice and the white house.

[phoebe]

16. anything's possible - the rampant cronyism and corruption throughout

*co. is becomg more and more transparent. John Woods is married to Julie Myers, niece of Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers and was also deemed unqualified but "somehow" got the job... see what I posted re: this..

on edit: sp

[phoebe]

34. Todd Graves is brother of US Rep. Sam Graves

according to this article

http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=Bradley+Schlozman&ei=UTF-8&fr=sbc-web&u=www.kcactive.com/news/newscomm/index.htm&w=bradley+schlozman&d=YYreIvmdOeUt&icp=1&.intl=us

snip

The case against Shields and her attorney husband was brought by Bradley J. Schlozman, acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, a Justice Department official from Washington who was appointed Acting U.S. Attorney last March by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. Schlozman has never been confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

As U.S. Attorney, Schlozman succeeded Todd Graves, brother of Republican U.S. Rep. Sam Graves of the 6th Missouri District. Todd Graves had carried on an intensive and lengthy investigation of Shields’ conduct as Jackson County Executive but Shields was never charged. Todd Graves resigned early last year as U.S. Attorney. Todd’s wife and her brother each operated lucrative Missouri license fee offices under appointment from Republican Gov. Matt Blunt. Both fee offices are in the Western District, which raised conflict of interest questions for Todd Graves.


Sam Graves took money from Indian tribes involved with Jack Abramoff..

[phoebe]

35. aha - The Blunts (Matt and Roy) are up to their eyeballs in this thing too

http://www.politicalcortex.com/story/2006/1/9/93352/19226

snip

Finally, Governor Matt Blunt has tried to prevent the U.S. Attorney's office from investigating his family's scandals by putting the wife of U.S. Attorney Todd Graves (U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri) on the Blunt Family payroll to the tune of a cool half million dollars a year, and he used taxpayer dollars to do it. This is described in the Kansas City Star. And here is an excerpt from a petition to Attorney General Gonzales demanding an investigation of this corruption:


It has recently been reported that United States Attorney Todd Graves and his family will personally benefit from no-bid state contracts valued at more than $3.6 million given by Missouri Governor Matt Blunt. This raises serious ethical and legal questions concerning Mr. Graves' ability to perform his job, which includes investigating and prosecuting public corruption in federal, state and local government, including the Blunt administration, those who might attempt to influence the Blunt administration, or Blunt's father, the United States Congressman from Missouri's 7th District.

Awarding these contracts to the Graves family effectively undermines any attempt by the United States Attorney's Office to investigate claims of public corruption as they did against former Speaker of the House Bob Griffin or Attorney General William Webster...

On Feb. 9, 2005 the Blunt administration announced that Tracy Graves, wife of United States Attorney Todd Graves, had been given a no-bid contract to run the second most lucrative motor vehicle fee office in Missouri, located in Gladstone. As the fee agent, Tracy Graves will gross more than $2.6 million over the next four years of Governor Blunt's term. US Attorney Todd Graves' brother-in-law, Todd Bartles, was also awarded a $1 million no-bid contract to run the Sugar Creek Motor Vehicle Fee Office.

In addition, two congressional staffers to Congressmen Sam Graves, who is the brother of United States Attorney Todd Graves, were also given no-bid contracts, even as they continue to be on the Federal Government's payroll. Congressman Sam Graves' Deputy Chief of Staff Dean Brookshier was given a no-bid contract to run the Chillicothe office and Field Representative Naomi Boss was awarded the Keytesville office.

This arrangement goes far beyond the appearance of impropriety. One could reasonably argue that this lucrative contract will ensure that the Blunt administration is never investigated for corruption or wrongdoing as long as United States Attorney Graves and his family are personally getting rich off of the administration.


Entire article is very informative

[phoebe]

36. Roy Blunt = Bushco. crony and ties to Abramoff

http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2005/10/05/who-is-roy-blunt/

snip

By voting “no” on the Farr Amendment, Roy Blunt voted to keep Section 102 in H.R. 418, giving a Bush administration bureaucrat the ability to nullify any law without judicial review of that decision. Where we come from, they call that dictatorship.

By voting “no” on the Scott Amendment, Rep. Blunt voted to keep language in H.R. 27 allowing organizations to engage in government-funded religious discrimination in hiring. We had thought that bigotry was old hat, and that the separation of church and state was secure. With this vote, Rep. Blunt helped to weaken the constitution and bring bigotry back in style.
Roy Blunt has failed to support H.R. 2412, which would provide more information to the public about contacts between lobbyists and politicians, and which would slow down the revolving door of politics in which politicians move into cushy corporate jobs after they retire in exchange for favors. What is Representative Blunt’s problem with ethics?

snip

Rep. Blunt has failed to support H.R. 550, which would sensibly require the establishment of a backup paper record of votes for those times when electronic voting machines fail. Why is Rep. Blunt unwilling to protect the bedrock of democracy, Americans’ faith that every vote counts?
Rep. Blunt has failed to support H.R. 952, which would put an end to the practice of “extraordinary rendition,” in which Bush Administration officials send people into the custody of certain nations, knowing full well (some would say intending) that they will be tortured there. Extraordinary rendition is another stain on the moral clarity of the United States. It is a horrible irony that in a “War on Terror,” the United States government would enable the use of terror as a tool. Why is Roy Blunt unwilling to stand against American complicity in the use of torture?

snip

At a time when our budget deficit is soaring, George W. Bush and the Congress should be finding ways for the American people to fulfill their responsibilities to future generations. That means that we must pay our way: when Bush and the Congress propose and pass large budgets, they must provide for their payment as well. Yes, this means taxes. But while the Republican-controlled Congress is allowing the government’s budget to spiral wildly higher, it irresponsibly suggests that we ought to cut taxes. And to make matters worse, the taxes they propose to cut are taxes paid by those who can by definition afford to pay them: the wealthy. Nobody has to pay a penny for anything up to a million dollars they get in income when a relative dies. But H.R. 8 would permanently eliminate income taxes on any unearned money over a million bucks that people receive as part of an inheritance. You and I won’t get that kind of inheritance: it’s the already filthy rich who will benefit. At this time of budget deficits, we shouldn’t be cutting away these sorts of taxes. It’s not fiscally prudent. It’s radically regressive. By supporting this legislation, Republican Majority Leader Roy Blunt has decided to act in an irresponsible manner that is fiscally dangerous to us all.

and more on the delightful Blunt family here
http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2005/10/05/ap-republican-party-leaders-tom-delay-and-roy-blunt-laundered-each-others-funny-money/

snip

DeLay, Successor Blunt Swapped Donations Between Secretive Groups
Tom DeLay deliberately raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 presidential convention, then diverted some of the excess to longtime ally Roy Blunt through a series of donations that benefited both men’s causes.

When the financial carousel stopped, DeLay’s private charity, the consulting firm that employed DeLay’s wife and the Missouri campaign of Blunt’s son all ended up with money, according to campaign documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist recently charged in an ongoing federal corruption and fraud investigation, and Jim Ellis, the DeLay fundraiser indicted with his boss last week in Texas, also came into the picture.

snip

Both groups, DeLay’s and Blunt’s, were simultaneously paying Ellis, the longtime DeLay fundraiser who was indicted along with his boss in Texas in the alleged money laundering scheme.


So were the attorneys being fired for looking into Republican corruption - the answer has to be yes..

[phoebe]

44. more on Blunt from Bradblog - Blunt scandal investigation was stopped

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4429

snip

Arkansas U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins Was Fired Just After Reports Surfaced of Investigation into Law Firm of Top Level White House/GOP Operative and Close-Friend-of-Rove, Thor Hearne
Was Replaced by Rove Aide Timothy Griffin...

snip

Media reports from May of 2006, describe a corruption investigation by Cummins' office into MO Gov. Matt Blunt's use of the Missouri lawfirm Lathrop & Gage LC to run a chain of satellite state licensing offices.

Lathrop & Gage is the powerful firm of Blunt's general counsel, and Bush/Cheney '04's national general counsel Mark F. "Thor" Hearne.

snip

He (Cummins)was replaced at that point with Karl Rove's personal aide Timothy Griffin.


snip

I can't underscore enough Hearne's highly placed position as a White House operative, as the man behind the GOP's entire, systematic and well-financed "voter fraud" scheme/initiative (which has played directly into several of the other firings), his longtime efforts on behalf of and under the direct employ of MO Gov. Matt Blunt (son of the powerful GOP minority House Whip Roy Blunt), his position as a top attorney in the Republican National Lawyers Association (singled out by Rove during an April 2006 speech to that group of Republican election attorneys), and of course, as the national general counsel for Bush/Cheney '04 Inc.

It seems to reason then, that the Cummins investigation into Blunt and Lathrop Gage's questionable handling of those satellite state offices --- for profit --- would definitely have triggered alarm bells in the White House. Someone needs to inquire along those lines.

[phoebe]

45. Hearne's testimony at HAVA hearing

http://cha.house.gov/hearings/Testimony.aspx?TID=665

snip

Testimony By Mark F. (Thor) Hearne II
National Counsel
American Center for Voting Rights

Mr. Hearne. Thank you, Chairman Ney and members of the House Administration Committee. Because of the late hour my testimony has been presented and, as the Ranking Member requested, I will give you just a brief overview of what I did address in that testimony and I will be available for any questions.

My name is Thor Hearne. I am a principal of the Lathrop and Gage Law Firm, I am a long-time advocate of voter rights and an attorney experienced in election law. I was asked and served on the Missouri HAVA implementation committee which helped Missouri comply with HAVA and bring Missouri into compliance. I was asked to serve in that capacity by Secretary of State Matt Blunt.

Today I am here in my capacity as the counsel for the American Center for Voting Rights. The American Center for Voting Rights is a nonpartisan watchdog voting rights organization and legal defense organization which is committed to defend the rights of voters and to work to increase public confidence in the fairness of our election process.

I am joined in this effort by almost a dozen different Ohio lawyers who were involved in this past election representing several of this state's most prestigious law firms. During the conduct of the last election different events were brought to our attention. This report of these events has been assembled and we presented it to the committee. I would ask, Mr. Chairman, that this report be included in the record.


so he was hired by Blunt and was "joined in this effort by almost a dozen different Ohio lawyers"...a coincidence - methinks not...

[phoebe]

46. more on Hearne

http://www.molawyersweekly.com/loty/hearne.htm

Hearne's rise to the national election team began in the fall of 2003, when President Bush's uncle, Bucky Bush, asked him to be the general counsel to the Bush-Cheney campaign in Missouri. During the Republican convention in August, he was asked to be the sole national counsel to the campaign and advise the campaign on national legal strategy and election litigation.

"This position involved recruiting and organizing a legal team in each battleground state and specifically in each major contested county," he said. Additionally, he said he advised the campaign manager, in-house general counsel, political director and others on both legal strategy and specific litigation that could affect the election.

"There were more than 65 different lawsuits that the Kerry campaign, Democrat party organizations and their proxy groups filed during the three months leading up to election day," he said. "Of these lawsuits, every one was successfully resolved in favor of the Republicans."


His father was head of Westminster Christian Academy - another point in his favor no doubt.
His brother is Republican Matt Hearne

More on Hearne here
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=1708

MARK "THOR" HEARNE II: ACVR LEGISLATIVE FUND COUNSEL

Hearne Served As A Republican "Observer" In Bush-Gore Recount. St. Louis lawyer Mark "Thor" Hearne, served as a Republican observer in Broward County's manual recount. Republican lawyers supporting Texas Gov. Bush fought for standards that ban unsevered chad from counting as votes. And Democratic lawyers, believing most of that chad would swing Gore's way, asked the courts to include the unpunctured ballots - even in cases when the same voters properly punched out the chad for other races on their ballots. Hearne opposed counting dimples as votes saying it could further complicate the chaos. "If somebody says there is a dimple on Gore . . . and if there's a bigger dimple for Bush, who gets the vote?" The Florida Supreme Court's unanimous ruling seemed to nudge the conflicted counters toward accepting imperfectly punched ballots.

Hearne Was Republican Lawyer In Missouri Redistricting Fight; Made Thousands Off Of Fight He Forced. In 2002, the St .Louis County Council was redistricted in light of the 2000 census figures. While the council attempted to resolve the fight without resorting to a lawsuit, Hearne was involved in the negotiations at the protest of the members of the council since he had already filed a suit to bring the redistricting to the courts. After the lawsuit was resolved Hearne submitted a bill to the county for $208,516.01 that included "travel expenses for an expert witness from Washington and $792 in meals - including a $214.21 dinner at Harry's Restaurant the night the trial ended." Later a judge forced Hearne to reduce his fees saying, "'It appears to me that the Corbett lawyers simply ran up the hours, expecting the taxpayers to foot their unreasonable bill,' the judge wrote. She said the bill from the lawyers for the Republicans included 'lengthy conferences with one another, and other items that were not necessary or reasonable for the case.'"

Hearne Advocated for Bush to Pick A Right Wing Justice for the Supreme Court. "A traditional, conservative nominee along the lines of Scalia and Thomas is probably the kind of justice who would be good for all Americans, and particularly those in the business community," says Mark F. Hearne II, a principle at Lathrop & Gage who served as national election counsel to the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.

[phoebe]

47. Griffin more than likely put in place to f*c* over Hillary in Arkansas

amongst other things..

[phoebe]

13. looks like GE was involved in a separate case, or is it the same?

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/12/emw489678.htm

$450 Million Dollar Medical Supply Lawsuit Returned to Missouri State Court


Samuel Lipari wins remand order following an untimely removal of state contract claims that exposed Health Care Corruption

Independence, MO (PRWeb) December 12, 2006 -- Medical Supply Chain founder Samuel Lipari's lawsuit for $450 million dollars in damages over a contract with General Electric (GE) to finance the Independence Missouri firm's entry into the hospital supply market in June 2003 was returned to Jackson County 16th Circuit Court at Independence by the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The GE defendants attempted to remove the case to US District Court on July 17, 2006 after General Electric lost a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on May 31, 2006 and failed to attend two Jackson County Circuit Court hearings or participate in court ordered mediation since the lawsuit was filed March 22, 2006. The lawsuit is Lipari v General Electric, et al, Case # 0616-CV07421

United States District Judge Hon. Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr. ordered the lawsuit remanded back to Jackson County 16th Circuit Court of the State of Missouri on November 29, 2006 because the federal court lacked jurisdiction.

The lawsuit defendants General Electric Company, General Electric Capital Business Asset Funding Corporation and GE Transportation System Global Signaling, LLC are represented by the St. Louis, Missouri law firm Husch & Eppenberger, LLC through their Kansas City, Missouri attorney John K. Power. John K. Power, Husch & Eppenberger, LLC 1200 Main Street Suite 2300 Kansas City, MO 64105, [phone].

Samuel Lipari is the founder of Medical Supply Chain and is currently launching a consumer oriented discount medical supply business based in Independence, Missouri: http://MedicalSupplyLine.com Mr. Lipari is representing himself in the lawsuit.

[badgervan]

19. What is Happening to Our Country?

Unbelievable. And Gonzo denies all. Unbelievable. Impeach.

[phoebe]

20. Kit Bond seems to keep coming up - he is related to John Wood Esq.

and Catherine Hanaway Esq. used to ework in his office
and Catherina Hanaway worked for him..so what is his role in this whole thing??

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/campaign2002.nsf/0/844B5A120189E6B986256C600076420B?OpenDocument

snip

The candidates

Catherine Hanaway\ Home: Warson Woods

Age: 38

Occupation: State representative

Family status: Married, one daughter

Education: Bachelor's degree from Creighton University, law degree from Catholic University

Political experience: Director of Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond's St. Louis office in 1993, elected to Missouri House in 1998 and 2000, Missouri director of the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000.

[phoebe]

23. Bond - "Fitzgerald should not have brought case against Libby", illegal wiretaps OK

and is a good thing

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33560&dcn=todaysnews

snip

Specter has oversight over both the Justice Department and Pentagon. He has been developing legislation to require the National Security Agency to obtain court approval every 45 days to continue the domestic surveillance program. Specter indicated he would call in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to testify again on the issue, but did not rule out taking further action, including a funding limitation amendment.


"That was a suggestion that was very prominent if we cannot find some political solution to the disagreement with the executive branch. Our ultimate power is the power of the purse, which comes from the Appropriations Committee and the subcommittee on Defense," said Specter, who is a member of that subcommittee.


Specter's comments drew a rebuke from Senate Transportation-Treasury Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo.


"I would just say to my good friend from Pennsylvania I hope we don't do something like cut off the ability of our NSA to intercept calls from al-Qaida," Bond said. "As a member of the Intelligence Committee, I'm deeply involved in that and I have been briefed and I hope that we don't do anything like that."

He is also against whistleblowers..
and here he is expounding on the Libby case..

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/03/senator_says_libby_trial_shoul.php

snip

Former Dick Cheney adviser "Scooter" Libby was recently convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Libby's attorneys are requesting a new trial. Senator Kit Bond (R - Missouri) says although Libby needs to pay the consequences for lying, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald should not have brought the case in the first place. The lawmaker from the Show Me State notes that Fitzgerald knew early on that the source of the leak was former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

"eyond that, the disclosure was, in my view, not a violation because it does not appear that Mrs. Plame had been an overseas, undercover person within the timeframe submitted," says Bond; "and she and her husband were very open ... in social circles in Washington ."

Still, the Missouri senator says he respects the jury's verdict. "No individual can obstruct justice and testify falsely to a grand jury and expect to get away with it," he says flatly. "After hearing the testimony, the jury concluded Mr. Libby was not truthful, and justice has been served." He calls it "a sad end" for Libby and his family. "It's unfortunate to see public officials act in such a way," he adds, "but if you lie, you pay the consequences."

Bond believes Valerie Plame and her husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, are using the Libby case as a means to further "their own desires for fame and wealth."

[phoebe]

27. Kit Bond, HAVA (Help America Vote Act) and Abramoff

http://www.firedupmissouri.com/bond_and_abramoff

snip

In 2001 and 2002, Senator Kit Bond’s top legislative priority was the passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), and his top political priority was trying to get Jim Talent elected to the United States Senate.

In the spring of 2002, Kit Bond used a shadowy fundraising committee, called the Missouri Millennium Fund, to pursue both goals simultaneously.

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that the Justice Department is looking into the activities of Congressman Robert Ney (R-Ohio). Ney was the lead sponsor of HAVA in the House and Bond was the lead Republican in the Senate.
According to the WaPo story, in the spring of 2002, Ney began working to insert language into HAVA to benefit the Indian gaming clients of GOP super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Soon after, in March 2002, Ney agreed to sponsor legislation that would benefit the Tigua tribe of El Paso, an Abramoff and Scanlon client. They wanted Ney's help to reopen the Tiguas's casino, which the state of Texas had shut down.

"Just met with Ney!!! We're f'ing gold!!!! He's going to do Tigua," Abramoff told Scanlon in a March 20, 2002, e-mail.

Six days later, Abramoff directed tribal officials to make three contributions totaling $32,000 to Ney's campaign and political action committees.

You will note that the price for Ney’s efforts to modify HAVA to benefit Abramoff was a little over $30,000.

The MMF was described in the Columbia Daily Tribune by one board member as “a political action committee created by Bond to raise money for GOP candidates in Missouri.” In 2002, the Missouri Republican Party was spending its time and money trying to get Jim Talent elected to the United States Senate.

In the spring and summer of 2002, Bond, via MMF, raised $30,000 from Indian gaming clients of Jack Abramoff, just as Abramoff was lobbying to get provisions benefiting his client in the legislation that Bond has stated repeatedly was his single biggest priority.

[phoebe]

29. US Sues Missouri over voters in 2004 election

http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=43494

snip

Nov 24 2005

US sues Missouri over voters in 2004 election
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has sued Missouri, a swing state won easily by President George W. Bush, for voting violations in the 2004 election, including registering more people to vote in some counties than their entire voting-age population.

The complaint, filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, said 29 Missouri counties and election jurisdictions had more people registered to vote than there actually were people of voting age living in those areas.

One Missouri county, for instance, showed voter registrations that amounted to more than 150 percent of the true voting-age population in that county.

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan acknowledged the voting irregularities in the 2004 federal election but said in a statement that the Justice Department's decision to file suit was costly and unjustified as the state was working to correct its voters rolls.

``Clearly, a problem exists. It defies common sense that we would have more registered voters than people of voting age in any Missouri county,'' said Carnahan. ``The Secretary of State's office and the Department of Justice share the same goal of ensuring fair and accurate elections.''

The lawsuit also alleges that some voters were removed from registration lists without notification, in violation of the law, while some ineligible voters were not removed.

[Ian David]

21. And if it weren't for you meddling Democrats...

... and that pesky dog, they would have gotten away with it, too!

All they had to do was hold on a few more months until The Rapture...

Any day now...

Any day...

What?

Pelosi is negotiating PEACE?

[caligirl]

22. called Waxman and Feinstein's Ca. offices and gave this story to them today.

[IChing]

24. Thanks n/t

[phoebe]

25. Novation is part of Cardinal Health Inc. which may be sued by the SEC

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/01/26/sec_may_sue_cardinal_founder/

snip

SEC may sue Cardinal founder
By Mark Williams, AP Business Writer | January 26, 2007

COLUMBUS, Ohio --Robert Walter, the founder of Cardinal Health Inc., may be sued by federal regulators over accounting issues with the health care products and services company that date back to 2003.


Walter, scheduled to step down as chairman next year after giving up his role of chief executive last year, and four former officers and employees, have been notified that the Securities and Exchange Commission may begin civil or administrative action against them, Cardinal Health said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The action is separate from an SEC investigation of Cardinal and would not affect the company, Jason Strohm, vice president of investor relations, said on Friday.

The filing did not identify the other people involved. Walter was not available for comment on Friday, Cardinal spokesman Troy Kirkpatrick said.

SEC spokesman John Heine said he could not confirm whether the SEC staff is investigating. He said such disclosures usually are made by the companies.

Under SEC procedures, the notification means that the SEC staff has made a preliminary decision to recommend that the commission file a lawsuit in federal court or take similar action before an SEC administrative law judge. All five have the opportunity to respond before the staff makes any formal recommendation to the SEC.


Wonder what, if anything, Gonzales et al. have to do with this?

[phoebe]

26. more on Cardinal Health and accounting fraud

http://securities.stanford.edu/1031/CAH04-02/2005422_r01c_04575.pdf

Cardinal overstated operating revenue by $26 billion
found on p.8 of 222

apparently with the help of Arthur Andersen and definitively with Ernst and Young (p.14 of 222)
and there's plenty more..

[mod mom]

31. Wanna bet SEC goes easy on Cardinal:

17
Cardinal Health $266,926 with 80% to Republicans
?
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.asp?Ind=H04&cycle=2006

[DCKit]

30. AVALANCHE!!!!!!

What really intrigues me is the depth of what we don't even have a clue about yet.

[caligirl]

32. gave case number and press release location to Leahy's office this am.

[phoebe]

37. more on Novation LLC - 2 US Attorneys have died while looking into this case

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/9/emw158950.htm

snip

Second US Attorney Death in Novation Medicare Fraud Case”

US Attorney Shannon Ross, the second death in the Ft. Worth, TX US Attorney office connected to the government’s investigation of Novation, GE and other GHX members for Medicare fraud

Kansas City, MO (PRWEB) September 17, 2004 -- Assistant US Attorney for Texas, Shannon Ross died on Monday September 13th, 2004. Shannon Ross, who supervised 70 US Justice Department prosecutors, had issued the criminal subpoenas to healthcare suppliers General Electric in addition to other members of GHX, LLC that do business with Novation, the largest healthcare GPO, under the investigation that sparked the New York Times article “Wide U.S. Inquiry Into Purchasing For Health Care” on Saturday August 21, 2004.

Sam Lipari, President of Medical Supply Chain, Inc. stated that Ms. Ross was a courageous believer in the rule of law and that the Ft. Worth, TX Office of the US Attorney was the first to actually obtain manufacturer records and compare them to the monopolist suppliers and their client hospitals. Medical Supply Chain, Inc. has alleged that Medicare is overcharged by sum 40% through Sherman Act prohibited supplier cartels in the $1.8 Trillion dollar healthcare industry and is civilly prosecuting Novation’s joint venture partners GE and US Bancorp Piper Jaffray for conspiring to keep its more efficient web based marketplace from providing lower cost products to hospitals.

Shannon Ross’ death was preceded by the death of Thelma Quince Colbert on July 20th, also of the Ft. Worth US Attorney’s office and the head of a special civil litigation unit that prosecuted companies for defrauding government-funded programs.

About Medical Supply Chain
Medical Supply Chain, Inc. (MSCI) is a Health System service center providing supply chain resources and technology to the health system (hospital) and their trading partners. MSCI supports and complements the work and goals of the supply chain professional in their pursuit to strategically direct supply-chain activities and relationships. When this occurs real supply-chain value will find its way into healthcare and only then will the layers of cost and inefficiencies be removed. MSCI transforms health systems with empowerment to control their own supply chain costs.


on edit: Thelma Quince Colbert was found floating in her swimming pool....

[phoebe]

38. more on Novation LLC and Medicare fraud

http://www.masimo.com/NYTimes/NYTimes_08212004.htm

snip

The Justice Department has opened a broad criminal investigation of the medical-supply industry, apparently to determine whether hospitals and other medical care providers are fraudulently overcharging Medicare and other federal and state health programs for a wide array of goods - from rubber gloves to drugs to X-ray machines.

More than a dozen medical-supply companies recently received federal subpoenas in what appears to be a wide-ranging investigation into the way suppliers market products to clinics, hospitals and nursing homes that serve Medicare and Medicaid patients, and whether those institutions properly account for the purchases.

snip

The Justice Department has opened a broad criminal investigation of the medical-supply industry, apparently to determine whether hospitals and other medical care providers are fraudulently overcharging Medicare and other federal and state health programs for a wide array of goods - from rubber gloves to drugs to X-ray machines.

More than a dozen medical-supply companies recently received federal subpoenas in what appears to be a wide-ranging investigation into the way suppliers market products to clinics, hospitals and nursing homes that serve Medicare and Medicaid patients, and whether those institutions properly account for the purchases.

snip

Novation's business practices, which were the subject of an investigation in 2002 by The New York Times, have drawn criticism from several parties , including the antitrust subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The practices under scrutiny include questionable payments in the awarding of contracts and incomplete accounting of the rebates paid to hospitals and other medical centers

snip

In most cases, suppliers are not permitted to make gifts or payments to purchasing agents for health facilities that receive Medicare money, because of the risk that some might offer kickbacks in their efforts to win business. But Novation operates within a "safe harbor" of the anti-kickback law, created specially for hospital purchasing groups

snip

But because Novation is not publicly traded, there is no public accounting of these distributions. Some of the distributions are not made in cash, meanwhile, but in coupons that hospitals can use to purchase consulting services from VHA.



Someone was profiting from these kickbacks....

[phoebe]

39. so Carol Lam was investigating Tenet Healthcare for Medicare fraud

http://www.pressrelease365.com/pr/government/federal/graves-attorney-general-gonzales-1275.htm

snip

The Western District of Missouri US Attorney office under Todd P. Graves had been active in prosecuting Medicare fraud. Medical Supply Chain, Inc.'s civil antitrust suit against Texas based Novation LLC, Volunteer Hospital Association (VHA), University Health System Consortium (UHC) and Neoforma, Inc. alleges the companies formed a cartel and were involved in a scheme to monopolize hospital supplies to defraud Medicare through payments to administrators and kickbacks. The scheme resulted in almost all of Kansas City, Missouri St. Luke's hospital's one hundred million dollar supply budget being purchased through Novation LLC. St. Luke's merged with University of Kansas Hospital after Irene Cumming, CEO of the University of Kansas Hospital was given a job by University Health System Consortium (UHC) on March 19, 2007.

The first prosecutor identified as being fired by the Office of the Attorney General was Carol Lam, a U.S. Attorney in San Diego, California. Carol Lam was personally prosecuting Medicare fraud at the Tenet Healthcare Alvarado hospital when political pressure was brought on the Justice Department to remove her from office. Carol Lam's prosecution caused the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services threatened to cut Medicare and Medicaid funds to Alvarado Hospital Case # 03CR15870 US Dist. Court Southern California.

On May 17, 2006, Alvarado Hospital's parent company, Tenet Healthcare, agreed to sell or close the hospital and pay $21 million to settle criminal and civil charges.

The Medical Supply Chain discovered documents include a December 4, 2006 e-mail from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson targeting Carol Lam. On December 7, 2006, the Justice Department fired Carol Lam and the six other U.S. attorneys that refused to resign.

Great article

[donkeyotay]

40. While looking for info on Blunt's Rely on Your Beliefs fund

I came across this:

Texas campaign probe seeks checks, records

By Dean Calbreath
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 25, 2006

Texas state prosecutors have intensified their probe into whether a Poway-based defense contractor helped funnel money to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political action committee.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle – who has indicted DeLay and several close associates on charges that they illegally used corporate contributions – issued subpoenas to four men associated with PerfectWave, a company owned by Poway businessman Brent Wilkes, who has been identified as a co-conspirator in the bribery case of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/cunningham/20060125-9999-1n25perfect.html

You don't suppose that this is why Delay is out now crowing about how he's not going to be prosecuted? I didn't realize how much these two scandals overlapped.

Sorry if this is off topic, but I thought I'd include it for a kick since it's too late to recommend.

[phoebe]

42. Kevin Ring - is also tied to Blunt

http://www.firedupmissouri.com/club_abramoff

While Fired Up has been beating the drum on this front for some time, Roy Blunt's ascension to the post of Majority Leader has caused the media to try with renewed vigor to peel back the curtain of corruption and reveal the unsavory connections between Blunt, Delay, and Abramoff. And folks are finding that, when you look close, you can see that the Blunt, Delay and Abramoff contingents are all a part of the same little club.

Take Todd Boulanger for instance. You may remember Boulanger as the "Team Abramoff" lobbyist who drafted an unprecedented letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton on behalf of the client Louisiana Coushatta tribe --a letter ultimately signed by Speaker Hastert, Republican Leader Tom Delay, and Republican Whip Roy Blunt. Abramoff, with Boulanger's help, took the Coushattas for about $32 million.

As it turns out, Boulanger was not only able to get Blunt to put pen to paper on behalf of Abramoff's client, but there were far more personal ties as well. You see, Abramoff deputy Boulanger is married to Jessica Incitto, a former Delay staffer who happens to be Press Secretary to --you guessed it-- Roy Blunt.

snip

Also of interest is a subscription only story in Roll Call that describes how Abramoff wound up at Cassidy:

A longtime confidant of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and the GOP leadership, Abramoff was brought into Cassidy by Gregg Hartley, a former top aide to House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

And while Abramoff ultimately wound up working with Boulanger and longtime Blunt consigliere Hartley at Cassidy & Associates in 2004, he had spent serious time working Blunt's staff for years before. This AP timeline of Delay-Blunt transactions indicates that in November of 2000, Abramoff's team charged its client, the Marianas Islands, for a meeting it held with Roy Blunt staffer Trevor Blackann.

Blackann, now a lobbyist, served on the legislative staff of Roy Blunt and later on that of Missouri Sen. Kit Bond (R-Knob Creek). And, it seems, Blackann took quite a liking to some of the Abramoff crew that lobbied him while he was on the Hill, as the press accounts indicate that he likes to spend free time sailing the Chesapeake with our old friend Todd Boulanger:

entire article worth a read

More on Kevin Ring on DU to be found here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2809997

[phoebe]

43. Jessica Incitto Boulanger

ties into AG scandal

Jessica Boulanger (Jessica Incitto), a former staffer for former House Majority Leader Thomas D. DeLay (R-Texas), is Press Secretary to House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Missouri). She is married to Todd A. Boulanger, a member of "Team Abramoff". <1>

Jessica Boulanger "took a leave of absence beginning in the summer of 2005 to work as spokesperson for Progress for America." "Boulanger will focus almost exclusively on the Supreme Court fight, providing added heft to the group's burgeoning media operation." <2><3>

she also ties into the Medicare issue...

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cf...

However, back to Progress for America..

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Progress_for...

snip

As the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform bill began working its way toward its eventual passage in Congress in 2002, long-time Republican strategists were already scheming how to get around the law’s ban on soft-money contributions. They found an answer in Progress for America (PFA).

PFA was registered as a 501c4 group in February 2001 by Tony Feather, a political director of the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign and partner at DCI Group as well as at the affiliated telemarketing and fundraising firm of Feather Larson Synhorst-DCI (FLS-DCI). Feather set up PFA as a “grassroots organization that mobilizes the public to contact their members of Congress about pending legislation and to write local newspapers to publicize the White House’s agenda,” the Center for Public Integrity wrote in 2002. During the first part of the George W. Bush administration, it led campaigns to support tax cuts, conservative judicial appointments and energy legislation.

snip

Progress for America and its Voter Fund reveal only as much as legally required about their leadership and membership. The group’s directors, advisors and chairs are not listed on their websites. But the Washington Post has identified a few of the groups’ principal figures. In addition to FLS-DCI’s Tom Synhorst, who is reported to have served as a key strategic adviser to PFA, other figures include James C. Cicconi, AT&T General Counsel; C. Boyden Gray, a prominent figure in many conservative groups, including Citizens for a Sound Economy (now called Freedom Works); and Marilyn Ware, chairman of American Water in Pennsylvania and a Bush Pioneer (meaning that she personally raised at least $100,000 for his campaign).

snip

In May 2005, PFA began running ads targeted at pressuring Republicans Senators into supporting a ban on Senate filibusters for judicial nominations. Associated Press reported that PFA would spend $350,000 on "radio ads on Christian stations" and $1.5 million on television ads to be run in Alaska, Arkansas, Maine, North Dakota, Nebraska and Rhode Island as well as nationally.<8> PFA coordinated their campaign with the Christian conservative group Focus on the Family and the Judicial Confirmation Network.<9><10>

In June 2005, The Hill reported that PFA intended to "spend at least $18 million on the expected fight to replace William Rehnquist, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court." PFA's campaign would include "national cable-news and broadcast-television ads in targeted states. The group will also coordinate grassroots organizers and public-relations specialists in 18 states, including states represented by centrist Republican senators such as Arizona, Maine and Oregon" The Hill wrote. The groups will also use phone-bank and direct-mail in its campaign. "Before Senate confirmation of Owen and Brown, PFA claims to have helped generate nearly 80,000 telephone calls supporting their nominations," The Hill reported. PFA will work closely with the Judicial Confirmation Network and the Committee for Justice on the campaign.<11>

On June 22, 2005, PFA issued a press release announcing a $700,000 campaign in anticipation of a Supreme Court Justice vacancy during the Court's summer break. The campaign included buys on big newspapers' internet sites, and a roll-out of a new website: Up or Down Vote.


If this doesn't tie into the AG scandal - then don't know what does..