Comments (19)

Crust wrote on March 20, 2007 5:12 PM:

Did Gonzales ever answer the question about the number of purged prosecutors? If not, this may be the reason.

peacebug wrote on March 20, 2007 5:47 PM:

it strains credibility to think that the very firm that represents jerry lewis contacted her to offer her a job and it didn't have anything to do with her office's prosecution of lewis.

if nothing else, simple ethics would have warned wong yang that this is a bad idea. perception would say: "don't take that job! it LOOKS BAD!"

on the other hand, money is a real draw, even though I'm sure she was making a nice salary as a USA.

observor wrote on March 20, 2007 5:54 PM:

Couple of very important facts buried in the other posts. Ted Olson is a senor partner at Gibson Dunn, which is reportedly paying her $1.5 million a year.

mbbsdphil wrote on March 20, 2007 5:56 PM:

Ms. Yang's purported $1.5 million signing bonus, if paid, would apparently be extraordinary in her legal market for a lateral partner with no business.

It is impossible to divorce that payment from the fact that shortly before joining her new firm, her USA office had issue a major indictment of one that firm's major clients. That creates a serious appearance of impropriety.

I do not doubt that Ms. Yang is extraordinarily capable. There is no evidence to doubt her motives, or that her firm will have put up a so-called Chinese wall to prevent her knowledge from being used by her new firm to benefit the person her office indicted for serious felonies. But the appearance of impropriety - especially in the context of this growing USA firing scandal - demands a thorough Congressional review.

Left Coaster wrote on March 20, 2007 6:07 PM:

Anybody want to bet $1.5 million that somebody -- Ted Olson maybe? -- didn't tip her the White House hammer was going fall? During her tenure her office unsucessfully prosecuted a Clinton fundraiser, botched an investigation of an alleged Chinese double agent who was shacked up with an FBI agent and pushed Mayor Jim Hahn from office with a phoney baloney "pay for play" probe that ended up getting two low-level PR execs for supposedly overbilling clients something like $300K, a case most federal prosecutors would laugh at.

Anonymous wrote on March 20, 2007 6:10 PM:

The AG's comment when she quit on 10/16/06:

“Debra Wong Yang is one of the most respected U.S. Attorneys in the country. She has done a remarkable job in leading the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, which handles some of our Nation’s largest and most difficult cases,” said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. “She was selected to serve on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, a small group of U.S. Attorneys that I consult on policy matters, and she served in this and other capacities with great distinction. She is an energetic leader and has an amazing ability to build connections with community leaders at all levels.”

pj wrote on March 20, 2007 7:30 PM:

Congress needs to investigate the record of every single USA who was not fired. Clearly the ethical ones were purged and the dangerous unethical ones were bribed. But all those reemaining pledged the Bushco loyalty oath which means none are to be trusted.

comadrejo wrote on March 20, 2007 7:32 PM:

If Feinstein's hunt in Carol Lam's firing and if there was an ulterior motive for offering Debra Wong Yang over a million dollars to work for the same huge law firm representing Rep. Jerry Lewis, then she will probably go down in history as the person to bring down the President in making him resign.

However I am still widely speculating, but there is something weird going on especially with around all the corruption cases against congressional officials in Southern California..

psyopswatcher wrote on March 20, 2007 9:39 PM:

I hope she takes down the whole house of cards. Has Feinstein seen what Karl had to say about her at a speech in Troy, Alabama on 3/15/07?

He drops a reference to Feinstein complaining in writing about Lam's failure to prioritize immigration policy. This can be found at minute 2:05 of this 3 minute vid from the middle of his speech.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nccAXCLomE

Here's the full Cspan Real Video of his 55 minute speech:
rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/atty/atty031507_rove.rm

AlanDownunder wrote on March 20, 2007 10:50 PM:

Can a single mom get by on $1.5m up front plus partner's drawings?

Seems like a lot of people were banking on the GOP keeping both houses in last year's med-terms.

as wrote on March 20, 2007 11:53 PM:

Holy crap batman.

The next time there's a big corporate case at the supreme court they should make job offers to the liberal members of the court, say 20 million per justice. Just don't give them jobs related to that supreme court case. That would be unethical.

as wrote on March 21, 2007 12:02 AM:

I'm guessing that Jerry Lewis investigation has stalled somewhat. Any news?

psyopswatcher wrote on March 21, 2007 12:12 AM:

Question should be who was appointed to take Debra Wong Yang's position when she resigned?

Who is running the investigations she left behind? Are the Wilkes/Foggo investigations still ontrack in the LA office there?

elrapierwit wrote on March 21, 2007 1:12 AM:

Can Congress appoint a Special Prosecutor for the cases of Lewis and Foggo in San Diego?

If so, they should make Lam the special prosecutor!

That'll teach 'em not to purge USA's

Th wrote on March 21, 2007 9:28 AM:

Maybe the Bushies decided it would be cheaper to fire the USA's they didn't want rather than bribe them to leave.

observor wrote on March 21, 2007 10:49 AM:

I notice that Gibson Dunn released a statement from Yang to the AP rather than let her get on the phone with the reporter. An important sign that this woman did not want to answer questions. Why not?

persiphion wrote on March 21, 2007 11:10 AM:

Please don't forget about the demoting of the USA in Guam. This was almost assuredly the inspiration for the widescale purging that occured later, and also stinks of political motives in the quashing an early investigation into the Abramov scandal.
P

anonymou wrote on March 21, 2007 1:02 PM:

DAILY JOURNAL NEWSWIRE ARTICLE
http://www.dailyjournal.com
© 2007 The Daily Journal Corporation.
All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------
March 21, 2007

ROLE AS WASHINGTON INSIDER HELPED KEPP YANG ABOVE FRAY
By Robert Iafolla
Daily Journal Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES - A month before Justice Department officials began plotting to fire two California U.S. attorneys, the Los Angeles U.S. attorney was acting as a department insider, offering her assessment of a prosecutor who was seeking a federal judgeship.
In a series of August e-mails between Debra Wong Yang and Kyle Sampson, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' chief of staff, Yang passed on details about Washington state politics and an upcoming article in the Seattle press, as well as her take on the U.S. attorney in Seattle, John McKay.
"He'd be great in that job and has really done good work, ... but you know that already," Wong wrote in an e-mail made public late Monday. "He's a great soldier."
The e-mails, part of 3,000 pages released by the Justice Department, highlight Yang's close ties with Bush administration officials that apparently helped her earn respect from her bosses in Washington, D.C., and steer clear of the fate that snared other U.S. attorneys.
McKay, the main subject of Yang's e-mails, didn't make it to the federal bench. He, along with Carol Lam in San Diego, John Ryan in San Francisco and five other U.S. attorneys, received their walking papers from the Justice Department in late 2006.
A month before the firings that sparked the U.S. attorney controversy erupted, Yang resigned to take a lucrative partnership at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Yang has insisted her resignation in November was unrelated to the controversy.
But not everyone is satisfied with her explanation. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Tuesday she has unanswered questions about Yang's departure, according to the Associated Press.
Feinstein, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, "Was she asked to resign, and if so, why? We have to ferret that out."
Yang was unavailable for comment Tuesday. In past interviews with the Daily Journal, she said her decision "was based purely and only on personal reasons."
Gibson Dunn reportedly gave Yang a guaranteed first-year compensation package of $1.5 million.
While U.S. attorney, Yang spent considerable time in Washington, D.C., serving on a number of Justice Department committees, earning the criticism of some prosecutors she supervised.
"She left day-to-day management to George Cardona," said a former federal prosecutor, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Cardona is now acting head of L.A.'s U.S. attorney's office.
"Her priority was creating a higher profile [for the office] in D.C. and nationwide," the former prosecutor said. "That's what she focused on, right or wrong, and as a result, she was a little distant."
But Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, acknowledged Yang was well-connected but didn't apply much pressure in championing her Los Angeles office to the Justice Department.
Yang had been angling for a position on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Levenson said, but her divorce later changed her post-U.S. attorney focus to earning money.
"The Los Angeles office was starving for resources," Levenson said. "Deb Yang was a good soldier. She didn't make any waves, but maybe people in the office wish she would have."
The office has suffered a number of budget cuts over the past few years, although Los Angeles U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek declined to give specifics.
"People were frustrated she wasn't able to bring in more resources," said another former prosecutor, also speaking on condition of anonymity. "I wouldn't say she wasn't fighting. Maybe she just wasn't that successful. People questioned why that was."
Yang's decision to go to Gibson Dunn, a firm known for its close ties to the Republican Party, has raised some eyebrows. Her new firm is representing the same GOP congressman that her former office is investigating.
Former House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis reportedly has paid Gibson Dunn $800,000 since the investigation into his ties to a lobbying firm became public in May. Lewis' legal team includes Theodore B. Olson, a former Bush administration solicitor general, and Robert C. Bonner, another former U.S. attorney, who also led Customs and Border Protection.
Both Olson and Bonner have been mentioned as possible replacements, should Gonzales step down as attorney general.
Mrozek said Yang "recused herself from any and all matters involving pending investigations or ongoing prosecutions that involved the firm."
Conflicts often bar federal prosecutors from involvement in certain cases, Mrozek said, because of either personal or professional connections that might cause an appearance of impropriety.
Mrozek noted Yang similarly excused herself from the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping case because she once practiced at Greenberg Glusker and firm rainmaker Bert Fields acknowledged that he was a subject of the federal investigation.
Although some questioned whether Yang was worth the million-dollar salary, industry observers explained that Yang, now co-chair of Gibson Dunn's crisis management practice, is potentially worth much more than $1.5 million in today's large law firm world.
"As an outsider looking in, Gibson Dunn certainly seems to have the institutional clients that can make use of her skill set," said Alan Miles, president of the legal search firm Alan Miles & Associates. "That's why she's valuable, even without a portable book of business."
A former federal prosecutor, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that those traits that made her a well-connected political operator also make her an effective lawyer in private practice.
"She's dynamic, she knows what to say and she's very good at getting people to do what she wants," the source said. "She's by no means an intellectual powerhouse vis-Ã -vis legal issues, but she's smoother than anyone.

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