Comments (7)

Anon wrote on March 29, 2007 12:35 PM:

I'm no lawyer but:

Claim1: It is improper to fire for the purposes of interfering with a case.

Claim2: Firing cannot interfere with a case because other investigators run the case.

Claim 3: If investigators complain that the firing would interfere with the case they must be disciplined because such a thing is impossible.

Am I missing something?

tekel wrote on March 29, 2007 12:41 PM:

so, Miers and his own boss nixed it, why did they go ahead with it afterwards? Is Sampson trying to cover the grenade to protect Gonzo? Why would he take actions contrary to orders from his boss?

Haven't we already seen that Gonzo approved this plan? Kyle's testimony is diverging from what actually happened. The Angel Moroni won't like that.

J Marra wrote on March 29, 2007 1:03 PM:

This is the "--but it would be wrong!" moment for the loyal Bushies. Nixon said he discussed doing driminal things, but . . . nixed them.

Robin L. Boerner wrote on March 29, 2007 2:00 PM:

Going back to August 22, 2006 someone was actively thinking about using the Patriot Act to subvert the confirmation process. Check out Nelson Cohen's appointment announcement. It clearly says he is a Abu guy...and the emails from Kyle Sampson to Monica Goodling three weeks later state that Alaska is a state without a USA. They must have known at his appointment that Nelson Cohen was a temp...why?

Another interesting question is why replace Deborah Smith? Wasn't she "Bushie" enough to carry on?

United States Attorney’s Office
District of Alaska
222 West 7th Avenue, #9
Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7567
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Deborah M. Smith
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
First Assistant U.S. Attorney
907-271-5071 / Fax: 271-2345

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF NELSON COHEN AS UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced the appointment of Nelson Cohen to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Alaska. Mr. Cohen will serve under an Attorney General Appointment. He succeeds First Assistant United States Attorney Deborah Smith, whohas served as Acting United States Attorney under the Vacancy Reform Act since U.S. District Court Judge Tim Burgess resigned from the position to take a seat on the federal bench in 2005. Under the Vacancy Reform Act, First Assistant United States Attorneys can only serve for 210 days as Acting United States Attorneys and Ms. Smith's appointment expires on August 22, 2006. Mr. Cohen comes to the District of Alaska with a varied and impressive history of service to the Department of Justice and to the legal community. Since 1987, Mr. Cohen has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania, where he presently serves as the Deputy Criminal Division Chief overseeing the White Collar Crimes Section. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh, Mr. Cohen practiced law for 10 years inAlaska: first as an Assistant United States Attorney responsible for both criminal and civil cases, with an emphasis on drug prosecutions, medical malpractice defense and appellate practice, and later as a private practitioner in Anchorage. Mr. Cohen started his career as a trial attorney in the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted robbery and homicide cases.In addition to his legal experience, Mr. Cohen has been a presenter at the Federal LawEnforcement Training Center, the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association and the University ofPittsburgh School of Law. He has also served as a Continuing Legal Education Instructor.Mr. Cohen earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh,and his law degree from the Duquesne University School of Law. # # #

CB wrote on March 29, 2007 3:16 PM:

A couple of question that keep screeming at me are
Who added the AG amendment to the patriot act?
Who's idea was it?

Another thought along this vein is, if the lawmakers who passed the thing didn't even know it was in there, how were Sampson,et al so up on how to take advantage of it? Surely they knew about it beforehand and waited gleefully while it was passed so that they could use it, or they happily recieved a tip off for the new play!

kozmik wrote on March 29, 2007 4:58 PM:

Anyone notice Sampson's crooked smirk when Specter asked if there was a deliberate effort to use the Patriot provision?

Must be hilarious on a number of levels. Specter's office slipped it in, supposedly without his knowledge, but he never took punitive actions for the supposed betrayal. One way or the other Specter is complicit, and Specter has an interest in downplaying that crucial issue.

Also, it's obvious to everyone that was the intent as there is email evidence.

Until there is some teeth put into these hearings, like contempt of congress, guys like Sampson will just keep lying to protect the WH, knowing he's a made man for life afterwards.

James S. wrote on March 29, 2007 10:35 PM:

I agree, it's very amusing...that man is the supreme master of fine grain Washington political machination. The whole point of this Kabuki theatre program is to delay and extend, delay and extend...into the next election...after which the DLC one-term-wonder will continue to manage the imperial mandate.

"Kabuki, like other traditional forms of drama in Japan as well as in other cultures around the world, was (and sometimes still is) performed in full-day programs. Rather than attending a single play for 2-5 hours, as one might do in a modern Western-style theater, one would "escape" from the day-to-day world, devoting a full day to entertainment in the theater district."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki

Look guys, the elite consensus is that the Lam
investigation is done, finished. No more questions, no more answers for you middle class fucks.

Why don't you get Lawrence E. Walsh out of cold storage to spearhead this investigation?