The Department of Political Skullduggery (7/3/2007)

Tomorrow, July 4th, we celebrate the Declaration of Independence.  But our freedoms and our rule of law are under siege. The Bush Justice Department, which should be non-political and enforce the law, threatens our democracy.  U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has stacked the agency with so many political hacks that it should be called the Department of Political Skullduggery.  Here’s why.

Ongoing Congressional investigations have exposed how Gonzales and his ilk sought to manipulate the 2006 election. They fired 9 U.S. district attorneys--some because they prosecuted corrupt Republican politicians, and others because they refused to drum up false charges against Democrats before the election. And dozens more were on the purge list!  Under what appear to be White House orders, Gonzales replaced the fired prosecutors with political cronies. Testifying before Congress, Gonzales twisted damaging evidence, gave inane excuses, and claimed memory lapses.   Monica Goodling, the department’s former liaison to the White House, admitted she had “crossed the line” by considering party affiliation and campaign contributions in hiring prosecutors.  She invoked her 5th amendment rights to avoid self-incrimination before agreeing to testify.

The misuse of prosecutorial power in key districts, to secure GOP dominance in Congress, is no surprise.  Bush in effect stole the 2000 election when 5 Republican Supreme Court Justices stopped the vote count in Florida; the shenanigans in Ohio gave him the needed electoral votes in the 2004 election. So why not replace fair-minded prosecutors with hacks to rig elections in 2006?   David Iglesias, one of the U.S. attorneys forced from his post, said (quote) “I took an oath to support and defend the constitution, not the Republican Party...” (end quote) But this White House is about increasing its power, not upholding the U.S. Constitution.

Next, for example, spying on Americans seems to have no limits, despite the Constitution’s fourth amendment. It says, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”  But the White House ignores it.  Here’s proof.

On March 10, 2004, Gonzales, who was then White House Counsel, and the President’s Chief of Staff Andrew Card visited Attorney General John Ashcroft.  He was in the hospital recovering from gall bladder surgery and battling pancreatitis.  They tried to coerce Ashcroft, on his sickbed, to authorize sweeping domestic surveillance powers.  Ashcroft, to his credit, refused.  But the Bush regime proceeded with illegal wiretaps anyway and then expanded into more areas.  A recent internal audit found that the FBI had violated the law and its agency rules more than 1,000 times while it collected data about domestic phone calls, emails and financial transactions. This raises questions about the CIA, National Security Administration and Pentagon spy programs.  Given the Justice Department’s partisanship, do you think it will uphold the 4th Amendment? 

When will erosion of our precious rights be stopped?  President Bush swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution, but he hasn’t.  In fact, he has created the most secretive, intrusive U.S. administration ever.  And the so-called Department of Justice has aided and abetted. That’s skullduggery and it’s terrifying.

- Judith Kohler

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