Obama's Enforcer (28 page)

20
.  Transcript of Judge Leon's Remarks Dismissing the Indictments with Prejudice for Amaro Goncalves and 15 Co-Defendants,”
U.S. v. Goncalves
, Case No. 09-CR-335 (D.D.C. Feb. 21, 2012).

21
.  “Africa Sting—A ‘Long and Sad Chapter in the Annals of White Collar Criminal Enforcement,” FCPAProfessor, Feb. 22, 2012, http://www .fcpaprofessor.com/2012/02/page/2.

22
.  Ibid.

23
.  Walter Pavlo, “Government Witness, Richard Bistrong, Gets Jail Time While Targets Walk,”
Forbes
, Aug. 2, 2012.

24
.  
U.S. v. O'Shea
, Indictment H-09-629 (S.D. TX Nov. 16, 2009).

25
.  Richard L. Cassin, “Judge to DOJ: Your Principal Witness Knows Almost Nothing,” FCPAProfessor, Jan. 19, 2012, http://www.fcpablog .com/2012/1/19/judge-to-doj-your-principal-witness-knows-almost-nothing.

26
.  Ibid.

27
.  Dane Schiller, “After Losing Everything, Mexico Bribery Suspect Acquitted,”
Houston Chronicle
, Jan. 17, 2012.

28
.  Ibid.

29
.  Ibid.

30
.  “California Company, Its Two Executives and Intermediary Convicted by Federal Jury in Los Angeles on All Counts for Their Involvement in Scheme to Bribe Officials at State-Owned Utility in Mexico,” Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, May 10, 2011, http://www .justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/May/11-crm-596.html.

31
.  Lisa Riordan Seville, “Battling Corporate Crime,”
The Crime Report
, Jan. 8, 2012; thecrimereport.org/news/article/2012-01-battling-corporate-crime.

32
.  Order Granting Motion To Dismiss,
US v. Aguilar
, Case No. 10-01031 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 1, 2011), p. 1.

33
.  Ibid., p. 2.

34
.  Ibid., p. 20.

35
.  Ibid., pp. 14–15.

36
.  Ibid., p. 32.

37
.  Ibid., p. 38–39.

38
.  Ibid., p. 40.

39
.  Samuel Rubenfeld, “U.S. Drops Appeal in Lindsey Manufacturing FCPA Case,”
Wall Street Journal
, May 29, 2012.

40
.  “Writer's Cramp at the DOJ?,” FCPAProfessor, Feb. 3, 2012, http://www.fcpaprofessor.com/writers-cramp-at-the-doj.

Chapter 10: What Is to Be Done?

  
1
.  Andrew McCarthy, “The Rule of Law,”
New Criterion
, Sept. 2011.

  
2
.  “Investigation into the Office of Legal Counsel's Memorandum Concerning Issues Relating to the Central Intelligence Agency's Use of ‘Enhanced Interrogation Techniques' on Suspected Terrorists,” Office of Professional Responsibility, U.S. Department of Justice, July 29, 2009, p. 11.

  
3
.  “Memorandum for the Attorney General,” Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis, Jan. 5, 2010.

  
4
.  Letter of Jan. 9, 2009, to H. Marshall Jarrett, Office of Professional Responsibility, U.S. Department of Justice.

  
5
.  “Vindicating John Yoo,”
Wall Street Journal
, Feb. 22, 2010.

  
6
.  See Hans A. von Spakovsky, “Revenge of the Liberal Bureaucrats,”
Weekly Standard
, Jan. 23, 2009.

  
7
.  “Vindicating John Yoo,”
Wall Street Journal
, Feb. 22, 2010.

  
8
.  Charlie Savage, “For Holder, New Congress Means New Headaches,”
New York Times
, Dec. 30, 2010.

  
9
.  At the Justice Department, a “detail” is when a lawyer is temporarily assigned to a different office inside Justice, another federal agency, or even to Congress. The lawyer remains a DOJ employee and all benefits and salary continued to be paid by DOJ.

10
.  J. Christian Adams,
Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department
(New York: Regnery, 2011), p. 163.

11
.  Ibid., p. 162.

12
.  Ibid., p. 163.

13
.  “Top Management and Performance Challenges Facing the Department of Justice—2013,” Memorandum for the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, from Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General, Dec. 11, 2013, reissued Dec. 23, 2013.

14
.  “Annual Report—2012,” Office of Professional Responsibility, U.S. Department of Justice, p. 16, fn. 10.

15
.  Fine issued a four-hundred-page report on the faux scandal of the firing of nine U.S. attorneys by the Justice Department during the Bush administration that claimed the process used to remove them “was seriously flawed.” He made a federal case out of a molehill, basically ignoring the fact that U.S. attorneys are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president and can be terminated at any time for any reason or no reason. There was nothing to investigate in the president's termination of nine political appointees. But refusing to investigate this supposed scandal that had been whipped up by political opponents of the administration would not have served Fine's political allies. It was his decision to investigate this matter that was “seriously flawed.” See “An Investigation into the Removal of Nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006,” Office of the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, U.S. Department of Justice, Sept. 2008.

16
.  “A Review of the Operations of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division,” Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice, March 2013, p. 188.

17
.  Andrew M. Grossman, “Use and Abuse of Consent Decrees in Federal Rulemaking,” Testimony Before Subcommittee on the Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives, Feb. 3, 2012.

18
.  Ibid.

19
.  “Department Policy Regarding Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements,” Memorandum from Edwin Meese III to All Assistant Attorneys General and United States Attorneys, U.S. Department of Justice, March 13, 1986.

20
.  “Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2013,” Committee on the Judiciary, House Report 113-230, Sept. 26, 2013.

21
.  “Authority of the United States to Enter Settlements Limiting the Future Exercise of Executive Branch Discretion,” Memorandum from Randolph D. Moss, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Office of Legal Policy, to Associate Attorney General Raymond Fisher, U.S. Department of Justice, June 15, 1999.

22
.  See H.R. 1493 and S. 714.

23
.  Grossman, “Use and Abuse of Consent Decrees in Federal Rulemaking.”

24
.  See H.R. 317.

25
.  Interview by Hans von Spakovsky with Edwin Meese III, Jan. 12, 2014.

26
.  Hans von Spakovsky, “Porteous Impeached: The Vote Breakdown,”
National Review Online
, Dec. 8, 2010.

27
.  Interview by Hans von Spakovsky with Edwin Meese III, Jan. 12, 2014.

28
.  Isaac Chotiner, “Eric Holder, Cave Man—Why the Attorney General Always Disappoints Himself,”
New Republic
, June 20, 2013.

29
.  Ibid.

30
.  McCarthy, “The Rule of Law.”

31
.  
Worcester v. Georgia
, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832).

32
.  This quote by Jackson is probably apocryphal and derived from a letter in which he said that the Supreme Court's decision was “still born” and that the court could not “coerce Georgia to yield to its mandate.” Paul F. Boller and John H. George,
They Never Said It: A Book of False Quotes, Misquotes & False Attributions
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), p. 53.

33
.  McCarthy, “The Rule of Law.”

Index

The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific entry, please use your e-book reader's search tools.

 

ABA Journal
, 18

ABB Ltd., 190–91, 192

ABC, 172

abortion, 63, 80–82

Abramson, Jill, 8

Abu-Jamal, Mumia, 64

Adams, J. Christian, 62, 100–101, 116, 117, 208

Adams, John, 158–59

Adams, Roger, 155

Adegbile, Debo, 62–63

Administrative Procedure Act, 35, 213

advocacy groups

Civil Rights Division compared to, 72

Civil Rights Division lawyers from, 74

collusive settlement agreements, 78–79, 111, 210–14

DOJ funding, 33–35

lawsuits brought by, 36

affirmative action, 13–14

Afghanistan, 184

Africa Sting case, 186–90

Aguilar, Angela Maria Gomez, 193, 196–97

Aguilar, Enrique, 196

AIG Federal Savings Bank, 79

Al Qaeda

AP story on foiled plot on bin Laden death anniversary, 171–72

bin Laden death, 178–80

legal representation by Human Rights Watch attorneys, 156–57

trials related to September 11 attacks, 181

Alt, Larry, 137

American Constitution Society, 153, 160

American Indians, USDA discrimination case, 108–9, 111

American Lawyer
, 9

American Nurses Association v. Jackson
, 38–39

American with Disabilities Act, 87–89

Androphy, Joel, 192

anti-discrimination law, enforcement of.
See
Civil Rights Division

appointments, presidential

Bush (G. W.), 75–76, 209–10

Clinton, 202, 209–10

Obama, 47–49, 146–47

Arizona v. U.S.
, 55

Arkansas

Conway Human Development Center case, 83

Pigford scandal, 104, 106

Arkansas Fish & Game Commission v. U.S
, 54

Ashcroft, John, 5, 46

Ashton, Robin, 203, 206–7

Associated Press (AP), 115, 169–72, 177

Astorga, Luis Lucio Rosales, 148

ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), 124, 130–31, 135–36, 148–49.
See also
Fast and Furious scandal

Attkisson, Sharyl, 116, 131, 142

Attorney General of the United States

conflict of interest, 216

establishment of office, 20

office location, 20–21

power of, 19

attorneys' fees, 29, 32, 34, 35, 37, 82, 83, 213

Avila, Jaime, 140–41

 

banks, 78–79

Barron, David, 44, 46

Barry, Marion, 14

Basurto, Fernando, 191, 193

Bernstein, Barbara “Bobbi,” 70, 71

Bhargava, Anurima, 77–78

Biden, Joe, 178

bin Laden, Osama, 178–80

Bissonnette, Matt, 178

Bistrong, Richard, 186–90

Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association (BFAA), 107

Blackwater Worldwide, 164–66

Blumenthal, Richard, 7–8

Boehner, John, 65

Bollinger, Lee, 13

Bongo, Ali, 186

Booker, Greg, 114

Bosserman, Barbara Kay, 5

Boyle, Matt, 115

Breitbart, Andrew, 110

Brennan, John, 172

Breuer, Lanny, 143, 184–85, 187, 189, 190, 193

bribery, 184–85.
See also
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prosecutions

Brown, Scott, 144

Brown; U.S. v.
, 94, 98, 99

bullying behavior, in Civil Rights Division, 94–98

Bureau of Prisons, 20

Burke, Dennis, 122

Burton, Dan, 18

Bush (George W.) administration

appointments, 75–76, 209–10

ATF Project Gunrunner initiative, 130–31

Civil Rights Division, 72, 84, 102

enhanced interrogation techniques, 44, 160–61

MACT rule, 38

“sue and settle” lawsuits, 36

Voting Rights Act enforcement, 62–63

war on terrorism, 153, 160

warrantless surveillance, 46, 49

Bybee, Jay, 203–6

 

Calderón, Felipe, 132, 135

Canino, Carlos, 143

Card, Andrew, 46

Carpenter, Abraham, Jr., 106

Carter, Jimmy, 171

Cartwright, James, 168

Casa, Lee, 137

Casa de Maryland, 90

Casey, Bob, 64

CBS, 116, 131, 142

censorship, by government, 56–58

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Afghanistan payments, 184

interrogation techniques, 160–64

Plame leak, 5

Yemen plot leak, 115, 169–72

Central Intelligence Agency Act (1949), 162

C. F. Martin & Company, 27

Chaffetz, Jason, 143

Chamber of Commerce, U.S., 37–38

Chiquita Brands International, 18

churches, 50–51, 82

CIA.
See
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
, 56–58

Civiletti, Benjamin, 64–65

Civil Rights Act (1957), 72

Civil Rights Division, 69–102

budget, 69

bullying of conservative employees, 94–98

creation of, 72

disability cases, 87–89

dysfunction of, 73–74

election integrity cases, 89–94

expansion of authority, 69

Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act cases, 80–82

hiring practices, 74–78, 102

Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC
arguments, 51, 82

ideological bias, 29, 62–64, 72

meritless cases, 83–84

New Black Panther Party case, 73, 91, 93, 98, 99, 100, 117, 119, 206, 208

New Orleans police prosecution, 69–71

political appointees, 202

race-neutral enforcement hostility, 93–102

racial quotas, 89

role of, 72–73

sexual harassment cases, 84–87

St. Paul, Minn. case, 79–80

Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, 83

Claims Resolution Act (2010), 108

Clarke, Richard, 172

Clean Air Act, 35, 38

Clean Water Act, 52

Clemente, Michael, 177

Clinton, Hillary

Democratic primary race (2008), 107

Holder's political support, 9

Mexico City visit as secretary of state, 132–34

Senate race (2000), 17, 155

Stuxnet virus leak, 168

Clinton administration

appointments, 202, 210

Civil Rights Division hiring, 75–76

Civil Rights Division lawsuits, 83–84

Defense of Marriage Act, 65

pardons, 17–18, 46, 118–19, 126, 153–56

Pigford
settlement, 104

voluntary settlement agreements, 212

CNN, 147–48

Coates, Christopher, 22, 98–99, 101–2, 116–17

Cole, James, 70, 120–21, 170–71

colleges and universities, 84–88

Collins, Doug, 115

Collins, Susan, 152

Columbia University, 10–11, 13

Comisión Federal de Electricidad, 191, 193

conflicts of interest

Attorney General, 216

DOJ policy, 5

lawyers hired by DOJ after pro bono work for terrorists, 156–60

Office of Professional Responsibility director reporting to attorney general, 208

“sue and settle” cases, 34

Congress

DOJ duty to enforce laws passed by, 58–68

Holder testimony, 1–8, 99–100, 113–15, 117, 118–27, 142–43, 167

impeachment power, 215

Congressional Research Service, 43

Connor, Joseph, 155, 181

consent decrees.
See
settlement agreements and consent decrees

conservatives, hostility towards, 94–98

constitutional abuses, presidential appointments during Senate recess, 47–49

constitutional amendments, 42–46

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 47

contempt of Congress citations, 119–21, 145–46, 215

Conway Human Development Center case, 83

Cook, Wesley, 63–64

Cordray, Richard, 47

Costley, Dane, 196

Covington & Burling, 18, 60

Criminal Division, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act focus, 184–86

Cruz, Ted, 4–5, 7, 52

Culberson, John, 99–100

cyberattacks, 167–69

 

Daily Caller
, 10, 115, 117

Daskal, Jennifer, 156–57, 159

Davis, Artur, 108

Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education
, 85, 87

Days, Drew, 65

Dayton Police Department, 89

DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), 135, 149

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), 64–68

deferred prosecution settlements, 25

deinstitutionalization, 83

DeMint, Jim, 144

DeSaye, Brad, 139

Dillard, Angel, 80–81

disabilities, individuals with, 87–89

discrimination, enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.
See
Civil Rights Division

disparate impact theory, 78–80, 113–14

District of Columbia voting rights, 42–46

Dobinski, Karla, 70, 71

Dodson, John, 137–38, 140–42

Donilon, Tom, 168, 180

Donsanto, Craig, 11–12

Downie, Leonard, 167

Dreher, Robert, 29–30, 35

Driscoll, Bob, 72

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 135, 149

drug laws, 60–61

drug trafficking, 132–33

Dubravetz, Michael, 187

due process for terrorists, 151–53

Durham, John, 160, 163

 

Earthjustice, 35

electioneering communications, 57–58

Elwood, John, 43

Emanuel, Rahm, 6

eminent domain, 30–33

enforcement of law, 58–68, 92–102

Engelhardt, Kurt, 69–71

English, Tonya, 137

enhanced interrogation techniques, 44, 160–64, 203

environmentalists, 29

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

litigation against, 29–30, 34–40, 51–53

MACT rule, 38–39

Environment & Natural Resources Division (ENRD)

agency regulations lawsuits, 35–40

ideological bias, 29–30

rails-to-trails suits, 30–33

“sue and settle” cases, 35–40

Espionage Act, 174

Everett, Arnold, 96–97

Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA), 207

executive orders, 6–8

executive power and privilege, expansion under Obama

danger of, 41–42

D.C. voting rights case, 42–46

Fast and Furious scandal, 130, 145, 146, 147

political appointments during Senate recess, 47–49

extortion, 56

 

FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act, 80–82

Fair Housing Act, 78

FALN (Armed Forces of National Liberation), 153–56, 181

False Claims Act, 80, 114

Farenthold, Blake, 117, 143

Fast and Furious scandal, 129–50

background, 129–36

CBS coverage, 116

congressional investigation, 3–4, 21, 116, 119–27, 141–47

consequences of gun walking operations, 147–50

Dodson whistleblowing, 141–42

gun walking operations by Phoenix Field Division, 136–41

Holder knowledge of, 142–44

Obama executive privilege over documents claim, 130, 145, 146, 147

Terry murder, 3, 122–23, 130, 140

FCPA prosecutions.
See
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prosecutions

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Fast and Furious scandal, 149

intelligence group focused on kidnapping and extortion, 135

within Justice Department, 20

Lindsey Manufacturing Company case, 194–98

New Orleans police officers, prosecution of, 70–71

North Korea leak investigation, 173–74

Operation Landslide, 186–88

Pigford cases, 106

Wichita abortion clinic case, 81

federal government, expansion of power of, 49–58

Federalist
No. 47, 68

federal law, nullification through DOJ's nonenforcement, 58–68

Federal Records Act, 80, 114

Federal Register
, 212

federal sentencing guidelines, 60–61

Feinstein, Dianne, 178

Fex, Cecilia, 31–32

Fifth Amendment, 31, 54, 165

Filip, Mark R., 203, 204, 205

Fine, Glenn, 75–76, 209–10

fire departments, 89

First Amendment, 14–16, 51, 56–58, 80, 82, 176–77

Fischer, Deb, 214

Florida, removal of noncitizens from voter rolls, 89–90

food allergies, 87–88

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prosecutions, 183–99

Africa Sting case, 186–90

background, 183

DOJ focus on, 183–86

Lindsey Manufacturing Company case, 193–99

O'Shea case, 190–93

settlement of claims, 185–86

Foster, Daniel, 110

Fourteenth Amendment, 42

Fourth Amendment, 53–54

Foward, Derrick, 89

Fox News

Fast and Furious stories, 139, 148

names of current DOJ attorneys with history of representing terrorists, 158

Rosen investigation, 1–3, 8, 41, 125, 173–77

Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, 80–82

Freedom of Information Act, 115, 119, 168, 179

freedom of press, 8

Freedom Watch, 168, 169

Freeman, Dan, 77

 

Gabelli v. SEC
, 54–55

gambling, 59–60

Gardner, Cory, 214

Garrity v. New Jersey
, 165

Gates, Robert, 180

Gaziano, Todd, 48–49

Gibson Guitar raid, 23–29, 33–34

Gillett, George, 137

Ginsburg, Ruth Bader, 54