The Clinton 'Wall' At The Justice Department -- Part I

By Frank Salvato
May 11, 2007

"After a thorough reading of the report it would not be unreasonable to conclude as I have that there was a cover-up at high levels of our government and, it appears to have been substantial and coordinated...The question is why? And that question regrettably will go unanswered. Unlike some other cover-ups, this one succeeded." -- Independent Counsel David M. Barrett on the censoring of The Barrett Report.

If you have been experiencing a sneaking suspicion that there is a lot of one-sided interest where investigations into political malfeasance are concerned at the US Justice Department, you're not alone. From the aggressive prosecution of 'Scooter' Libby for having a bad memory to the powder-puff prosecution of Sandy Berger for stealing and then destroying unique documents related to terrorism and 9/11 from the National Archive, it seems that the catalyst for a thorough investigation -- at least where politicians are concerned -- is directly influenced by which political party the alleged offender belongs to.

Much to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's dismay, the "culture of corruption" is an equal opportunity enticement. For every Duke Cunningham there is a William Jefferson and for every one Tom Delay who resigns from office there are two Diane Feinsteins who refuse to do so. Point being, a good many politicians walk a fine line between pushing the ethical envelope and crossing the line into illegal activity.

The authority that is supposed to hold everyone accountable to the laws of the land -- politicians and citizens alike -- is the United States Justice Department. Under the direction of the United States Attorney General, the USJD is supposed to "ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans." This empowers the USJD with the awesome responsibility of holding our elected officials accountable for any misdeeds that violate the laws of our country.

But the Office of the US Attorney General is a cabinet level department, an appointed position, thus it is a political office, albeit a professional political office. Further, the administrators of this department are chosen and appointed by the president. Mid-level positions through the clerical ranks are administered by the Office of the US Attorney General making them more prone to political favoritism the further up the professional food chain you go.

Recent events bring light to the political aspect of the US Justice Department in part because of the aggressive prosecution of some politicos alleged to have broken the law and the passive concern and almost disinterest in prosecuting others, the divining factor seeming to be the perpetrator's political affiliation.

The Barrett Report

In January of 2006, Independent Counsel David Barrett released what is commonly referred to as The Barrett Report, an investigation into the facts surrounding the allegation that former Clinton Administration Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros failed to pay income taxes on "hush money" payments he made to a mistress. The allegations, if proven to be true and successfully prosecuted, would have found Cisneros convicted of 18 felony counts charging conspiracy, obstruction of justice, fraud and perjury.

Cisneros pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of lying to the FBI (a division of the USJD) about the cash payments and accepted a plea bargain (authorized by the USJD) in the form of a $10,000 fine instead of facing the potential 90-year prison sentence his conviction would have required.

The authority to investigate and prosecute this case -- before Independent Counsel Barrett was seated -- fell upon Lee Radek, the head of the Justice Departments' Public Integrity Unit, a division that is charged with investigating and prosecuting allegations of criminal misconduct by public officials. Radek was elevated to his post by Jo Ann Harris, Justice Department Criminal Division Chief, who was appointed to her post by President Clinton.

To paint Radek as a political operative wouldn't be a stretch. (web site)

-- Radek's family was politically connected to the Clinton-Gore campaigns through financial channels that included DNC rainmaker Patrick O'Connor and Terry McAuliffe.

-- He actively opposed the naming of a special prosecutor in the 1996 Clinton-Gore 'Chinagate' scandal.

-- Radek ordered the termination of an investigation into illegal fundraising by then Vice President Al Gore that took place at a California Buddhist temple.

-- He refused to investigate a three-way quid-pro-quo scheme involving the Teamsters Union, the Clinton White House and the Democratic National Committee.

Radek is significant to The Barrett Report not only because of his lack of an aggressive prosecution in the Cisneros case but because he offered "little in the way of cooperation" to Independent Counsel Barrett's investigation.

In the end, there was enough uncooperative foot-dragging by Radek and his cohorts at the USJD that legal wranglers were given enough time to secure a court order that effectively redacted 120 of the most damning pages of the report.

Barrett is quoted as saying, "Enough high-ranking officials with enough power were able to blunt any effort to bring about a full and independent examination of Cisneros' possible tax offenses in the face of what seemed to many to be obvious grounds for such an inquiry."

In contrast, the USJD cooperated fully with Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to literally facilitate the creation of a crime in the "questionable at best" Valerie Plame case. In this instance America witnessed the USJD and a special prosecutor completely ignore the discovery of the person who actually leaked Ms. Plame's identity to columnist Robert Novak and instead prosecuting 'Scooter' Libby for having a bad memory.

The Investigation into Hillary Clinton's Campaign Finance Fraud

As exposed in The New Media Journal original series, The Fraudulent Senator, USJD prosecutors -- specifically our friend Lee Radek -- played a significant role in diverting attention from the largest case of campaign finance fraud in American history. (web site)

The result of Mr. Peter F. Paul's FEC complaint that the Hillary Clinton Senate 2000 Campaign under-reported by over $700,000 his in-kind contribution of a $1.2 million Hollywood gala event and fundraiser was an amateurish prosecution of the wrong man. (web site)

The USJD's Office of Public Integrity headed by none other than Lee Radek indicted the campaign's national finance director David Rosen on three counts of election fraud. The problem with this indictment is that Rosen wasn't legally required to file any reports and did not sign the reports that were filed. The resulting trial ended with Rosen's acquittal. The jury found that Rosen wasn't responsible for the filing, spotlighting a glaring oversight by USJD prosecutors. Or was it?

The signature required on the FEC filings was that of the campaign treasurer, Andrew Grossman. In December of 2005, Grossman entered into a secret agreement with the FEC allowing him to admit culpability in filing false reports and commanding him to pay a $35,000 civil fine. To this day the USJD has not charged Andrew Grossman with anything even though he testified under oath -- perjuring himself -- in Rosen's trial that he never heard of an event costing over a million dollars.

Logic mandates that either Radek's office was so inept that it didn't research the protocol for FEC financial statements -- an unbelievable contention for an office charged with investigating and prosecuting allegations of criminal misconduct by public officials -- or they purposely charged the wrong man as a diversionary tactic until the 2000 campaign was over, Hillary Clinton had won and Grossman was able to satisfy his transgression with the FEC. Of course, that doesn't explain why Radek's office didn't pursue criminal charges against Grossman.

In contrast, the USJD went after Randall 'Duke' Cunningham with a zeal usually reserved for members of al Qaeda. In 2005, Cunningham pleaded guilty to accepting $2.4 million in illegal income and underreporting his income for 2004. He pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. Cunningham, a 21-year officer in the US Navy and a Vietnam War flying ace, received a sentence of eight years and four months in prison and an order to pay $1.8 million in restitution.

Clinton lies about $700,000 and the USJD doesn't even sneeze. A true war hero -- not like John Kerry or John Murtha -- admits his guilt and goes to jail for almost a decade. The inequity is glaring.

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