* will we ever learn what we already know … Cheney is the one who outed Valerie Plame

CASE CLOSED is a novel which answers the question “Why did the FBI fail to solve the 2001 anthrax case?” … click here to … buy CASE CLOSED by Lew Weinstein

Here’s what readers say about CASE CLOSED  …

“The whole Anthrax episode is unquestionably a dark moment in American history. But what makes it fascinating is how it was handled (or should I say mishandled) by the administration and the various agencies involved. CASE CLOSED is a must read for anyone who wondered … what really happened? … Who did it? … why?” … and finally, why didn’t they tell us the truth?”

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will we ever learn what we already know

… Cheney is the one who outed Valerie Plame

Nedra Pickler writes for Huffington Post (10/1/09) …

• A federal judge ruled Thursday that the FBI must publicly reveal much of its notes from an interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney during the investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative (Valerie Plame).
• Both the Bush and Obama administrations said they wanted to keep the interview confidential because future presidents, vice presidents and their senior staff may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could became public.
• But U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled there was no justification to withhold the entire 67 pages of FBI records documenting Fitzgerald’s interview since the Plame leak investigation has concluded. He said that limited parts could be withheld to protect national security and private communications between the president and vice president.
• The Justice Department told Sullivan in a hearing this summer that if he ordered the documents released, they would appeal and seek to withhold them until the matter is resolved.

Read more at …http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/cheney-fbi-interview-must_n_306329.html?view=print

LMW COMMENT …

First of all, Dick Cheney has lied again and again and should be punished.

Second, I am disappointed that the Obama Justice Department seems no different from the Bush group on issues like this.

* please urge AG Holder to investigate ALL illegal torture, including those high up in government who authorized it

Attorney General Eric Holder finally made the announcement that he will appoint a prosecutor to investigate prison abuse cases carried out as part of the Bush torture program.  However, the very limited scope of the investigation he launched today is nowhere near as thorough and broad as the torture investigation America really needs.

Holder’s announcement stops far short of a thorough criminal investigation. The investigation will be limited to roughly a dozen cases in which CIA interrogators and contractors may have violated U.S. torture laws and other statutes, letting those who authorized these illegal acts off the hook.

We cannot have an investigation that completely overlooks those who authorized and condoned a systematic program of illegal torture.

That’s why I just sent a message to the Attorney General asking him to make sure the investigation follows the evidence — wherever it may lead.

Will you join me?

http://action.aclu.org/investigatetorture

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* torture is illegal … those who ordered it, and justified it, should be prosecuted

AP reports today (4/21/09) …

•  President Barack Obama left the door open Tuesday to prosecuting Bush administration officials who devised the legal authority for gruesome terror-suspect interrogations, saying the United States lost “our moral bearings” with use of the tactics.
• The president had said earlier that he didn’t want to see prosecutions of the CIA agents and interrogators who took part in waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics, so long as they acted within parameters spelled out by government superiors who held that such practices were legal at the time.

LMW COMMENT … It is not acceptable, as President Obama repeatedly and correctly says we are a nation of laws, to willfully avoid prosecutions for political reasons. It’s probably also illegal. So I agree completely with the idea of investifating those who approved illegal (and also unproductive) torture. If laws were broken there should be prosecutions, including Cheney and Bush if they are implicated. Since Cheney has already confessed, it shouldn’t be too hard to make the case.

read the entire article at … http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090421/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_interrogation_memos_10

* we should arrest the prosecutors who blew the Sen. Stevens case !!!

 Senator Ted Stevens’ lawyers have issued the following statement (thanks to CAROL for sending it to me) …

•  We are grateful to learn that Attorney General Eric Holder has decided to drop all charges against Senator Ted Stevens. 
• That decision is justified by the extraordinary evidence of government corruption in the prosecution of Senator Stevens. This jury verdict was obtained unlawfully.
• The government disregarded the Constitution, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and well-established case law, which require the government to reveal to the defense all evidence that demonstrates the innocence of the accused.
• Not only did the government fail to disclose evidence of innocence, but instead intentionally hid that evidence and created false evidence that they provided to the defense.
• The misconduct of government prosecutors, and one or more FBI agents, was stunning.

LMW COMMENT …

I don’t know if Sen. Stevens is guilty of crimes or not, but it is incumbent on prosecutors to prove their case, and do so without cheating. There are rules which are supposed to protect us all against over-zealous prosecution, and too many prosecutors disregard those rules to get unwarranted convictions.

This leads to two tragedies, the person improperly convicted, and the fact that nobody ever brings charges against the prosecutors who broke the law.

This is an issue I have studied carefully. And I did more.

I wrote a novel, called A GOOD CONVICTION, which tells the story of a young man convicted of a murder he did not commit by a prosecutor who knew he didn’t do it. You can read more about my book, and order it, at …

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Conviction-Lewis-M-Weinstein

 

 

* NYT: illegal acts by the Bush crowd should be investigated and, if the evidence is there, prosecuted

From an editorial in today’s NYT (1-29-09) …

• Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should have considered himself a lucky man when he was allowed to resign in disgrace in August 2007 without being hauled into Congress on perjury or contempt charges.
• No one in the Bush administration — certainly not Mr. Gonzales — has offered evidence that torturing prisoners produced reliable information.
• It did undermine the law, further endanger American soldiers who might be captured in the field and destroy the nation’s image.
• That smug self-assurance should be another powerful reminder to the White House of the need for an unsparing review of all of Mr. Bush’s policies on torture, wiretapping and executive power.
• Only by learning the details of those disastrous decisions can the nation hope to undo the damage and make sure these mistakes are not repeated.

LMW COMMENT … It may be that delving into the illegal Bush policies and actions regarding wiretapping, Gitmo, and torture would inhibit a spirit of cooperation with Republicans. It is a worthy goal, as President Obama has said repeatedly, to “look forward.” BUT …  if America is to regain its rightful pride in the ideals that make our country a special place in this world, we cannot ignore criminal behavior by our highest leaders. Congress won’t act. The Democratic majority in Congress has shown it is no more capable of competent action than the Republicans: the failure to demand accountability for the $350 billion in bailout money proves that Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi et al are still the same bunch of wimps they have been for the past two years since achieving a majority. But President Obama can and should act. Once the new Attorney General is confirmed, he should launch an exhaustive review to identify illegal behavior by the Bush crowd, and if there is evidence to support it, he should bring prosecution.

Read the entire editorial at … http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/opinion/28wed2.html?ref=opinion