California big cities lead the number of employer prosecutions for workplace accidents
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07EFDB113FF930A15751C1A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2#

The communications director for disgraced prostitute-buying New York Governor Elliot Spitzer contradicted his boss before integrity committee
http://capitalnews9.com/content/politics/119364/notes-on-a-scandal/Default.aspx

Bronx DA Subpoenas, threatens Blogger then looses in court
http://www.r8ny.com/blog/admin/room_eight_fights_bronx_subpoena_wins.html

New DOJ policy for pet project prosecutors -- STOP the shakedowns for cash

Sue Reisinger from the Web site, Corporate Counsel writes about how the Department of Justice has told government prosecutors to no longer shake down corporations for donations to their favorite pet projects.

This all stems from a U.S. Attorney from New Jersey, Christopher Christie who while prosecuting Bristol-Myers Squibb Company required them to pay for a new ethics chair position at his old law school. A memo was sent out by Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip saying that government attorneys could no longer require a defendant to make these kind of payments to a third party.

In Sue Reisinger's story, she writes:

"The policy change affects plea agreements as well as deferred and nonprosecution agreements. Such agreements should not, the new policy states, require 'the defendant to pay funds to a charitable, educational, community, or other organization or individual that is not a victim of the criminal activity or is not providing services to redress the harm caused by the defendant's criminal conduct."'

I think Ronnie Earle in Texas better think twice when shaking more corporations down for "Dollars for Dismissals"

A new book about Eliot Spitzer to be released
Read More

Another corporation shaken down for cash by DA Ronnie Earle
Read More

The duplicitous Mr. Hulshof wants to be Missouri Governor

Kenny Hulshof is a non-descript congressman from Columbia, Missouri who thinks he has what it takes to be Governor.  One reason, he tells Show Me State audiences, is that he is of high ethical character because he “stood up” to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay from his post on the House Committee on Official Standards (Ethics). Read complete story.

Rep. Oberstar under fire for political contributions, Rail Injury Hearing

U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure (T & I) Committee Chairman, Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) is coming under fire from a congressional watchdog group which is openly questioning whether or not there was any connection between an October 25, 2007 hearing held by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on rail safety and contributions made to a political committee controlled by Oberstar.The story, on the website MajorityAP.com, is written by Michael Brady, a former Republican congressional staffer who is the site’s co-founder. Read more.

Lehmberg wins the DA runoff race in Austin
Will become DA with no general election opponent

See story here.

By robin
April 8, 2008 8:50 PM | Link to this
I voted for Lehmberg specifically because Earle endorsed her. I’d do anything for anyone who got Delay out of office. Ronny Earle started the beginning of the end of the Republican era and for that I will be forever grateful. It ain’t over yet, but he sure started the ball rolling!

More deals down in Austin?

New rumors are flying in and around the run-off election to succeed District Attorney Ronnie Earle in Travis County, Texas.  In trying to replace a boss who had a reputation for twisting and turning the law for his own benefit, it looks like at least a couple of his deputies are well on the way to keeping his tradition alive.

Sources from the Austin political community are widely reporting that defeated primary candidate Gary Cobb, an Earle deputy, is trying to “sell” his endorsement to a candidate in the run-off election.  Apparently, Cobb, the third place finisher in the March 4th vote, went to both run-off qualifiers, First Assistant DA Rosemary Lehmberg and Assistant District Attorney Mindy Montford, and offered to endorse one of them in return for an appointment as the winner’s top assistant. 

Montford refused, citing an existing law that prohibits promising a job, or anything of value, to someone before being elected.  Lehmberg, understanding the need to convert African American votes from Cobb to herself, reportedly looked the other way and agreed to the deal.  Cobb just publicly endorsed Lehmberg.  Will he be rewarded?  Time will soon tell.  The election is April 8th.

_______________________________________

Could Spitzer charges finally be coming? Read More. Updated 4-08-08.

Believe it or not it wasn't just about sex with Elliot Spitzer. Read more. When will the charges come???? The real story is about Troopergate. Spitzer used troopers to gather information on his enemies and blatantly lied about it. A new report from the state Attorney General released 3/28/08 says so.

Former assitant DA in Ronnie Earle's office says that Earle's Dollars for Dismissals scheme in the Tom DeLay Case doesn't "pass the smell test." -- and could put the prosecutors in the defense chair. Listen to the new podcast updated February 2008.

More DA's Running Wild - read about recent cases in 2007

New OPINION article --
Did George Soros Orchestrate the Downfall of Tom DeLay?
Read full story.

Plame Lawsuit Dismissed in CIA Leak Case
Read full story.

Dropped Conspiracy Charge Against Tom DeLay Upheld in Top Appellate Court in Texas

Learn more about federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, in the Scooter Libby/Valerie Plame leak case in a new book called, Triple Cross.

Conspiracy Indictment Thrown Out
by Democrat Judge Upheld
Read more.

Read complete story and chronology of the DeLay case.

Former Congressman Bob Barr
Compares Ronnie Earle to Nifong.
Read full column.

Know the Details in the Case Against Tom DeLay.

The Case Against Tom DeLay:
The truth behind the indictments.

by Melissa Hopkins

In September of 2005, then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted in Travis County Texas by Democrat District Attorney Ronnie Earle for conspiring to launder money in the 2002 election cycle, after a three-year investigation. It was an explosive move by DA Ronnie Earle because under a Republican-only House rule, Tom DeLay had to step down as Majority Leader regardless of the validity of the charge. The self imposed rule says that no Republican Member of the House of Representatives can hold a leadership position once indicted for a crime. The Democrats have no such rule.

Just hours after the indictment, Tom DeLay's attorney, Dick DeGuerin realized there was no such law on the books in Texas and immediately filed a motion on a Friday for the charge to be dismissed. In a panic, Ronnie Earle went to three new grand juries over that weekend to try and get new charges filed against DeLay knowing that the first charge might not hold up.

One of the three grand juries that Earle shopped, actually sent up a "no bill" which means not only did they not indict DeLay but sent an official written notice to Earle saying that there was no evidence whatsoever to even consider an indictment. That did not stop Earle. So the third grand jury that Earle approached had only been convened for a few hours -- not a few days or a few weeks -- but only a few hours. But somehow those jurors were approached with such compelling evidence that in just a few hours they saw enough to indict Tom DeLay on new charges of money laundering when 7 grand juries in three years before them found nothing. The investigation took three years because the grand juries are convened for 6-month sessions each and the first five juries chose not to indict.

Most interestingly is the foreman who sat on the 6th grand jury, the first to indict DeLay, was a good friend of one of DeLay's political foes. The jury foreman admitted in a radio interview on WLBJ in Austin that he didn't even have to look at the evidence because he already knew that DeLay was guilty. Click here to read the transcript and listen to the interview.

So one indictment from a rogue district attorney in Texas was enough to completely change the tone and direction of the Republican party in Congress even though all indications are that the charges are invalid and eventually will be dropped.

Following the chaos of September 2005 were a series of pre-trial motion hearings that are still ongoing today. As of November 2006, they are still no step closer to trial because of Earle's appeal delays. However, the motion that is next up before the district court, after the criminal court decision is announced, is the malicious prosecution motion that DeLay filed against Earle. This motion states Earle purpsosely charged DeLay with a crime with a law that did not exist for the sole purpose of stripping him of his title as Majority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. The motion also charges that Earle illegally tampered with Grand Jury proceedings. When that motion gets heard by the court, it will be the first time that the defendants in this case will be able to present specific evidence and lack thereof to highlight the absurdity of Earle's charges.

Here are the critical and often overlooked facts in this case and how it all began:

In early 2003, Craig McDonald, President of the liberal watch group, Texans for Public Justice (TPJ), funded by liberal financier Geoge Soros, writes a letter to Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle to investigate Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC). (Read TPJ letter here.) for suspicion of violating the Texas Election Code by not reporting corporate money raised to the Texas Ethics Commission and only to the IRS (which is a regular practice in Texas.)

Also in 2003, a civil trial is filed against Colyandro, Ellis and Bill Cevehera, TRMPAC's treasurer. The civil court decides to puruse only Cevehera since the criminal case against Ellis and Colyandro was still pending. Cevehera demands a speedy trial and gets his wish in early spring of 2004. He chose a judge trial, not a jury. Judge Hart, a democrat, found him and TRMPAC guilty of improperly filing with the Texas Ethics Commission after a week of testimony. Burden of proof in a civil trial has a much lower threshold than in a criminal trial.

In September, 2004, Earle indicts TRMPAC consultant Jim Ellis, TRMPAC executive director John Colyandro, fundraiser consultant Warren Robold and 8 corporations who contributed to TRMPAC in the 2002 election cycle.

Soon after the indictments in the fall of 2004, Earle goes to the 8 corporations named in the charges and tries to shake them down for $1 million a piece to give to Stanford University's Center for Deliberate Democracy, run by Dr. James S. Fishkin. Earle asked each of them for $1 million to fund a documentary and television show for PBS to talk about corporate money in politics, in exchange for their dismissals. Note this was not a plea agreement, these companies were not convicted of anything. This was a shakedown for money in exchange for charges being dropped. See "Dollars for Dismissals" by Byron York of NRO .

One of the companies that Earle indicted, Bacardi, Inc., also gave a contribution to Democrat Congressman Martin Frost's PAC, the Lone Star Fund, (see IRS report) at the same time that they donated to TRMPAC but Frost received no indictment.

Frost, a Democratic leadership member of Congress defeated in 2004, and his state PAC, The Lone Star Fund, engaged in multiple money trades between his Texas PAC (Lone Star Fund Texas) and the Texas Democrat Party, many of which went unreported to the Texas Ethics Commission.  None of the Lone Star filings were done electronically because the treasurer claimed the organization had no access to a computer.  Therefore, most of the key filings were never online, thus shielding them from public scrutiny unless an individual physically went to the Secretary of State’s office in Austin.  Republican state Senator Bob Deuell requested by letter that Earle investigate Frost’s PAC on May 27, 2004 for what he believed were illegal contributions to his 2002 opponent, the DA gave it a cursory, eight-week review and wrote ‘nothing looked improper’. 

Earle later made false public statements (listen here, choose 2nd TV player), possibly deliberately, when he was interviewed on "Texas Monthly Talks" a television interview program airing on May 5, 2005.  The program is affiliated with the leftwing “Texas Monthly” magazine.  Earle was asked if he was investigating any Democrats similar to TRMPAC in that same 2002 election cycle.  He said no, because ‘nobody has made allegations against Democrats engaging in similar activities.’  He said this despite personally signing a two-page letter dated July 30, 2004 to Sen. Deuell informing him of the results of his so-called “investigation”.  The letter clears Frost of any wrongdoing because his funds were kept separately.  That is, the corporate and non-corporate money were kept in separate accounts, even though the PAC reported it as being all together. 

It was Earle's contention that the corporation making the contribution is what made the money illegal -- but apparently only to Republicans. A May 2, 2005 article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram entitled “DeLay inquiry lengthy, complex” quotes Mr. Earle as stating, “The underlying illegality is the corporate contribution.”  This statement implies that there has already been a determination that the contributions at issue were illegal and that the defendants are guilty as charged.  Earle further states in this article, “To wash that money in an attempt to make the money legal doesn’t change the nature of the source of the money.” 

What about the Lone Star Fund? In the reporting period ending October 26, 2002 the Lone Star fund's report to the Texas Ethics Commission said that they received $112,500 in contributions. See the Texas Ethics Commission report here. However in a separate report to the IRS for the same time period the Lone Star fund reported $398,237 in contributions including $40,000 from American Airlines, $7,500 from Microsoft and $100,000 from the law firm of Nix, Patterson & Roach, LLP, none of which showed up on the Texas Ethics Commission report. See Lone Star's IRS report here. Earle said there was nothing illegal for the Lone Star Fund to receive that corporate money or report it to the Texas Ethics Committee but did indict TRMPAC and 8 corporations for doing the exact same thing.

A series of motions to quash, or to throw out the indicments, by defendants Ellis and Colyandro, took place throughout 2004 and 2005. One of the charges is now before the Criminal Court of Appeals, the highest criminal court in Texas, on whether the money laundering statue applies to a check since a check is fully traceable, and whether the Texas law is vague and overbroad. Ellis and Colyandro initially won their motion to have that charge thrown out and it has been appealed twice by Earle. That is why it is now before the Criminal Court of Appeals. The court heard oral arguments on August 22, 2006 and their ruling could be announced any day.

In a separate case, theTexas Association of Business (TAB), a completely separate group, was also indicted by Earle on similar charges of violating Texas Election Law. On June 30, 2006 a democrat judge dismissed the case against TAB with some harsh words for Earle's camp. Judge Mike Lynch said, "...a pivotal term within the election code is so broad that narrowing language from the U.S. Supreme Court must be read into the term's definition producing a statutory provision that doesn't really mean what is says". The judge goes on to say, "Despite the ingenuity and determination evident in the State's (Earle) arguments, they must ultimately fail for several reasons...you simply cannot make a silk purse out of sow's ear. The Defendant's Motion to Quash must be granted." Read full story here. Note that only one media outlet reported on this story and the Associated Press did not follow it.

So the case against TAB was thrown out and Earle did not appeal the ruling but actually re-indicted! Still can't figure how he got around double jeopardy laws. Earle has appealed the TRMPAC rulings at least five times and we may not see an actual trial for a year.