About ten days ago , while doing a diary about the new heads of the DOJ's Public Integrity and Fraud sections, I came across several interesting articles about the Abramoff investigation, the "Miami Mafia", and the new US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Since they all concerned the DOJ in Florida, naturally I wondered what connection Jeb Bush might have with recent developments (or in Abramoff's case, non-developments) and the state of justice in Southern Florida.
Check out Dengre's dairy for more a complete review of Abramoff and the DOJ.
Florida... Hmmmm
I am deeply suspicious of any anything having to do with George, Jeb, Abramoff, the DOJ, and any recently appointed USA. Add them all together and my tinfoil gets a little tight.
As we all have discovered with the current administration, where there is smoke, there is usually a full fledged major blaze. Below is some of that smoke.
Besides being the Decider's brother and heir apparent, we are all aware of the role Jeb played in both the 2000 and 2004 election in Florida. Abramoff was indicted in Florida for the SunCruz Casinos Bank fraud. Bush/Gonzales appointed a new US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida in the spring of 2006. Strangest of all, Nine former colleagues (The Miami Mafia") from this one office have been promoted to important DOJ positions in Washington. Seems like quite a high number from just one office. Then of course, Mel Martinez is Bush's new hand-picked head of the RNC. It would seem that Florida is the new Texas.
"The Miami Mafia"
From the Southern District of Florida Blog
September 17, 2006
The true "Miami Mafia"
Fidel and Raul call the Cuban-American exile community the "Miami Mafia," and some criminal case defendants in town are referred to as members of an actual Miami mafia, but the true "Miami Mafia" is located at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. These former colleagues from the US Attorney's Office in Miami have carried that moniker for years and risen to top posts, prompting Abbe Lowell to joke at last week's NACDL white collar crime conference in Washington that the Miami Mafia has taken over the department. It may appear that way, as, among others, Ed Nucci is Acting Chief of the Public Integrity Section, Mike Mullaney is Acting Chief of the Counterterrorism Section, Paul Pelletier is Acting Chief of the Fraud Section, Barry Sabin is one of the Deputy Assistant Attorney Generals for the Criminal Division, Andrew Oosterbaan is Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Ken Blanco is Chief of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, Steve Tyrrell did important work as Deputy Chief of the Counterterrorism Section, and Mary Butler is doing a great job in the Abramoff corruption probe (you can read her plea agreement in the Bob Ney case here). My apologies to those I missed. Congratulations to these fine public servants, and remember them when you need to grovel up at DOJ for any of your clients.
Jeb must be very proud of the boys and girls from southern Florida. I wonder if he put in a good word for any of these newly promoted officials? How nice to have friends in high places. Especially, if those friends work for the DOJ in Washington. Even better if they are in charge of investigating high profile corruption cases. Especially now that they are taking such a "hands-on" approach in such cases as the lawsuit against the tobacco companies.
There have been several changes in the list since this was published. Steve Tyrrell has been promoted to Chief of the Fraud division. Ed Nucci has been replaced by William Welch, an assistant USA from Mass. Not sure how Mr. Welch slipped in there. Nevertheless, this continues the DOJ's strange shuffling of the prosecutors involved in the Abramoff case.
Abramoff
With major staff turnover in the two sections responsible for the Abramoff case, this has been quite a problem and led to internal friction within the DOJ.
The Legal Times
Read the article for a far more in-depth critique of the Abramoff investigation.
The turnover meant that new prosecutors had to be brought up to speed on the inner workings of a complex and closely scrutinized case.
“That whole section seemed like it was in transition,” says a government source with knowledge of the case. “You had people leaving and new people coming in.”
It would seem the DOJ, packed with the boys and girls from Florida, is not in any hurry to wrap things up any any number of investigations centering on RFEBs (Republican Friends of Either Bush).
The New US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
Not content to shuffle people in Washington, Gonzales appointed a new US attorney for Miami last spring. I have no idea if/why the former US attorney resigned or was given a promotion to judge or whatever. Anyone know? Perhaps this was a dry run for the "Purged Eight"?
Alex Acosta was sworn in in October, 2006, by his mentor, Supreme Court Justice Alito.
Justice Alito swore Alex Acosta in last week as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Alito praised his former clerk but had one criticism of his abilities when he served as a law clerk in 1994 for the then-Third Circuit judge: ‘’Alex’s knowledge of sports was a little bit lacking,'’ he said, adding that Acosta probably didn’t know the difference between the Florida Marlins and the Miami Dolphins.
At 37, Acosta, the son of Cuban exiles, is one of the nation’s youngest U.S. Attorneys. The Harvard Law grad served on the National Labor Relations Board and then became the first Hispanic to lead the Justice Department’s civil rights office.
Notice the first rate resume filled with tons of experience. If I didn't know better, I would think the powers that be preferred someone without a lot of prosecutorial experience. Wonder why?
How about his tenure in the Civil Rights Office?
Frank DiMarino, a former federal prosecutor who served six U.S. attorneys in Florida and Georgia during an 18-year Justice Department career, said that too much emphasis on voter fraud investigations "smacks of trying to use prosecutorial power to investigate and potentially indict political enemies."
Other former voting-rights section lawyers said that during the tenure of Alex Acosta, who served as the division chief from the fall of 2003 until he was named interim U.S. attorney in Miami in the summer of 2005, the department didn't file a single suit alleging that local or state laws or election rules diluted the votes of African-Americans. In a similar time period, the Clinton administration filed six such cases.
According to an article from McClatchy Newspapers:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is transforming the ranks of the nation's top federal prosecutors by firing some and appointing conservative loyalists from the Bush administration's inner circle who critics say are unlikely to buck Washington, D.C. ...
Nine recent appointees held high-level White House or Justice Department jobs, and most of them were handpicked by Gonzales under a little-noticed provision of the USA Patriot Act that became law in March.
Mr. Acosta's law enforcement priority?
From Law.com
When FBI supervisors in Miami met with new interim U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta last month, they wondered what the top enforcement priority for Acosta and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would be.
Would it be terrorism? Organized crime? Narcotics trafficking? Immigration? Or maybe public corruption?
The agents were stunned to learn that a top prosecutorial priority of Acosta and the Department of Justice was none of the above. Instead, Acosta told them, it's obscenity. Not pornography involving children, but pornographic material featuring consenting adults.
Did I read that right? His most imporrtant concern is adult pornography? Who would have guessed this was southern Florida's most pressing law enforcemnet problem?
Not interested in public corruption or election fraud. Perfect!
No interest in money laundering, immigration, drugs, or terrorism? Wow!
It is evident Mr. Acosta is truely commited to seeing justice done in Miami!
Wonder if the Republican senator suggested him? Doesn't sound like it. I would guess this means Acosta owes his job only to Gonzales/Bush. Great!
Which brings us to...
J.E.B
It is no secret Jeb wants to be president. If he had not lost in his first try at Governor, he would be in Washington instead of George. Everyone in the Bush family assumed it would be Jeb. It had been planned for years. He would do anything to keep George from impeachment and his own dreams alive. But all is not lost. The powers that be in the Republican party are not really satisfied with the current crop running for president, so I wouldn't be too surprised if they turned to JEB sometime this summer. If Jeb is smart he'll wait till 2012 or 2016. I suspect there is a lot of dirt in Florida concerning voting irregularities, ties to such people as Abramoff, and other assorted problems that neither Jeb nor George would want to see the light of day.
Should Jeb decide to run in 2008, how convenient to have highly placed friends at the DOJ and a friendly US Attorney at home. I'm not sure whether this is a case of Jeb helping George or George helping Jeb. All I know is, this country could never survive another Bush in the White House.