Former prosecutor, Sharon Eubanks, a 22-year veteran of the DOJ, claimed the Bush Administration politically interfered in a case she prosecuted against big tobacco, in an interview with Chris Matthews on Hardball today.
Ms. Eubanks' case against big tobacco was poised to prevail; that's when the Bush Administration got involved with what she labeled a "massive interference campaign." They made sure the monetary remedy she sought was slashed to almost nothing. Just prior to her closing arguments, she received a phone call: "Come down, we want to talk about getting the number down."
Although she ended up doing the Administration's bidding, she did complain. She stated that she issued a report to her superiors - Dan Meron, Peter Keisler, and Robert McCallum - who is now the US Ambassador to Australia. "That was his gift for this," she said, "...he's supportive of the Administration's policies."
Ms. Eubanks suggested that even the judge recognized the remedy as insufficient. So did Congress; they asked for an investigation by the Inspector General, an independent oversight agency. However, the IG's office gave it to the Office of Professional Responsibility, which reports directly to the Attorney General. As Sharon described it, "It was a complete whitewash." She claimed that, in the 8 hours during their interview of her, they never bothered to ask who contacted her from the White House, or other details they needed to determine political interference in the case.
When Matthews observed that Gonzalez has initiated a OPR investigation with the current firings, Ms. Eubanks replied, "That would be a joke."
Returning to the tobacco case, Ms. Eubanks stated, "They gave me the closing argument that i was required to read verbatim. They even gave me talking points."
updated: a WaPo article from 3/22/07 providing more details: http://www.washingtonpost.com/... from the article: "Political interference is happening at Justice across the department," she said. "When decisions are made now in the Bush attorney general's office, politics is the primary consideration. . . . The rule of law goes out the window."
update2: the December 1, 2005, CBS article on the Eubanks' resignation and the case. Oh what a difference an election makes!!! http://www.cbsnews.com/...