Ham Sandwich to be Arraigned Friday

Hopefully, most of the nutroots clowns had sobered up and realized this wasn't going anywhere. Apparently, however, this quixotic quest by a failed prosecutor shall not be deterred.

A Texas judge has set a Friday arraignment for Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others named in indictments accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a federal detention center.

Cheney, Gonzales and the others will not be arrested, and do not need to appear in person at the arraignment, Presiding Judge Manuel Banales said.

In the latest bizarre development in the case, the lame-duck prosecutor who won the indictments was a no-show in court Wednesday. The judge ordered Texas Rangers to go to Willacy County District Attorney Juan Guerra's house, check on his well-being and order him to court on Friday.

Half of the eight high-profile indictments returned Monday by a Willacy County grand jury are tied to privately run federal detention centers in the sparsely populated South Texas county. The other half target judges and special prosecutors who played a role in an earlier investigation of Guerra.

Seems our friends on the left have stopped ejaculating prematurely. To some extent. They still want Cheney dead.

Previously.

Texas Grand Jury 'Indicts' Cheney, Gonzales, Ham Sandwich and Side of Pasta Salad

I'm sure this was all on the up and up, especially when it comes from a grand jury convened by a crackpot Democrat who until last month was under indictment himself.

Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales were indicted Tuesday on state charges involving federal prisons in a South Texas county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles under the outgoing prosecutor.

The indictment has not yet been signed by the presiding judge, and no action can be taken until that happens.

The seven indictments issued in Willacy County on Tuesday included some targeting public officials connected to District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra's own legal battles.

Regarding those indictments, Guerra said, "the grand jury is the one that made those decisions, not me."

Guerra himself was under indictment for more than a year and half until a judge dismissed the indictments last month. Guerra's tenure ends this year after nearly two decades in office. He lost convincingly in a Democratic primary in March.

Guerra said the prison-related charges against Cheney and Gonzales are a national issue and experts from across the country testified to the grand jury.

Cheney is charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity related to the vice president's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.

Sounds like an ironclad case. May be a matter of hours until Cheney turns himself in or dies from laughter.

Gonzalez's attorney, George Terwilliger III, said in a written statement, "This is obviously a bogus charge on its face, as any good prosecutor can recognize. Hopefully, competent Texas authorities will take steps to reign in this abuse of the criminal justice system."

Naturally, the angry left, oozing with Hopenchange, is positively frothing, dreams of frogmarches dancing through their rockheads. The HuffPosters, naturally, are practicing their typical, level-headed restraint.

Thanks to Instapundit for the link.

No Justice Prosecutions, Says Mukasey

Heads will be exploding shortly once the left gets wind of this.

NEW YORK - Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Tuesday said former Justice Department officials will not face prosecution for letting improper political considerations drive hirings of prosecutors, immigration judges and other career government lawyers.

Mukasey used his sharpest words yet to criticize the senior leaders who took part in or failed to stop illegal hiring practices during the tenure of his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales.

But, he told delegates to the American Bar Association annual meeting, "not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime. In this instance, the two joint reports found only violations of the civil service laws."

For nearly two years, top advisers to Gonzales discriminated against applicants for career jobs who weren't Republican or conservative loyalists, an internal investigation concluded last month.

The federal government makes a distinction between "career" and "political" appointees, and it's a violation of civil service laws and Justice Department policy to hire career employees on the basis of political affiliation or allegiance.

Yet Monica Goodling, who served as Gonzales' counselor and White House liaison, routinely asked career job applicants about politics, the report concluded.

Mukasey, who once served as a federal judge in New York, said the Justice Department has taken steps under his leadership to prevent a recurrence of the hiring scandal.

"I have made repeatedly clear...that it is neither permissible nor acceptable to consider political affiliations in the hiring of career department employees," Mukasey said.

Dreams of frogmarches dashed, somehow they'll have Karl Rove behind this decision.

Moonbats are funniest when angry, so expect full-blown hilarity this afternoon.

Tase Him, Bro

One would think after the infamous Don't Tase Me, Bro incident at the University of Florida, the police would be a bit more prepared to handle human oddities like this freak who came on stage to greet former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

In his first appearance at a university since resigning in August, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was met at UF on Monday with a mixture of cheers, boos and scattered interruptions by protesters, two of whom were arrested.

Gonzales, who resigned from his position after a controversial tenure, spoke to more than 800 people at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

During his prepared speech, Gonzales largely avoided discussing the controversies he faced in office, including his dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys.

Instead, he focused on encouraging students to consider a career in public service while describing his own experiences in that field.

About 15 minutes into his speech, two UF students, Richard Gutierrez and Kevin Hachey, climbed onto the stage wearing orange jumpsuits and black hoods on their heads.

University Police Department officers scrambled onto the stage to remove them.

Matthew Cox, an employee of the Phillips Center, wrestled with one protester on the far side of stage, grabbing his legs and pulling him down.

The other stood directly next to Gonzales, who calmly avoided looking in his direction.

As police took the protester away, Gonzales glanced in his direction before attempting to continue his speech while he waited for the raucous crowd to settle down after a few minutes.

A few more protesters climbed onto the stage.

Meanwhile, even more protesters stood up, removed shirts or jackets revealing yellow T-shirts that read "SHAME," and stood with their backs toward Gonzales.

Apparently, it's no longer possible for these childish liberals to act like civilized adults.

Certainly, college administrators make little effort to promote civility.

Their loss.

H/T: Ringo.

Here's video.



Naturally, the kids on the left are lapping it up.

UPDATE: Gateway Pundit links. Thanks!

UPDATE II: More from Allahpundit and Michelle Malkin.

AG Gonzales Resigns

I wonder which reporter will cry that he didn't get the scoop first?

Looks like a lot of these things come down on Monday mornings of late.

Embattled Attorney General Resigns

WACO, Tex., Aug. 27 -- Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned. A senior administration official said he would announce the decision later this

Mr. Gonzales, who had rebuffed calls for his resignation, submitted his to President Bush by telephone on Friday, the official said. His decision was not announced immediately announced, the official added, until after the president invited him and his wife to lunch at his ranch near here.

Mr. Bush has not yet chosen a replacement but will not leave the position open long, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the resignation had not yet been made public.

Allahpundit has more and Michelle Malkin isn't shedding any tears.

Fieger Busted for Illegal Contributions to Breck Girl

We're constantly reminded by the John Edwards team how clean they are.

Well, that isn't necessarily the case. Turns out some of his ambulance-chasing cohorts are now neck deep in trouble for funneling illegal cash to his ill-fated 2004 campaign, including former Jack Kevorkian mouthpiece Geoffrey Fieger.

Fieger, partner indicted on campaign finance charges

Naturally, they blame the evil Karl Rove.

Attorney Geoffrey Fieger and one of his law partners have been indicted by the U.S. government, which accused the pair of making $127,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the 2004 presidential campaign of John Edwards.

The indictment was unsealed today at the U.S. District Court in Detroit and accuses Fieger and Vernon Johnson of violating the $2,000 per election federal limit on individual contributions to presidential candidates.

The indictment accuses them of soliciting 60 “straw donors” to also contribute the $2,000 maximum to Edwards and then reimbursing them for their contributions through funds from their Southfield-based Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Johnson PC firm.

Fieger, the area’s most famous and flamboyant attorney, and Johnson are accused of conspiracy, making and causing conduit campaign contributions, causing false statements and obstruction of justice.

Fieger issued a written statement in which he assailed the indictment as a product of a President George W. Bush’s Justice Department’s effort to use the federal courts to target Democrats. He cited the firings of several U.S. attorneys by the Justice Department in some cases resulting from dissatisfaction with their lack of prosecution of Democrats.

He said U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – with the encouragement of longtime Bush political adviser Karl Rove – began a campaign in 2005 to destroy the fundraising ability of Edwards.

“It is a truly sad day in America when political prosecutions are becoming a common-place occurrence,” he said. “The timing of these unprecedented charges, that have no support in fact or law, during the height of the presidential fund-raising campaign, is solely intended to intimidate Democratic supporters around the country. The false charges made against me and my partner today will ultimately fail.”

Famed defense lawyer Gerry Spence, who counts Imelda Marcos among his former clients, is representing Fieger. He wouldn’t comment on the contents of the indictment, but said Fieger will plead not guilty.

Cry me a river.

Unindicted Terrorist Co-Conspirators: We Swear, We're Not Terrorists

Muslim terrorist frontgroup CAIR, along with several other dubious outfits, just can't stand it when they're exposed for what they are. The Hamas-linked unindicted co-conspirators have sent a strongly-worded letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales claiming they're being smeared, which, ironically is what they do to everyone who exposes their nefarious activities.

Let's hope the Justice Department has the spine to dismiss this.

Muslim Groups Oppose a List of ‘Co-Conspirators’

Two prominent Muslim American organizations took steps yesterday to reverse what they called a Justice Department effort to smear the entire Muslim community by naming some of its largest organizations as unindicted co-conspirators in a Texas terrorism trial.

The National Association of Muslim Lawyers, which is not named, sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales objecting to the list, which it said breached the department’s own guidelines against releasing the names of unindicted co-conspirators and did not serve any clear law enforcement purpose.

The letter, also signed by the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, said the “overreaching list” of more than 300 organizations and individuals would further cripple charitable donations to Muslim organizations and could ratchet up the discrimination faced by American Muslims since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Of course, no evidence of any discrimination is provided, as usual.

In addition, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, which is on the list, announced that it would file a brief today asking Judge A. Joe Fish of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas to remove its name and all others from the list.

The brief, a copy of which was released yesterday, says the list furthers a pattern of the “demonization of all things Muslim” that has unrolled in the United States since 2001.

“Most people don’t understand what an unindicted co-conspirator is,” said Parvez Ahmed, CAIR’s board chairman, adding that the release of the list prompted death threats and hate mail against the council. “They think that being related to a terrorism case means we are terrorists.”

We understand exactly what an unindicted co-conspirator is, and yes, being related to a terrorism case may well mean you're terrorists.

Not too difficult to understand.

Hypocritical Democrats Want More Eavesdropping Powers

Forget about pandering to the kook fringe nutroots base and their masters at the ACLU, it's all about appearances for the Democrats. Since they obviously are pathetically weak on national security and fighting terrorism, they need to pretend to be tough. So there goes another principle out the window.

Democrats Scrambling to Expand Eavesdropping

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Under pressure from President Bush, Democratic leaders in Congress are scrambling to pass legislation this week to expand the government?s electronic wiretapping powers.

Democratic leaders have expressed a new willingness to work with the White House to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to make it easier for the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on some purely foreign telephone calls and e-mail. Such a step now requires court approval.

Of course, they're all for domestic eavesdropping when they're in power. Just ask Newt Gingrich and John Boehner about that.

Of course, now that they're scrambling to appear tough, Mr. 19%, Dingy Harry, is seeking comity and bipartisanship.

“We hope our Republican counterparts will work together with us to fix the problem, rather than try again to gain partisan political advantage at the expense of our national security,” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said in a statement Monday night.

Naturally, the terrorist supporters at the ACLU won't stand for any of it.

Some civil liberties groups oppose the proposed changes, expressing concern that there might be far-reaching consequences.

“Congress needs to take its time before it implements another piece of antiterrorism legislation it will regret, like the Patriot Act,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “The Bush administration clearly has abused the FISA powers it already has and clearly wants to go back to the good old days of warrantless wiretapping and domestic spying. Congress must stop this bill in its tracks.”

Sorry, not going to happen.

As a sidenote, the paper of record ought to do a better job proofreading, as they misspell the name of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales three times.

Send a Message to Gonzales ... and Some Cash to Us!

The John Edwards campaign is nothing if not shameless, and the latest missive from this oily outfit comes from the loathsome Joe Trippi.

Today, we need your help to send a message to insiders like George Bush's Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who have no respect for the rule of law, our rights and freedoms, or the Constitution.

Gonzales, the man who helped enable torture at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and illegal spying on Americans, is now facing a possible perjury investigation for lying to Congress.

President Bush may be incapable of admitting when he makes a mistake (yes, too many to count) -- but you and I and the American people still have the power to tell Gonzales that it is time to go!

I had no idea Gonzales was involved in "torturing" anyone at Abu Ghraib or Club Gitmo, but what's a little truth stretching when you're a pathetic snake-oil salesman?

It goes on and on about defending the Constitution, blah blah blah, with some clearly uninteded irony.

But here's the best part?with your help, we can send Gonzales a really BIG message.

If we gather over 25,000 signatures online, we're not just going to mail them.

We're going to put them at the bottom of the largest copy of the Constitution you have ever seen, and deliver it straight to Gonzales' office at the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Department building in Washington, D.C..

Would that be the same Robert F. Kennedy who wiretapped Martin Luther King?

Why yes, it is! Talk about trashing the Constitution.

I guess you could say a pitiful hack like Joe Trippi is one of those people who like to make up their own history while ignoring the past.

What a dope.

Of course, this urgent call to action comes with a P.S. in the form of a campaign contribution.

P.S. - This grassroots movement to change America depends on your support, so contribute today?even a small contribution?and help John Edwards and our campaign fight for the kind of change you and America deserve.

Also at Fishwrap.

Left Hyperventilating over White House Emails

Another day, another game of gotcha with Karl Rove.

Hateful obsession is so unbecoming.

Several high-ranking White House officials were closely involved in crafting a public response to the uproar over the firing of a group of U.S. attorneys, according to documents released late yesterday.

Then-White House counsel Harriet E. Miers and aides to presidential adviser Karl Rove were deeply enmeshed in debates over how to respond to the controversy as early as mid-January, when Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) questioned the spate of prosecutor departures in a Senate floor speech, according to e-mails that the Justice Department turned over to the House and Senate judiciary committees.

The only uproar is a media-generated witchhunt egged on by morons like Charles Schumer, a pathetic hack who could even get enough votes to take a vote on a nonbinding resolution the other day.

Memo to losers: Nobody cares about this outside of the far-left echo chamber.

If you need some laughs, there are no less than 15 of the hardcore left hatesites getting their panties in a bunch over it this morning at Memeorandum.

Gonzales Guilty Until Proven Innocent

There's really nothing Alberto Gonzales can do when testifying today that will satisfy the smug, arrogant Charles Schumer, an ideological hack if ever there was one.

Schumer is pathologically obsessed with Karl Rove, and there no doubt this charade will veer off into conspiracy theories spun by a fevered mind filled with hatred.

Thursday's blockbuster hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee will put Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to the test as he defends his botched handling of the news that eight U.S. attorneys were removed from duty last December.

Gonzales has already told the committee that he has nothing to hide, but committee member Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, said no fewer than three times on Wednesday that the "burden of proof is on the attorney general" to explain why the prosecutors were fired.

In a preview of his testimony, released Sunday, Gonzales concedes that the Justice Department's handling of the dismissals ended up creating an "unfortunate and undignified public spectacle," but at no time were any of the prosecutors' fates decided based on political considerations aimed at encouraging or killing partisan prosecutions.

Say what you want about Gonzales and the job he's done, but this partisan witch-hunt conducted by Schumer and his cronies is petty and vindictive.

"The attorney general and his supporters seem to think that simply denying U.S. attorneys were fired for political reasons exonerates him. That just wont wash," Schumer said.

Schumer, chairman of the Judiciary panel's courts subcommittee, which has oversight of U.S. attorneys, said Gonzales needs to reveal who made the initial complaints, who investigated the complaints and why some attorneys were fired while others were not.

RINOs Express Doubts Over Gonzales

Of course the New Yorks Times doesn't call them RINOs, as they prefer to mislead the public by using three Republicans who seemingly are at odds with the administration over everything, namely Chuck Hagel, Arlen Specter, and Lindsay Graham.

You have to wait until the 15th paragraph of the story to have an actual Republican defend the administration.

On Sunday, the White House found its strongest Republican defender in a onetime adversary, Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican whip. In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Lott mocked the Democrats for charging that politics were involved in decisions involving political appointees.

“The horrors of horrors — my goodness,” Mr. Lott said. “How were they selected in the first place?”

Mr. Lott also defended Mr. Bush’s decision to invoke executive privilege in refusing to provide his aides for sworn testimony before Congress, saying “he’d be making a huge mistake” if he decided otherwise.

As noted by Gateway Pundit, CNN is just as bad, with this ridiculous headline:

Key Republicans question Gonzales' credibility

And just who are these key Republicans? Hagel, Specter and Graham.

Gonzales Approved Firings

Am I the only one who finds this fact wholly unremarkable?

Documents show Gonzales approved firings

Last week, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he was not involved in any discussions about the impending dismissals of U.S. attorneys.

On Friday night, however, the Justice Department revealed Gonzales' participation in a Nov. 27 meeting where such plans were discussed.

The firings of eight prosecutors has since led to a political firestorm and calls for his ouster.

At that meeting, the attorney general and at least five top Justice Department officials discussed a five-step plan for carrying out the firings of the prosecutors, Gonzales' aides said late Friday.

There, Gonzales signed off on the plan, which was drafted by his chief of staff, Kyle Sampson. Sampson resigned last week.

He's the Attorney General of the United States. It only makes sense he signs off on the dismissal of those who report to him.

This theater of the absurd has gotten way out of hand.

What's All the Fuss?

The way the drive-by media is hyperventilating over eight U.S. attorneys having been dismissed, you'd think we're in the midst of a Constitutional meltdown. I could see if they all had the goods on President Bush and he decided to dismiss them in the dead of night. But really, if I have to see Charles Schumer and Patrick Leahy gravely intoning how the republic cannot continue on, I'm going to vomit.

To put things in perspective, all you need to know is in 1993, Bill Clinton had Janet Reno summarily dismiss 93 U.S. Attorneys, which, while suspicious on its face, is perfectly legal. And what was the media reaction? They had no problem with it, as noted by Brent Bozell.

Brit Hume also takes the media to task.

“News stories reporting that the Bush administration had considered firing all 93 U.S. attorneys across the country failed to mention that that is exactly what Bill Clinton did soon after taking office back in 1993. The only sitting U.S. attorney Clinton did not cashier was Michael Chertoff, now the Bush Homeland Security Secretary. At the time Chertoff was U.S. attorney in New Jersey and then Democratic Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey intervened to save Chertoff's job. None of this was noted, even in passing, in front-page stories today in the New York Times and the Washington Post, or in the AP's story on the subject. By the way, the mass Clinton firings generated some news stories, some complaints from Republicans in Congress, but no congressional investigations, and not a word from Chuck Schumer.”

Sweetness & Light further exposes the rank media hypocrisy.