Posted on 09/02/2009 11:02:47 AM PDT by CedarDave
The wailing and gnashing of teeth on both sides of the political aisle over last week's nonindictment of Gov. Bill Richardson and two former aides is to be expected in a state lacking the rich tradition of political corruption prosecutions they have in places like Illinois or New Jersey.
Here in the Land of Enchantment, we're not used to the sharp elbows and eye gouging that accompany such matters.
From comments coming from both sides, we don't even know the rules of these contests. And trust me, there are rules.
Republicans are complaining that the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., killed the case. Democrats are complaining about the letter U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt wrote to attorneys for the potential targets of the investigation that said no charges would be brought now but made a point of saying the governor and his top guys had not been "exonerated."
Republicans want U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder investigated because of the decision not to seek indictments. Democrats want Fouratt fired over the letter.
Good luck with either of those propositions. The chances of the Democratic-controlled Congress investigating Holder's decision are zero.
Fouratt was appointed U.S. attorney for New Mexico by the federal judges in the state until a replacement is named by the president and confirmed by the Senate. When that happens, Fouratt goes back to being an assistant U.S. attorney.
Both Fouratt's office and DOJ headquarters, which is Holder's domain, have a rule book about the size of the Manhattan telephone directory called the U.S. Attorneys' Manual.
So far, it looks like everyone was following the rule book.
~~snip~~
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
Good article. The "rule book" and the legal hurdles to indict and convict for "pay to play" are detailed further in the article. Suffice it to say that the legal bar in cases where political contributions may be considered bribes is high unless there is strong evidence supporting such. That will make future prosecution of Richardson and/or cronies difficult if not impossible.
NM list PING!
*sigh* - The more legalese crap politicians pull out of their asses the more I think the only way they’ll get due punishment is at the end of a rope. [/cynic]
Ahhh..... New Mexico. Where the politics makes the Chicago gangsters look like ice cream vendors
Written by the same Mike Gallagher that is on the radio?
No, this person is an ABQ Journal columnist.
Scary thought!
I’m not so sure... I think in NM it’s corruption-of-incompetence whereas Chicago is corruption-of-malice.
Of course, it has been said that sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.
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