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This editorial is from the same guy who wrote the book that help defeat John Kerry -- UNFIT FOR COMMAND.

I don't know if this is to be believed or not.

Any comments/thoughts/rebuttals welcome.

1 posted on 10/06/2005 10:22:37 AM PDT by SirLinksalot
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To: SirLinksalot
On Sept. 18, 2000, Denise Voigt Crawford, the Texas Securities Commissioner, was able to announce that Russell Allen Erxleben had been sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge James R. Nowlin to a total of 84 months in federal prison, a $1 million fine, and $28 million in restitution in connection with his conviction for one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, and a second count of securities fraud in connection with his activities as president of Austin Forex International, Inc.

84 months? One legitimate complaint that Jesse Jackson et. al. have is the fact that if a black kid robs someone of a few hundred bucks, they get longer in jail than people who steal millions.

2 posted on 10/06/2005 10:25:51 AM PDT by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)
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To: SirLinksalot
When the case naming the law firm as a defendant surfaced in 1999, Harriet Miers was almost as brave in support of Locke, Liddell & Sapp as President George W. Bush was of her in his Rose Garden press conference defense of his nomination. "Locke Liddel has done nothing improper and in our judgment never should have been named as a defendant," she told the press at the time.

OK, everyone here knows that I have been a vocal critic of Miers, but I will defend here here. Partnerships can be dangerous sometimes. All of the partners of a firm will be hit hard if one partner does something wrong. If one partners was determined to engage in this kind of behavior, there is no way that the firm could have stopped him/her.

Now, it is possible that there were red flags, and associates going to Meirs telling her of the illegal work. If that is the case, then that would be a problem. But absent that, we can't assume that the illegal work of one partner should be blamed on her.

As for her defending the firm against the charge, that's her job.

4 posted on 10/06/2005 10:30:47 AM PDT by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)
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To: SirLinksalot

"This editorial is from the same guy who wrote the book that help defeat John Kerry -- UNFIT FOR COMMAND."

It would be more accurate to say he had a hand in assembling and editing some of the material.


5 posted on 10/06/2005 10:33:21 AM PDT by Sam Hill
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To: SirLinksalot

hoo-boy. Here we go...


6 posted on 10/06/2005 10:34:53 AM PDT by Mamzelle
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To: SirLinksalot

Notice something missing from this article? Like the, um, relevant fact as to whether Miers was a partner who actually worked on the Austin Forex matter?

Smear.


8 posted on 10/06/2005 10:37:38 AM PDT by SirJohnBarleycorn
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To: SirLinksalot
This editorial is from the same guy who wrote the book that help defeat John Kerry -- UNFIT FOR COMMAND.

He also came on Free Republic and, using his real name, trashed the Catholic Church about a year ago. His comments here were used by the Kerry Campaign.

12 posted on 10/06/2005 10:40:19 AM PDT by sinkspur (Breed every trace of the American Staffordshire Terrier out of existence!)
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To: SirLinksalot

Jerry doesn't post here anymore...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/user-posts?name=jrlc


16 posted on 10/06/2005 10:46:13 AM PDT by TNPatriot (If we aren't the mainstream, why do we nearly control all three branches of Government?)
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To: SirLinksalot

As you can see from my other recent posts, I am not supportive of this nomination. However, to attack Miers on the basis of this civil lawsuit is off the mark. I am familiar with lawsuits of this sort. Most such suits against law and accounting firms are little more than deep pocket searches by amoral plaintiff class action attorneys. It is very unlikely that any attorney in her firm had any knowledge of the fraud or any reason to believe the fraud was taking place.


17 posted on 10/06/2005 10:47:18 AM PDT by p. henry
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To: SirLinksalot
I don't know if this is to be believed or not.

I once applied for a job with Austin Forex (never heard back from them) and I followed this case quite closely when it broke. All of the factual details given above seem correct to me. What isn't said is the level of Miers' involvement with Austin Forex other than her being the managing partner who was chosen to be a spokesperson for the press.

19 posted on 10/06/2005 10:48:58 AM PDT by green iguana
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To: SirLinksalot

Managing a law firm that advises a Ponzi scheme on how best to defraud investors of $33 million is hardly an admirable credential for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I'm very disappointed so far in Miers because I wanted a Scalia clone. But.......

That sentence sounds like a very cheap shot. If it was true, one of the firm's lawyers should also be in jail. If they were, you would expect the article to say so. I seriously doubt that the law firm actually instructed their client on how best to steal the money. "Listen up, this is how we are gonna rip off all the old people. Sounds far fetched.

This guy is making the case that the lawyers not only knew what was going on, but that they were in some way the masterminds, and that Miers had some sort of full knowledge. Exaggeration like that raises doubts, for me anyway.

handy

20 posted on 10/06/2005 10:50:43 AM PDT by handy (Forgive me this day, my daily typos...The Truth is not a Smear!)
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To: SirLinksalot; jrlc

Erxleben was punter in the NFL and Jerome's little smear job of a Christian lady is beyond contempt.


21 posted on 10/06/2005 10:53:34 AM PDT by jla (I support 'Aunt Harriet')
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To: SirLinksalot

This is a problem - all other idealogical considerations aside, I would never support a Democrat SC pick for this reason alone, why should I support a Republican pick under the same circumstances?


22 posted on 10/06/2005 10:55:53 AM PDT by ExpatCanuck
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To: SirLinksalot

This whole process is beginning to resemble a knife-dropping contest.


24 posted on 10/06/2005 10:58:20 AM PDT by Old Professer (Fix the problem, not the blame!)
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To: SirLinksalot
Any comments/thoughts/rebuttals welcome.

Comment: A freaking disgraceful article.

Thought: Corsi should be ashamed of himself.

Rebuttal: There is nothing to rebut, he attempts to slime the lady through association and provides none, nada, zip evidence of Miers complicity.

33 posted on 10/06/2005 11:05:43 AM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: SirLinksalot

The defendant had to pay 28 million in restitution, and the firm agreed to pay 22 million, all for a 33 million dollar fraud -- so shouldn't that have pretty much meant that no investor would be "out of their life savings?" from this? Shouldn't that 50 million been enough to cover the 33 million invested?

What am I missing here?


35 posted on 10/06/2005 11:07:45 AM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: SirLinksalot
Trust, but verify. That motto seems more applicable in the present case. Mr. President: Please withdraw this dreadful nomination. There are highly qualified conservatives with stellar credentials who merit your consideration.


So.......before we find out whether this is a smear, let's dump the nominee anyway???? Talk about self-contradicting advice.
36 posted on 10/06/2005 11:08:14 AM PDT by macamadamia
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To: SirLinksalot
There was a thread about this three days ago. There is no reason to believe Miers had anything to do with the matter that gave rise to the claim against her firm. It was and is a large law firm, and it is unfair to associate every partner in the firm with this matter.

As far as the firm entering into a $22 million settlement, this is what I posted in the earlier thread:

This is a pretty large settlement, but it is likely most of the money came from the firm's malpractice carrier. The simple fact of life is that when a firm's client loses (or steals) money he has raised from third party investors, often the only way for those investors to get anything back is to sue the law firm and/or the accounting firm. These are usually the only "deep pockets" around. Resolving such suits is considered, to some extent, a cost of doing business.

Interestingly, a large legal malpractice insurance company reported in 2004 that a study of legal malpractice awards and settlements in excess of $20 million showed there were 32 such cases, of which 26 involved a dishonest client of the firm who had raised investment money from third parties.

38 posted on 10/06/2005 11:16:53 AM PDT by blau993 (Labs for love; .357 for Security.)
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To: SirLinksalot

Joe Farah is an idiot, and because he runs WorldNetDaily I never read the rag.


41 posted on 10/06/2005 11:27:38 AM PDT by narby
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To: SirLinksalot

This is a problem.


43 posted on 10/06/2005 11:37:16 AM PDT by tomahawk (Proud to be an enemy of Islam (check out www.prophetofdoom.net))
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To: SirLinksalot

This is about as credible as Chairman Hao's recent "salami" insinuation.


45 posted on 10/06/2005 11:43:20 AM PDT by Graymatter (If at first your mind doesn't open that wide...try bending over.)
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