Bush, Ashcroft imitate Clinton, Reno in blocking probe of Boston FBI

Manchester, NH Union Leader ^ | January 22, 2002 | Robert Novak

[Native American Female Vet]

It seems to me Mueller was a US Attorney in Boston...sometime in the early 80's. Having a little trouble with the research could ya help me out please?

[vin-one]

If it was such a big deal under the Toon, why didn't Burton ever get anything.
Maybe legally Bush has a right to do this.
I don't think he is covering up for the Toon,
maybe he is just waiting for the Hildabeast to announce she has been
drafted to run for President.
Then open the flood gates after she gets the nod.
Game set and Match. W wins again.....

[RJCogburn]

In Boston, Joe Salvati went to prison for 30 years on murder charges because of lies under oath by star FBI informant Joe Barboza; the FBI knew Salvati was innocent but wanted to protect Barboza.

Luckily we can laugh at silly statements. I doubt Joe Salvati is doubled over in hysterics.

FReegards.

[Native American Female Vet]

Thanks Clarity. I didnt see anything of where he was in the 80's skimming through the links. I'm probaly wrong but every time I see "Boston" and "FBI"... I think of Mueller and the 80's.

[archy]

Boston from 1982 to 1988; also involved in the John Gotti and Manuel Noreiga prosecutions. The Gotti connection to Boston was through the US Army's *Operation Watch Tower* efforts run from Ft Devens, Mass in the mid-1970s, controlled by renegade [maybe!] CIA officer Ed Wilson and his partner Frank Terpil, two other feds linked to Noriega's drug operations, and later covered up with Massachusetts and federal agency assistance.

Note also the interesting Boston mob connections and the activities on their behalf of one Carmine *Raymond* Gagliardi, found shot to death and floating in Boston Harbor in 1969.

Mueller BBC bio info *here*, as follows:

Profile: FBI chief Robert Mueller

Mr Mueller also worked for George Bush senior

President George Bush's decision to nominate Robert Mueller for director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation came as no surprise. He had long been considered the most likely choice to replace Louis Freeh, who announced his retirement in May, well ahead of the end of his term in 2003.

But Mr Mueller faces the task of rehabilitating the public image of a badly battered FBI.

Many questions about the efficiency of the security services have been raised in the wake of the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

When the hijacked planes were deliberately crashed into the buildings the agency was still reeling from the Robert Hanssen spy scandal and a last-minute revelation that it failed to turn over thousands of pages of documents to lawyers defending Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Important backing

Mr Mueller gained the backing of Attorney-General John Ashcroft after serving as acting deputy attorney-general from January to May this year.

Mr Ashcroft's support was key because the Bush administration wants to bring the FBI under tighter control of the Justice Department.

The FBI made a blunder in the McVeigh case

Mr Mueller, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, is known as a strong manager, a trait the administration saw as necessary in rehabilitating the FBI.

He also is well respected in federal law enforcement circles, and he would bring a wide range of legal experience to the post.

Although a conservative Republican, he is known for his ability to win support from both parties.

California Senator Barbara Boxer, a liberal Democrat, recommended him for his previoust post as the US Attorney for the Northern District of California.

He began his law career at a private law firm in San Francisco in 1973, and he took his first public post in 1976 when he became an assistant US attorney in San Francisco, where he served until 1982.

He then moved to Boston where he held several positions in the US Attorney's office there, including criminal division chief and deputy United States attorney.

Investigative experience

After spending 1988 and 1989 in private practice, he joined the staff of Attorney-General Richard Thornburgh, and his star rose at the Justice Department as the head of the criminal division under President George Bush's father from 1990 to 1993.

He supervised such high profile cases as the prosecution of Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega and organised crime boss John Gotti.

And he led the investigations of the 1991 collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International banking and the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103.

He joined a private Washington firm in 1993, but in 1995, he left private practice, joining the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia as a senior litigation counsel in the homicide section.

-30-

[rdavis84]

"And he led the investigations of the 1991 collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International banking and the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103."

Now THERE's the Necessary Credentials to head the FBI. Proved his value and capability to safeguard us peons then, didn't he?

BTW, anybody seen Cheney?

[Native American Female Vet]

Thank you so much archy! Very interesting stuff!

[mrsmith]

Facts omitted from the article:

The evidence that cleared Salvati was provided by a Justice Department task force to the Courts.

Bush has provided 3500 documents on these matters to the Congress.

Former FBI Special Agent John Connolly - the agent in charge of the informants from 1975 to the early 1990s - is awaiting trial on charges that range from bribery to the possibility that information he supplied to Bulger led to the deaths of other FBI informants.
(The court will have access to any FBI deliberative documents that there is an evidentiary need for).

Especially perverse of Novak is his criticism of Ashcroft's rejection of Reno's political abuse of the separation of powers.
"In 1993, then-Attorney General Janet Reno broke a long-standing tradition of protecting career employees from outside political pressure by allowing department lawyers to be interrogated by congressional investigators probing the elder President George Bush's record of prosecution in environmental cases, a move the elder Bush had resisted. "

[mrsmith]

Having never seen a subpoena, thank God, I would really appreciate your opinion if Burton's subpoena shows a due regard for the Executive's "deliberative process privilege":

"1. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, or refrain from prosecuting,
Stephen Flemmi, including, but not limited to, records relating to decisions to
prosecute, or refrain from prosecuting Flemmi for the bombing assualt on attorney
John Fitzgerald. Please exclude all records drafted in anticipation of, or subsequent
to, the 1995 indictment of Stephen Flemmi.
2. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, or refrain from prosecuting, James
J. “Whitey” Bulger. Please exclude all records drafted in anticipation of, or
subsequent to, the 1995 indictment ofJames J. “Whitey” Bulger.
3. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, or refrain from prosecuting,
Joseph Barboza.
4. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, or refrain from prosecuting,
Vincent J. “Jimmy the Bear” Flemmi.
5. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, orrefrain from prosecuting,
Raymond L. S. Patriarca.
6. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, or refrain from prosecuting,
Gennaro Angiulo.
7. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, or refrain from prosecuting,
Theodore J. Sharliss, a.k.a. James Chalmas.
8. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, or refrain from prosecuting,
Joseph “J.R.” Russo.
9. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, orrefrain from prosecuting, H.
Paul Rico. Please exclude all records prepared by the Justice Department Task Force
led by John Durham.
10. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, or refrain from prosecuting, John
Corinolly, Jr. Please exclude all records prepared by the Justice Department Task
Force led by John Durham.
11. All records related to decisions either to prosecute, or refrain from prosecuting, John
Morris.
12. All records related to decisions to prosecute Francis P. Salemme for the bombing
assault on attorney John Fitzgerald.
13. All records related to decisions to prosecute, or to refrain from prosecuting, Robert
Daddeico..."

[michaelje]

Bump

[michaelje]

Bump

[michaelje]

Bump

[michaelje]

Bump

[mrsmith]

The deliberative process privilege is a protection from political influence on processes and opinions.

I think Burton should meet a higher standard for overriding the privilege- having evidence that there was institutional abuse, instead of only evidence of one corrupt agent. The court trying Connally will have access to any deliberative docs that they show an "evidentiary need" for. Given the record, I would expect the court to be generous to the defense in granting access.
If that info showed others besides Connally were corrupt ( I think one other agent has been implicated), Burton would have a case that more clearly called for overriding the Executive protections.

You're right, of course, that investigating a corrupt deliberative process requires looking at the deliberative process.
"But if the salt lose it's flavor..."

[mrsmith]

Yes but, it does protect them from political influence in this way:
Their advice is open and unafraid because it's confidential.

In the words of (yuck) Chief Justice Burger in US vs Nixon,"Human experience teaches that those who expect public dissemination of their remarks may well temper candor with a concern for appearances and for their own interests to the detriment of the decision-making process."

By assuring his employees that their input won't be unneccessarily subjected to public examination, the Executive protects them from political criticism.