Philippe Sands:

About a year ago, a book came out in England that made a fascinating prediction: at some point in the future, the author wrote, six top officials in the Bush Administration would get a tap on the shoulder announcing that they were being arrested on international charges of torture.

If the prediction seemed improbable, the background of the book’s author was even more so. Philippe Sands is neither a journalist nor an American but a law professor and a certified Queen’s Counsel (the kind of barrister who on occasion wears a powdered horsehair wig) who works at the same law practice as Cherie Blair. Sands’s book, “Torture Team,” offers a scathing critique of officials in the Bush Administration, accusing them of complicity in acts of torture. When the book appeared, some scoffed. Douglas Feith, a former Pentagon official, dismissed Sands as “a British lawyer” who “wrote an extremely dishonest book.”

Last week, Sands’s accusations suddenly did not seem so outlandish. A Spanish court took the first steps toward starting a criminal investigation of the same six former Bush Administration officials he had named, weighing charges that they had enabled and abetted torture by justifying the abuse of terrorism suspects. Among those whom the court singled out was Feith, the former Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy, along with former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer; and David Addington, the chief of staff and the principal legal adviser to Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Sands, previously, was involved in prosecuting former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, as was the Spanish judge presiding over the Bush torture case.

Just some added info for your research purposes taken from a bunch of previous posts on this topic in my archives:

On Feb. 8th 2008, US Attorney Christopher J. Christie submitted a letter to the court in the matter of the United States vs Wayne Bryant.

In the letter USA Christie attacks the Political Profiling study that is being done by Donald Shields, Ph.D., stating the study is "deeply flawed and inherently unreliable".

This is the response from Dr. Shields.  As he explains the premise of the study and the methodology used, he evicerates USA Christie's arguments. Give it a read, then come back here to discuss.

For the Record: A Response to U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie's Brazen Critique of the Political Profiling Study of the Bush/Ashcroft/Gonzales DOJ

For additional reading, check out 2008 begins with new investigations into Fired U.S. Attorneys by Cho. After the flip, a short list of additional coverage by ePluribus Media on the political profiling and politicization of the Department of Justice.

by: avahome, standingup and roxy

Over the past couple of years ePluribus Media researchers and writers have published many stories about the DOJ, including several biographical pieces on the main villans. Watchers of the DOJ drama have been anticipating a report on the hiring practices of the Bush/Gonzales Justice Department. The long-awaited report has finally been released.

As you will remember, Mr. Schlozman was the "appointment" to replace Todd Graves as US Attiorney in W. Missouri. This appointment was the ultimate "reward" for his shenanigans that played a major role in politicization of the Department of Justice.  While at the DOJ, he actively promoted the Republican's unusual brand of "voter rights" for which he received promotions to positions of greater authority.

The Nation has a great piece, Justice, Bush Style, that the rest of the media reporting on ACORN should read. The article will read more like a review for many of us at ePluribus since we devoted a lot of attention to the politicization of the DOJ. But are we hearing anything about the near destruction of the Civil Rights Division from the press who is in a frenzy to cover the alleged voter fraud by ACORN?

A startling flurry of inspector general reports--including one released September 29 focusing on the US Attorney firing scandal--along with the testimony of former Justice staffers interviewed at length by The Nation, paint a detailed picture of how a once-proud government department came to teeter on the brink of a nervous breakdown. With the presidential election looming, the consequences of pervasive politicization could be profound, as the department's rules of engagement in the electoral process have been completely remade to allow a much greater degree of direct interference.

"They have destroyed the internal culture of the Justice Department as a restraint on the executive branch," said Bruce Fein, a prominent Washington constitutional lawyer who cut his teeth at Justice during the Watergate scandal and later served as a political appointee under Reagan. "There's no professional insistence on treating law and politics separately. It's all one."

The author covers the changes that took place from Ashcroft through the unraveling in 2007. So where does this leave the nation as we face the elections of 2008?

Concerns abound over voter access in November
excerpt:

The Justice Department pledged Monday to send election monitors around the country to help ensure access to the polls in November, even while acknowledging its limited power to enforce election laws.

Read more

From Bloomberg:

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UBS, LGT Helped Hide Assets, Evade Taxes, Senate Says (Update1)
By David Voreacos and Carlyn Kolker

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG and Liechtenstein bank LGT Group aided rich U.S. clients who wanted to disguise ownership of accounts and evade taxes on hidden assets, a Senate subcommittee said.

UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, hid as much as $17.9 billion for 19,000 Americans who didn't declare assets to the Internal Revenue Service, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said in a report released in Washington late yesterday. LGT, owned by Liechtenstein's ruling family, fostered a ``culture of secrecy and deception'' while assigning code names to U.S. clients, the panel said.

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Isn't it nice that banks will bend over backwards for the money of rich Americans?

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Senate investigators got help from former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld, 43, who pleaded guilty June 19 to helping California billionaire Igor Olenicoff evade taxes. Birkenfeld said he conspired with Liechtenstein banker Mario Staggl, 43, who was indicted with him on April 10.

Staggl is a fugitive.

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Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Mr. Staggl should contact the Justice Department, post-haste -- it appears that they are actually taking this case seriously, as opposed to domestic ones that are looking into multiple instances of malfeasance and criminal conduct by the Bush Administration, and therefore might actually use the information wisely.

Check out the complete article on Bloomberg (linked at the top of the story). It's an eye-opener.

Promoted. -- GH

Just a quick post for those who have been following Spakovsky.

Contested Nominee To FEC Drops Out

A controversial Bush administration nominee to the Federal Election Commission withdrew from consideration yesterday, providing a likely breakthrough to an impasse that has sidelined the political watchdog agency at the height of the primary season.

Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department lawyer whose nomination became entangled in allegations that political considerations influenced decisions by the agency's Civil Rights Division, sent President Bush a letter withdrawing his name.

Senate Democrats had refused for a year to confirm von Spakovsky, torpedoing the nominations of three other nominees and denying the FEC a quorum. Since Jan. 1, only two of the agency's six commissioner slots have been filled. Bush, supported by GOP Senate leaders, had refused to withdraw von Spakovsky's name.

Please give a look at previous posting Chickens Come Home to Roost for Hans