Courts Rigged In Favor of Bush/Cheney
BuzzFlash Note: Today, a judge appointed by Bush dismissed a lawsuit by the General Accounting Office, which is seeking access to information about Cheney's energy task force meetings. A BuzzFlash Reader sent us the following commentary on Saturday, explaining how Judge Bates should never have heard the case and illustrating how the GOP efforts to stack the courts are already destroying democracy and paving the way for even more brazen, secretive, and destructive government actions.
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BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Mike Clark
Here's the story about an appeals court in DC that may stop the energy task force lawsuits ...
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Court Halts Suit Vs. Cheney Task Force
BY PETE YOST Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP)--The Bush administration succeeded Friday in temporarily stopping a lawsuit seeking documents about the inner workings of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force and its meetings with industry executives and lobbyists.
A federal appeals court indefinitely delayed Monday's deadline for the White House to produce task force documents or provide a detailed list of the documents it is withholding.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20
021207/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney_energy_1--
The two-page order said the court will schedule a date for arguments on whether to step into the case and consider the administration's request to put a halt to producing documents and providing testimony.
Now, the judge considering this action is US District Judge John Bates.
Here's a brief bio of Bates, from his website:
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Judge John D. Bates was appointed United States District Judge for the District of Columbia in December 2001. ... Judge Bates was on detail as Deputy Independent Counsel for the Whitewater investigation from 1995 to mid 1997.
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So, with that background, on with the story:
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U.S. District Judge John Bates is considering the administration's motion to dismiss the GAO lawsuit as well.
In courtroom arguments in September, Deputy Solicitor General Paul Clement said Congress has ways to seek the information other than relying on the GAO. Congress could subpoena them or seek information through the appropriations process, said Clement.
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Now Clement worked for Antony Scalia, from a Justice Dept. press release:
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Clement has been a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of King and Spalding since 1999 where he headed the appellate practice. Before joining King and Spalding, he served as Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution. Prior to his Senate service, Clement was in private practice handling appellate matters. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches a constitutional law seminar.
Clement served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court during the Court's 1993 term. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1992 to 1993.
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Of course, David Brock has alleged to Buzzflash that Judge Silberman, who recently ruled for Ashcroft on the wiretapping ban, was a go-between with Ted Olsen and Ken Starr, the Watergate prosecutor.
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BROCK: Judge Silberman became a mentor to me and was someone who I relied on, as well as Ricky, for political advice while I was at the American Spectator pursuing a lot of the anti-Clinton stories. When Ricky Silberman left the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she founded, or was one of the co-founders, of the Independent Women's Forum -- it was actually her idea. And it was actually Ricky Silberman's idea to approach Ken Starr to file that friend-of-the-court brief in the Paula Jones case. And Ricky knew the Jones case was simply payback for the Anita Hill affair. She thought, wouldn't it be delicious that Clinton would now be accused of sexual improprieties in the same way that Clarence Thomas had been? Judge Silberman played an absolutely key role at a critical juncture.
By the way, his court sits right below the Supreme Court. And so there are a lot of cases that come before the court dealing with the Executive Branch -- regulatory matters, things of that nature. When various assertions of executive privilege were being made by the White House during the impeachment, he sat in on at least one, if not more, of those cases.
... he did not recuse himself, even though, as I said, he had been directly involved. I think it's clear that the kind of activity that Silberman was engaging in is not permitted. It falls into a category of the kind of partisan politics that's not permitted. And he was aware of this, because he would jokingly say to me that, when I would go to him for advice, he often started out saying something like well, it would be improper to advise you on this. And it was set sort of tongue-in-cheek, and then he would go ahead and advise me. So he was aware of what he was doing.
Aside from me, he was also very influential with the Wall Street Journal editorial page in terms of advice. And of course, the Journal editorial page was, along with the Spectator, probably the second principal anti-Clinton vehicle during that time.
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So, the judge worked for Ken Starr on Whitewater. The Asst. Solicitor worked for Starr's judicial benefactor, who -- in conflict of interest -- ruled on at least one Whitewater-related case.
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Carter Phillips, an attorney representing the comptroller general, argued that dismissing the case, as Cheney's attorney asked, would impede the GAO's ability to do its work as the investigative agency of Congress.
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Ask me, Phillips should demand another venue, as a link between prosecutor and judge can be inferred and there's reasonable doubt a fair trial can be expected.
What this all means in practical terms is that the path for judicial relief from Bush Administration excesses -- real or alleged -- is potentially blocked.
A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
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