The Justice Department just opened a 39 count corruption indictment in Alabama:
Federal officials announced charges Monday against 11 people in Alabama as part of a 39-count indictment alleging corruption related to the state legislature, the Justice Department announced.
The suspects are four Alabama state legislators; three lobbyists; two business owners and one of their employees; and an employee of the Alabama legislature, said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer and Assistant FBI Director Kevin Perkins.
The suspects were charged in connection with their alleged roles in a conspiracy to bribe and offer to bribe legislators for their votes and influence on proposed legislation, the federal officials said.
“The alleged criminal scheme was astonishing in scope,” Breuer said. “Indeed, as alleged in the indictment, the defendants’ corrupt conduct infiltrated every layer of the legislative process in the state of Alabama.”
Four state Senators were also indicted (Larry Means, James Preuitt, Quinton Ross and Harri Anne Smith)- two Democrats, a Republican, and an Independent. That’s what is known as covering all bases.
Brachiator
Corruption is truly non-partisan. Sadly, sometimes there is little distinction between corruption and standard political practice.
Omnes Omnibus
It is weird, but one of the changes that I am still trying to get used to with the Obama administration is the idea that a Justice Department indictment might be based on facts rather than political expedience.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
So where is Freedman going to go now that there’s not difference between Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
Just Some Fuckhead
Broder prolly fainted dead away at this awesome bipartisanship.
morzer
@Just Some Fuckhead:
I have heard rumors that he even had to change his underpants….
Jon
This has been a long time coming. The name “Milton McGregor” has floated around Alabama politics for years – he’s tried every imaginable method to get casino gaming into the state, presumably to be run by him. First it was “the horse track in Birmingham will go broke if we don’t add dog racing”, then “the horse/dog track will go broke if we can’t put in video slots/video poker/video whatever”, then the whole “cyber-cafe/sweepstakes ticket”–oh, just Google it, I can’t do it justice.
Suffice to say, this is the state-level politics of the old country at its most conflicting. On the one hand, this is why I had to get out. On the other hand…fetch the popcorn. =)
jacy
Just remember, down here in the South you often can’t tell the difference between a Democrat and Republican.
Hey, in Louisiana, corruption IS standard political practice.
jharp
Conservatism at it’s best.
Maude
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m still trying to get used to a functioning DOJ. Bush was busy undermining Civil Rights etc.
Scott P.
….and a partridge in a pear tree?
tkogrumpy
I love it. Equal opportunity corruption, bringing the country together.
Sad_Dem
Wait, I thought selling your vote was legal.
tkogrumpy
@morzer: This wouldn’t be unusual for a man his age. don’t ask how I know this.
General Stuck
Big fail, not a single Black Panther amongst the lot of em..
D-Chance.
Four state Senators were also indicted (Larry Means, James Preuitt, Quinton Ross and Harri Anne Smith)- two Democrats, a Republican, and an Independent. That’s what is known as covering all bases.
No, that’s known as “politics as usual”; and a.k.a. “they’re all alike”.
Linda Featheringill
@jacy:
I don’t know if Louisiana is more crooked than its neighbors but I have heard about corruption in Louisiana for more than half a century.
Lil Ol LA certainly has a scandalous reputation!
par4
Just look forward
Brachiator
@tkogrumpy:
It almost brings a tear to the eye.
Actually, not to be totally cynical, there are honest politicians. And it’s more that crooks tend to associate with each other, without regard to ideology or political affiliation.
Tsulagi
As already noted in comments, awesome bipartisanship. Nothing can bring together politicians reaching their hearts and minds quite like money. They’d run over the baby Jesus to get to the cash.
General Stuck
@Linda Featheringill:
Louisiana is about to reelected a man diaper whore mongering US Senator, and by a large margin. No more need be said.
General Stuck
@Linda Featheringill:
Louisiana is about to reelected a man diaper whore mongering US Senator, and by a large margin. No more need be said.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Tsulagi:
Punchy
Isn’t this exactly what they’re supposed to be doing?
Hiram Taine
@Scott P.: You’re talking about Alabama so it’s more like “Some parts for a Mustang GT”..
WyldPirate
There’s not much difference between a bribe and a big corporate lobbying and the revolving legislator/lobbyist door. The result is the same–bought and paid for votes.
Jim Pharo
“More like this, please.”
Good on the DOJ. I wonder what the tea-tards will make of this excessive and obviously un-Constitutional over-reach by the arrogant and evil federal government…
General Stuck
OT
Manic Monday comedy break
Brachiator
OT: The Afghan war is effectively over. It just remains to be seen how soon the government and American military officials can admit it. This goes beyond the dubious wisdom of our military presence there. But you simply cannot wage a military campaign if your supposed allies are complicit in attacking your supply routes.
One of the facts on the ground in Afghanistan/Pakistan is that while there are lots of mountains to hide in, there are few reliable routes to get large numbers of men and equipment through.
The official BS will be that the Pakistan Taliban were responsible, but it is pointless, and puts too many lives at risk (including civilian lives) for the government to continue to be blind to geopolitical reality.
burnspbesq
Unfortunately, these indictments don’t reach the most corrupt government agency in Alabama. As Scott Horton has exhaustively documented, the most corrupt government agency on Alabama is the US Attorney’s office.
Punchy
@Brachiator: It doesn’t help PR-wise, either, when you start waxing Western allies as collateral damage.
Brachiator
@burnspbesq:
Is this related at all to the actions of Bush appointees and holdovers, or part of a larger history of corruption?
eemom
don’t look now, but this indictment is being front paged over at Lake Batshit right now as proof that the Obama DOJ is in cahoots with the Karl Roves of Alabama.
Not quite clear WHY the Obama DOJ would want to empower the Alabama GOP in the election, but I’m sure there’s a Very. Good. Evil. Reason.
Phoenix Woman
@Omnes Omnibus:
Unfortunately, Obama’s left most of Bush’s people in place, and Bmaz over at Emptywheel’s shop sez he thinks Leura Canary’s fingerprints are all over this one. It reeks of pure political harrassment of the type similar to what Siegelman suffered.
Shalimar
@burnspbesq: There is plenty of competition for most corrupt government agency in Alabama. I’m guessing you would get different winners depending on what criteria you chose to measure.
lacp
@burnspbesq: There’s a very disturbing post by bmaz at FDL on this. Sounds like the George W. Bush DOJ has risen, Christopher Lee-style, to suck the life out of the Democratic gubernatorial campaign.
Corner Stone
@Brachiator: I’m not sure what you think it is some of us have been arguing about for months now.
This was always the inevitable outcome. I have argued this many times.
Phoenix Woman
@eemom: Did you actually read Bmaz’ post before you crafted the strawman-Bmaz to attack?
And much of his post was based on reportage from the highly respected Roger Shuler of Legal Schnauzer. Is Mr. Shuler now verboten and counter-revolutionary, too?
C’mon, here’s a little taste:
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Brachiator:
The bad news is that in Afghanistan we are fighting a proxy war with various elements of the Pakistani civilian govt. and military.
The worse news is that in Afghanistan various elements of the Pakistani civilian govt. and military are fighting a proxy war with each other.
Never mind the whole graveyard of empires business. Afghanistan is now the graveyard of logic, common sense, and consensus reality.
Brachiator
@Punchy:
I don’t think that the Pakistanis cared about either the PR or the Germans who were killed. I think the proximate cause was the last paragraph in the story you linked:
Even here, I bet that a few weeks from now there will be a story in the back pages about a request by the Pakistan government for increased aid from the US. Either way, the larger issue is that Pakistan has always been an unreliable ally, and there actions here demonstrate the limits of US military operations.
Sad_Dem
@Phoenix Woman: This old-timer remembers how a California governor (happened to be Republican) just did not like legalized gambling, and so dragged his feet on implementing a state lottery. He was sent out to pasture (law firm partner?) soon after.
/Turnbull is a good man.
General Stuck
@Phoenix Woman: You need to use little fish as bait to catch big fish. Indict the lower downs in a racket, and squeeze them with plea bargains and such.
Though it should be obvious to any true progressive that Obama and Holder live to see republicans win. jeesh.
eemom
@Phoenix Woman:
yes, I read it. It contains plenty of his usual blustering innuendo in addition to quoting from that source.
Tell me, does Lady Jane pay you to troll the Internets in defense of her honor, or do you do it out of love?
Phoenix Woman
@lacp: They didn’t even have to rise — they were left in place.
Every other administration cleaned out the previous admin’s USA appointees, even where they were of the same party. Obama, for whatever reason, left Bush’s in place — and this turned out to be a huge mistake.
Comrade Kevin
@eemom: Is there some particular reason you feel the need to turn every fucking thread here into something about your obsession with that site?
Brachiator
@Corner Stone:
Actually, most posters here (and I have not kept up with all your own postings) have never said much about Pakistan, but instead have simply fallen back on the cliche of “Afghanistan has never been conquered,” etc. Others have simplistically called for a pullout of troops from Afghanistan, and ignore the long history of US entanglement in Pakistan, an issue which would remain even if the US withdrew all its forces from the area.
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
Actually, I think that the reality is even worse than this. The Pakistan military and intelligence services have always been playing a double game in Afghanistan. Initially, the US government hoped that it could work with the civilian government and prevent it from being undermined by its military. Unfortunately, the Zadari government is more corrupt and weaker than the previous regime controlled by Pervez Musharraf, and this in turn creates new openings for the Pakistan military to assert control.
But I have not seen any Western based news story that reliably names the current major players in the Pakistan government and army, or give a credible account of Pakistan’s view of its own strategic issues. And this includes web sites like Stratfor, which is the closest that most civilians can come to getting information from supposedly expert foreign policy and security analysts (but which is often little more than conventional political wisdom).
An indicator of how bad this may turn out is that the Pakistan government is still dithering over providing aid to flood victims in the heart of the country, even as they ask for increased foreign and US assistance while they shut off US supply routes. Previously, the Pakistan government would at least pretend to listen to Bush and Cheney. Here, they don’t appear to give a rat’s ass about the reaction of US officials.
General Stuck
@Comrade Kevin:
What i would ask, is why some people turn about every thread into some kind of nefarious Obama plot to visit his secret Republican agenda on true progressive America.
The article by FDL and Shuler, is shot through with circular logic and speculation and shark jumping of motives and facts to reach the inevitable firebagger conclusion that Obama is up to no good. Again.
Instead of what it was, a seeming non partisan indictment of players in a rather large scam, and Canary may be a wingnut witch, but she works for Obama and Holder now, not Alberto Gonzales.
eemom
@Comrade Kevin:
Would you like to show me another one of these “every fucking threads”?
Hint: threads where “that site” was already a topic of discussion don’t count.
Idiot.
lacp
@General Stuck: I don’t think this is an Obama administration plot (I believe in too many of those already), but I have no confidence that this is a good-faith prosecution by the USA office in Alabama. The players are already tainted by their past activities, and the timing really is awfully suspicious.
If anything, this is probably a subversive move against the administration – by making the announcement now, Canary & Co. tie Holder’s hands. If he intervenes, he and the administration become the ones who look like they’re interfering politically.
B-town
@eemom
Luckily we have something called google.
What I found in five minutes (and I was being careful to omit posts where no one else mentioned Hamsher first)…
Here
https://balloon-juice.com/2010/06/21/anatomy-of-a-circle-jerk/
https://balloon-juice.com/2010/07/15/left-behind/
(OK you’ll argue these are about the “left” but you personalized it…Like immediately)
Or here:
https://balloon-juice.com/2010/03/29/open-thread-637/
That one was just weird.
Here:
https://balloon-juice.com/2010/06/26/one-more-weigelgate-post/
Seriously, seek help…
Edwin
I dunno, this guy looks pretty honest to me (scroll down):
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/10/arrests_underway_in_federal_pr.html
eemom
@lacp:
that makes sense.
Of course, it still doesn’t address Phoenix Lady-In-Waiting’s ominous “for whatever reason” above. OBVIOUSLY there CAN be no “reason” Canary is “still in place,” other than OMGObamaIsWorseThanBushHeSoldUsOutRaaaaaaaahhhmm.
Yes, I know: Rahm’s gone. Clearly he must have orchestrated this as a little going away Eff U to all that is good and decent.
eemom
@B-town:
Seriously, seek a life. Soon.
General Stuck
@lacp:
The claim is that this helps the GOP in the upcoming election and uses the dem Sparks as an example, even though he hasn’t actually been indicted. The rest indicted are goopers and dems. And just because Canary is compromised from the past, doesn’t mean this one isn’t being done in good faith and close supervision from DC. The criticism of why Obama would keep this woman as US Attorney is a valid one, and who knows the reason behind it. Maybe keeping her, though on a tight leash, would give credibility to any wingnuts indicted/ I don’t know. But using past behaviour, and connecting some dots that aren’t yet justified by the facts, that this is another pol hit by wingnuts and it’s Obama’s fault, given the bipartisan numbers of indicted, is not justified. Suspicion maybe. But with little real evidence to back those suspicions up.
Corner Stone
@Brachiator: We’ve been in violent disagreement on this issue many times.
It seems a little odd to me at this point.
eemom
Believe it or not, PW went running back to bmaz to report that big, bad eemom was STRAWMANNING him over here at BJ.
Here’s his response:
Nope. No innuendo and rampant speculation there.
Jeez, PW, does Jane know what a little chickenshit tattletale you are?
John Cole
I thought the BMAZ piece was pretty good, but I’m at a loss as to why Phoenixwoman would even bother coming over here. After all, I’m still freaking out about a “typo” and doing “the votes weren’t there” schtick.
Presumably, this is where Phoenixwoman will explain whether or not I am just a scribe for David Axelrod, will name the 60 votes that were there during the passage of HCR for the public option or name the 50 that were there to include it in reconciliation.
Or maybe she just shit talks in the friendly confines of the fever swamp.
General Stuck
@eemom:
You are such a devil eemom, what with yer facts and potty mouth. Can’t have a good firebagger polemic wankfest with you around.
And a note on the Seligman affair. Yes, it was a shameless political hit job, prosecuting Mr. Seligman for what is common practice of donations for gov jobs. But the quid pro quo is a judgment call, and even though Seligman was seeking funds for a decent charity, and a stretch, to put it mildly, for a felonious act, it is still a practice, though common, that still stinks, and the ends do not justify the means. Some more than other cases, for sure.
It is interesting that Obama kept this snake in her USA job, however, and why is grist for the imagination. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t being used, rather that the other way around.
Just Some Fuckhead
@B-town: She started out by turning every thread into a Greenwald bitchfest to the point I made the joke that http://www.goddamnyougreenwald.com must forward to Balloon Juice.
Brachiator
@Corner Stone:
Not really.
Whatever rhetorical skirmishes go on here is not very relevant to US policy in the region. There has been little extended news coverage, and practical no analysis of what is happening in Pakistan. The nation just stumbles along. I can only hope that there is some serious discussion going on where it matters.
eemom
@Just Some Fuckhead:
damn, fuckhead, I can’t be obsessed with both Greenwald AND Hamsher. Make up yer mind.
birthmarker
You could write a book about gambling and corresponding corruption in Bama. Don’t forget Jack Abramoff. And Rove’s been all over state politics for a long, long time. And don’t forget the mayor of Birmingham, Larry Langford. He’s in federal prison right now.
Corner Stone
@Brachiator: Jesus. Give me a break.
eemom
fuck it
Just Some Fuckhead
I dunno, it just seems freaky, almost propaganda-like. Imagine if I spent all day every day railing about Josh Marshall in Digby’s comments. That would look pretty fucking weird.
It ain’t like ya can’t carry yer happy ass right over to FDL and Greenwald and say whatever’s on yer mind.
les
Somewhat OT, but I’d guess that if the O-man had nominated a new slate of US Atty’s, the old ones would still be in place waiting on confirmation of the new ones. With essentially no stroke or motivation to do anything at all.
burnspbesq
@lacp:
“but I have no confidence that this is a good-faith prosecution by the USA office in Alabama.”
I normally hesitate to engage in the reading of tea leaves. However, in this case I think that the fact that the indictments were announced in Washington, and an Assistant AG and an Assistant Director of the FBI (rather than being announced in Birmingham by the US Attorney and the SAC of the local FBI office) means something. I hope it means that the locals are on the sidelines. It may also mean that Holder is serious about trying to rebuild the Public Integrity Section. Either of those would be good news.
eemom
@Just Some Fuckhead:
oh, go fuck yerself again, fuckhead. Yeah, I spend all day every day here attacking Greenwald and Hamsher. Riiiiiight.
Unlike you, I in fact have better things to do than be a full-time asshole to random strangers on a blog.
And unlike you, I occasionally comment on this blog for purposes other than to demean somebody else.
Really, you’re nothing but a piddling, pathological hater. Why don’t you and Corner Stone get married and live miserably ever after?
lacp
@burnspbesq: I would be much happier with your possibilities than mine.
Just Some Fuckhead
@eemom: Did you catch the part about FDL and GG having their own forums for disagreement before you went into full-on snit?
eemom
@burnspbesq:
fwiw, the substance of the allegations really does sound kind of like plain old corruption.
OTOH, we are talking about the gaming industry here. Busting up that kind of crowd DOES kind of scream “nefarious Republican plot.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/us/05alabama.html
eemom
@Just Some Fuckhead:
and you meant that SO sincerely for my edification, didn’t you?
Fuck off. I will no longer contribute to any charade of dialogue with your soul-dead self.
burnspbesq
@lacp:
In the NYT article that eemom linked to above, Breuer is quoted as saying the investigation was run from Main Justice with “assistance” from the locals. That sounds nice. If the cases are actually tried by folks from Main Justice, then I’ll believe that it isn’t a locally-inspired lynching a la the Siegelman case.
That said, Holder really needs to clean house in that USAO. Some of those folks should be on their hands and knees, using hand clippers to get the greens on the base golf course at Maxwell AFB just right.
priscianus jr
There may be more to this than meets the eye:
http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2010/10/leura-canarys-october-surprise-becomes.html
priscianus jr
@priscianus jr:
The permanent URL is:
http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2010/10/leura-canarys-october-surprise-becomes.html
“Canary, a holdover from the George W. Bush administration, has served under President Barack Obama for more than 20 months. She was a central figure in the political prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Her husband, Business Council of Alabama President Bill Canary, is a close associate of Karl Rove.
“The U.S. Justice Department is spinning today’s actions as a legitimate probe focused on corruption connected to gambling legislation. But our sources have been saying for weeks that it is designed to affect the November elections. Polls show Republican Robert Bentley already leading Democrat Ron Sparks in the race for governor, and the arrests could help the GOP take over one or both houses of the Alabama Legislature, a long-stated goal of outgoing governor Bob Riley.”
priscianus jr
@Phoenix Woman:
What’s being left out of this sling fest is what commenter Redeye writes over at Legal Schnauzer:
http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2010/10/leura-canarys-october-surprise-becomes.html
“Speaking of facts getting in the way of a conspiracy theory, this is not President Obama DOJ thanks to Sessions/Shelby’s secret holds;
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/02/06/maddow_senator_shelby_holds_obama_appointees_hostage.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32584.html
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/79923-reports-shelby-places-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees
http://www.leftinalabama.com/showComment.do?commentId=59012
“All of the people that are questioning Pres. Obama do not really know about the legal process. All US Senators can place what are called “HOLD” or a block of replacing federal officals. Obama cannot replace Canery because she is being held up by our two US Senators (Shelby and Sessions). Now I think that everyone knows why the holds are in place.
“If Obama wants to replace any attorney, he has to send that nomination to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Do anyone knows who is the ranking member of that Comiittee? Yes that’s right it is Senator Jefferson Bureaguad Session III.
“In sense President Obama hands are tied by the action of the Senate.
“FACT. “
Comrade Kevin
@eemom: You are the first person who brought “that site” up in the thread.
Idiot.
Moron.
Obsessed fucking twit.