Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzalez indicted for prison abuse

[Dari]

This must be a liberal's wet dream. Throw in Bush and you'll hear an orgasmic symphony from the Left Coast to the Northeast, through Europe and into the caves of Pakistan.

link

Texas grand Jury indicts Cheney, Gonzales

(CNN) ? A grand jury in south Texas indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on separate charges related to alleged prisoner abuse in federal detention centers, Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra told CNN Tuesday.

On the southern tip of Texas, Willacy County is on the United States-Mexico border.

Democratic state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. is also charged in the indictment. Michael R. Cowen, an attorney for Lucio, issued a statement calling Guerra a "one man circus."

"In the March 2008 Democratic Primary, 70 percent of the Willacy County voters elected to remove Juan Guerra as Willacy County District Attorney," Cowen said in a statement. "Now, with only a few weeks left in his term, Mr.Guerra has again chosen to misuse his position in an attempt to seek revenge on those who he sees as political enemies."

Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell said, "The vice president has not received an indictment."

The Associated Press reported that the indictment stems from Cheney's investment in the Vanguard Group ? an investment management company that reportedly has interests in the prison companies in charge of the detention centers. It also charges Gonzales halted an investigation into abuse at the detention centers while he was attorney general.

Filed under: Dick Cheney

 

[microbial]

A Fox link:

http://www.foxnews.com/politic...heney-gonale-indicted/

A rather ironic and understated line about "engaging in organized criminal activity"...

Cheney is charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity related to the vice president's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.

 

[nageov3t]

/pardon

 

[theflyingpig]

Originally posted by: loki8481
/pardon

Yup, nothing will happen to them. Nothing.

 

[wetech]

The Associated Press reported that the indictment stems from Cheney's investment in the Vanguard Group ? an investment management company that reportedly has interests in the prison companies in charge of the detention centers.

The DA should be locked up for wasting the courts time and taxpayers' money. what a bunch of political grandstanding bs. Why doesn't he charge the 10,000's of other Vanguard investors?


This was the first google link on the DA's name. Looks like someone already tried to lock him up.

Link

GUERRA ARRESTED, Willacy DA charged in three felony indictments
March 22, 2007 - 11:29PM

RAYMONDVILLE - Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra was in the county jail Thursday facing three felony indictments.

Warrants were out for the arrest of Guerra's longtime secretary Ofelia Guerrero and District Attorney's Office investigator Marte Guillen, who each face a first-degree felony charge of theft by public servant.

Raymondville police arrested Guerra late Thursday morning after a grand jury handed down three indictments Wednesday night.

Nueces County state District Judge Nanette Hasette set bail at $10,500.

"I believe the charges are legitimate and I have every faith they will be sustained," said Gus Garza, the special prosecutor in the investigation.

Gilberto Hinojosa, the longtime Cameron County judge who represents Guerra, argued Garza and state District Judge Migdalia Lopez violated a state appeals court order that he claimed halted the grand jury investigation of Guerra.

Hinojosa argued Lopez and Garza's alleged bias against Guerra slanted the investigation.

Garza denied the claim, arguing the grand jury called for the investigation of Guerra.

"This is the work of the grand jury and I think that will answer the allegations against Judge Lopez and special prosecutor Garza," Garza said.

Lopez said law prohibited her from commenting on cases before her court.

Guerra faces felony charges of theft, attempted theft and a separate indictment alleging tampering with governmental records, perjury and abuse of official capacity.

Two charges stem from Guerra's attempt to shut down Connie & Fina Bail Bond Co., while a charge against Guerra, Guerrero and Guillen stems from alleged use of county property for personal use, according to court documents.

"They really stretched things to try to make a case," Hinojosa said. "It's an abuse of the judicial system."

A first-degree felony theft charge alleges Guerra, Guerrero and Guillen used $200,000 or more worth of county manpower and office equipment for their personal use from June 1997 to December 2006.

Hinojosa said the charge stems from Guerra's use of drug forfeiture funds to pay Guerrero and Guillen.

"You can ask every single DA in the Rio Grande Valley and every one of them use drug forfeiture money to supplement the salary of staff," Hinojosa said.

But Garza flatly denied the charge stems from the use of drug forfeiture funds to pay Guerrero and Guillen.

Guerra also faces a four-count indictment of tampering with governmental records, perjury and abuse of official capacity.

The second-degree felony charges Guerra with false entry in a governmental record when he filed a petition for a temporary injunction against Connie & Fina Bail Bond Co. on April 17, 2006, falsely alleging the company was over its bonding limit, according to the indictment. Guerra filed the action "knowing the statement was false and intending to defraud and harm" Connie & Fina Bond Co., the indictment states.

An attempted theft charge stems from Guerra's alleged demand of $10,000 from Connie & Fina Bail Bond Co., according to court documents.

The third-degree felony alleges Guerra threatened to shut down the company if it failed to give him $10,000 in cash.

Guerra faced a similar charge when he was arrested Feb. 11, Hinojosa said. Feb. 23, Raymondville Municipal Judge Hector "Tiger" Huerta dismissed the charge along with two other felony theft charges that stemmed from the grand jury's investigation.

Guerra has argued he had the authority to request $10,000 to pay lawsuit judgments that the county filed against the bonding company because it allegedly couldn't cover bonds set on defendants who failed to appear in court.

Hinojosa argued Lopez and Garza violated a 13th Court of Appeals order that halted the ongoing grand jury investigation of Guerra.

In response, he planned to file a motion to cite Lopez and Garza for contempt of court, Hinojosa said.

But District Clerk Gilbert Lozano said the court's order did not bar the grand jury from meeting on its own, without Garza and special prosecutor Mervyn Mosbacker, a former U.S. attorney in Houston.

Wednesday night, the grand jury met at the county jail, where they handed up the indictments, Lozano said.

 

[RichardE]

Wonder how much people got paid to bring these charges up before Bush left office so he could pardon everyone. I expect we'll see a few more of these before he leaves.

 

[DealMonkey]

One thing is certain - Bush certainly has a lot of criminal buddies to pardon. Watch, he'll try and pre-emptively pardon everyone in his administration. It'll never work, but he'll try it.

 

[LumbergTech]

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Cheney go down, but isn't it a little early for people to be assuming that this case has actual merit?
maybe we should read up on it a bit..

 

[palehorse]

LAWL! re-donk-u-lous!

 

[Vic]

Hey, it's cold, throw another Constitution on the fire!

/wraps self up tighter with flag

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Cheney go down, but isn't it a little early for people to be assuming that this case has actual merit?
maybe we should read up on it a bit..

If Cheney is smart he will plead guilty and take a pardon in 3 months.

 

[Blackjack200]

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Cheney go down, but isn't it a little early for people to be assuming that this case has actual merit?
maybe we should read up on it a bit..

If Cheney is smart he will plead guilty and take a pardon in 3 months.

"A presidential pardon may be granted at any time, however, and as when Ford pardoned Nixon, the pardoned person need not yet have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_pardon

Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: Blackjack200

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Cheney go down, but isn't it a little early for people to be assuming that this case has actual merit?
maybe we should read up on it a bit..

If Cheney is smart he will plead guilty and take a pardon in 3 months.

"A presidential pardon may be granted at any time, however, and as when Ford pardoned Nixon, the pardoned person need not yet have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_pardon

Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck

If the plead guilty though, less of a chance for the Dem controlled House/Senate to dispute it.

 

[cubby1223]

It's almost comical those who raise the pitchforks in glee after reading "Dick Cheney indicted" and not actually caring what the indictment is about. It'll never hold up even without a pardon. Reads to me like the DA is just trying to make a name for himself before he loses his job.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: cubby1223
It's almost comical those who raise the pitchforks in glee after reading "Dick Cheney indicted" and not actually caring what the indictment is about. It'll never hold up even without a pardon. Reads to me like the DA is just trying to make a name for himself before he loses his job.

Mmmm.... smoked pulled pork over Constitution...

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
One thing is certain - Bush certainly has a lot of criminal buddies to pardon. Watch, he'll try and pre-emptively pardon everyone in his administration. It'll never work, but he'll try it.

isn't that like SOP when a president leaves office?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: Blackjack200

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Cheney go down, but isn't it a little early for people to be assuming that this case has actual merit?
maybe we should read up on it a bit..

If Cheney is smart he will plead guilty and take a pardon in 3 months.

"A presidential pardon may be granted at any time, however, and as when Ford pardoned Nixon, the pardoned person need not yet have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_pardon

Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck

If the plead guilty though, less of a chance for the Dem controlled House/Senate to dispute it.

For better or worse, they can come here and argue in PN for all the good it will do. They have absolutely no say in pardons. That's an Executive power. Now it is possible that the SCOTUS will rule in how it applies, however they are notoriously reluctant to rule on such mattters.

 

[retrospooty]

Originally posted by: Dari
This must be a liberal's wet dream. Throw in Bush and you'll hear an orgasmic symphony from the Left Coast to the Northeast, through Europe and into the caves of Pakistan.

I am a liberal and its nothing like my wet dreams =)

But seriously, I dont want this, and niether do most I am sure... What we want is to heal, and move forward. Attacking the shit that Cheney and Bush did will just serve to divide us, not help matters. Let karma deal with them. It will have its way.

 

[ElFenix]

so they're charged with prisoner abuse because they have investment money in a mutual fund that puts some money in a corporation that runs prisons? wtf? did that guy DA completely fail business organizations in law school?

 

[Genx87]

Sounds like a whackjob going out in a big ball of flames.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
so they're charged with prisoner abuse because they have investment money in a mutual fund that puts some money in a corporation that runs prisons? wtf? did that guy DA completely fail business organizations in law school?

He sounds mentally challenged. He was removed by the voters and has a few weeks left to make a complete ass of himself. Looks like he is working hard on accomplishing this.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: ElFenix
so they're charged with prisoner abuse because they have investment money in a mutual fund that puts some money in a corporation that runs prisons? wtf? did that guy DA completely fail business organizations in law school?

He sounds mentally challenged. He was removed by the voters and has a few weeks left to make a complete ass of himself. Looks like he is working hard on accomplishing this.

It's a matter of getting last licks in. Might as well, because everyone is going to get blanket pardons anyway.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: Hayabusa Rider

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: ElFenix
so they're charged with prisoner abuse because they have investment money in a mutual fund that puts some money in a corporation that runs prisons? wtf? did that guy DA completely fail business organizations in law school?

He sounds mentally challenged. He was removed by the voters and has a few weeks left to make a complete ass of himself. Looks like he is working hard on accomplishing this.

It's a matter of getting last licks in. Might as well, because everyone is going to get blanket pardons anyway.

I dont think the charges will go anywhere. A grandy jury indictment imo doesnt mean much. It is one side telling a story to convince people he may have enough evidence to bring a trial.

When Cheney is served his lawyers will go down and have the case dismissed due to utterly ridiculous charges and the fact the DA has lost his marbles.

 

[Lemon law]

While GenX87 has a point, and this tempest in a teapot may not go too far, this may be a tiny first tip of the iceberg precursor for other civil and criminal lawsuits against various GWB administration members. While GWB and Dick Cheney may have some legal immunities under the existing laws, lesser officials like Gonzales do not. As all kinds of hidden files may become open for public review, including the Presidential papers of GHB, those facts can become the key to unlocking other facts, and the permutations possible floodgates open.

Time will tell, but as those various public officials who formerly hurling down insults from the safety of Fort GWB seeming forgot, is the fact that like Cinderalla's carriage, their Fort GWB would turn into a rotten and hollow pumpkin at high Noon, 1/20/2009. Sixty two small days and counting, with many many people waiting, ready and able to connect dots, and act on them. And it just takes one or two easy kicks to smash a pumpkin.

 

[Lemon law]

Hayabusa Rider probably has the more likely correct viewpoint. But how far a blanket criminal immunity will fare against civil lawsuits is one question. And with no crimes charged yet, its hard to
anticipate exactly how to structure the pardons. Ones slip up by GWB in the wordings and it may not be worth the paper its printed on. And competence in that general area is not a GWB strong suit.
The advantage always lies with the patient and careful hunter willing to connect all the dots. As Gonzales should have already learned.