The sweet song of the jailbirds...
Via Indianz.com, we learn that Mike and Jack are being extra helpful to the DoJ Public Integrity Section:
Citing ongoing cooperation, district court postpones sentencing for former lobbyist Abramoff and ...
By Susan Crabtree
May 23, 2007Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associate Michael Scanlon have bought themselves more time as they cooperate with prosecutors amid renewed Justice Department activity in the case.
On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia postponed the sentencing dates for Abramoff and Scanlon yet again. Abramoff and Scanlon were convicted of conspiring to bribe public officials more than a year ago, but the court has postponed the sentencing of each several times.
A status conference on their sentencing was scheduled for June 5, but the court filed a motion Monday to defer the conference to sometime after Aug. 21.
"Mr. Abramoff has been cooperating with government agents and prosecutors," Justice Department prosecutors wrote. "The government anticipates that Mr. Abramoff's cooperation will continue for the foreseeable future."
Late last month, the court also put off sentencing hearings scheduled for convicted Abramoff associates Tony Rudy and Neil Volz, a former chief of staff to former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), who is now in jail for his role in the Abramoff scandal. Rudy and Volz pleaded guilty to conspiring with Abramoff to bribe public officials.
In contrast, prosecutors note that the cooperation of William Heaton, another Ney chief of staff convicted in the scandal, is "substantially complete." They said he had been cooperating with prosecutors "long before entry of his plea agreement," and the court has said it would like to hold Heaton's sentencing hearing in mid-July or August.
This is so good, on so many levels. And, unfortunately, bad, on an equal number of levels. And, ironically, those can be broken down via at least two of the branches of government, Legislative vs. Executive. For a number of former and present Congresspersons, Abramoff, Scanlon, Rudy and Volz's cooperation is very bad news. But for Administration cronies such as former DoI Sec. Gale Norton, DoJ AAG Tom Sansonetti and DoI Solicitor William Myers, Griles' plea deal, which doesn't require cooperation, is great news.
Pass the popcorn. Oh to be a fly on the wall of the PIS.
Note: Yesterday, we drove by Black Mesa and the Peabody mine there. It reminded me how I need to re-read the Inspector General's report on misbehavior by Dep. Sec. J. Steven Griles regarding the Black Mesa Mine Meetings.
From the final report:
The media reported heavily on a number of alleged inappropriate meetings that the Deputy Secretary attended that involved the Black Mesa Mine in Arizona. Peabody, an NMA member, owns two coal mines at Black Mesa, one on the Hopi Indian Reservation and the other on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Mr. Griles' daily calendars reflect his attendance at 11 meetings that specifically mention "Black Mesa." During our investigation, we determined that Peabody was never a client of the Deputy Secretary or National. However, because of the notoriety of these meetings, we conducted a limited inquiry of them.
The IG was correct - Peabody had not been a client of Griles. However, it had been (and is currently) a client of Tom Sansonetti, the man who picked Griles for the Dep. Sec. job, and whose wife, Sue Ellen Wooldridge, replaced Sansonetti as AAG of Environment and Natural Resources at DoJ. No conflict of interest there, of course. None whatsoever.
