cannabisnews.com: Ashcroft Bows Out of CIA Leak Probe





Ashcroft Bows Out of CIA Leak Probe
Posted by CN Staff on December 30, 2003 at 12:33:36 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: Associated Press 
Washington -- Attorney General John Ashcroft on Tuesday recused himself from the politically-sensitive investigation of who leaked the name of a CIA operative. The Justice Department quickly named a special prosecutor to take over the investigation.The announcement was made by James Comey, the department's new No. 2 official, at the Justice Department. He called the new top prosecutor "Elliot Ness with a Harvard law degree and a sense of humor."
The U.S. attorney in Chicago, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, will take over the investigation and report to Comey, who is Ashcroft's top deputy."He has the power and authority to make whatever prosecutorial judgment he needs," Comey said.This will not be Fitzgerald's first high-profile investigation. He oversaw the investigation of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican who was indicted this month on 22 counts of corruption, including taking free vacations, tax fraud, lying to federal agents and skimming cash out of his own campaign fund. Ryan pleaded innocent a week ago.Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the main critics of how the Bush administration has handled the leak investigation, praised the announcement."It is not everything we asked for but it comes darn close," Schumer said in a statement. "And tonight, the American people can, as a result, feel more assured that there will be a full and thorough investigation, no matter where it leads."Comey said Ashcroft's decision to recuse himself was not based on an actual conflict of interest but on the appearance of a possible conflict."The attorney general in an abundance of caution believed that his recusal was appropriate based on the totality of the circumstances and the facts and evidence developed at this stage of the investigation," Comey said. "I agree with that judgment."Comey did not say exactly what evidence necessitated the recusal.Comey said he considered bringing in an outside counsel but decided Fitzgerald was the "perfect man for this job" because of his experience in national security matters. He also said by choosing somebody from within the Justice Department, there would be no delay in continuing the investigation.Fitzgerald can keep the career prosecutors and FBI agents who have handled the work so far, Comey said. Unlike an outside counsel, Fitzgerald can make prosecution decisions without having to first inform Comey, who is acting as the attorney general for this investigation.Comey and Assistant Attorney General Chris Wray will supervise the investigation. "It is not in the public interest to move this matter entirely from the Department of Justice," Comey said.Comey said he had a simple mandate for Fitzgerald: "Follow the facts wherever they lead and do the right thing all of the time."Investigators want to know who leaked the name of Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA officer, to syndicated columnist Robert Novak in July. Plame is married to former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who has said he believes his wife's identity was disclosed to discredit his assertions that the Bush administration exaggerated Iraq's nuclear capabilities to build the case for war.The leaker could be charged with a felony if identified.The FBI has interviewed more than three dozen Bush administration officials, including political adviser Karl Rove and press secretary Scott McClellan.The interviews have extended beyond the White House to other government agencies. The Defense and State departments and the CIA itself also are part of the probe.The focus, however, remains on the White House, two law enforcement officials said on condition of anonymity. While the initial, informal interviews have yielded no major breaks, the FBI is satisfied that the dozen agents assigned to the probe are making progress and have not encountered any stalling tactics, the officials said Thursday.So far, no grand jury subpoenas have been issued, they said.Wilson said he had no idea why Ashcroft chose to recuse himself now. He speculated that Ashcroft, who has long ties to members of the president's staff, simply wanted to make sure that any findings at the end of the investigation are not tainted by even the suspicion of conflict of interest."I would have no idea whether a report has emerged that led him to recuse himself," Wilson said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I have always said, as some senators have argued, that the administration needed to take a good hard look at this."He declined to express satisfaction over Ashcroft's recusal."It's not a question of whether I'm happy about it," he said. "The crime that was committed was not committed against me or my wife, but against my country. It's the country that's the victim in this." Source: Associated Press Published:  December 30, 2003 Copyright: 2003 The Associated Press Related Articles:Our Big Brother, John Ashcrofthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14809.shtmlAshcroft’s Failures Deserve a Hearinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13089.shtml
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Comment #15 posted by jose melendez on December 31, 2003 at 07:40:42 PT
Special treatment: Damned wrong.
More proof drug war IS crime, reaching to the highest levels:http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_851145.html
pun intended
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Comment #14 posted by RasAric on December 31, 2003 at 07:33:03 PT
Special Treatment?....Damn Right
If you are suspected of doing something illegal the feds will kick down your door to obtain evidence. When the Bush Administration leaks the name of undercover CIA operative(felony), they receive a letter asking for the incriminating evidence. A friggen letter. Imagine the police sending you a letter insisting that you send them any proof that you are involved in illegal activity.Something is definitely wrong here....
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Comment #13 posted by jose melendez on December 31, 2003 at 07:09:05 PT
drug warrior crimes
the cynic in me says it's no accident that drug warriors claimed to know of transactions where cocaine was being traded, ounce for ounce for B.C. Bud:http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?ID=9D34FAA9-51F8-413E-BD5F-98E2F7E7355A
drug war violates Const. Art. III, Sec. 3
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Comment #12 posted by jose melendez on December 31, 2003 at 05:23:39 PT
strange but true
the originals from these links were pulled from the net:http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:bAKhlDwXhFMJ:fitzgerald.senate.gov/usattorney/Interim-patfitz.htmhttp://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:bAKhlDwXhFMJ:http://fitzgerald.senate.gov/usattorney/committee-patfitz.htmhttp://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:bAKhlDwXhFMJ:http://fitzgerald.senate.gov/usattorney/Interim-patfitz.htmhttp://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:bAKhlDwXhFMJ:http://fitzgerald.senate.gov/usattorney/recommend-patfitz.htm
got stones?
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Comment #11 posted by jose melendez on December 31, 2003 at 05:17:19 PT
duh.
here are the links for comment #10 http://chicago.fbi.gov/pressrel/2000/dec-19.htmhttp://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:4fW-bAzNJqkJ:fitzgerald.senate.gov/usattorney/patfitzgerald.htm+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8http://chicago.fbi.gov/pressrel/2003/jul-24a.htm
posess stones, don't throw them
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Comment #10 posted by jose melendez on December 31, 2003 at 05:14:23 PT
modus operandi
what: data on methods used by this specific US Attorneywhy: to expose drug war as directly in violation of US law. . . . to better ask them why $145 million is still being spent on a government agency that has been shown to increase marijuana use - by advertising it's eradication. . . . to boldy force criminalizers to go where none have before: the mirror.
video is the mirror: Do Video. 
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Comment #9 posted by CorvallisEric on December 30, 2003 at 23:51:42 PT
Very relevant - and interesting
There used to be a saying in the computer industry something like "When IBM sneezes, everyone catches pneumonia."Thank you, FoM. Also, thank you, Paul Peterson (comment #3) and E_Johnson (#1) and Virgil (#5).
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Comment #8 posted by Patrick on December 30, 2003 at 21:33:59 PT
Related maybe???
Ashcroft is the Enforcer of Justice. FBI say dat cannabis a crime and you gonna you do da time. Gubment employ DEA and Treasury to get you locked in prison as drug war slave. Ashcroft in charge of locking you up. But he buddies with Bush and can't lock up buddy. So he hire a weak lackey to get Bush off easy, Ashcroft was appointed King Lockem Uper by the Bush White House. Bush snorted coke. A crime at the time. Still is? But FBI make no arrest. Now Bush done with coke and need Afghanistan opium to finance his Iraq Warfare/Terror war and get free oil money to finance Columbian coke fields to buy the BC bud. Coke is an illegal drug and the CIA deals drugs. No doubt marijuana is dealt too. Why else make those Canadian ministers the scapegoats in a BC bud drug bust that lets Asscroft's pee pee buddy Walters sit in the new Canadian Prime Minister's lap whispering in his ear black market makes us richer black market makes us richer black market makes us richer. The whole system is corrupt and I know this reaching but "everything" is relevant to cannabis legalization, as long as it remains prohibited. Or not? Even a further reach this article paints a picture that one law (Bush's & Ashcroft's) applies to the elite and another one applies to the "rest of us."
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Comment #7 posted by SystemGoneDown on December 30, 2003 at 20:46:16 PT
How is this related to marijuana?
Does this even touch anything that has remotely to do with marijuana legalization?
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Comment #6 posted by Virgil on December 30, 2003 at 19:17:09 PT
Hemp festival in Barcelona in February
It is easiest just to copy the announcement from http://www.hempcity.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=312&highlight=Dear All We are very pleased to welcome you to the 1st. Spanish Hemp Fair (SPANNABIS) which will take place in the premises of Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona from Friday the 20th to Sunday the 22nd of February 2004. The city of Barcelona is a well known location for many National and International Fairs, which makes it an ideal place for this kind of event. We´re looking forward to host expositors from all over the world, this will be a major opportunity to check out new products and technologies from all the top companies in this sector and a meeting point for professionals. You´ll find more information in our website: 
http://www.spannabis.com Greetings 
Spannabis
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Comment #5 posted by Virgil on December 30, 2003 at 19:02:42 PT
Netherlands to make soft drugs legal?
Nol put this up at HempCity- http://www.hempcity.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=149&highlight=Netherlands: Dutch Parliament For Legalisation Of Soft Drugs 
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n573/a02.html 
Newshawk: Jan van der Tas 
Pubdate: Tue, 22 Apr 2003 
Source: de Volkskrant (Netherlands) 
Contact: redactie volkskrant.nl 
Copyright: 2003, de Volkskrant 
Website: http://www.volkskrant.nl 
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2889 
Note: The Second Chamber is the Dutch House of Commons. Currently a new 
coalition cabinet is being formed. Translation from Dutch by Harry Bego. 
Political Party names with a notation of "hb" inserted for clarification. CHAMBER FOR LEGALISATION OF SOFT DRUGS THE HAGUE - A large majority of the Second Chamber supports the plea of the Maastricht Court president Lampe for legalisation of soft drugs. Only CDA ( Christian democrats - hb ) wants to keep marijuana and hash under criminal law to prevent the Netherlands from being flooded by drug tourists. Only CDA wants to keep hash under criminal law. CDA advocates strict adherence to current tolerance policy. "We must tune our drug policy with neighbouring countries. Otherwise we only import more drugs misery", CDA mp Van Haersma Buma says. VVD ( liberal conservatives - hb ) mp Griffith states that the opinions of Judge Lampe are in full agreement with the opinions of her party. "Drugs are a part of our society, you have to live with that." Court president Lampe Last weekend criticised the clogging of the judicial system by the large amount of drugs cases. Other serious crimes remain unsanctioned or their trials are greatly delayed. Lampe thinks that legalisation of drugs, starting with soft drugs, can help. PvdA, VVD, SP, LPF, GroenLinks and D66 support the plea by Lampe with respect to marijuana and hash. "Wise words from a man who knows", PvdA ( labour party - hb ) mp Albayrak says. Two years ago a proposal by PvdA to legalise soft drugs achieved a minute majority. "But the government refused to do anything with it. We call upon the new cabinet-to-be to take this almost Chamber-wide desire seriously". Intended CDA coalition partner VVD shares that opinion. Spokesperson Griffith however thinks that as many allies as possible must be found in Europe and the rest of the world. United Nations treaties at the moment hinder the depenalisation of sale, trade and production of soft drugs. The third candidate government party, D66 ( liberal democrats - hb ), has been in favor of the legalisation of soft drugs for years. "In that way one cuts organised crime off", faction leader and former Judge Dittrich says. Moreover, by legalising production, state control over thc-content, the active ingredient in marijuana, is enabled. Dittrich: "And that is necessary too. Soft drugs are becoming ever stronger". LPF ( List Pim Fortuyn - hb ) prefers to hand over the sale of soft drugs to pharmacists. "We don't want to place it next to the sweets in the supermarket. Otherwise you'll be causing all young people to use drugs", LPF mp Eerdmans thinks.
_________________
In Cannabis Fidelis
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Comment #4 posted by breeze on December 30, 2003 at 17:43:24 PT
The "rational" reasoning behind his actions..
http://www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.html
Maybe this has been posted before, but it cannot hurt those who haven't seen it.Meanswhile, back at da ranch... I has an idea- and it might not work, but then again!
This coming spring, lets all pretend we are Johnny Appleseed! Remember this childhood story? Lil' Johnny would save all of his seeds from his apples throughout the winter months- come spring, he would take his pencil and stab a 2 inch hole into the ground, throw in 3 little apple seeds, jab his toe into the hole (to cover it over with dirt) and walk away hoping that the little seed would turn into a tree. He did this WHEREVER he thought that the ground would not be disturbed by people. If he had the time, he would even water it- hehehe!
But all it took was a pencil and some seeds, and after a period of time, there were so many trees everywhere, everyone was free to come along and take an apple for free.
Sound like an idea you might try? Tell your friends if you think so. It only takes two seconds.
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Comment #3 posted by paulpeterson on December 30, 2003 at 15:26:28 PT
Fitzgerald goes after Republicans (This is good)
This man is very intelligent and independent. His investigation of Ryan & Company has cleaned the entire state R party out. His office also has shown good restraint in my own dealings thus far in federal court. He also was successful in the world trade center bombing prosecutions in the 80's (that time against foreign terrorists). Although I sometimes hate to give Ashcroft credit for anything, this appointment of an independent prosecutor was an excellent choice. Patrick Fitzgerald will, indeed, bring credibility to any findings made in this matter. It is good to see good people elevated further into the public eye. If Fitzgerald later goes into politics, perhaps there is hope for the Republican party yet.At least for now, the persona of Elliot Ness is in the right hands, for a change. And you can quote me on that one. Paul Peterson  
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Comment #2 posted by Morgan on December 30, 2003 at 13:27:25 PT
Same old story
Asscrotch has looked into it long enough to make sure all the incriminating evidence is gone, now he recuses himself to 'give the impression' that there won't be a conflict of interest. Like the 9/11 investigation, nothing will come of this. 
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on December 30, 2003 at 13:12:33 PT
Remember Elliot Ness?
A man famous for his trials and travails in putting down one of those bloated criminal monsters created by the Christian do gooders of America in their magic quest to rid the land of sin and sloth by banning alcohol.
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