The Bush/McCain cover-up

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/14/13220/6198
[...]
When the Washington Post started their Abramoff coverage in early 2004, a window on this massive criminal conspiracy was opened. It had to be managed. It had to be contained.

Fortunately, George W. Bush could count on John McCain.

As news of the Abramoff scandal broke, it was McCain who led the Senate’s Indian Affairs Committee’s investigation of Jack Abramoff.

Did I say investigation, sorry my bad, I meant cover-up.

From the start, McCain worked overtime to keep a lid on the most damaging aspects of the Abramoff scandal and slow-walk the investigation.

He shaped the narrative. Abramoff became a rogue lobbyist who took advantage of his GOP pals to rip off some casinos.

McCain converted the scandal into Hollywood "heist/caper" film, knowing that American prejudices against Native Americans and tribal casinos would help hide the damning details of the Abramoff scandal:

* Jack’s role as a 25-year bagman for the GOP: hidden.
* Jack’s close working relationship with the Bush White House: hidden.
* Jack’s close working relationship with the Republican Congressional Leadership: hidden.
* Jack’s role in dirty tricks and off-the-books money for the GOP: hidden.
* Jack’s role in Medicare reform: hidden.
* Jack’s role energy policy: hidden.

McCain actively controlled the story and he put the investigation into slow motion. He ensured that it was a not a factor in the 2004 election. Then he ensured that voters would not know about how closely Abramoff, Rove and Bush worked together. The work of McCain limited the damage the Abramoff scandal had on the GOP in the 2006 election.

He also has suppressed a literal mountain of evidence—over 750,000 pages of documents related to Jack Abramoff, his work and his connections in and out of government.

Only about 8,000 pages of these documents have been released.

The Bush/McCain cover-up was leaking.

They needed team players in the Justice Department to slow down the wheels of justice. They needed loyal Bushies to stand in the gap and protect the Party.

They found them.

That is what is at the heart of the firings the US Attorneys—an effort to obstruct justice.

Some players are already known like Monica Goodling and some like Robert E. Coughlin are just starting to be exposed for their crimes.

It is not a coincidence that moves by Alberto Gonzales and the Bush White House have had the effect of slow-walking dozens of investigations—after all they have thousands of crimes to cover-up. If they can run out the clock, the crimes will become like the crimes they committed in the 1990s and in the 2000 election. They will move pass legal jeopardy. If they can keep the lid on it, the cover-up just might work.

Not this time. We need to blow the lid off this scandal.

We need to expose this Culture of Corruption and demand change.

We need to extract a political price for the crimes past the Statute of Limitations.

We need to speed things up.

2007 is a year for gathering facts and holding their feet to the fire. 2008 is a year to defeat these scoundrels at the ballot box and put a Democrat in the White House. That will give us a Department of Justice that believes in the law again.

Get involved.

* Write letters, contact the press, call talk shows, post comments, and otherwise promote this effort. Demand the release of these 750,000 pages of documents. Make it clear that you are concerned about the widespread evidence of criminal activity in the Republican Party and the cover-ups of these crimes.
* Research. Follow the money. Find the quid pro quos. Dig into the ties of the GOP to CNMI and Guam, or to Cunningham, or to ripping off Native Americans, or to any of the entry points into the web of scandal. Grab a mask and a shovel and start digging into the many aspects of this cesspool of corruption.
* Get out the truth and hold the GOP accountable in 2007 and 2008. Perhaps Republican candidates will want to explain to voters why they wanted to kill the Abramoff and other corruption investigation. We should force the question.

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http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/4/15/114515/619

UPDATE. Smoking gun: the Senate has the documents...
by dengre
Sun Apr 15, 2007 at 08:57:55 AM PDT

The use of multiple e-mail accounts to bypass the spirit and letter of the law governing White House documents and communications is a major development in the growing Prosecutor Purge Scandal:

In other words, it was an open secret at the White House that the parallel system was to be used for everything you didn't want coming out later—an understanding that was most likely never made explicit, but a situation that was carefully preserved by not providing apparently any parameters for what sort of communication should be done via the White House system.

And naturally, now that folks are asking questions the emails have been lost—perhaps up to 5 million of them.

So, we fight with the WH to find and release these emails and other documents.

Meanwhile the US Senate is sitting on over 750,000 pages that would blow this scandal wide open.

To the jump...

* dengre's diary :: ::