Dept of Justice newspaper column 2016

Department of Justice Not Having A Good Month

May has not been a good month for the U.S. Department of Justice.

First, the “Fast and Furious” scandal involving former Attorney General Eric Holder showed up in the news again, just when the media thought it was all over with.

A federal judge ordered the release of thousands of emails  showing how then-attorney general Eric Holder obstructed, stonewalled, and misdirected congressional investigators looking into the program.

One email dated June 2011 details how lab reports from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) were withheld from Congress, and in an email dated July 2011, senior DOJ officials were agreeing to “stay away from a representation that we’ll fully cooperate (with the Congress).”

DOJ was accused of trying to impede the Congressional investigations of Holder and his staff in   2011 and 2012 by “devising strategies to redact or otherwise withhold relevant information” by manipulating media coverage and by trying to make ATF the scapegoat.

Some of the released emails set forth talking points for Holder and his staff to use in Congressional hearings, making it clear that DOJ intended to make the ATF officials who had been ousted the fall guys, with Assistant Attorney General Ron Weich writing in an August 2011 email that “These personnel changes will help us move past the Fast and Furious controversy.

And much like  the allegations against Ben Rhodes about which I wrote a couple of weeks ago showing how he manipulated the media with regard to the Iran nuclear deal, Holder stated in the “Fast and Furious” scandal that they should first release documents to friendly media “with an explanation that takes the air out of them” instead of just handing them over to Congress.

But don’t hold your breath that there will be any further investigation even after the release of these emails.  The major media outlets consider the Fast and Furious scandal as ancient history, even though AG Eric Holder  became the first sitting member of a President’s cabinet in U.S. history to be held in contempt of court.

In another instance last week, the DOJ received a scathing rebuke from U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen in the form of an order to have hundreds of its lawyers undergo ethics training after they misled him in the course of a lawsuit where Texas and other states were challenging the Administration’s immigration policy.

The President’s directive, which was the subject of the lawsuit, offered temporary protection against deportation and also authorized work permits to millions of undocumented immigrants.

The Judge’s order came about after he blocked the program when DOJ assured him that they wouldn’t begin implementing the program before February 2015, giving him time to weigh the legal issues.

Contrary to what DOJ had told the Judge, it began to issue three year deferrals to as many as 100,000 immigrants as early as November 2014.  Judge Hanen also said DOJ had misled him about the number of extensions granted.

Judge Hanen said in his order “Such conduct is certainly not worthy of any department whose name includes the word Justice.”  He went on to say that “...it is hard to imagine a more serious, more calculated plan of unethical conduct.  There were over 100,000 instances of conduct contrary to counsel’s representations.”

Under the Judge’s order, all agency lawyers in Washington,D.C. who represent the government in state or federal courts within the 26 states who filed a complaint must “annually attend a legal ethics course”.  The training is to consist of at least three hours per lawyer per year.   He further ordered Attorney General Loretta Lynch to appoint someone within her department to ensure compliance with his order.

    © Joan Rowden Hart, newspaper column 2016

COMMUNION ON THE MOON

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. (Melody Beattie) Americans need a day dedicated to gratitude. I have noticed that in the lineup of most of our holidays that Thanksgiving is perhaps the one least given over to secularism - the one we still observe in a traditional fashion. We need it to keep our focus clear and to teach our children what it means to be thankful for family, friendship and faith. We need a time to gather around the table with extended family and enjoy turkey and dressing and gravy, two kinds of potatoes, cranberries, hot rolls, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and whipped cream. We need it, not for the calories, but to create an awareness that there are those who don’t have those blessings, because in the hectic pace of our everyday lives we tend to forget those in need. Family and food are important, but above all else, Americans need a rededication to our faith. Faith brought the pilgrims to the ne...

FELINE GHOSTS

FELINE GHOSTS... Feeling ghosts around me today Shadows of cats I have known Feline ghosts, I call them, Cats who have made this their home. Sometimes I feel the gentleness Of soft fur nestled close in my arms And it seems I can hear the soft purring Of remembered kitty cat charms I see them move through the shadows Just a glimpse, then out of my sight Sometimes it’s the white tail tipping That I see in the dark of the night The movements are quiet and fleeting I see them at nighttime and day Just figments of my imagination Grayson, Annie, or Ollie at play. They knew this house was their castle They reigned in each room where they played They slept when they wanted and ate all they could Feline memories stay close, they don’t fade. It’s autumn that I really miss them When hickory nuts start to fall I can see kitty faces so precious In the windows that line up my wall The hickory tree looks in the windows As squirrels ...

SIGNERS OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

I wrote this for the newspaper several years ago. Not political. Just history about the signers of the Declaration of Independence but extremely interesting. Not because I wrote it, but because it is history we have either forgotten, or maybe never learned it in school to begin with. Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well ...

Straight From The Hart

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