medicinal
03-19-2007, 03:54 AM
Did Someone Tell Brett Tolman To Rewrite the Patriot Act?
by bernardpliers
Sun Mar 18, 2007 at 12:39:25 PM PDT
For the MSM and even the Democrats, the conventional wisdom on the US attorneys was that firing them was no big deal. Serious People understand that the attorneys serve "at the President's pleasure," and dismissing US attorneys is routine. The GOP says that all us hicks from the sticks just don't understand business-as-usual-politics in DC. But this is just a smokescreen, and for the moment even the Dems are playing along while the real scandal builds in the background.
The real question is the apparent conspiracy to engineer the Patriot Act to allow the White House to appoint US attorneys without confirmation by the Senate. And there seems to have been a plan, and a Bushie plant (aka Brett Tolman) in Specter's office (according to Specter), and the doctored legislation that was passed by a GOP controlled congress. Or was it William Moschella of DoJ?
Brett is now the US aattorney in Utah, and was probably on the fast track to becoming a federal judge who understands "a need for checks and balances regarding citizen rights.". The mysterious change to the Patriot Act would allow the GOP to pack the US attorneys with Bushie loyalists and then push them into federal judgeships. Investigations would be impossible when the GOP plants are both the prosecuters and the judges.
bernardpliers's diary :: ::
Arlen Specter reportedly said that Brett Tolman was the guy who actually inserted the changes into the Patriot Act renewal that allowed the White House to make US Attorney appointments without Senate approval. Clearly this was in the works for a long time, and nobody just did this on their own. Now Brett's carreer may hit a bump if he is the mole in a much larger conspiracy to subvert the Department of Justice.
After (Brett) graduated from (Brigham Young Univeristy's) law school, Tolman clerked for U.S. District Judge Dee Benson for more than two years. He then interviewed with Paul Warner and worked four years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Salt Lake City. In 2003, his work caught the attention of U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who at the time was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Later Sen. Arlen Specter, R- Penn., who took over as judiciary chairman, brought Tolman aboard. Bigham Young University
TalkingPointsMemo has a great timeline and lists the key players
December 14, 2005
The USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 comes out of conference. At some point during the conference, Brett Tolman, counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, added Section 502. The addition eliminates restrictions on the length of service for interim US attorneys and allows future interim attorneys to serve indefinitely without Senate confirmation.
William Moschella, principal associate deputy attorney general, later tells McClatchy Newspapers that he pursued the change for the Justice Department "without the knowledge or coordination of his superiors at the Justice Department or anyone at the White House."
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/)...
Specters version of events does not agree with Moschella's and today Diane Feinstein repeated Moschella's version. Today's Salt Lake Tribune put it this way:
The provision was added to the Patriot Act at the Justice Department's request by Brett Tolman, who worked for Specter, the senator said last month. Tolman, now the U.S. Attorney for Utah, has declined to comment. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she wants to explore the issue further, after William Moschella, a senior Justice Department official, told McClatchy Newspapers that he requested the change on his own.
Salt Lake Tribune - Salt Lake Tribune Home Page (http://origin.sltrib.com/)...
It sure looks like Brett collected his reward, becoming a US attorney. No doubt he was on the fast track to becoming a federal judge who would boldly enforce "a need for checks and balances regarding citizen rights."
On Friday, the Senate confirmed him by voice vote as the new U.S. attorney for Utah, replacing Paul Warner as the top federal law-enforcement officer in the state. Warner stepped down earlier this year to become a federal magistrate judge........
In 2003, his work caught the attention of U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who at the time was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Later Sen. Arlen Specter, R- Penn., who took over as judiciary chairman, brought Tolman aboard. For several years, Tolman helped the two senators gain support for the renewal of the Patriot Act, legislation that drew criticism from lawmakers and citizens alike for concerns about the constitutional rights of Americans.
"The Patriot Act is one of the most misunderstood laws on the books," Tolman said, adding he recognized a need for checks and balances regarding citizen rights. However, Tolman said he felt the law was vilified by some. "The Patriot Act became the embodiment of the fear of the unknown."
(http://deseretnews.com/)...
Cleary this guy has "federal judge" written all over him. His change to the Patriot Act would allow the GOP to pack the US attorneys with interim appointees, then use them to clog the pipeline of nominees for federal judges.
The GOP has been screaming about bad judges and their appointees for years, but how many people will actually vote over 3 or 4 judges? However, if a couple years down the road, they nominated 25 of these Bushie/Patriot Act attorneys, they'd have a good shot packing the bench with extremists. They could nominate 30 of these Manchurian judges and force the Democrats to "compromise" into taking 10.
Anyway, Kyle Sampson (AG's chief of staff) may want to ditch Gonzales and all the rest of them because he was also up for US Attorney job in Utah, but Orrin Hatch wanted a Utah homeboy to get the job.
One of the most suspicious things is how Tolman was also getting a push from a whole bunch of scumbags. I mean these are exactly the sort of guys that should avoid an honest US attorney like vampires avoiding garlic:
Tolman has the endorsement of Hatch and Specter, as well as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Judiciary Committee member Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, two congressional sources familiar with the discussions told The Salt Lake Tribune. Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also has called the White House on Tolman's behalf.
kutv.com - 2News - Utah's source for breaking news, weather and sports (http://kutv.com/)...
Now let's see what Kyle Sampson does. He's going to be pissed because he didn't even want to be in DC any more. But his career would have been kaput if he got on the bad side of Gonzales.
UPDATE - Or was it this guy? (Salon)
Like so many metasticizing cancer cells...
The staffer who reportedly performed this bit of dirty work is Michael O'Neill, a law professor at George Mason University and former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Daily Kos: State of the Nation (http://www.dailykos.com/)...
Salon.com - Original reporting and commentary on politics, news, culture and more (http://www.salon.com/)...
by bernardpliers
Sun Mar 18, 2007 at 12:39:25 PM PDT
For the MSM and even the Democrats, the conventional wisdom on the US attorneys was that firing them was no big deal. Serious People understand that the attorneys serve "at the President's pleasure," and dismissing US attorneys is routine. The GOP says that all us hicks from the sticks just don't understand business-as-usual-politics in DC. But this is just a smokescreen, and for the moment even the Dems are playing along while the real scandal builds in the background.
The real question is the apparent conspiracy to engineer the Patriot Act to allow the White House to appoint US attorneys without confirmation by the Senate. And there seems to have been a plan, and a Bushie plant (aka Brett Tolman) in Specter's office (according to Specter), and the doctored legislation that was passed by a GOP controlled congress. Or was it William Moschella of DoJ?
Brett is now the US aattorney in Utah, and was probably on the fast track to becoming a federal judge who understands "a need for checks and balances regarding citizen rights.". The mysterious change to the Patriot Act would allow the GOP to pack the US attorneys with Bushie loyalists and then push them into federal judgeships. Investigations would be impossible when the GOP plants are both the prosecuters and the judges.
bernardpliers's diary :: ::
Arlen Specter reportedly said that Brett Tolman was the guy who actually inserted the changes into the Patriot Act renewal that allowed the White House to make US Attorney appointments without Senate approval. Clearly this was in the works for a long time, and nobody just did this on their own. Now Brett's carreer may hit a bump if he is the mole in a much larger conspiracy to subvert the Department of Justice.
After (Brett) graduated from (Brigham Young Univeristy's) law school, Tolman clerked for U.S. District Judge Dee Benson for more than two years. He then interviewed with Paul Warner and worked four years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Salt Lake City. In 2003, his work caught the attention of U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who at the time was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Later Sen. Arlen Specter, R- Penn., who took over as judiciary chairman, brought Tolman aboard. Bigham Young University
TalkingPointsMemo has a great timeline and lists the key players
December 14, 2005
The USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 comes out of conference. At some point during the conference, Brett Tolman, counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, added Section 502. The addition eliminates restrictions on the length of service for interim US attorneys and allows future interim attorneys to serve indefinitely without Senate confirmation.
William Moschella, principal associate deputy attorney general, later tells McClatchy Newspapers that he pursued the change for the Justice Department "without the knowledge or coordination of his superiors at the Justice Department or anyone at the White House."
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/)...
Specters version of events does not agree with Moschella's and today Diane Feinstein repeated Moschella's version. Today's Salt Lake Tribune put it this way:
The provision was added to the Patriot Act at the Justice Department's request by Brett Tolman, who worked for Specter, the senator said last month. Tolman, now the U.S. Attorney for Utah, has declined to comment. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she wants to explore the issue further, after William Moschella, a senior Justice Department official, told McClatchy Newspapers that he requested the change on his own.
Salt Lake Tribune - Salt Lake Tribune Home Page (http://origin.sltrib.com/)...
It sure looks like Brett collected his reward, becoming a US attorney. No doubt he was on the fast track to becoming a federal judge who would boldly enforce "a need for checks and balances regarding citizen rights."
On Friday, the Senate confirmed him by voice vote as the new U.S. attorney for Utah, replacing Paul Warner as the top federal law-enforcement officer in the state. Warner stepped down earlier this year to become a federal magistrate judge........
In 2003, his work caught the attention of U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who at the time was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Later Sen. Arlen Specter, R- Penn., who took over as judiciary chairman, brought Tolman aboard. For several years, Tolman helped the two senators gain support for the renewal of the Patriot Act, legislation that drew criticism from lawmakers and citizens alike for concerns about the constitutional rights of Americans.
"The Patriot Act is one of the most misunderstood laws on the books," Tolman said, adding he recognized a need for checks and balances regarding citizen rights. However, Tolman said he felt the law was vilified by some. "The Patriot Act became the embodiment of the fear of the unknown."
(http://deseretnews.com/)...
Cleary this guy has "federal judge" written all over him. His change to the Patriot Act would allow the GOP to pack the US attorneys with interim appointees, then use them to clog the pipeline of nominees for federal judges.
The GOP has been screaming about bad judges and their appointees for years, but how many people will actually vote over 3 or 4 judges? However, if a couple years down the road, they nominated 25 of these Bushie/Patriot Act attorneys, they'd have a good shot packing the bench with extremists. They could nominate 30 of these Manchurian judges and force the Democrats to "compromise" into taking 10.
Anyway, Kyle Sampson (AG's chief of staff) may want to ditch Gonzales and all the rest of them because he was also up for US Attorney job in Utah, but Orrin Hatch wanted a Utah homeboy to get the job.
One of the most suspicious things is how Tolman was also getting a push from a whole bunch of scumbags. I mean these are exactly the sort of guys that should avoid an honest US attorney like vampires avoiding garlic:
Tolman has the endorsement of Hatch and Specter, as well as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Judiciary Committee member Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, two congressional sources familiar with the discussions told The Salt Lake Tribune. Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also has called the White House on Tolman's behalf.
kutv.com - 2News - Utah's source for breaking news, weather and sports (http://kutv.com/)...
Now let's see what Kyle Sampson does. He's going to be pissed because he didn't even want to be in DC any more. But his career would have been kaput if he got on the bad side of Gonzales.
UPDATE - Or was it this guy? (Salon)
Like so many metasticizing cancer cells...
The staffer who reportedly performed this bit of dirty work is Michael O'Neill, a law professor at George Mason University and former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Daily Kos: State of the Nation (http://www.dailykos.com/)...
Salon.com - Original reporting and commentary on politics, news, culture and more (http://www.salon.com/)...