Legalities
Life, Politics and the Law From ABC News Correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg
Jan Crawford Greenburg is a correspondent for ABC News' bureau in Washington DC. She covers politics, the Supreme Court and provides legal analysis for ABC News. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago's law school and is a member of the New York bar.
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Cheney, Gonzales Indicted in Texas
November 18, 2008 6:57 PM
In the department of the Truly Bizarre, a Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a few state court judges, a former U.S. attorney and some other folks. According to the Brownsville Herald, the indictment appears to focus on management and oversight of federal detention centers and accuses Cheney and Gonzales of engaging in organized criminal activity.
The Herald also says it accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest (because of his investment in a mutual fund that has interests in private prison companies) and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees by working through the prison companies that are running those centers. Gonzales, the newspaper says, also is accused of using his position in office to stop an investigation into alleged abuses at the federal detention centers.
The breaking news story on the Brownsville Herald is HERE.
And now for the big wet towel.
First, Willacy County grand juries are familiar with DA Juan Angel Guerra -- since he himself was indicted by one just last year on felony charges of theft, attempted theft, perjury, abuse of official capacity and tampering with government records. When Guerra was arrested, the publisher of the local papers in the county, Paul Whitworth, told the Brownsville Herald: "It's a great day for Willacy County, and it'll be better when he's convicted." The Herald said Whitworth had said for years that Guerra failed to prosecute crime in the county.
Two weeks ago, a judge threw out the charges against Guerra -- but his prosecuting days soon will be over. He was defeated in the March primary.
So now Guerra is going for the last stand? If so, I'm guessing his Cheney/Gonzales indictment will go the way most last stands go: complete annihilation. First off, it's hard to see from the local reports exactly what the state crime even is. Federal conflicts of interest, for example, are governed by the Ethics in Government Act.
What's more, there's a reason why local DAs don't go around indicting federal officers for official actions (even controversial official actions): The U.S. Constitution.
The Supremacy Clause is generally understood to prohibit states from prosecuting federal officers for their official acts. Guerra can't prosecute Cheney, Gonzales, federal prosecutors, etc., for actions within the scope of their federal authority -- they all would be immune from such prosecutions.
The more serious question is whether the Obama Administration will follow a similar prosecutorial path against previous administration officials for other actions they took while in office.
But a state DA—no matter what his intentions -- cannot.
Megan Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the vice president, told ABC News' Kirit Radia tonight, "We have not received an indictment so I will decline to comment." DOJ also had no comment. But I reached Cheney's former counsel, Shannen Coffin. He had this to say:
"This is just another example of the rampant criminalization of politics by a local prosecutor who is trying to get his name in the newspaper," said Coffin, who's now at Steptoe & Johnson. "The local citizens…should throw him out on his ear."
In fact, they have -- through the ballot box.
November 18, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (69)
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The defeated DA should himself be indicted and prosecuted for prosecutorial misbehavior and let him have his own bitter medicine.
Posted by: narumanchi | Nov 18, 2008 7:17:10 PM
here come the Bush pardons
Posted by: mr sleepy | Nov 18, 2008 7:17:31 PM
Yes Finally!! an indictment... I have vanguard funds myself and sorry if I missed anything about prison holdings. Par for the course to show the class of ABC... this "ham sandwich" makes it to the #2 headline spot on ABC news
Posted by: bob | Nov 18, 2008 7:19:07 PM
OBAMA SHOULD INDICT BUSH FOR LYING TO THE NATION AND RUNNING OUR COUNTTRY INTO THE GROUND FOR THE BENEFIT OF HIS SELF AND HIS RICH CRONIES!
Posted by: 4hevnsake | Nov 18, 2008 7:26:42 PM
What is truly bizzare is that Ms. Greenberg would belittle the Texas Grand Jury. The U.S. has its own version of official impunity, which is at least as toxic as that which U.S. officials and fractions of the U.S. press ridicule in Mexico and other latin countries. It is scandalously that Cheney apparently holds stock in any entity doing business with the U.S. government. Period. That the entity was apparently engaged in improper actions in violations of the human rights of prisoners suggests that Mr. Cheney should be tried not only in Texas, but also before the Hague tribunal.
Posted by: john | Nov 18, 2008 7:30:38 PM
This smells of a "scam". Are they being indicted so Bush can "Pardon" them before he leaves office?? This is very suspicious....especially in Texas.
Posted by: mary | Nov 18, 2008 7:32:24 PM
If the current administration is guilty of any crimes, shouldn't Pelosi follow through on that? Just because you hate someone doesn't mean that they are guilty of a crime.
Posted by: Chuck | Nov 18, 2008 7:33:35 PM
The Author of this article sounds like an apologist for the criminal Cheney and his cronies. Cheney has other conflict of interest issues as well, i.e. the war in Iraq and Halliburton. This won't be last of indictments against gangster Cheney and I applaud any prosecutor willing to take him on. Cheney and Gonzalez are pure criminals no less than Mafia mobsters.
Posted by: Jeff | Nov 18, 2008 7:37:10 PM
they are all crooks,liers,
why is that news,why do people seemed surprised.is it because they get caught that is the news,because so many dont.america deserves everything it gets,justice in america is a joke and has been for a long time,the tree of liberty needs shaken from time to time,that time is coming soon and it wont be pretty,when americans finally get enough of these crooks,news will be shocking again,not same old same,that is a day I look forward to,when america gets its spine back,that would truly be news to us so called little people
Posted by: don wreyford | Nov 18, 2008 7:38:21 PM
A further comment about Ms. Greenberg's analysis: She apparently relies on a newspaper story and has not seen the indictment. She argues AS IF the indictment were under the federal RICO law, which is extremely unlikely for the reasons she states. More likely it is under a Texas statute; and there is no reason to believe that Texas lacks conflict of interests and criminal conspiracy statutes. Above all, Ms. Greenberg in apparent haste to be "respectable" tries to bury what are apparently the human rights violation aspects of the case. I don't know Texas law, but I'll bet they have civil rights statutes. A real legal reporter would get a copy of the indictment, which is not hard to do, before dismissing attempt to poo-poo it in a public forum.
Posted by: john | Nov 18, 2008 7:39:27 PM
Lastly, there is no obvious reason for Ms. Greenberg to assume that Mr. Cheney is being prosecuted as a federal officer, so as to make the indictment questionable under the supremacy clause. If Cheney owns part of a business engaged in human rights violations, it is not clear that Cheney's official acts as Vice President are material to the prosecution. Ms Greenberg: What does the indictment say? Not, What do you guess it says?!
Posted by: john | Nov 18, 2008 7:44:00 PM
of course the first action one takes against someone who has the goods against them is to destroy the character of of the one with the goods. This story will "disappear". It would disappear if Cheney had been photographed in the act. Watch how fast this is gone.
Posted by: WeHadBetterWakeUp | Nov 18, 2008 7:45:10 PM
watch how fast this disappears.
Posted by: WeHadBetterWakeUp | Nov 18, 2008 7:48:41 PM
Cheney should be fronting up at the Haige.
Rumsfeld should go with him.
Posted by: brian dillon | Nov 18, 2008 7:48:55 PM
ya know, too many of these types of foolish legal moves will only derail a true criminal investigation of the outgoing administration.
Posted by: John | Nov 18, 2008 7:56:40 PM
Too Sweet!! Break out the leg irons!! During the interrogation Cheney might want them to use water boarding. Cheney quotes, " water boarding was a "no-brainer" if the information it yielded would save American lives. "It's a no-brainer for me," Cheney replies. They should start with questions about why we invaded Iraq. Wait till after Bush leaves office before allowing a conviction.
Posted by: Tim | Nov 18, 2008 8:02:58 PM
It's nice to see even silly, feeble attempts to bring justice into the world.
Posted by: Joe Bradshaw | Nov 18, 2008 8:04:21 PM
Good, but I don't believe the charges will stick. Just one person's opinion, but can any of you really imagine it?
Posted by: Lisa Again | Nov 18, 2008 8:04:30 PM
I appreciate the way you point out that it's basically nonsense. But why would you profile it as a breaking story?
Posted by: Anna | Nov 18, 2008 8:10:57 PM
i think gonzales was a pawn and jeopardized his own future. if cheney is guilty of anything he will live with the guit. enough already about the soon to be past.
Posted by: zorra | Nov 18, 2008 8:11:25 PM
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