Login HereEvery once in a while this story crops up again in the news and makes me smile. Jury selection is getting underway this week in the Hollinger case, Patrick Fitzgerald's "day job." The witness list should be a dilly:
[T]he government will trot out a star-studded group of witnesses that could include former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle and former Illinois Gov. James Thompson. All were directors of Hollinger International at the time of Mr. Black's alleged crimes.
A report prepared by former SEC chairman Richard C. Breeden used the word "kleptocracy" and took special aim at Perle. WaPo:
Press tycoon Conrad M. Black and other top Hollinger International Inc. officials pocketed more than $400 million in company money over seven years and Black's handpicked board of directors passively approved many of the transactions, a company investigation concluded.
A report by a special board committee singled out director Richard N. Perle, a former Defense Department official, who received $5.4 million in bonuses and compensation. The report said Perle should return the money to the Chicago company.
Remember that Perle, as part of the SEC investigation, had already been given a Wells notice, “a formal warning that the agency’s enforcement staff has determined that evidence of wrongdoing is sufficient to bring a civil lawsuit.”
Looks like accountability is the new black and every day is Fitzmas.
Sweet.
Update: Those who prefer their Perle soft and cudly can find it here, courtesy of the new wingnuttified PBS. I know I'm setting my Tivo.
(YouTube courtesy of the fabulous Al Rogers)
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Spotlight
eek!
FITZ!
Colebear!
hello?
HAHLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?
[waves hi to Jane!]
calling it a Wells Notice has a delightful little irony to it - tee hee
jeepers Adie, what a thread hog!*g*
EPU’d from last thread:
Biodun @ 156
(NYTimes link behind TimesSelect firewall.)
[Mod Note; please do not print entire articles for copyright reasons, thanks]
OT
Missing blonde white woman alert:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....43081.html
Throughout the runup to Fitzmas I had not been considering that Conrad Black and his cohorts attorneys must have been reading FDL for the scouting report on Fitz. Something tells me that once Fitz backs them off the plate with the high and inside (fear of what he could reveal), they will not be able to get around on the low and away splitter (the facts).
Is there any chance Marcy could go to Chicago, like, today? I’m already nostalgic…who needs to get any work done.
is fitz testafying before congress or bringing his notes for them to peruse this week?
really, I think this needs to be done fast, I am surprised his notes haven’t been declared classified already
Looks like it’s Fitzmas all year round!
I trust FDLers have read Jeffrey Toobin in The New Yorker (yes, The New Yorker) He says Fitz won easily.
JANE!
jeepers!
that is one bubbling cauldron of foul smelling carrion.
corry342 @ 10
Ha! I’d love to catch some of the Black trial. Of course, there’d be no wifi, I’d have to go and sit in the court room and write things down on a piece of paper! But if FDL wants some live coverage of Conrad Black…
Was just epu’d, and want to get TRex’s line from last night out there:
“Let ‘em eat quail.”
And add Josh Marshall’s:
“And let’s not forget the big picture: San Diego.”
Now I get to go read the JH post. Can’t wait.
Hey Marcy!
Live coverage of Conrad Black:
Yes please, a double heaping helping!
Going back to Fitz’ previous trial involving shithead neocons:
Richard Clarke must have especially enjoyed watching Fitzgerald administering the jalapeno enema to Timmeh Russert, after what Russert did to him.
OT–but related. Army ordering injured troops to go to Iraq:
emptywheel @ 14
WE DO!!!
cbl @
7
*after suitably dignified waiting period*
got it? flaunt it! heh.
emptywheel @ 14
Tell your boss that we love him/her for letting you do this! We could even steer some bidness your way.
I’m glad I’m not the only one finding PBS all but unwatchable at this point.
Is Rupert Murdoch now on the CPB Board of Governors? I thought with Ken Tomlinson gone there might be a return to sanity?
One of the Canadian papers recently did a timeline of Connie’s career that shows exactly what kind of dick he is. Unbelieveable. “Lord Black of Crossharbour”, indeed.
emptywheel:
i’ll throw in a fountain pen and any color ink you want.
Biodun @ 18
Read that last night, left me absolutely speachless. There are no bounds to the evil in this administration. I wish them the heat of ten thousand hot suns.
scory @ 22
There’s been some movement towards sanity, in that Bill Moyers is now back and kicking ass, but it likely won’t truly improve until we get a Democratic president in who is willing to clean house (and to judge from Obama and Edwards and their duels with the media, they are just the people to do it).
suncatcher—
Actually I was hoping for a video of Olbermann doing the Bill of Rights, but thanks.
When I woke up this morning and heard on the CBC that Conrad in the CrossHairs’ trial was starting on Wednesday, the thought went through my mind, “I wonder if they’ll be covering this at all at FDL?” This posting suggests that indeed you will be at least paying attention to this trial. I’m happy about that.
I don’t expect you guys to totally live blog this trial, but I look forward to occasionally reading Christy, Marcy’s, Jeralyn’s or any firepups’ thoughts on Fitz’s next project. Being a Canadian and harboring an extreme disgust for the National Poop Post, I will be following this trial as closely as I can. BTW, of course I’ll be rooting for Fitz again.
So many Neo-Cons, only one Fitz!
Is it too early to discuss a Presidential pardon for Conrad Black ‘man of the people?’
Phoenix Woman @ 21
Think the lady would be having a chat with herself…depends on how many billables she’s willing to eat for us.
squirrel hiller @ 24
Wow. A Squirrel Hiller collectible? have to mull that one over…
emptywheel @ 14
For those of you who have not been following the Hollinger/Black scandal, it is a deliciously complex and appalling story of corruption and deception across multiple continents. While it’s more of a financial scandal than a political one, Richard Perle plays an essential role.
Although Second City Plame House is a bit unlikely at this late date, can’t FDL put out a plea for an exciting one-day guest appearance from EmptyWheel (Jane–hint)?
Aren’t there 12 days of Fitzmas?
aren’t the waxman hearings starting this week?
EW — speaking of billables, been tied up with client stuff this morning, now hopping on the phone to make follow-up calls re: meetings. Any changes to your schedule?
p.s. did you catch my comment to Nirmal re: train fare? Cheap.
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 32
waxman’s hearing with valerie plame is scheduled for 10am in rayburn room 2154 (first floor).
Soldiers with spinal injuries ordered back to Iraq. my god. How metaphorical. And personally tragic.
I am a bit floored that there are not 100,000 watadas however.
Phoenix Woman @ 23
They did a whole section on it, lovely pics and all. I put it in the mail to the FDL Snailmail address — Jane it’s marked Newspaper article US va Black, so you know what it is when it arrives, it’ll be from Toronto, Canada.
From JH’s post:
“A report by a special board committee singled out director Richard N. Perle, a former Defense Department official, who received $5.4 million in bonuses and compensation. The report said Perle should return the money to the Chicago company.”
It will be interesting to see how the Wilson-Plame civil case progresses. It could be that Fitz’s GJ’s and sundry prosecutions become set-ups for civil actions that keep the pot boiling until the end of the Bush regnum, and beyond. We can only hope that the names Perle, Feith, Libby, Rove, Abramoff, Kristol et al continue to live in infamy. Maybe eventually the public will get the picture, even with the heavy FOX overdub.
To San Diego and beyond…
theExile @ 28
that’s cuz the other firz’s were fired by teh fitz patrol
how can we unfire the fitz’s that have gone
As one who suffered having to live in Detroit for a portion of my youth, I know how close (comparatively) Ann Arbor is to Chi-Town. Of course I realize that Marcy also most likely has a life. Just sayin’
CBC radio right now on the Current:
Lord Conrad Black and his lawyers say that the upcoming trial is nothing more than a “Salem Witch Hunt.”
No guys, that will be when they go after Barbara Amiel
David Ehrenstein @
12
Yeah, but what did he say before the verdict?
Meanwhile, Darth as broken record. From AP 30 minutes ago:
Rayne @ 33
Rayne’s right, round trip fare for under $50 and as little as $27. Amtrak reservations
zhiv @
15
I saw that post, and raised you one!
following Jane’s link - “a dilly”
you learn about Fitz’s DH (37 yrs old, first big white collar case)
and you learn one of two defense attys has already lost to His Fitzness in the Ryan trial - Edward Genson def’d Ryan aide Scott Fawell
Speaking of PBS, does anyone have an idea when CPB, PBS, NPR will be returning to normal or what steps we have to take to get the “wealth management” underwriters out of the news business?
I never thought NPR or PBS had a liberal bias, even if it occasionally featured a ” Ten year old Pedro sits in the dusty shade of his family’s one room shack he shares with 8 other siblings in the Texas border town where his mother works in the local maquilladora. She makes $2.50 an hour, not enough to pay for Pedro’s asthma medication. His wheezing is exacerbated by the acrid yellow smoke of the refinery where his father works as janitor. Pedro dreams of going to school but without running water and food, his shortness of breath and lack of shoes, he can’t make the 6 mile trek, walking uphill, both ways, to school every morning. The callous school district refuses to provide a bus.” by either Mandelit El Barco or Mandeli Del Barco
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 35
Are they supposed to mount an M16 to the front of their Power Scooters?
And as Darth addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in DC, an Israeli diplomat takes a page (pun intented) from Beltway practices. From AP:
Biodun @
18
That article made me sick! What a disgusting development this is!
Wow. Just wow. Too bad we won’t be getting a blow-by-blow from the courtroom…I’d love to savor Pat Fitz stringing and knotting Perle.
Also, if you are interested in Fitz or Conrad Black or just to see how news coverage is done in places other than the US, check out the Toronto Globe and Mail’s Conrad Black special feature.
Biodun @ 42
Just once, I’d like to see a member of congress get up and say, “And Cheney once again criticized us for not supporting the troops, yadda, yadda, yadda. Is this guy for real? I mean, really, what is he smoking?”
HotFlash @
19
How long before this becomes a “done deal”?!! Better get started; time is short!
A reporter from the Globe and Mail made a couple good points on the Current.
Since Conrad isn’t as well known in the US or Chicago (even though at one time he owned the Sun-Times) seating a jury without a bias shouldn’t be difficult.
Myself, I was thinking Conrad being pompous as he is wouldn’t be a defendant a jury would be likely to be sympathetic to. The reporter pointed out how his manner of speaking (approx)”spanning an extra century and using lots of ten dollar words won’t play well in the midwestern heartland.”
They also predict that the trial won’t be nearly as covered by the US media as the Canadian media.
The deal is that the producer of the show, Brian Lapping, is a personal friend of Perle’s, the next door neighbor of Perle’s villa in France…
obviously Perle cannot be trusted - he’s a francophile softy.
“let them eat freedom fries”
Biodun @ 48
if a journalist wants to regain any inegrity at all they better start prefacing every question to this moron with;
“mr vice president, you’ve been wrong with every opinion you’ve made concerning this war and what is good for our national security
what gives you any credibility at all telling the politicians who were right about everything that your idea of supporting the troops is even close to theirs”
man, I wish one of the journalists or democrats would plaguerize that verbatum, and by this statement I give my permission to do so without credit
Rayne @ 33
Yup, Chicago is eminently accessible to A2. I’m less worried abotu billables at this point (got none! thank you, auto industry meltdown!!). But I’ve got all those county committee responsibilities to do. It was pretty hard (read, I didn’t try) keep a website updated and doing large email blasts from a federal courthouse.
waves magic google wand
More juicy Canadian coverage from The National Post, why yes, that *is* Conrad’s old Financial Post. Reporter Barbara Schecter *owns* this case, her command of the details reminds me of Marcy.
…and let’s not forget professional scold George Will’s connection with Conrad Black’s sleaze.
cbl @ 58
we think alike cbl
Re: Conrad Black. I love this one about his lawyer:
egregious @ 27
eqregious
Sorry about that. Here it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....mp;search=
Cheney:
“An enemy that operates in the shadows and views the entire world as a battlefield is not one we can fight with strategies used in other wars.”
But it is hunky-dory for the US to “operate from the dark side”, right Dick?
-GSD
Hey thanks, suncatcher!
I’ll look at it when I get off the phone. Darn business interferes with important fdl stuff :)
Olbermann on video. Mmmmm.
But it is hunky-dory for the US to “operate from the dark side”, right Dick?
What did you expect from darth vader?
emptywheel @ 57
If you don’t mind, I will keep an ear out for opportunities for you in same area as my client. Always seems to be some brisk activity in May-June timeframe there. Can’t hurt, might help.
More about Conrad Black, writer and scholar:
cbl @
58
It’s a start but it lacks the proper degree of mockery and disdain. Delusional is too formal a word. Read the sentence again and substitute the word ‘idiotic’ for ‘delusional’.
Dems are too timid. They need to generate some press for outrageous but true statements.
As much as we’re all Fitz groupies around here, and as good as the Conrad Black trial will be (just getting up to speed on it now…), NYT story says that Fitz is not the primary prosecutor on the case and will only be making sporadic appearances.
Have to say I’d just as soon see him spending quality time with Henry Waxman this week. Does anyone know how we can get info on Fitz’ response to Waxman’s letter?
Paging Joe Klein, Howie Kurtz and Dean David Broder:
The Editor of the Herald Review chimes in and says that people contacting the paper about the dropping of Ann Coulter’s column have been “hate-filled”.
Those who dislike our decision range from people who merely disagree to those who threaten to cancel their subscriptions and never read us again, to those who use the most vile, hate-filled language to criticize us, calling us everything from a commie rag to a left-wing paper and worse. By the way, most of those whom posted comments or e-mailed comments opposed to us dropping the column don’t live here and presumably have never seen or held our paper.
From E & P.
-GSD
“I love that I’ve been certified as stupid by the Illinois judge,” said Mr Greenspan
If he actually thinks that’s what the judge was doing … um, well, what can be said?
I’d hope he’s smarter than that, but I want Fitz to win another one.
portia.vz @ 52
As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records.
How much body armor and medical care would the 2.3 billion dollars we’re sending to the warlords of Colombia and Israel this year buy for our troops? It should be pointed out that every Dem leader will be following Deadeye Dick to the AIPAC podium this week.
And, are these doctors’ medical orders being overridden? Doesn’t that require some kind of written waiver from somebody fairly high up in the Army chain of command?
from GSD @64
Is this the dictionary definition of “Cheney?”
The author of Sunday’s Outlook article wrt the Dems Iraq plan, Tony Smith, will be taking questions today @ 1pm at the Post– it’s a good read.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....01884.html
Ah, the Black case and Libby have more than Fitz in common:
My bold.
theExile @ 40
heh. oh she’s a piece of work alright.
He also called the shareholders and board of directors of Hollinger terrorists for thinking they should exert any influence on the Corporation.
He had to give up his Canadian citizenship to accept his Lord title in Merry Olde. Now he is sucking up trying to get it back, and with our own junior Neo-Con Prime Minister currently, who knows?
portia.vz @ 47
Remember the old Saturday Night Live sketch about the “Walker Brigade”? It’s amazing what was once absurd is now real.
Conrad Black has also had a Beltway columnist in his pocket:
Erudite. I like that.
gollll-y portia -
fine then, another Illinois voice -
GSD @ 64
Right Dick, a differnt strategy is required. One wherein the American presidency is subverted and dominated by an expanded vice presidency which is a subsidiary of Halliburton and ensures that Halliburton fast bleeds the country.
Breaking:
Waxman!
And:
Urine Kiley “Retires”
Deadeye Dick:
“When members of Congress pursue an anti-war strategy that’s been called ’slow bleeding,’ they are not supporting the troops, they are undermining them,” Cheney said in a speech to the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Hat tip to Politico for the nice, juicy right-wing talking point!
-GSD
Sorry OT, but related:
Halliburton to re-incorporate in Dubai
Waxman may hold hearings on this too…
(Note: they are re-incorporating in Dubai, re-listing on a ME bourse: ie, they will not be an American company, if this goes through, which is a detail the article seems to miss. Got a problem with that?)
Conrad Black also “invested” in FDR:
GSD @ 71
Since when is being called a left-wing paper considered the most vile, hate-filled language?
emptywheel,
Not that I read the Detroit Free Press, but it and the Oakland Press dropped Ann T. Culture’s column. There his hope for Michigan after all.
bellesouth @ 83
Condi’s not replying to her mail. Congress is a joke to these people. The American Public should be outraged that our three co-equal branches of gov. has been turned into a joke.
hey, hey, hey
that $25k/day scam is all over the place @ Hollinger
Source: New York Times, December 22, 2003
well at least they’re consistent - believe both Chalabi and Armstrong Williams used $25k increments in their invoicing;)
Biodun @ 62
Reminds of the proverb about the lawyer that represents himself has a fool for a client.
$25k is a trifling bagatelle to these people. “why all the fuss?”
hackworth @ 89
Let’s not forget the message sent by Ollie North back in the day. It is just fine to treat the Democratically held congress with contempt because they are contemptable.
It is all about rewriting the rules when it suits the ideology.
Imagine Hillary and Bill neglecting to respond to Newtie back in the 90’s?
-GSD
On the Conrad Black-Richard Perle connection:
kemo @ 85
Will they be tasked with operating our ports?
Ann in AZ @ 49
I have lost my sense of outrage. It was coined “Outrage Fatigue” (about 4 years ago, mind you) in The Onion.
It’s like the person who first read the “New Constitution” article (post before this one)and thought it was for real at first.
You just automatically begin to expect nothing less than the worst from this administration and become exhausted and overwhelmed by the every day drip, drip, drip of stories like these.
I’m so thankful we have thoughtful, driven, intrepid bloggers like those at FDL to keep the flame burning.
kemo and others,
Helliburton reincorporation -
without even looking, I am willing to bet UAE has NO extradition treaty with US