Well, I'm just reporting the news article. It does seem however that none
of the main stream press seem concerned.
PA Evidence Tampering Could Warrant Special Prosecutor newsmax.com
EPA Evidence Tampering Could Warrant Special Prosecutor
Former Clinton Environmental Protection Agency chief Carol Browner could be
in legal hot water if investigators can prove she was aware on Jan. 19 of a
court order directing her agency to preserve records relevant to a lawsuit
filed by the Landmark Legal Foundation last year.
But the Justice Department is currently representing Browner while it
investigates charges she destroyed evidence - a conflict of interest that
could warrant the appointment of a special prosecutor to get to the bottom
of the burgeoning scandal.
Jan. 19 was the day Browner instructed her aides to erase her office
computer's hard drive. A week later, two other top EPA officials did the
same.
In an interview Monday with WABC Radio's Sean Hannity, Landmark Legal
Foundation President Mark Levin suggested that Browner could be legally
vulnerable if she was aware of U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth's order
enjoining her agency from "transporting, removing or in any way tampering
with information potentially responsive" to Landmark's suit.
HANNITY: This is obstruction of justice, contempt of court, a violation of
...
LEVIN: Well, of course, the element of obstruction is if it was done
willfully. Now, I should tell you that those multiple members from the U.S.
Attorney's office who walked in the court told the judge that the EPA was
on notice; that they saw articles on [Judge's Lamberth's order], they were
aware of our letters, they were aware of our lawsuit, they were aware of
the judge's preliminary injunction.
Levin contended that the Justice Department has an inherent conflict of
interest in the Browner-EPA case.
HANNITY: If [the U.S. attorneys probing Browner's case] are the same people
that are representing her, then I wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw
them.
LEVIN: Well, we are saying that they have an obvious conflict of interest.
Later in the day Levin expanded on the issue during an interview on
Hannity's Fox News Channel TV show "Hannity & Colmes."
LEVIN: The United States attorney today, as we sit here, represents Carol
Browner and these people at the same time they say they're investigating.
So we asked the court today ...
HANNITY: They're investigating the people they're representing? C'mon, tell
us that's not true.
LEVIN: That's correct. And we said to the court today, "Look, the U.S.
attorney cannot zealously represent Carol Browner and at the same time
investigate her. That's absurd." So we've asked for them to be moved out of
the case.
Levin did not expressly call for Attorney General John Ashcroft to appoint
a special prosecutor, but offered no other remedy to the Justice
Department's compromised position on the case.
The EPA-Browner scandal stems from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit
filed by Landmark last year requesting the names of any special interest
groups that had any input into a slew of last-minute regulations then being
considered by the agency.
While the EPA did release documents relevant to the case, none of them came
from Browner's office. On Friday U.S. Attorney Craig Lawrence confirmed
that Browner had her computer files destroyed.
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tom watson tosiwmee |
