6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: Stephen Smith Connects The Gonzales-To-Matthews, Jr. Dots

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Friday, March 16, 2007

Stephen Smith Connects The Gonzales-To-Matthews, Jr. Dots

Ever heard of the Thompson Memorandum? No? Well, sit right back and let Stephen Smith tell you why Alberto Gonzales — who may soon be an ex-Attorney General — leads right to the Angels' front door:

So what ties Matthews, Moreno and Selig to the brewing Justice Department scandal?
It's a January 20, 2003 document sent to all U.S. Attorneys (those would be the political appointees hired and fired by the Administration) called the Thompson Memorandum.
In short, the Thompson Memorandum says that if a private business under governmental investigation compels one of its employees to give testimony even if it incriminates the employee, the government can go easy on the business itself when it comes to filing charges.
According to a December 5, 2006 article in the New York Law Journal, to circumvent the Fifth Amendment the government can employ a private business on its behalf to compel an employee into self-incrimination. That's why the Thompson Memorandum is so controversial, because it was an attempt by the Bush Administration to do an end-run on the Constitution. If government investigators can't compel someone to give testimony incriminating himself, have his employer do it.

It's an ugly business, but Smith provides compelling documentation of something I've hypothesized upon recently. It's a positively despicable means to launder Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations, and like everything else this corrupt, criminal administration has engaged in, urgently needs to be shut down.

Labels: angels