Bush Holdover U.S. Atty. Mary Beth Buchanan

At this point, there may be far more Bush holdovers serving as U.S. Attorneys than there were during the Clinton regime. Still,  the current selection process for U.S. Attorneys remains, in most instances, very political and partisan. Too bad. It would be nice, and better for the sake of justice, if that weren’t the case.

By Andrew Ramonas
Main Justice
WASHINGTON — U.S. Attorneys appointed by President Bush are clinging to office longer than their predecessors in the Clinton administration did, according to Justice Department and Senate data.

More than eight months after Democrat Barack Obama took office, 23 Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorneys from the Bush administration remain in office. Another eight U.S. Attorneys who were appointed during the Bush administration, but not confirmed by the Senate, are also still in office.

That makes a total of 31 Bush-era appointees who are still running the top federal prosecuting offices around the country, out of 93 U.S. Attorney positions nationwide.

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Sean Joyce/fbi photo

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON — Sean Joyce, a Boston native, is the new assistant director of the FBI’s International Operations Division. He replaces Tom Fuentes, who retired.

“The International Operations Division’s scope of responsibilities is greater than ever, given the importance that relationships with international law enforcement partners and other parts of the government hold to our overall national security mission,” said FBI Director Robert Mueller III in a statement. “Sean’s knowledge and his experience in criminal and national security matters make him an excellent fit for the job.”

Joyce joined the FBI in 1987 and initially went to the Dallas Division, where he investigated violent crimes. He then went on to focus on Colombian drug trafficking in the Miami Division, the FBI said.

This is a good good initiative. We just need more of these because the violent Mexican drug cartels aren’t going away, not so long as business remains brisk.

By Juan A. Lozano
Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON- A four-month effort to stop the flow of firearms from the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels has helped law enforcement disrupt various gun trafficking rings and gain a better understanding of how these groups try to avoid detection, officials announced Thursday.

Many weapons seized south of the border are traced back to Houston, where 100 agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other personnel were deployed in April to develop cases on trafficking firearms to Mexico.

ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson said the initiative vastly reduced a backlog of investigative leads and increased the number of criminal cases in Houston.

“While we can’t say we’ve solved the gun running problem to Mexico as a result of this (effort), it is a start and it certainly has made an impact here in Houston,” Melson told The Associated Press after a news conference.

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Read Justice Department Press Release

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON— Ok, here’s another reason to stay in shape and stop hiding behind those baggy clothes.  More airport screeners are about to acquire Superman powers.

USA Today reports that Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration plans to install 150 security machines at airport checkpoints that will let screeners peek under passengers’ clothes.

The scanners have been used on a test basis at some airports, but mostly on folks who set off screening alarms and are pulled aside. Some groups are complaining that the machines are far too intrusive.

The House has passed a bill limiting the machines’ use for passengers who have set off some type of screening alarm. The bill is before the Senate, USA Today reported.

TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee told USA Today that the machines are “critical” to stopping terrorists with homemade bombs. The machines will be installed early next year and will have “privacy additions to create images that look like etchings”, the paper reported.

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
The person who posted a poll on the ever-popular Facebook social network last week asking whether President Obama should be assassinated is a kid.

Bloomberg news reports that the Secret Service determined that the juvenile doesn’t pose a threat.

The news service, attributing the information to Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan, said agents interviewed the youth and the parents, but declined to reveal names.

“We’re characterizing it as a mistake,” Donovan told Bloomberg. “We don’t have the luxury of discounting threats. We need to run every single referral out, and that’s what we do.”

District Judge Wayne Cresap

Anytime a judge gets busted for taking a bribe it reminds us how vulnerable the legal system is. It also makes us wonder about other judges.

By Chris Kirkham
New Orleans Times-Picayune
NEW ORLEANS — A longtime St. Bernard Parish judge who handled some of the parish’s most high-profile civil lawsuits pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to taking part in a judicial bribery scheme that allowed inmates to get out of jail without paying any bond money.

Judge Wayne Cresap, of the 34th Judicial District, netted more than $70,000 over five years as a result of the scheme that also involved two St. Bernard Parish lawyers, Victor J. “V.J.” Dauterive and Nunzio Salvadore “Sal” Cusimano, who also pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

As part of the plea before U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon, Cresap will resign his judgeship before he is sentenced in January. The crimes are punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

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