Well, the Waco and Gonzales cases are completely different from what's going on here. Waco and Gonzales were both green-lit from the White House; Of that, there is no question. The FBI didn't decide to assault the compound on their own, nor did ICE (INS at the time) decide to raid a house a kidnap a small child on their own. They were following orders. No one can claim that these prosecutors were following orders to act in an unethical or illegal manner. They did that all on their own.
As for who the DOJ prosecuted or did not prosecute during the Bush tenure, I'm not an expert. But I'd say that we're in some agreement here. Bush and his three AG's certainly weren't bashful about prosecuting Republicans. In fact, besides the Alabama Insurance case (I belive the guys name is Don Siegelman, but am not positive), I don't think that there were any high-profile cases that were brought against Dems or big Dem supporters. The William Jefferson case still hasn't made it to an indictment, let alone a trial.
But, some are claiming that this Stephens case can't be politically motivated because it happened under Bush's watch. With this, I disagree. I think that these prosecutors (career or otherwise) were looking to score political points during a contentious election year.
Was Janet Reno responsible for Waco and for Elian Gonzales or were they the fault of politically motivated underlings?
Well, the Waco and Gonzales cases are completely different from what’s going on here. Waco and Gonzales were both green-lit from the White House; Of that, there is no question. The FBI didn’t decide to assault the compound on their own, nor did ICE (INS at the time) decide to raid a house a kidnap a small child on their own. They were following orders. No one can claim that these prosecutors were following orders to act in an unethical or illegal manner. They did that all on their own.
As for who the DOJ prosecuted or did not prosecute during the Bush tenure, I’m not an expert. But I’d say that we’re in some agreement here. Bush and his three AG’s certainly weren’t bashful about prosecuting Republicans. In fact, besides the Alabama Insurance case (I belive the guys name is Don Siegelman, but am not positive), I don’t think that there were any high-profile cases that were brought against Dems or big Dem supporters. The William Jefferson case still hasn’t made it to an indictment, let alone a trial.
But, some are claiming that this Stephens case can’t be politically motivated because it happened under Bush’s watch. With this, I disagree. I think that these prosecutors (career or otherwise) were looking to score political points during a contentious election year.