New Supreme Court nominee's ties to Bush's National Guard scandal

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Tue, 04 Oct 2005 02:56:09 -0700

Supreme Court nominee's ties to Bush's National Guard scandal

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" Bush's Supreme Court Nominee, It Appears, Scratched The Truth from

Bush's Scandalous National Guard Service By Allegedly Using Taxpayer

Money to Have a Witness Paid Off. So, Now He Appoints Her, His

Personal Consigliore, to the Supreme Court to Protect Him When White

House Trouble Hits SCOTUS. Compounding the Mafia-Like Travesty, Harry

Reid Gives Her Basically a Green Light in Monday Statement. Why

Doesn't Bush Just Rename America the Soviet Union? The Name's

Available? And We Don't Want to Hear Reid or Any Democrat Say, " We

Need to Know More About Her Because She Doesn't Have a Record. " She's

Got a Record, But It's More of a Bush Rap Sheet. " - Buzzflash

 

 

http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002383.html

 

New Supreme Court nominee's ties to Bush's National Guard scandal

 

 

Breaking News: President Bush on Monday nominated White House counsel

Harriet Miers to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the

Supreme Court, reaching into his loyal inner circle for a pick that

could reshape the nation's judiciary for years to come.

 

Last week, we looked at a troubling episode in Miers' past -- we're

reposting for anyone who missed it:

 

White House counsel Harriet Miers has never served as a judge before,

and while this career " hard-nosed lawyer " (as she is invariably

described) from Texas certainly deserves some kudos for a trailblazing

career as a female lawyer, she's not a legal scholar, either.

 

But she does know better than just about anyone else where the bodies

are buried (relax, it's a just a metaphor...we hope) in President

Bush's National Guard scandal. In fact, Bush's Texas gubenatorial

campaign in 1998 (when he was starting to eye the White House)

actually paid Miers $19,000 to run an internal pre-emptive probe of

the potential scandal. Not long after, a since-settled lawsuit alleged

that the Texas Lottery Commission -- while chaired by Bush appointee

Miers -- played a role in a multi-million dollar cover-up of the scandal.

 

Whatever Miers knows about the president's troubled past, she may soon

be keeping that information underneath the black robe of an Associate

Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Miers, who not long ago succeeded

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez as White House counsel, is now

Bush's pick to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor:

 

Miers is a skilled lawyer -- mainly on behalf of big business,

including Microsoft and Disney -- and the first woman elected Texas

State Bar President. But her main qualifications for the highest court

in the land appear to be the same as most of Bush's recent

appointments: She is unfailingly loyal to George W. Bush.

 

Here's how Newsweek's Michael Isikoff, on July 17, 2000, described her

initial foray in the morass of Bush's Guard service:

 

The Bushies' concern began while he was running for a second term as

governor. A hard-nosed Dallas lawyer named Harriet Miers was retained

to investigate the issue; state records show Miers was paid $19,000 by

the Bush gubernatorial campaign. She and other aides quickly

identified a problem--rumors that Bush had help from his father in

getting into the National Guard back in 1968. Ben Barnes, a prominent

Texas Democrat and a former speaker of the House in the state

legislature, told friends he used his influence to get George W a

guard slot after receiving a request from Houston oilman Sid Adger.

Barnes said Adger told him he was calling on behalf of the elder

George Bush, then a Texas congressman. Both Bushes deny seeking any

help from Barnes or Adger, who has since passed away. Concerned that

Barnes might go public with his allegations, the Bush campaign sent

Don Evans, a friend of W's, to hear Barnes's story. Barnes

acknowledged that he hadn't actually spoken directly to Bush Sr. and

had no documents to back up his story. As the Bush campaign saw it,

that let both Bushes off the hook. And the National Guard question

seemed under control.

 

So far, intriguing...but it gets better, and more complicated. At

roughly the same time all of this was happening, Miers was also the

Bush-named chair of the scandal-plagued Texas Lottery Commission. The

biggest issue before Miers and the commission was whether to retain

lottery operator Gtech, which had been implicated in a bribery

scandal. Gtech's main lobbyist in Texas in the mid-1990s? None other

than that same Ben Barnes who had the goods on how Bush got into the

Guard and avoided Vietnam.

 

In 1997, Barnes was abruptly fired by Gtech. That's a bad thing,

right? Well, on the other hand, they also gave him a $23 million

severance payment. A short time later, Gtech -- despite the ongoing

scandals -- got its contract renewed over two lower bidders. A former

executive director thought the whole thing stunk:

 

The suit involving Barnes was brought by former Texas lottery director

Lawrence Littwin, who was fired by the state lottery commission,

headed by Bush appointee Harriet Miers, in October 1997 after five

months on the job. It contends that Gtech Corp., which runs the state

lottery and until February 1997 employed Barnes as a lobbyist for more

than $3 million a year, was responsible for Littwin's dismissal.

 

Littwin's lawyers have suggested in court filings that Gtech was

allowed to keep the lottery contract, which Littwin wanted to open up

to competitive bidding, in return for Barnes's silence about Bush's

entry into the Guard.

 

Barnes and his lawyers have denounced this " favor-repaid " theory in

court pleadings as " preposterous . . . fantastic [and] fanciful. "

Littwin was fired after ordering a review of the campaign finance

reports of various Texas politicians for any links to Gtech or other

lottery contractors. But Littwin wasn't hired, or fired, until months

after Barnes had severed his relationship with Gtech.

 

Littwin reportedly settled with Gtech for $300,000. This all could be

interesting fodder for a Miers confirmation hearing this fall. But

Bush apparently went for Miers' top two credentials:

 

Loyalty...and a little inside information.

 

Posted on October 3, 2005 08:52 AM