Thursday - November 20, 2008

Where’s My Indictment?

Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have been indicted on state charges involving federal prisons in a South Texas county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles under the outgoing prosecutor.

The indictment returned Monday has not yet been signed by the presiding judge, and no action can be taken until that happens.

The seven indictments made public in Willacy County on Tuesday included one naming state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. and some targeting public officials connected to District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra’s own legal battles.

Regarding the indictments targeting the public officials, Guerra said, “the grand jury is the one that made those decisions, not me.”

Guerra himself was under indictment for more than a year and half until a judge dismissed the indictments last month. Guerra’s tenure ends this year after nearly two decades in office. He lost convincingly in a Democratic primary in March.

Guerra said the prison-related charges against Cheney and Gonzales are a national issue and experts from across the country testified to the grand jury.

Cheney is charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity related to the vice president’s investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and “at least misdemeanor assaults” on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.

One indictment charges Cheney and Gonzales with engaging in organized criminal activity. It alleges that the men neglected federal prisoners and are responsible for assaults in the facilities.

The grand jury accused Cheney of a conflict of interest because of his influence over the county’s federal immigrant detention center and his substantial holdings in the Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies.

So why is the Vice President being charged? Because he has money in an index fund (yes, it’s that Vanguard Group), and one of the companies in the fund is a prison management company, and some of the prisoners complained that the prison guards employed by that company abused them. Therefore it’s Cheny’s fault. Gonzales’s too, but the news didn’t say whether he had shares in the fund or not.

Well, gosh-a-roonie, Vanguard holds my 401K. Guess I’d better be on the lookout for the police.

h/t to the CNN TV news ticker, and a little help from PoliPundit.

Posted by Drew458     on 11/20/2008 at 04:09 PM   
Filed Under: • Crime • Insanity •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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