I am predisposed to be suspicious of anyone with the power to prosecute.  It is the Jeffersonian in me that questions authority and especially authority that can use the vast resources of all the Federal Government to bring hurt on those suspected of [fill in alleged heinous crime here].

It is with that vain that I question the actions of the Federal Prosecutors in the case against Rep. Duke Cunningham. 

I agree that Rep. Cunningham made serious errors in judgment.  His crimes were so blatant that they include "OVERT ACTS" like illegally accepting over a million dollars in loans to buy a property and so ridiculous that he allowed a defense contractor to pay a $1000-plus repair bill for his Rolls Royce!

But someone needs to call attention to the Federal Prosecutors–the so called U. S. Attorneys who have every ability to abuse their power and I would suggest did in the case against Duke.

In addition to forfeiting a piece of property he owns in San Diego county and over $1.8 million dollars in cash, the government goons are requiring Duke to forfeit dozens of personal items, they include but are not limited to:

-Two matching wood bedside tables

-One long carpet runner with geometric patterns in the middle surrounded my light background with white and blue striped boarder pattern

-Two blue glass vases

-One sleigh-style bed!

I am not making this up.  That is the exact language used in the Plea agreement under section IV. entitled: Forfeiture.

Let me be clear, I don’t believe I have ever met Rep. Cunningham and I don’t condone or apologize for any of his crimes, in fact I am angry at him for making all of us who choose to involve ourselves in politics look a little less savory.  But I don’t have respect for a Federal Prosecutor that puts anyone’s bed on a list for confiscation.

The Federal Prosecutors in this case have illustrated to us all how cruel and twisted they can be.  The next time you hear Federal Prosecutor and the name of some suspect in the same sentence, don’t assume they are guilty and certainly don’t assume they are being treated fairly.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 28th, 2005 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.