Steven M. Biskupic

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Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys Controversy ( v • d • e )
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Administration Officials Involved
Involved Administration Officials that Resigned
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
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Steven M. Biskupic (45), is the current US Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin serving first under Attorneys General John Ashcroft and then Alberto Gonzales. He was appointed by George W. Bush in May 2002. In 2007, Biskupic and his office came under review by US Congressional and Senate investigators looking at the 2006 Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy.

Contents

[edit] Education, early career, and family

Mr. Biskupic received his B.A. in Journalism from Marquette University in 1983 and his Juris Doctor also from Marquette in 1987." [1] Marquette University's Mission Statement in part reads "Our mission, therefore, is the search for truth, the discovery and sharing of knowledge, the fostering of personal and professional excellence, the promotion of a life of faith, and the development of leadership expressed in service to others. All this we pursue for the greater glory of God and the common benefit of the human community."[2]

He served since March 1989 as a criminal prosecutor in the United States Department of Justice. Prior to joining the United States Attorney's Office, he served for two years as a judicial law clerk to the late Robert W. Warren, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin." [1] Biskupic, one of nine children, is the brother of Vince Biskupic, the Republican candidate for Attorney General of Wisconsin in 2002, who lost to Peg Lautenschlager. Before that, Vince was the D.A. of Outagamie County, Wisconsin.[3][4] Their sister Joan is a federal legal affairs reporter with Washington Week on PBS[1] and USA Today.[2]

[edit] Controversies

[edit] The Georgia Thompson prosecution

In January 2006, under Biskupic's direction Ms. Georgia Thompson a Wisconsin state procurement supervisor was prosecuted for corruption charges related to a state travel contract. She was convicted and sentenced to eighteen months. This conviction; however, was recently thrown out by a appellate court panel in Chicago after 20 minutes of oral argument. Jason Stein from the Wisconsin State Journal notes:

"In a stunning reversal, a federal court of appeals struck down a state worker's fraud conviction that Wisconsin Republicans used in efforts to paint Gov. Jim Doyle's administration as corrupt. Attorneys on both sides of the case said the three-judge panel likely overruled the trial jury's conviction of former state purchasing officer Georgia Thompson within hours of oral arguments due to a simple lack of evidence. The decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, which will explain the judges' reasoning, was not immediately available. During oral arguments Thursday, one of the members the three-judge panel said the charges against Thompson were unfounded. "I have to say it strikes me that your evidence is beyond thin", federal Appeals Judge Diane Wood told prosecutors. "I'm not sure what your actual theory in this case is."[5]

[edit] Update on Appeals written opinion

In an April 20, 2007 article TPM muckraker reporter Paul Kiel noted:"the federal appeals court released its written opinion on the case. And it wasn't any more sparing than the verbal remarks (e.g. that the evidence was "beyond thin") of the judges when they made the ruling. The prosecution was based on a reading of the law by which "simple violations of administrative rules [by bureaucrats] would become crimes", the judges wrote. By that interpretation, "it is a federal crime for any official in state or local government to take account of political considerations when deciding how to spend public money" -- a "preposterous" idea, they wrote."[6] Mr. Kiel also notes that the House Judiciary Committee has now invited Biskupic to tell his story to Congress. Gregory Stanford from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel frames the concern about the unknowns surrounding this case and its importance for all citizens thusly:

"Finally, the justice system has corrected itself and freed Wisconsin's unwitting political prisoner, Georgia Thompson. The former state procurement supervisor went to trial and to prison on the basis of evidence so flimsy it's scary. If such weak proof can put her behind bars, are any of us safe? U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic strikes me as a person of integrity. He nonetheless must explain why he brought such a weak case to trial and risked having a jury find an innocent person guilty of steering a contract to Gov. Jim Doyle's donors. Is his quickness to put the heat on Democrats the reason he was spared in the purge of U.S. attorneys? Is he a "Bushie", as a White House aide called top prosecutors who toe the party line? True, the federal appeals court in Chicago did vacate Thompson's conviction. But consider her ordeal. As her lawyer put it, she lost "her job, her life savings, her home and her liberty, and . . . her good name."[7]

[edit] Relationship to Dismissal of US Attorneys controversy

Interest in the Milwaukee U.S Attorney's Office and Mr. Biskupic specifically centers on how he managed to survive being on the original list of Attorneys to be fired in the 2006 Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy. McClatchy Newspapers recently observed that Biskupic, who

"prosecuted a state Democratic official Georgia Thompson on corruption charges during last year's heated governor's race was once targeted for firing by the Department of Justice, but given a reprieve for reasons that remain unclear. Congressional investigators looking into the firings of eight U.S. attorneys saw Wisconsin prosecutor Steven M. Biskupic's name on a list of lawyers targeted for removal when they were inspecting a Justice Department document not yet made public, according to an attorney for a lawmaker involved in the investigation. The attorney asked for anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the investigation. It wasn't clear when Biskupic was added to a Justice Department hit list of prosecutors, or when he was taken off, or whether those developments were connected to the just-overturned corruption case.[8]

Talking Points Memo was one of the first to identify this controversy and report extensively on it. The April 11, 2007 edition of TPM Muckraker provides a detailed account of the pressure Biskupic and his office were under from both the White House and Justice Department.

"In his testimony, Sampson said that "sometime after October 17 but before November 7th", the department "went back" and looked at the list of U.S. attorneys to be fired and " asked the question: 'Is there anyone else who should be added?'" Four names "came forward", according to Sampson. All of them were "close cases", because "they weren't specific policy conflicts or significant management challenges." One of them was Iglesias'. Sampson would not say during his testimony who the other three were, saying that he "was not a hundred percent sure" that he remembered. But think about it. On October 17, or thereabouts, Rove sent over a dossier on Biskupic, just as the department renewed their effort to find U.S. attorneys to fire. And Bush was complaining about Biskupic too. Only there was something that saved Biskupic in the end. Iglesias, Sampson said, "remained on the list because nobody suggested that he come off." So who suggested that Biskupic come off -- and why? Does it, for instance, have anything to do with his office's aggressive pursuit of Wisconsin's Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle? Note: Biskupic's task force pursued a range of cases -- eighteen prosecutions total. The US Attorney's office prosecuted fourteen individuals. Four were indicted on charges of double voting, all of whom were either acquitted or had charges dismissed. Eight felons were indicted for unlawfully voting. Five of these individuals were eventually acquitted; the others were convicted and sentenced to punishments ranging from fines to probation. In addition, two former felons serving as poll workers were prosecuted for unlawfully voting. Both men received short jail sentences. The office of the District Attorney confirmed their successful prosecution of two individuals who falsified registration cards. Finally, the Journal Sentinel has reported that the District Attorney prosecuted two additional cases of illegal voting by felons."[9]

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quotes a statement delivered by Mr. Biskupic on April 14, 2007 that in part reads:

"It is my understanding that my name appears on a list, which was a ranking of United States Attorneys. My name appeared in a category questioning my performance and loyalty to the President. That same list characterized esteemed Chicago United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as "mediocre." I believe the list has no credibility."[7]

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has now also called for an investigation in conjunction with this controversy. [10] Biskupic says he will fully cooperate with an inquiry.

[edit] Update on Dismissal Controversy and Mr. Biskupic from House Judiciary Hearings

In a Washington Post article dated Friday, May 11, 2007, reporters Dan Eggen and Paul Kane provide updated information on White House and Justice Department staff involvement in pressing complaints about Mr. Biskupic and a response from him.

New details emerged yesterday about the extent of Rove's involvement in pressing complaints about the U.S. attorney in Milwaukee, Steven Biskupic, and in urging the Justice Department to launch an investigation there before last November's elections. Gonzales's senior aides came closer than previously known to firing Biskupic, who had been identified by Rove as weak on prosecuting voter fraud, according to interviews conducted by congressional staff and disclosed yesterday. But D. Kyle Sampson, Gonzales's former chief of staff, told investigators that Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty argued against the firing, saying it would "not be a wise thing to do politically" and could raise "the ire" of Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), who had recommended Biskupic and was then chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. A separate interview with Justice aide Matthew Friedrich showed that Rove's office sent a packet of voter-fraud allegations about Milwaukee compiled by Republican activists to Gonzales's office last October, three weeks before the elections, with a request to investigate. The packet from Rove came to Friedrich around the same time the senior Bush adviser also complained to Gonzales about the lack of voter-fraud cases against liberal get-out-the-vote groups in Milwaukee, Philadelphia and New Mexico. Friedrich, Gonzales's senior counselor, told congressional investigators last week that the packet immediately set off alarm bells because forwarding it to criminal investigators would violate strict Justice rules that limit the pursuit of voter-related investigations close to an election. Friedrich said he did nothing with the material. Both Biskupic and Sensenbrenner said yesterday that they never talked to each other about individual cases or about voter-fraud matters, and Biskupic said he did not know that his job was in jeopardy. Biskupic also played down the voter-fraud complaints, saying that he and a local Democratic prosecutor jointly investigated such allegations in 2005 and found only scattered evidence of wrongdoing. "We tried to address them in a serious and detailed way, but in a way that did not impact any election", he said. "I think we did that."[11]

[edit] House Judiciary Committee Remains Interested in Thompson Case

The House Judiciary Committee and its Chairman John Conyers remain interested in the evolution of the Thompson case Paul Keil of Talking Points Memo reported on September 5, 2007.

"The case, because of its tenuous ties to the Democratic governor, became an election year hobby horse for Republicans. It's since become better known as a worrying indication of politicization of prosecutorial decisions, leading to Congressional scrutiny of Milwaukee's U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic and the decision to pursue the case. Well, the House Judiciary Committee today released the first correspondence it's obtained in its investigation of the Thompson case. And as Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) characterizes it, the brief email exchange "demonstrates that even Justice Department insiders thought the Thompson case was seriously flawed." In the exchange, Craig Donsanto, the Election Crimes Branch Director and a well-respected veteran of the Department, responds to an email from Raymond Hulser, Deputy Chief of the Department's Public Integrity Section, who forwarded to Donsanto the appeals court's opinion overturning Thompson's conviction. Donsanto's reaction was simple: "Bad facts make bad law. How in the heck did this case get brought?" That, of course, is precisely the question that Democrats are trying to answer. "This only underscores the need for further investigation into the Administration's alleged role in politicizing prosecutions," says Conyers."[6]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b "Steven M. Biskupic, United States Attorney", United States Attorney, April 13, 2007. 
  2. ^ "Mission Statement", Marquette University, April 13, 2007. 
  3. ^ Jeff Mayers. WisPolitics.com Featured Interview: Vince Biskupic. WisPolitics.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
  4. ^ Vince Biskupic
  5. ^ "Georgia Thompson acquitted, set free", Wisconsin State Journal, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-06. 
  6. ^ a b "UPDATE: Court: Wisconsin Prosecution "Preposterous"", TPMmuckraker, April 20, 2007. 
  7. ^ a b "Biskupic has some explaining to do", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. 
  8. ^ "E-mails contradict testimony in U.S. attorneys scandal", McClatchy Newspapers, April 13, 2007. 
  9. ^ "Did Rove Want Wisconsin U.S.A. on Purge List?", Talking Points Memo, April 11, 2007. 
  10. ^ Frommer, Fredick. "Baldwin calls on Congress to look into Thompson case", Portage Daily Register, April 27, 2007. 
  11. ^ "House GOP Stands Behind Gonzales", washingtonpost.com, May 11, 2007. 

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