Manhattan D.A. Considers Criminal Charges Against Trump Organization

Donald Trump's pardon powers are limited to FEDERAL charges and convictions.  He holds no power to pardon those convicted of state law violations. Hence, the reason that some hope that the Commonwealth of Virginia and New York State may seek indictments against Paul Manafort and/or Michael Cohen that could lead to convictions or plea deals which would be outside the reach of Trump's efforts to basically bribe individuals with a promise of a pardon.  Along this line, the Manhattan district attorney is now considering criminal charges against the Trump Organization in the aftermath of Michael Cohen's plea deal with federal prosecutors.   A piece in the New York Times looks at this new development and the implications it could have for Cohen, Trump and Trump Organization officers.  Here are highlights:

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is considering pursuing criminal charges against the Trump Organization and two senior company officials in connection with Michael D. Cohen’s hush money payment to an adult film actress, according to two officials with knowledge of the matter.

A state investigation would center on how the company accounted for its reimbursement to Mr. Cohen for the $130,000 he paid to the actress, Stephanie Clifford, who has said she had an affair with President Trump, the officials said.

State charges against the company or its executives could be significant because Mr. Trump has talked about pardoning some of his current or former aides who have faced federal charges. As president, he has no power to pardon people and corporate entities convicted of state crimes.
 The Trump Organization recorded the reimbursement as a legal expense. But Mr. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s longtime fixer, said on Tuesday that he paid Ms. Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels, to buy her silence during the 2016 campaign. Federal prosecutors have said the reimbursement payments were for sham legal invoices in connection with a nonexistent retainer agreement. Mr. Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance charges, did no legal work in connection with the matter, prosecutors said.

“On its face, it certainly would be problematic,” said one of the officials familiar with the district attorney’s office review, noting that listing the reimbursement as a legal expense could be a felony under state law.

As the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., considers opening an investigation, the New York State attorney general’s office has moved to open a criminal investigation into whether Mr. Cohen has violated state tax law, an inquiry that would be unrelated to the federal tax evasion charges that he pleaded guilty to on Tuesday, according to a person with knowledge of the state matter.

The attorney general, Barbara D. Underwood, in recent days sought a referral from the state Department of Taxation and Finance, which is needed to conduct such an inquiry and to prosecute any violations of state tax law it might uncover, the person said. Such requests are seldom denied. The state’s double jeopardy laws do not apply to tax crimes.

Manhattan prosecutors are focused on whether business records were falsified, one of the officials said. That could be charged as a low-level felony, or as a misdemeanor. It’s a misdemeanor for a person or company to make a false entry in a business record or cause one to be made, with intent to defraud. It becomes a felony if it is done to commit or conceal another crime.
 Court papers in the federal case against Mr. Cohen said he ultimately received $420,000 from the Trump Organization to reimburse him for his $130,000 payment to Ms. Clifford. That is because the Trump Organization included money to cover his taxes on the $130,000, a bonus for him and reimbursement for other campaign expenses.

The company, according to the court papers, accounted for the payment as legal expenses and Mr. Cohen issued phony monthly invoices for $35,000 “pursuant to retainer agreement.”

If Mr. Vance decides to proceed, it would not be the first time he investigated members of the Trump family. He was faulted for not pursuing charges against Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who were under criminal investigation in 2012 over allegations that they misled buyers interested in the Trump SoHo condominium project.  

 Personally, I'd love to see Ivanka spend a few years in orange prison garb.  Ditto for Trump, Jr.

Ecuador Restricts Assange/Wikileaks’ Internet Access

Candidly, I will never understand what motivated Ecuador to grant Julian Assnage asylum in its embassy in London.  The man is after all up on rape charges in his home country of Sweden.  If innocent as claimed, he needs to return and face trial and acquittal.  Putting that issue aside, Ecuador seems to have had enough of Assange's efforts working with the Russian government and Russian military intelligence services to disrupt America's presidential election and has cut off Assange's Internet access and crippled Wikileaks' ability to aid Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's efforts to undermine American democracy.  A piece in the Washington Post looks at Ecuador's long over due action.  Here are excerpts:

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador’s government acknowledged on Tuesday that it had “temporarily restricted” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s internet access at its embassy in London after the whistleblowing site published documents from Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaig.

A foreign ministry statement said that while it stands by its decision in 2012 to grant Assange asylum, it doesn’t interfere in foreign elections. Leftist President Rafael Correa’s government said it was acting on its own and not ceding to foreign pressures.

The ministry didn’t specify the extent of the restrictions on Assange’s access to the internet, saying only that the limitations wouldn’t affect WikiLeaks’ ability to carry out its journalistic activities.

The announcement confirmed Wikileaks’ claim that Ecuador was behind the cut-off but disputed its assertion that the decision was made because of U.S. pressure.

The State Department denied the allegation.

“While our concerns about Wikileaks are longstanding, any suggestion that Secretary Kerry or the State Department were involved in shutting down Wikileaks is false,” U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in an email. Speaking to reporters later, deputy spokesman Mark Toner said Kerry never even raised the issue or met with Correa during his visit to Colombia.

Assange has been holed up at the modest embassy suite at No. 3 Hans Crescent for more than four years after skipping bail to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations, a position which — until now — hasn’t prevented him from continuing to play a pivotal role in exposing state secrets and backroom trade deals.

Assange fled to the Ecuadorean Embassy on June 19, 2012, after a drawn-out and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle to being sent to Sweden, where he remains wanted over an allegation of rape. Ecuador granted him asylum, but British authorities have made clear they would arrest him if he tried to leave. London’s Metropolitan Police used to maintain a visible presence outside the building, although officers were nowhere in sight when an AP journalist visited on Tuesday.

Marc Becker, a professor of Latin American history at Truman State University in Missouri, said that while Clinton had successfully pulled Correa into her orbit during her tenure as secretary of state, he doubted Ecuador had merely bowed to U.S. pressure. He ventured that Correa’s government opposes the idea of interfering in another country’s affairs “and doesn’t appreciate their guests using their resources to that end.”

Ecuador needs to boot Assange from its embassy and allow him to face trial in Sweden.

Poll: Virginians Back Decriminalizing Marijuana

I do not go to criminal court very often - when I do go, its usually for a commercial client with a with some city code summons - but when I do, one sees numerous cases of individuals (mostly young) before the court on marijuana charges, usually for possession of small quantities of pot.  The majority get some kind of criminal sentence, especially young black males and have their records ruined for life.  It's beyond ridiculous and has consequences far beyond the nature of the offense.  Meanwhile, Virginia politicians and big wigs commit far worse moral crimes and get off Scott free.  A new poll indicates that a majority of Virginians see the ridiculousness of criminalizing marijuana and support its decriminalization.  One can already hear the shrieks and moans coming from The Family Foundation and other far right groups in the state who want all Virginians to lead lives as miserable as their own.  Here are excerpts from the Richmond Times Dispatch on the poll findings:

Three out of five Virginians surveyed support removing criminal penalties for possessing up to an ounce of pot and three out of four back medical marijuana use for seriously or terminally ill patients, according to a survey released Tuesday by an advocacy group.
Forty-nine percent polled support legalizing marijuana for adults and regulating it similarly to alcohol.

“Most voters do not support laws that saddle people with criminal penalties just for possessing a small amount of marijuana,” said Rachelle Yeung, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. “These antiquated prohibition laws are causing far more problems than they solve.”

The survey by Public Policy Polling found that 60 percent of voters questioned say the criminal penalties for possession of up an an ounce should be replaced with a $100 fine with no possibility of jail time. The offense currently is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.

Sixty-four percent said they would be more likely to vote for a legislator who supported the change.

The GOP's Mug Shot Primary

When investigations of former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell in "Giftgate" first began, the GOP pundits all claimed it was a partisan plot - some even in their delusions claimed that Obama was orchestrating the entire affair - but the multi-count conviction of Taliban Bob and his wife made it clear that there was fire where the GOP claimed there was smoke at most.  As the early phases of the 2016 jockeying begins among the would be GOP candidates, it is telling that so many of them are under criminal investigation at present.  Like McDonnell - and the Christofascists who make up so much of the hardcore GOP base - there seems to be a mindset that the rules apply to others.  A column in the Washington Post looks at the legal problems of some of the contenders.  Here are excerpts:

Why is the lineup of prospective GOP presidential candidates beginning to look like, well, a lineup?

Chris Christie went to campaign this week for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, putting the New Jersey governor in the company of a man who is in almost as much legal jeopardy as he is. Between them, the two would-be 2016 presidential nominees are the subjects of six investigations.

But Texas Gov. Rick Perry, another presidential aspirant, is far ahead of them in the mug-shot primary: He’s already under indictment on two felony counts related to abuse of power. And, speaking of felonies, former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, long considered presidential timber, was convicted on 11 corruption counts after his salacious trial this summer that disgraced him and his wife.

Democrats are trying to tie another prospective presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, to a Republican contributor who was convicted this summer of witness tampering in a campaign-finance case; the governor had been subpoenaed to appear in the case but was never called.

Beyond that, the Republican governors of Iowa, Kansas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maine, South Carolina and New Mexico all face varying degrees of legal liability on matters ranging from influence peddling to the firing of whistleblowers. Completing the GOP version of a most-wanted list: John Rowland, the former governor of Connecticut, who was found guilty last month of conspiracy charges in a campaign-finance case. It was the second time he had been convicted on criminal charges.

This doesn’t necessarily mean governors, or other politicians, are more corrupt than they used to be; there has always been some sense of entitlement among elected leaders, a belief that the usual rules don’t apply to them. Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, adds that “unfathomable amounts of money flowing through the system” have increased the opportunity for misconduct, while the proliferation of media and electronic paper trails makes it more likely to get caught.

[T]here’s some rough justice that Republicans, who popularized this criminalization of politics in the 1990s [against Bill Clinton], now find at least three of their top presidential prospects being hoist with the GOP’s own petard. New Jersey’s Christie, of course, has Bridgegate and related troubles. The campaign of Wisconsin’s Walker is being investigated over allegedly illegal campaign finance coordinated with various conservative groups; a federal appeals panel ruled last month that prosecutors could proceed with the long-stalled investigation. Then there’s Perry . . . a grand jury has indicted Perry on charges carrying up to 109 years in prison combined.

Bob McDonnell's "Crazy Wife" Defense Is Totally Unprecedented

As the Vatican continues to demonstrate its sense that it is above the law when it comes to the sexual abuse of children (see the prior post), in Richmond, Virginia, the criminal trial of Bob and Maureen McDonnell similarly shows the nasty reality of GOP "family values": sham marriages, unbridled greed, back stabbing, throwing one's spouse under the proverbial bus, and levels of dysfunction that are off the charts.  Perhaps I should not be surprised given what went on in the strong Republican neighborhood I lived in during the closeted period of my life.  Outwardly, everything was perfection with perfectly maintained homes and yards, but behind closed doors, some husbands beat their wives, many marriages were strained at best, and at least one husband was recently caught by one of his children having sex with a woman not much older than his children.  A piece in Talking Points Memo looks at the culmination of all of this in Bob McDonnell's "crazy wife" legal defense scheme.  Here are highlights:

Over five weeks of testimony, jurors have heard a barrage of details about the McDonnells’ finances and about their interactions with a wealthy Virginia businessman, Jonnie Williams, from whom the couple is accused of taking $177,000 worth of gifts and loans in exchange for lending the credibility of the governor’s office to Williams’ dietary supplements company.

But without a doubt, the most engrossing aspect of the trial has been the revelations about the McDonnells’ marriage. In testimony, the governor painted a picture of his marriage veering so far into soap opera territory that pundits began referring to it as the “crazy wife” defense. Legal experts told TPM that was an unprecedented strategy to deploy in such a high-profile criminal case.

When the former governor the took the stand, he cast his wife as a mercurial thorn in his side — not to mention that of the entire Executive Mansion staff. Under questioning by the defense, various other witnesses described Maureen McDonnell as a hoarder, "diva-ish" and "pathologically incapable of taking any kind of responsibility." One former aide testified that the governor was "in denial about Mrs. McDonnell’s mental capacity."

Defense attorneys are hoping that all this testimony proves to jurors that communication between the McDonnells was too strained for them to have been able to conspire together to promote Williams’ company.

Barbara “Biz” Van Gelder, a criminal defense attorney with Dickstein Shapiro, said it’s not unusual in a criminal case for one spouse to claim that he or she wasn’t aware of what the other spouse was doing, particularly in regards to finances. For example, a couple may share a joint account that just one spouse manages.

But “this is much different. This is saying not that they do that portion of the shared work, but this is like, ‘I’m not even talking to them so I don’t know,’” she told TPM.

Julie Rose O’Sullivan, a law professor at Georgetown and a former federal prosecutor, agreed that the McDonnell defense’s “crazy wife” theory was a departure from cases she’s seen.

“The more that he describes his wife as crazy, then it begs the question of well, if your wife was crazy, why didn’t you stop her?” he told TPM. “Why didn’t you shut her down? Like many defenses, this one is also a two-edged sword.”

Certain gifts that McDonnell himself received from the wealthy businessman, such as golfing trips and a ride in Williams’ Ferrari, don't quite fit that narrative (The Washington Post has an excellent graphic visualizing all the luxury goods, vacations and loans given to each member of the McDonnell family for reference). In those cases, McDonnell acknowledged that he shouldn’t have accepted the gifts but argued that Williams’ largess never earned him more than basic constituent access to the governor’s office.

So how might the "crazy wife" defense shake out once the trial goes to jury?

Cowan believes that the broken marriage story may not be enough to convince a jury that the McDonnells were unable to conspire to promote Williams' company.

"If at the end of the day the jury says, you did enough, you knew enough, then this is really not only a trainwreck for a political career, it’s also an incredible trainwreck to publicly display all of this for naught," Van Gelder said.

Virginia GOP's Problems Still Not Over: Justice Department Likely to Indict Bob McDonnell

With the Democrats now holding all statewide offices in Virginia for the first time since 1969, the Virginia GOP still has another shoe that may drop soon after the new year begins: a federal indictment of out going GOP governor Bob McDonnell and his greed mad wife, Maureen.  Sources indict that the Justice Department was ready to indict  the first couple but decided to delay based on appeals from the McDonnell's attorneys.  While an indictment does not guarantee a conviction, it would still be another blow to the GOP brand in Virginia.  The Virginian Pilot reports on the situation:

Federal prosecutors told Gov. Bob McDonnell last week that he and his wife would be charged in connection with a gift scandal, but senior Justice Department officials delayed the decision after the McDonnells' attorneys made a face-to-face appeal in Washington, according to people familiar with the case.

Dana Boente, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, told the McDonnells' legal teams that he planned to ask a grand jury to return an indictment no later than this past Monday, people familiar with the conversations said.

The governor and his wife, Maureen, would have been charged with working together to illegally promote a struggling dietary supplement company in exchange for gifts and loans from its chief executive, the people said.

They also argued that if prosecutors proceeded with charges, they should wait until after McDonnell left office Jan. 11 to allow a smooth transition of power to Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe.

Some element of the lawyers' arguments apparently persuaded the Justice Department to delay, according to people with knowledge of the case. They spoke on condition of anonymity because its sensitivity.

A final decision about whether to press charges is now not expected before Jan. 2 and could come as late as February, they said.

It is not unusual that a high-profile target, especially a sitting governor, would be allowed a chance to appeal a U.S. attorney's charging decision to top officials of the Justice Department. It would be very rare, however, for the Justice Department to ultimately overturn a decision made by a U.S. attorney.

McDonnell's attorneys have been pressing Justice Department officials to reconsider or delay - at least long enough for McDonnell to complete his four-year term and avoid becoming the first sitting governor in state history to face criminal charges.

It will be interesting to see what happens.   I still suspect that Maureen McDonnell is the one who began this saga.

Prosecutor: Parents' Religious Belief Led to Child's Death

We hear the disingenuous mantra from the National Organization for Marriage and anti-gay hate groups that "every child deserves a mother and father."   It's a line of bullshit and in the case of  Brandon Schaible, the young boy might still be alive if he had a gay couple as parents as opposed to Christianist whack jobs, Catherine and Herbert Schaible who withheld medical treatment, preferring to "pray."   Thankfully, the boys parents are being criminally prosecuted and will hopefully be convicted and spend time in prison.  Brandon Schaible again underscores the dangers of unfettered religious belief be it crazy Christian fundamentalism or Islamic jihadist.  Both are a foul and poisonous evil in the world.  Both need to be eradicated.   CNN Religion Blog looks at Brandon's murder by his "godly" parents (the murderers are pictured above).  Here are excerpts (NOTE: they had already killed another child):

When Brandon Schaible got a rash, his parents prayed.  When the 7-month-old became irritable with diarrhea and lost his appetite, his parents, Catherine and Herbert Schaible, prayed again.
When Brandon had trouble breathing and gasped for air, his parents called a pastor - this, in spite of the fact that a judge had ordered them to call a doctor.

Brandon Schaible died on April 18 from bacterial pneumonia, dehydration and strep, according to the district attorney’s office – all treatable with antibiotics.

On Wednesday his parents were charged with third-degree murder.  The Schaibles are lifelong members of the First Century Gospel Church in Philadelphia, one of several religious groups in the U.S. that relies on faith, and eschews most medical care.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams says the Schaibles’ failure to seek medical attention resulted in the death of their son.  “Instead of caring and nurturing him,” Williams said, “they ultimately caused his death by praying over his body instead of taking him to the doctor.”

The Schaibles are also charged with involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child. In April, the couple admitted to police that their son had exhibited symptoms for several days before he died.

On Friday, Court of Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner ordered the Schaibles held without bail out of fear they were a flight risk.

The Schaibles are already on probation for the 2009 death of another son, Kent, who died from bacterial pneumonia. A jury convicted the couple of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced them to 10 years probation.

“How many kids have to die before it becomes an extreme indifference to the value of human life?” McCann asked. “They killed one child already.”

If convicted of third-degree murder in Brandon’s death, the Schaibles could face a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison, Lerner said. They also face an additional 7 to 14 years if a judge decides to revoke their probation in Kent’s death.

I hope they get the maximum.  Let's be clear.  Raising children in Christofascists homes is nothing short of a form of child abuse.  Groundless deference to religious belief needs to stop - especially when it endangers the lives and mental well being of children.

GOP AG Nominee's Bill Would Have Forced Women To Report Miscarriages To The Police

So far Virginia GOP Attorney General nominee Mark Obenshain comes off as relatively sane compared to the utterly insane E. W. Jackson, GOP nominee for Lt. Governor, and the nearly as insane Ken Cuccinelli.  But that assessment is only because (i) he's not quite as crazy as his ticket mates and (ii) because he has thrown himself into the media limelight less frequently.  Once his voting and legislative record is scrutinized, it quickly becomes clear that he inhabits the same far right Christianist theocratic alternate universe as Jackson and Cuccinelli.  A piece at Think Progress looks at Obenshain's effort to require all Virginia women suffering a miscarriage to submit a report to the police - apparently so that an investigation could be undertaken to confirm that the miscarriage had not been induced.  Here are highlights:

If a woman in Virginia has a miscarriage without a doctor present, they must report it within 24 hours to the police or risk going to jail for a full year. At least, that’s what would have happened if a bill introduced by Virginia state Sen. Mark Obenshain (R) had become law.

And yet, the Virginia Republican Party wants to make Obenshain into the state’s top prosecutor. This weekend, Virginia Republicans selected Obenshain as their nominee to replace tea party stalwart Ken Cuccinelli (R) as the state’s attorney general.  Under Obenshain’s bill, which was introduced in 2009,

When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance upon the mother at or after the delivery or abortion, the mother or someone acting on her behalf shall, within 24 hours, report the fetal death, location of the remains, and identity of the mother to the local or state police or sheriff’s department of the city or county where the fetal death occurred. No one shall remove, destroy, or otherwise dispose of any remains without the express authorization of law-enforcement officials or the medical examiner. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Under Virginia law, a Class 1 misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of “confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500,” so Obenshain’s bill could lead to a woman who decides to take a day to grieve the loss of a pregnancy she’d hoped to carry to term spending a year of her life in jail for that decision.

Even without Obenshain’s bill, Virginia law already treats many miscarriages as potential crimes. Under existing Virginia law, “[w]hen a fetal death occurs without medical attendance upon the mother at or after the delivery or abortion or when inquiry or investigation by a medical examiner is required, the medical examiner shall investigate the cause of fetal death and shall complete and sign the medical certification portion of the fetal death report within twenty-four hours after being notified of a fetal death.” Obsenshain’s bill, however, would treat many women as if they were criminal suspects at the moment they are confronted with a deep personal tragedy — and imprison them if they would rather deal with that tragedy privately with their family than share the vulnerable moment after a miscarriage with law enforcement.

It should also be noted that Obenshain supports a "personhood" bill that would outlaw all abortions and grant full constitutional rights to a fetus from the moment of conception.   Even voters in Mississippi found such a similar law proposed for that state abhorrent and voted it down, yet Obenshain has championed an equivalent bill in Virginia. 

I suspect that readers outside of Virginia find it hard to believe just how extreme the Christofascists are in this state.  They want nothing less than a Christian theocracy and want to micromanage everyone's sex lives to make sure they conform to the poisonous, fear driven religious dogma to which these religious extremists subscribe.  It's down right scary and the women of Virginia need to wake up and go to the polls in November and vote a straight Democrat ticket.

  

Cross Dressing, Meth-Dealing Priest Indicted On Drug-Ring Charges

Just when one would think that the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church could not get any more outrageous, along comes Monsignor Kevin Wallin (pictured at left), a prominent priest and pastor at St. Augustine’s Cathedral in Bridgeport, Connecticut, who underscores the reality that the Church hierarchy ought to be spending its time cleaning its own vile house instead of attacking normal gays and seeking to deprive us of civil legal rights.  You see, the good Monsignor has been indicted on drug ring charges.  Moreover, it seems he has a proclivity to cross dress and engage in gay sex in the rectory.  The escapades of Wallin makes those of  Fr. Thomas Donovan - who recently had to call 911 while hand cuffed when some bondage hookup went bad - look like a veritable choir boy. Queerty has coverage on Wallin's criminal indictment.  Here are excerpts:

Monsignor Kevin Wallin, a prominent priest and pastor at St. Augustine’s Cathedral in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was indicted this week for allegedly taking part in a crystal meth ring.

If that wasn’t strange enough, “Msgr. Meth,” as he’s been affectionately dubbed, used to take part in some kinky sexual practices in the rectory.

The Connecticut Post reports:

While [he was] pastor of St. Augustine’s, sources said he often disappeared for days at a time; and rectory personnel became concerned and notified diocese officials when Wallin, sometimes dressed as a woman, would entertain odd-looking men, some who were also dressed in women’s clothing and engaging in sex acts.  In addition, diocese officials found bizarre sex toys in Wallin’s residence, the sources said.

Wallin was relieved of his duties in May 2012, at which point he was free to pursue his true passion, namely sex shops and meth:

In his post-priesthood, Wallin, 61, bought an adult specialty and video store in North Haven called Land of Oz that sells sex toys and X-rated DVDs. Investigators believe the shop helped him launder thousands of dollars in weekly profits.

According to his indictment, Wallin was moving upwards of $9,000 of meth in a week. He was arrested on January 3 after a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Connecticut State Police Statewide Narcotics Task Force:

"News of Msgr. Kevin Wallin’s arrest comes with a sense of shock and concern on the part of the Diocese and the many people of Fairfield County who have known him as a gifted, accomplished and compassionate priest,” said Brian Wallace, director of communications for the Diocese of Bridgeport.

One of those people was Maria Spencer-Fonseca, a long-time parishioner at St. Augustine. “There is an evil invading our world and it has come to our church,” she said Thursday. “This was a work of evil—and I am praying for the monsignor.”

Note the attempt to blame "evil" or more likely the devil rather than admit that the priesthood seems to attract a disproportionately number of psychological damaged men.

Is the Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandal About to Expolde in Australia?

Thanks to a Google search agent I use, I get daily digests of news stories from around the world.  And the sad reality is that there are stories about the molestation of children and youths - and the ever present efforts by the Church hierarchy to cover up for predator priests - somewhere in the world virtually every single day.  However, things appear about to explode to a new level in Australia where news reports indicate that three of that nation's top Catholic prelates have been exposed for covering up acts of sexual abuse of children and minors.  And contrary to the Church's efforts to always blame the gays for problem, many of the victims are girls.  Personally, as noted before on this blog, I believe the systemic sex abuse problem stems from (i) the Church's bizarre celibacy requirement which originated solely to keep property from being lost from the Church to the families of priests, and (ii) the equally bizarre obsession of the hierarchy and priesthood with all things sexual.   The Sydney Morning Herald looks at the growing calls for a government investigation of the Catholic Church.  Here are highlights:

PRECISELY six months after the paedophile priest Denis McAlinden was reprimanded but not reported by the church over allegations of child sex abuse, Father Brian Lucas told the Wood Royal Commission that ''to engage in a cover-up … is the very worst way of approaching it''.

Now Father Lucas, the general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, is one of three senior Catholic officials being investigated by police detectives over the concealment of McAlinden's offences in the 1990s.  Strike Force Lantle is due to deliver a brief of evidence to prosecutors in the next few weeks.

 Despite an ''admission'' he made to Father Lucas, McAlinden was sent a letter as part of the censure process promising that ''your good name will be protected by the confidential nature of this process''. Archbishop Wilson has declined to undergo a police interview.

''A royal commission must now be urgently established to uncover the full extent of the church's systemic failure to deal with decades of child sexual abuse committed by priests in dioceses in NSW,'' the Greens MP David Shoebridge said.

Hunter man Lou Pirona, whose son John was sexually assaulted by a priest as a child and died last week after leaving a letter saying he was in ''too much pain'', said: ''Any inquiry that unearths the people who did these things to children, and those who hid it, is not only desirable but necessary.''

The Australian Broad Casting Corporation identifies the clerics at the center of the cover up controversy and sketches the scope of the problem as follows:

The priest at the centre of the allegations, Father McAlinden, died in 2005. The three senior leaders facing possible legal action are Father Brian Lucas, retired Bishop Michael Malone, and the Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson. 

 

SUZANNE SMITH, REPORTER: Strikeforce Lantle has been investigating how the senior leaders in the Church dealt with this priest, Father Dennis McAlinden.  He arrived in Australia in 1949, and for 40 years was transferred from parish to parish as complaints emerged about his behaviour.

 

 DAVID SHOEBRIDGE, GREENS MLC: Well, we've seen today that there are senior members of the Church who are not talking to police. We now also know this is a systemic failing. It's not just one priest, it's not just one diocese - but there is a systemic failing by the church, and until we have a Royal Commission that uncovers the real truth, then those victims and their families will never have a sense of completion, will never have justice.

Yes, it is the same pattern that has been seen all over the world as the Vatican directed a worldwide criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice and protect vile predators from justice.  And the toll of damages lives of victims likely runs into the hundreds of thousands.  There are few institutions more foul than the Roman catholic Church.  Yet we continue to see politicians - here in America, typically Republicans - kissing the asses of the Catholic bishops rather than calling for investigations, criminal prosecutions, and jail sentences for the horrible morally bankrupt "princes of the Church."

Minnesota GOP Warns College Republicans Not to Hold Bradlee Dean Event

It appears that some in the GOP - at least in Minnesota - may be waking up to the fact that having the GOP brand associated with nasty religious extremists is NOT a good idea.  Or at least that seems to be the message to be learned from the Minnesota GOP's warning to a group of college Republicans to not allow gay-hating extremist Bradlee Dean, a Michele Bachmann BFF, to speak or perform at an event scheduled for last night.  Here are some excerpts from the Star Tribune:

Top state Republicans sent St. Cloud State College Republicans a message: Allow firebrand preacher Bradlee Dean to speak and you may not get Republican jobs in the future.

"Sometimes young people need to have better judgment in who they invite to things under the Republican banner," said Minnesota Republican Party chair Pat Shortridge. "If you are going to do dumb things, and not take the advice of the state college Republicans and the state chairman of the Republican party, it might have some consequences."

Despite hearing the message from the party's executive director and being told they would no longer be a state chapter if they allowed Dean to speak,  St. Cloud State College Republicans College plan to go ahead with the event. The event , an evening concert and "open-mic", is planned for Tuesday night at a St. Cloud State University auditorium.

Dean is a self-style hard rock pastor who has been ardent in his opposition of homosexuality, saying things that opponents say suggest he approves jailing of gay people.

But Abbey Gooch, the chair of the St. Cloud state college Republicans, said Dean's message is one that "needs to be talked about on the St. Cloud campus." She said Dean's "You can run but you can't hide" ministries have been "so nice to us."  Gooch, who has only been chair since last week, said the threats from Republican officials have been scary, made her feel like throwing up and doubt her future plans to stick with politics.

Gooch said and Shortridge, and materials obtained by the Star Tribune, confirmed that Republican Party executive director Ben Zierke told the leaders of the college group last week that they would have trouble getting Republican Party or Capitol jobs in the future if they did not cancel the event. Shortridge said Zierke, who did not return a call from the Star Tribune, was acting with his direction.

"If people refuse to listen, refuse to follow advice, continue to do things that reflect badly on the party ...we got to take a long hard look at what does this chapter look like and it seems like it is out of control and we have people who clearly should not be acting and speaking in the name of the Republican Party, at any level," Shortridge said.

Gooch also said Chairman of  the Minnesota College Republicans Ryan Lyk told the St. Cloud group that their chapter would no longer be associated with the state's college Republican organization, which is associated with the state party, if they allowed him to speak. Gooch said if that happens they would likely just continue under a different banner.

Asked why the party objected so strongly to Dean's appearance, Shortridge said: "I think that speaks for itself....one word: Google."

One can only hope in time that other extremists and individuals associated with anti-gay hate groups will likewise become radioactive and unwelcome at GOP events.

Philadelphia Sex Abuse Trial Provides a Window on Church Cover Ups

Tomorrow a landmark sex abuse trial will get underway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where for the first time a member of the Church hierarchy will be on trial for his failure to report and stop the access of predator priests to vulnerable victims. It's a bad sign for the Catholic Church when even Fox News - a/k/a "Faux News" - is covering trial. Hopefully, in the course of the trial the true cesspool like nature of the Church leadership will be on open display. Better yet, some in the hierarchy receive prison sentences. While the Church's bishops and Cardinals rail against gay rights and gay marriage in particular, their true specialty has been enabling and protecting child rapists. Here are highlights from Fox News:

A landmark priest-abuse trial opening Monday in Philadelphia may unveil the cryptic operations of the Roman Catholic archdiocese and detail how child sex-abuse complaints were buried for decades in secret archives adjacent to a glorious cathedral as the priests they named went unpunished.

Monsignor William Lynn is the first U.S. church official ever charged with endangering children for allegedly failing to oust accused predators from the priesthood. But he may not be the last.

Philadelphia prosecutors say Lynn helped carry out "an archdiocesan-wide policy ... (that) was criminal in nature." And they've hinted they could charge others when the trial ends.

Civil lawyers believe the trial will help them refile priest-abuse lawsuits that were thrown out in Pennsylvania because of legal time limits, or persuade the state legislature to open a window for filing child sex-abuse claims.

"The evidence that has come out about the conspiracy and the cover-up and the level of officialdom involved in it is going to help us," said lawyer Jay Abramowitch, whose priest-abuse lawsuit involving 18 accusers was thrown out by the state Supreme Court in 2005.

Also on trial is the Rev. James Brennan who, like Lynn, pleaded not guilty. Last week, a third man, defrocked priest Edward Avery, 69, pleaded guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 to five years in prison and ordered to surrender within 10 days.

Lynn remains the focal point of the trial because the 61-year-old was the secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004.

Lynn argues that he prepared a list of 37 accused priests in 1994, and sent it up the chain to Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua -- only to have Bevilacqua have it shredded. The cardinal died this year, but his videotaped deposition could be played at trial.

One man says he was passed around by two priests, including Avery, and his Catholic school teacher in 1998-99.

"When Mass was ended, Fr. (Edward) Avery took the fifth-grader into the sacristy, turned on the music, and ordered him to perform a `striptease' for him. ... When they were both naked, the priest had the boy sit on his lap and kissed his neck and back, while saying to him that God loved him," the report alleges, followed by oral sex and penetration.

Avery was at the parish despite a credible 1992 complaint that led him to undergo psychological testing. He was pulled from his parish, put on a so-called health leave and then reassigned in 1993. Defense lawyers plan to attack accusers' motives, arguing that they are out for money or hope to explain away their troubled lives. Both accusers have criminal records and a history of drug addiction. The trial is sure to be painful for priests across the archdiocese as well. Pastors will testify against church leaders, complaining they were never told when accused priests were assigned to their parishes.

"The priests want the same thing as the lay people," Walsh said Thursday. "We want to know what happened. And, if possible, why it happened. "The gospel says the truth will set you free. Let's find out what the truth is."

I truly hope that the truth - no matter how foul - will see the light of day and that the Church laity wakes up to the moral bankruptcy of the leaders to whom they have been bowing and groveling. They deserve no respect and no deference whatsoever. Prison terms yes, respect not at all.

New Arrest in the Lisa Miller Kidnapping Case

There are new developments in the federal kidnapping case of Lisa Miller (pictured at far left in the photo) - the self-proclaimed "former" Lesbian, if you believe the truth and veracity challenged folks at Liberty Counsel - who fled the USA with her daughter in defiance of Vermont Court orders awarding custody to Miller's former partner, Janet Jenkins. A Virginia man from Stuarts Draft, a small town not too far from Liberty Counsel's home base in Lynchburg, Virginia, has been arrested for his involvement in helping Miller flee the USA with her young daughter, Isabella. As noted before in prior posts, some administrative support staff at Liberty Counsel outwardly appear to have perhaps been involved in assisting Miller as well. The Rutland Herald has coverage on these new developments. Here are some highlights:

A Virginia man who federal prosecutors say helped a woman leave the country with her daughter so she wouldn’t have to turn custody of the girl over to her former lesbian partner surrendered Tuesday to face charges he aided in international parental kidnapping.

A complaint unsealed Tuesday said Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Va., arranged passage for Lisa Miller to travel to Canada before flying with her daughter in September 2009 to Nicaragua, where she was sheltered for a time by a group of Mennonite missionaries.

Kenneth Miller appeared in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Tuesday and was released, said U.S. Attorney Tristram Coffin, who would provide no further information about the case.

Earlier this year, prosecutors indicted an American Mennonite missionary living in Nicaragua, Timothy Miller, on charges of helping Lisa Miller reach Central America. In October, prosecutors dropped the charges against Timothy Miller in exchange for his cooperation.

None of the Millers involved in the case is related.

The affidavit made public Tuesday indicated that Timothy Miller had helped provide the information that led to the charges against Kenneth Miller.

The affidavit says Timothy Miller arranged passage for Lisa Miller and her daughter, paying for the tickets with his mother-in-law’s credit card, but Kenneth Miller had told him he would be reimbursed for the price of the tickets.

In the spring of 2010, Lisa Miller was indicted in Vermont on charges of international parental kidnapping.

The latest complaint alleges that Kenneth Miller, a Mennonite pastor, asked another Mennonite pastor from Ontario, whose name was redacted from the affidavit, to meet Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella, now 11, at a hotel in Niagara, Ontario. In Ontario, that pastor picked Lisa Miller and her daughter up at the hotel and took them to the airport in Toronto, where they flew to Mexico and then Central America.

If convicted of aiding in international parental kidnapping, Kenneth Miller could be sentenced to three years in prison.

Of course what many of us would like to see ultimately surface is involvement by Matt Staver or others on the legal staff of Liberty Counsel. The organization, which files lawsuits on behalf of right wing Christianist groups, in my opinion, needs to be shut down.

Pastor Who Assaulted Gay Son and Boyfriend Arrested on Theft Charges

In yet another example of the seemingly never ending hypocrisy of the self-congratulatory Christianists, Pastor Jerry Pittman - who with the help of his church deacons physically assaulted and beat his gay son and the son's boyfriend recently and received mention on this blog - has been arrested on theft charges. The charges arise out of Patterson's reported theft of goods from his estranged wife's business. WBBJ-TV 7 has coverage on this dirt bags latest misadventure with the law. Here are some highlights:

ABC 7 Eyewitness News has learned about new allegations against the same Gibson County pastor accused of assaulting his gay son and his boyfriend. According to Trenton police, they recently arrested Pastor Jerry Pittman, of Fruitland's Grace Fellowship Church, on charges of stealing from a local business.

Police arrested the 52-year-old on September 21, after his estranged wife told them she had heard from co-workers that he had been stealing from her business. "Our investigation into the incident that was reported showed that he and another gentleman did scrap copper at a scrap yard here in Trenton," Lt. James Wilson said. Investigators said he scrapped the copper at least three different times since August. It was hundreds of pounds, and worth more than $1,000.

This actually is not the first time Pittman has been arrested. Police said he was arrested back in 2006 for a simple assault charge. . . . According to investigators, Pittman is charged with theft of more than $1,000. He bonded out of jail the day he was arrested, and his next court appearance will be October 28 at Trenton Municipal Court.

One has to wonder what type of simpleton would attend a church headed up by an unsavory individual like Pittman.

The Coming 'Implosion' of Benedict's Vatican

I do not deny that I am extremely critical of the Catholic Church and its, in my view, utterly corrupt leadership. Why? Because the Church damages so many lives and causes so much emotional and spiritual pain as it clings to viewpoints centuries out of date with reality. In addition, the handling of the sex abuse scandal reveals that most of the Church leadership belongs in prison for criminal conspiracy and crimes against children and youths rather than trying to preach morality to others. Andrew Sullivan has a great analysis of the problem:
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The pattern is clear: homophobic doctrine, arrested emotional development of young Catholic gay boys and adolescents, a high proportion of priests either acting out sexually with boys whose age roughly approximates their own emotional maturity or coping with these pressures through drugs or alcohol. All of which is then compounded by a culture of hierarchy and silence and obedience that impedes airing this clearly, fails to protect children immediately and also allows these screwed up priests to stay in place.
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There has been some progress in accountability and openness. But the core elements that made the Catholic Church one of the biggest pedophile conspiracies in the world for decades if not centuries remain: incoherent, irrational and data-resistant doctrines on homosexual orientation and sex in general; a Western culture in which fewer and fewer straight men are prepared to give up sex and love and marriage to serve the church; and a hierarchical structure designed to instill control rather than openness, and perfectly set up to enable cover-ups.
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Since the church even now seems incapable of treating child abuse as seriously as the rest of society, it seems to me that increased police involvement is necessary.
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Harsh talk. But appropriate under the circumstances. Sullivan is not the only one who sees the need for a radical change. Massimo Franco, a veteran political writer for Corriere della Sera, Italy’s most prestigious daily newspaper, has a new book “Once Upon a Time, There was a Vatican” that looks at the impending end to business as usual whether the Vatican likes it or not. Here are highlights from a review in the National Catholic Reporter:
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“Implosion,” Franco suggests, is the word many Vatican-watchers apply to the current state of affairs. There’s a palpable sense of fin du régime in the Roman air, he says; Franco quotes diplomats accredited to the Holy See comparing themselves to the final ambassadors to the Republic of Venice just before its collapse in 1797.
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Yet Franco applies a different spin to this malaise. The meltdowns of the last five years are symptoms rather than causes, he says, of a much deeper crisis. They’re signs of the end of an epoch, in which the Vatican represented the religious and moral sentiments of Western civilization, and the dawn of a new era in which Catholicism has become a minority subculture. Neither the Vatican nor the hierarchy more generally has figured out how to respond to this new world, Franco argues, explaining the “profound confusion” one detects among all the pope’s men.
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The day of reckoning was held at bay for a half-century by the Cold War, and for a quarter-century by the towering charisma of Pope John Paul II, Franco says, but now the bill has come due.
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What’s now in decay, he argues, is instead a certain kind of Vatican – the Vatican as chaplain of the West, treated with deference by courts and governments, able to shape history by the exercise of its institutional power. Something new has to replace that Vatican, he says, and its outlines are still vague.
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In that complicated mix, C’era Una Volta un Vaticano is an important contribution, exposing a shift in the historical plates which lies beneath the occasional earthquakes in Rome. One hopes the book will eventually find an English publisher.
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Clearly, the days of deference toward the Vatican need to end immediately - or at least until the ranks of the Church hierarchy are thoroughly cleansed and the hierarchy no longer has the earmarks of a criminal enterprise geared at protecting sexual predators and pedophiles.

California Catholic Daily Whines About Politicians With "Ties to Homosexual Power Stucture." Child Rapist Priests, Not a Problem

The misplaced priorities of the prissy church lady like Catholics is sometimes beyond belief. Take for instance the rant in the latest issue of the California Catholic Daily which is calling for a boycott of Catholic Charities of San Francisco (CCCYO) because - oh the horrors - CCCYO has honorary committee members with "ties to the homosexual power structure." Meanwhile, of course, California Catholic Daily has it nose so far up the ample asses of the Church hierarchy that aided, abetted and covered up for predator priests. In short, protecting child rapists is perfectly fine, but having ties to or supporting CIVIL law equality for LGBT citizens is bad. Very bad, in fact. Here are some highlights from this irrational batshitery:
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On March 4, Catholic Charities of San Francisco (CCCYO) will host its annual Loaves and Fishes Fundraising dinner at the upscale St. Regis hotel in San Francisco. As is the case every year, the honorary committee includes a number of local politicians. And, as usual these politicians are completely and without exception actively opposed to the Church’s teaching on issues of life or the family.
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This year’s honorary committee includes some new faces. All are members of the Democratic Party. All hold positions on same-sex “marriage” and abortion, in contradiction to those of the Catholic Church -- two issues which Pope Benedict has called non-negotiable.
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The presence of so many anti-Catholic and openly homosexual politicians on CCCYO’s honorary committee may be explained in part by the fact that in 2010 government and contract revenue amounted to over two-thirds of the organization’s operating revenue. But CCCYO has long ties to San Francisco’s homosexual power structure.
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At least four of the 32 members of CCCYO’s Board of Directors -- a wildly out of proportion number -- are members of San Francisco’s ‘gay-friendly’ Most Holy Redeemer Church. That number is far higher than from any other parish in the archdiocese.
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If as much angst were directed to removing predator priests from the clergy rosters - say in Philadelphia where a grand jury report suggests at least 37 known predators were in parishes with access to children and youths - the world might be a better place. Instead, normal socially contributing gay citizens and their allies are under attack.

Canadian Study: Bullying Boosts Gay Suicide Rates

A new study at Concordia University has confirmed the obvious: anti-gay bullying increase the rate at which gays, lesbians and transgender individuals take their own lives. And yet most school divisions do little - or in case of the York County, Virginia schools - absolutely nothing to stop it. And it's not just those who have come out as gay who are targeted. Often those who are different or not conforming to backward and ignorant gender stereotypes get attacked as gay as well. In addition to the obvious emotional and psychological damage done to the victims of bullying, the new study goes further and suggest physiological results occur as well that can exacerbate the rate of suicides. Yet self-professed and self-congratulatory Christians - using the latter term very loosely, of course - continue their message of hate and ignorance hate to block effective anti-bullying policies. Meanwhile, school administrators abandon bullied students as the cower and give special privileges to Christianist bigotry - as if only anti-gay Christians have any rights. It sickens me. Here are highlights from Montreal Gazette on the study findings:
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Being bullied for being gay or lesbian can lead to a hormonal disruption that can boost suicide rates, memory loss, cardiovascular problems and bone density depletion, a study by a Concordia University graduate shows.
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“This shows that homophobia is bad for your health,” said the study’s author, Michael Benibgui. The newly released study is the first to prove a biological link between homophobic bullying and long-lasting physical and psychological conditions, he said.
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The results showed that victims of homophobia had disruptions in their output of cortisol, a hormone released in the brain as a response to stress. Normally, cortisol levels are highest in the morning and lowest in the evening, but those facing homophobic bullying consistently produced higher levels throughout the day, Benibgui said.
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While the study did not directly gauge participants’ physical side effects, it is well-known that cortisol disruptions can lead to physical ailments. Besides measuring cortisol, the study’s main focus was on whether participants were more depressed or had more thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts.
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“By seeking support, they might become more exposed and become more vulnerable” to verbal and physical attacks, Benibgui noted. “It’s a double-edged sword.”
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And yet parental, family and peer support for a person who is lesbian, gay or bisexual was the greatest countermeasure to cortisol disruption. Such support also strongly affected the person’s resiliency.
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Ongoing, relentless bullying needs to carry criminal charges for the bully and with minors, their ought to be liability attaching to parents and schools who refuse to rein in their children or students. Only when criminal charges and financial liability attach will we see a change in the currently indifferent attitudes.

The Mounting Damning Evidence Against the Vatican

The UK's National Secular Society is doing an excellent job of "connecting the dots" and making a sound case that the Vatican - and Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI - had total complicity in the world wide cover up of cases of sexual abuse of children and youths. Two excellent posts on the organization's website found here and here make the case that the world wide conspiracy to hide abuse and silence victims originated from the Vatican - despite the Vatican's efforts to claim otherwise. The sad truth is that Benedict XVI likely ought to be under indictment and that John Paul II rather than being on a cynical fast tract to beatification ought to being exposed for an accessory to crimes against children. The truth is that the Vatican is a foul cesspool when it comes to the manner in which it either turned a blind eye to sexual abuse or, worse yet, did its utmost to keep information from being reported to the civil authorities. The 1984 letter referred to in the posts can be found here. Yes, it is hard for many Catholics to admit the truth, but as long as they mindlessly continue their church attendance at Catholic parishes and make financial contributions, Rome has no motivation to ever clean house and hold the guilty accountable. Here are some highlights from these posts:
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Two recently uncovered letters from the Vatican provide strong evidence that, despite their claims to the contrary, the present Pope and his predecessor were well aware of the scale of the priestly child sex abuse crisis and took active steps to cover it up.
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The letters make clear that the Vatican, and the Pope’s personal representatives, put protection of the Church before the protection of children. It instructed bishops in two different parts of the world not to report known abusers to the police or release files.
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Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society, comments: . . . . The most effective remedy is pursuing the Vatican itself, and perhaps its leaders, through international organisations and the courts. . . . . “The letters make it all nigh impossible for the Vatican to heap all the blame for gross misdeeds on local bishops. As Prefect of the Congregation of Doctrine of the Faith since November 1981, no one knows more about child abuse in the Catholic Church than the current pope, Joseph Ratzinger. Most of those reading these letters will be asking whether the pope could not have known (to put it no stronger) about these instructions to be obstructive to the secular authorities in reporting suspicions or releasing files.”

1997 Vatican Letter Directed Irish Bishops to Cover Up Sex-Abuse

I have always held former Pope John Paul II to be anything but saintly and have viewed the rush to make him a saint as yet another cynical Vatican ploy to distract the ignorant, those fearful of independent thought, and the downright stupid/intellectually lazy from the reality of what a festering cesspool the Catholic Church hierarchy has been for decades if not centuries. Now, a newly released letter from 1997 to the bishops of Ireland (a copy of the letter is here) demonstrates that John Paul II and his minions were up to their eyeballs in orchestrating the cover up of the world wide sexual abuse of tens of thousands of children and youth. Rather than being beatified, John Paul II should likely have been criminally prosecuted for obstruction of justice. And only time will tell whether Benedict XVI shouldn't be under indictment. The larger question, of course is when rank and file Catholics will stop sticking their heads in the sand and realize that they are subsidizing and underwriting the criminal deeds of the Church hierarchy and walk away. The Globe and Mail has coverage on the 1997 letter and it's proof of Vatican involvement in the cover up of crimes against children. Here are highlights:
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A newly revealed 1997 letter from the Vatican warned Ireland's Catholic bishops not to report all suspected child-abuse cases to police – a disclosure that victims groups described as “the smoking gun” needed to show that the Vatican enforced a worldwide culture of coverup.
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The letter, obtained by Irish broadcasters RTE and provided to The Associated Press, documents the Vatican's rejection of a 1996 Irish church initiative to begin helping police identify pedophile priests following Ireland's first wave of publicly disclosed lawsuits.
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The letter undermines persistent Vatican claims, particularly when seeking to defend itself in U.S. lawsuits, that the church in Rome never instructed local bishops to withhold evidence or suspicion of crimes from police. It instead emphasizes the church's right to handle all child-abuse allegations, and determine punishments, in house rather than hand that power to civil authorities.
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Mr. Storero [Archbishop Luciano Storero, Pope John Paul II's diplomat to Ireland] wrote that canon law – which required abuse allegations and punishments to be handled within the church – “must be meticulously followed.” He warned that any bishops who tried to impose punishments outside the confines of canon law would face the “highly embarrassing” position of having their actions overturned on appeal in Rome.
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“The letter is of huge international significance, because it shows that the Vatican's intention is to prevent reporting of abuse to criminal authorities. And if that instruction applied here, it applied everywhere,” said Colm O'Gorman, director of the Irish chapter of human rights watchdog Amnesty International. Joelle Casteix, a director of U.S. advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, described the letter as “the smoking gun we've been looking for.”
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“We now have evidence that the Vatican deliberately intervened to order bishops not to turn pedophile priests over to law enforcement,” she said. “And for civil lawsuits, this letter shows what victims have been saying for dozens and dozens of years: What happened to them involved a concerted coverup that went all the way to the top.”
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Irish church leaders didn't begin telling police about suspected pedophile priests until the mid-1990s after the first major scandal – of a priest, Brendan Smyth, who had raped dozens of children while the church transferred him to parishes in Dublin, Belfast, Rhode Island and North Dakota – triggered the collapse of the entire Irish government. That national shock, in turn, inspired the first victims to begin suing the church publicly.
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I hope this letter energizes a new round of lawsuits aimed directly at the Vatican. These horrid men need to be behind bars.

Nigeria to Indict Dick Cheney, Interpol to Issue Arrest Warrant

While it would be far better if Dick Cheney - and Chimperator Bush - were facing indictment for war crimes, I'll settle for any threat of arrest if Cheney takes his sorry ass out of the USA. In my view, the man is pure evil and deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail. One can only dream of seeing Cheney in a Nigerian jail which somehow I suspect would not be up to the standards to which he's become accustomed. Related to this story on MSNBC last night, however, is news that the Liar-in-Chief has been involved in strong arming foreign governments and judicial systems to block prosecution of Bush White House operatives for international crimes such as torture. Once again, Obama proves that his entire campaign was a lie and that the American people were played as suckers as rarely before. I for one hope he's challenged for the 2012 nomination and defeated. I am way past done with the man. Business Week meanwhile has details on Emperor Palpatine Cheney's legal problems. Here are some highlights:
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Nigeria will file charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and officials from five foreign companies including Halliburton Co. over a $180 million bribery scandal, a prosecutor at the anti-graft agency said.
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Indictments will be lodged in a Nigerian court “in the next three days,” Godwin Obla, prosecuting counsel at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said in an interview today at his office in Abuja, the capital. An arrest warrant for Cheney “will be issued and transmitted through Interpol,” the world’s biggest international police organization, he said.
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Last week, Nigeria arrested at least 23 officials from companies including Halliburton, Saipem, Technip and a former subsidiary of Panalpina Welttransport Holding AG in connection with alleged illegal payments to Nigerian officials. Those detained were all freed on bail on Nov. 29.
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Authorities in the West African nation are probing Halliburton, Saipem and Technip for the alleged payment of $180 million in bribes to win a $6 billion liquefied natural-gas contract. Panalpina is being investigated for illegal payments it allegedly made to Nigerian customs officials on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
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The plans to file charges against Cheney were reported earlier today in the Lagos-based Guardian newspaper. Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the commission, confirmed the plans to file charges when contacted by phone today in Abuja. He wouldn’t comment any further.
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KBR and Halliburton agreed to pay $579 million in February 2009 for bribery payments in Nigeria that stretched from 1994 to 2004.