Search Results for ‘moines attorney’
There has been quite a hullabaloo about Alberto Gonzalez and the US Justice Dept. of late. If you haven’t heard about it, check here for a good primer. Here in Iowa, we are dealing with a different scandal involving our US Attorney, but David Yepsen thinks it might be connected to the national scandal.
When (gay) Democratic State Senator Matt McCoy was indicted for allegedly using his elected position to “extort” a $2,000 consulting fee from a company he was working for, it made us look pretty bad. But Yepsen digs deeper and actually comes up with something interesting: it turns out that Matt Whitaker, the US Attorney prosecuting McCoy, is a homophobic Republican crony. Quoth Yepsen:
Whitaker is a Republican. And not just any Republican, but a socially conservative one who ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer in 2002 and could well be a candidate for office again.
He recently was in the news when he was scheduled to emcee an event for the Iowa Christian Alliance, a successor group to the Iowa Christian Coalition.
After first granting him permission to host the event, Whitaker said the Justice Department revoked it after objections from liberal groups. Instead, he just attended the meeting.
So he’s a Republican with ties to the Christian Coalition, which is basically the group that controls the Republican Party of Iowa. US Attorneys are, in a sense, political appointees, so that isn’t surprising. But Whittaker’s partisanship is unusual. Continuing:
Active involvement in ideological political action groups like that is rare for U.S. attorneys in Iowa — and even the Justice Department higher-ups seemed to think better of it. For good reason. McCoy is a Democrat. And not just any Democrat but an openly gay one.
So we now have the specter of a politically ambitious, evangelical Republican with ties to the religious right going after a gay Democrat.
Well, good. If anyone wants an example of the politically charged ‘duties’ of a US Attorney in the Bush administration, this should serve well.
March 18th, 2007
Rubbermaid announced last night that it will be moving 500 jobs from Centerville (population 6,000) to Kansas. The company turned down the offer of a $1 million tax break under Vilsack’s Iowa Values Fund, and executives explained that they believe there are more opportunities for expansion in Kansas. Vilsack’s statement, issued this afternoon, doesn’t seem very reassuring to the hundreds of Iowans finding their jobs in jeopardy lately:
Today’s news is upsetting, but it reinforces my commitment to creating and retaining sustainable, quality jobs in our state. We are working every day to transform Iowa’s economy and minimize the impact of a changing, global marketplace.
Chris Woods at Political Forecast covers the possibility of an override of Vilsack’s veto on eminent domain.
The Concord Monitor’s story on Vilsack’s visit wasn’t exactly positive- it noted that he doesn’t have foreign policy experience beyond a few recent trips abroad and that he called complaints in New Hampshire about the possibility of making the primary later in the nominating calendar ”overblown.”
Another article says Vilsack’s people are leaving New Hampshire out to dry:
The plan has yet to be made final by the rules committee and the full DNC, but New Hampshire Democrats widely viewed the Iowa votes as a clear break from the decades-long alliance between the two states to work together to protect their early positions.
New Hampshire Democratic Chair Kathy Sullivan, herself a member of the DNC rules committee, said:
“There are a number of New Hampshire Democrats who are disappointed that the Iowa commissioners and member of the rules committee have not voted with New Hampshire on these things.”
Vilsack said he has not talked to the Iowans on these panels about it. One of them was Des Moines attorney Jerry Crawford, a big contributor to Vilsack’s Heartland PAC. The rules committee member is Sally Pederson, Vilsack’s own lieutenant governor and chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party.
Even more embarassing for Governor Vilsack, his wife was forced to wear ugly shoes while touring a plant in NH.
June 15th, 2006
Last week Yepsen reported that Nussle has called for an independent, non-partisan, neutral, [other fantastical modifier] Office of Inspector General who can “probe allegations of wrongdoing.” Yepsen likes it:
It’s a good idea for two reasons. First, taxpayers need a neutral party to investigate things. Can a Democratic attorney general or a Democratic county attorney fairly probe the scandal in a Democratic administration? On the flip side, can a Republican auditor or U.S. Attorney fairly scrutinize Democrats?
…
The second reason is to clear someone’s name. Politics is full of accusations today. Sometimes, the charges are followed by official investigations.
However, even supposing that such an office could be created and successfully meet these high-minded standards, I’m pretty sure that Nussle’s campaign staff wouldn’t qualify for the position. The Skinny is reporting:
Jim Nussle’s gubernatorial research team is devoting significant resources on the CIETC scandal, trying to tie Mike Blouin and Chet Culver to the debacle. “Team Nussle is prepared to slaughter [the Democratic candidates], the Polk County Democrats and the South Side Machine,” a Nussle insider told us. “They are all busy shooting themselves in the foot, but Nussle will have a wealth of ammunition for a few kill shots.”
Nice. Gun metaphors.
And, lest you fear that Fallon would be left out of the mix, Civic Skinny this to say:
Next week could be the make-or-break moment for candidate Ed Fallon’s campaign, we’re told. Last week, it was his turn on the CIETC scandal. On TV, in front of all of Central Iowa, Fallon claimed he had known about this for years and had the documentation to prove it. “Now we’re going to call him on it,” said one lawmaker. “And if the Legislative Oversight Committee, which has been conducting the meetings, feels he in fact does have the information he claims to, he will be the next star witness for the committee. This will add to his underdog image - not as a person who couldn’t get things done as a result of not exposing them first - but as someone who is always beat down and swatted away like a fly, and now could be seen as somebody who just might actually know what the hell is going on.” However, if Fallon fails to produce on this, he can kiss his campaign goodbye, we’re told.
It will be interesting to see how this all turns out, although frankly it isn’t going to make a difference here: Grinnell has early satellite voting next Friday (and we don’t read the news).
April 21st, 2006
Well, first it was this story about an Osceola, IA, woman who was involved in a high-tech kiddie porn ring:
In this case he says investigators think they were distributing “child molestation on demand.” Instead of selling videotapes or e-mailing photos, the investigators charge people were committing acts of child molestation and streaming the video live to viewers as it happened. Patrons would request certain acts be performed, and “get it on demand,” what Counts describes as “pretty sick stuff.”
And then it was this one:
Daniel Dean Duello, 34, of Mount Auburn, was charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee after a two-year investigation, police said.
Duello is accused of having a sexual relationship with a female student from June through December 2004 while he was head varsity football coach and assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach at Vinton-Shellsburg High School. Duello resigned after the allegations surfaced in 2005.
And then another one! Hull, IA, teachers’ aide Kelly Jean Cuperus, 38, had a relationship with a 15-year-old student (which continued on after his 16th birthday):
Sioux County Attorney Melissa O’Rourke said the sex abuse and lascivious conduct counts are connected to two incidents in which sexual conduct took place last summer, when the boy was 15 years old. Iowa’s age of consent is 16, she said.
The count of sexual exploitation by a school employee alleges that the pair also engaged in sexual conduct several times during the current school year, O’Rourke said.
Anyone think that Iowa has a problem? This Register article describes the second two cases together and reveals that the Duello case went unresolved for over a year!
Vinton Police Chief Jeff Tilson said the student, who has since graduated, was a member of the varsity girls basketball team, of which Duello was the assistant head coach.
Tilson said he was notified of the alleged sexual conduct in Sept. 2004. He said the investigation concluded after about 1 1/2 years after the police department was able to “track down witnesses – current and former students.”
He still has his teaching license, although that’s finally under review, too.
March 16th, 2006
