Abramoff prosecutor demoted for doing his job

The ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, joined by Guam's Democratic representative to the United States House of Representatives issued a call to the Justice Department to investigate the demotion of a prosecutor who was investigating Bush fundraiser and megalobbyist Jack Abramoff, RAW STORY has learned.

Judiciary Democrat John Conyers (D-MI) and Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam's non-voting delegate to the U.S. Congress, called on the Department's Inspector General to "conduct an investigation into the November 2002 demotion of former Acting United States Attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Frederick A. Black."

"We are troubled by an August 7, 2005, report in the Los Angeles Times that suggests this demotion was politically motivated," the members write.

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A recent report in the Los Angeles Times suggested Black was demoted because he was investigating Abramoff, whose lobbying tied him to major Republicans in Congress as well as President Bush. Such an investigation could have been a major liability for Bush, and might have brought to light a web of other scandals that are now being investigated by the Senate, the FBI, and the Justice Department.

Black was an aggressive prosecutor, ferreting out corruption in the Guam government. He was replaced with a prosecutor with a lighter hand, possibly at the behest of Bush adviser Karl Rove.

The letter was copied to House Judiciary Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Assistant U.S. Attorney General William E. Moschella. It follows.

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August 23, 2005

Honorable Glenn A. Fine
Inspector General

United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 4322
Washington, DC 20530-0001