Saturday, July 17, 2010

Politics And Law Do Not Mix .... But They Do On Some Cases Involving International Espionage

Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said his office should never be “a rubber stamp for the White House.” Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Spy Swap Forced Prosecutors Into Balancing Act -- New York Times

On June 29, two days after the arrests of 10 Russian agents in New York and three other states, Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, called an emergency meeting of his closest aides. Their criminal case, he was aware, was fast becoming a deal being orchestrated by politicians and diplomats.

Mr. Bharara told his aides that he had just learned that serious talks were under way at the highest levels of the American and Russian governments for a spy exchange that would end the criminal prosecution. He knew the idea of a swap had been discussed in the Obama administration as a way to resolve a potentially delicate situation at a time when the United States and Russia were trying to improve relations. But there had been no indication that a deal would come together so quickly.

Read more ....

My Comment: As I have been saying all week, there is more to this case than whats meets the eye. Unfortunately, the media is not going to investigate this further, and the Republicans in Congress have been silent on this issue with the exception of some committee hearings that have been done behind closed doors.

Cliff Kincaid at Accuracy In Media has a few thoughts .... the link to his commentary and analysis is here.

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