(Published Wednesday, April 11, 2007 10:19:21 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Frederic J. Frommer Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to provide documents related to the prosecution of a former state worker in Wisconsin whose bid-rigging conviction was overturned last week by a federal appeals court.
Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and five other Democratic senators said in a letter sent Tuesday that they were "concerned whether or not politics may have played a role" in the case against Georgia Thompson.
Thompson was accused of favoring a company with ties to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, and her conviction became an issue last year in his campaign for re-election.
Wisconsin Democrats have long questioned whether U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic's prosecution of Thompson was an attempt to go after Doyle, who faced a tough run against Republican Mark Green, a former U.S representative. Biskupic was appointed by President Bush.
Biskupic's office welcomes the inquiry and will cooperate, said Michelle Jacobs, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
The Justice Department did not return telephone messages left Tuesday.
A jury found Thompson guilty of fraud charges last summer, and she was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. But a federal appeals court said last week that prosecutors lacked evidence. It ruled that Thompson was innocent and ordered her immediate release after four months behind bars.
The senators' request came shortly after a key witness in Thompson's trial said he was glad she had been acquitted and freed.
While prosecutors had insisted Thompson tried to steer the contract to Adelman Travel Group because of its ties to Doyle, a man who served with her on the committee awarding the contract said she could have favored Adelman because it was a Wisconsin firm.
Frank Kooistra, an associate dean at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Tuesday that he was still not sure what motivated Thompson.
"I don't think the punishment that was dished out was fair and so I'm happy that this has happened, and I hope she gets her life back to order," Kooistra said.
He added: "She is really a nice person. She's not a crook or a criminal."
In their letter to Gonzales, the senators questioned whether political pressure from the Justice Department prompted the prosecution of Thompson.
The senators cited White House counselor Dan Bartlett's comments at a press briefing last month. He said the White House had received complaints about how U.S. attorneys were handling election fraud cases in Wisconsin, New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Bartlett added that Bush discussed the issue with Gonzales last October.
The U.S. attorney from New Mexico, David Iglesias, was one of eight U.S. attorneys abruptly fired. Lawmakers have been asking whether the firings were part of a purge to replace the prosecutors with political cronies or a response to their work on political corruption cases.
Iglesias told Congress last month that he rejected what he considered to be pressure from Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., to rush indictments that would have hurt Democrats in the November elections.
"Evidence obtained in the course of the committee's investigation indicates that voter fraud cases may have played a role in the consideration of administration officials about whether to dismiss or retain United States attorneys," wrote Leahy and the other senators, including Wisconsin Democrats Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold.
The senators asked Tuesday for documents that would show whether Biskupic was considered for dismissal and replacement after Bush's re-election. Reports of voter fraud in the 2004 presidential election had prompted a federal investigation, but Biskupic reported in 2005 that the probe found no evidence of partisan efforts to sway the outcome. Democratic candidate John Kerry narrowly carried the state.
The senators also asked for communications between the Justice Department and the White House or outside parties regarding possible voter fraud in Wisconsin, the case against Thompson and Biskupic's handling of those cases. The committee said it wanted the documents by the end of the week.
"The plot continues to thicken, and every day we uncover more questions than answers," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the senators to sign the letter. "A large question looms: how many other offices have put politics ahead of enforcing the law without fear or favor?"
The other senators to sign the letter were Dianne Feinstein of California and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
Associated Press Reporter Ryan Foley in Madison, Wis., contributed to this story.
