Appeal court to temporarily stay a federal judge’s order directing then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey, or his deputy, to respond to an inquiry in the Ted Stevens case.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered Mukasey, or a top-level designee, to provide the court a declaration explaining how the Justice Department received and responded to an FBI agent’s whistleblower complaint alleging prosecution misconduct in the Stevens trial. Government lawyers urged the judge to reconsider. Sullivan set a deadline of 5 p.m. Saturday. Government lawyers did not respond with the declaration. A copy of Sullivan's order is here.
Instead, Justice lawyers went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday. Two appellate judges late Saturday issued a temporary stay, letting Mukasey and Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip off the hook. Judges Merrick Garland and Judith Rogers included standard language in the one-page per curiam order, saying that the stay “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits” of the appeal.
Justice lawyer Patty Stemler, chief of the Criminal Division’s Appellate Section, filed a petition for a writ of mandamus Friday, arguing that a two-week stay is necessary for the appeals court to consider the petition and for the government to gather the information Sullivan is demanding. The information in the whistleblower complaint is part of Stevens’ argument for a new trial.
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1 comment:
Mukasey's legacy is finished now he's known as a corrupt AG. Filip the Deputy Dough Boy is just warming the seat. He better be faxing his resume for a job. He should try to cut down on eating alot of those snacks, it'll be rolled out when Eric Holder get in office.
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