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Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 07:48:42 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: "The Inslaw Scandal" (fwd)
<snip>
>
>>The Inslaw Scandal
>>
>>http://www.federal.com/inslawsc.html
>>
>>A service of the
>>Washington Weekly
>>
>>During the Clinton administration, allegations of politicization have
>>been raised against the Justice Department. Concerns have been raised
>>that the Justice Department, mainly through Associate Attorney General
>>Webster Hubbell (now resigned and convicted for fraud), has been, and
>>still is used as an instrument for political purposes. During previous
>>administrations, the Justice Department was accused of being controlled
>>by arrogant bureaucrats who considered themselves above the law.
>>
>>Probably the most glaring example of the latter is the Inslaw scandal
>>that started in 1982, but is still covered up to this date according to
>>several key players as well as Congressional aides.
>>
>>Inslaw Inc. is a computer software company based in Washington, DC,
>>owned by William and Nancy Hamilton. Inslaw markets case management
>>software to courts and related justice agencies, to the insurance
>>industry, to large law firms, and to the law departments of
>>corporations. Inslaw's principal asset is a highly sophisticated
>>software program called PROMIS, a computer program which manages large
>>amounts of information
>>
>>A Justice Department Above the Law
>>
>>In 1982, Inslaw won a contract with the Department of Justice to install
>>PROMIS in U.S. attorney's offices. The person assigned by the Department
>>to manage the contract, however, was one C. Madison Brewer, who had just
>>been fired by Inslaw. Just one month after the contract was signed, Mr.
>>Brewer recommended that it be terminated even though Inslaw was
>>performing as agreed. The Department stole the software because it felt
>>that it was above private property law.
>>
>>The Justice Department withheld payment for the software, and Inslaw
>>went into bankruptcy. Inslaw hired former Attorney General Elliot
>>Richardson as their attorney. Richardson filed a civil suit claiming
>>that Inslaw had been the victim of a conspiracy by the Justice
>>
>>Department.
>>
>>In 1987, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge George Bason ruled in favor of Inslaw and
>>awarded Hamilton $6.8 million, saying that Justice Department officials
>>"took, converted and stole" PROMIS through "trickery, fraud and deceit."
>>Judge Bason lived to regret his ruling when his reappointment was denied
>>in a highly unusual move. Bason was replaced with one of the Justice
>>Department lawyers who had argued the Inslaw case.
>>The Inslaw case had now reached the level of a full government
>>conspiracy.
>>
>>The Octopus
>>
>>Investigative Reporter Danny Casolaro was investigating possible links
>>between BCCI, Iran-Contra, and Inslaw. He called the covert operation,
>>in which the CIA was involved, "The Octopus."
>
>--- BEGIN ---
>
>Christopher Ruddy
>
>The Strange Death of Vincent Foster: An
>Investigation
>
>New York: The Free Press, 1997
>
>Pages 278-279
>
>Other controversial cases Lee has been
>involved with include New York's
>"preppie murder" case and the death of
>journalist Danny Casolaro. The former
>never came to trial because the accused
>Manhattan prep student, Robert Chambers,
>confessed to the accidental killing by
>strangulation of young Jennifer Levin
>during a sexual tryst in New York City's
>Central Park. Lee was to have been
>Chambers's defense expert.
>
>In 1991, Lee reviewed the death of
>Casolaro, a freelance reporter found
>dead of an apparent suicide in the
>bathtub of a West Virginia hotel room.
>Casolaro's family contested the ruling,
>citing the large number of cuts on the
>man's wrist and the fact that his papers
>were missing from his hotel room.
>
>Lee reviewed the case and bolstered
>official claims that the death was a
>suicide, based on blood-spatter
>analysis. The finding is still disputed
>by the family.
>
>Lee has worked on numerous government
>cases and boasts to colleagues of his
>close relationship with Attorney General
>Janet Reno....
>
>--- END ---
>
>>The Justice Department started sharing the illegally obtained PROMIS
>>software with other agencies, including intelligence agencies where
>>PROMIS was modified for intelligence purposes and sold to foreign
>>intelligence operations in Israel, Jordan, and other places. Michael
>>Risconsciuto of the Wakenhut security firm has testified that he was
>>contracted to install a "trap door" in the software to allow the CIA to
>>tap into PROMIS software worldwide. It appears that the original petty
>>crimes of the Justice Department have led to the exposure of a sensitive
>>national security operation.
>>
>>As Casolaro continued his investigation he started to receive death
>>threats. He told his brother, "if there was an accident and he died, not
>>to believe it." On August 11, 1991, Casolaro was found dead in the
>>bathtub of a hotel room in Martinsburg, Virginia, where he had a meeting
>>with a U.S. Army Special Forces covert intelligence officer.
>>
>>Following the death of Casolaro, Inslaw Attorney Elliot Richardson
>>called for an investigation. "It's hard to come up with any reason for
>>his death, other than he was deliberately murdered because he was so
>>close to uncovering sinister elements of what he called "The Octopus,"
>>Richardson said.
>>
>>A Full Government Conspiracy
>>
>>After several appeals, Judge Bason's ruling was finally reversed on
>>technical jurisdictional grounds in 1991. The Senate started
>>investigating the Inslaw scandal and found even more troubling
>>information: its investigation was hampered by an unwillingness by
>>Justice Department officials to cooperate, and because key documents
>>were reported missing or lost by the Department.
>>
>>According to sworn testimony before the Committee, high level Justice
>>Department officials conspired to steal the PROMIS software and secretly
>>convert it to use by domestic and foreign intelligence services.
>>Ronald LeGrand, Chief Investigator for the for the Senate Judiciary
>>Committee told Hamilton and Richardson that a trusted Justice Department
>>source had confided that Inslaw "was a lot dirtier for the Department of
>>Justice than Watergate had been, both in its breath and depth."
>>The Bua Rebuttal (250kb)
>>
>>After several Congressional investigations concluded wrongdoing by the
>>Justice Department and called for the appointment of a special
>>prosecutor, Attorney General William Barr in 1992 appointed lawyer
>>Nicholas Bua to investigate the Inslaw scandal. Bua impaneled a grand
>>jury, but dismissed it midway through the investigation, allegedly
>>because it was giving credence to the allegations and constituted a
>>"runaway" grand jury.
>>
>>In June 1993 the Bua report was released. It cleared Justice officials
>>of any wrong doing in the case.
>>
>>Inslaw Attorney Elliot Richardson issued a statement saying, "What I
>>have seen of [the report] is remarkable both for its credulity in
>>accepting at face value denials of complicity in wrongdoing against
>>Inslaw and for its failure to pursue leads making those denials
>>implausible."
>>
>>On July 12, 1993 Inslaw submitted a 90-page rebuttal of the Bua report
>>to Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell. The rebuttal offered
>>evidence that the Bua report was false. What Inslaw probably did not
>>know at time, however, was that Webster Hubbell's and White House Deputy
>>Counsel Vince Foster apparently were linked to both Iran-Contra and
>>Inslaw through two Arkansas companies called Park-on-Meter and
>>Systematics.
>>
>>On July 20, 1993 Vince Foster was found dead in Fort Marcy Park. Three
>>days later, attorney Paul Wilcher, allegedly investigating "The Octopus"
>>was found dead.
>>
>>Mar 27 1995 Whitewater Update Starr Probing Links to Inslaw Murder
>>
>>May 29 1995 Vince Foster's Frequent Travels
>>
>>Aug 14 1995 Whitewater Update Foster's ties to the National
>>Security Acency
>>
>>Aug 21 1995 Interview with Jim Norman, Author of "Fostergate"
>>Mr. Norman sheds light on what is really behind the death of
>>Vince Foster
>>
>>Aug 28 1995 Newsweek Mounts Counteroffensive Against Fostergate
>>
>>Sep 11 1995 Newsweek's Attack on Internet Conspiracy Theorists
>>
>>Sep 18 1995 Newsweek Described as Official Disinformation Organ
>>
>>Sep 18 1995 Official Foster Investigation Intensifies
>>
>>Sep 18 1995 Foster was Indeed Subject of
>>Counterintelligence Investigation
>>
>>Sep 18 1995 White House Responds to Foster Conspiracy Theories
>>
>>Sep 25 1995 Is Foster Key to "The Octopus?"
>>
>>Sep 25 1995 Letters to the Editor Jim Norman Responds to Claims
>>by Sarah McClendon
>>
>> Open Letter to the Editor
>> Well worth the Money
>>
>>Sep 25 1995 Foster's Ties to Israelis Questioned
>>
>>Congress Finally Acts on Inslaw
>>
>>After Inslaw owner Bill Hamilton distributed a report on the Inslaw
>>scandal to each member of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressmen
>>Jack Brooks (D-TX) and Charlie Rose (D-NC) tried to enact a bill that
>>would force an investigation of the Justice Department and the death of
>>Danny Casolaro, and pay reparations to the owners of Inslaw. Among the
>>allegations in the bill:
>>
>>The following criminal statutes may have been violated by certain high
>>level Justice officials and private individuals:
>>
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 371--Conspiracy to commit an offense.
>>
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 654--Officer or employee of the United
>>States converting the property of another.
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 1341--Fraud.
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 1343--Wire fraud.
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 1505--Obstruction of proceedings
>>before departments, agencies and
>>committees.
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 1512--Tampering with a witness.
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 1513--Retaliation against a witness.
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 1621--Perjury.
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951--Interference with commerce by threats
>>or violence (RICO).
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 1961 et seq: Racketeer Influenced and
>>Corrupt Organizations.
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 2314--Transportation of stolen
>>goods, securities, moneys.
>> `18 U.S.C. Sec. 2315--Receiving stolen goods.
>>
>>The bill, H.R. 4862 was introduced in the House on July 29, 1994, but
>>died without any action by the Democratic leadership in the waning days
>>of the 103rd Congress.
>>
>>Under the new Republican leadership, Senator Orrin Hatch introduced a
>>similar bill, S. 740. On May 3, 1995, the Senate voted to commit the
>>bill, which would pay reparations to the owners of Inslaw, to the chief
>>judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims for a report thereon.
>>
>>Last updated September 24, 1996.
>>[Sources: Karen-Lee Bixman, U.S. House Resolution 4862, Rep. Charlie
>>Rose]
>>
>>If you are not already a Washington Weekly subscriber, you can find more
>>information here.
>>-
>>AntoniaHoward@Worldnet.att.net
>>
>>http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Palms/7039/satyre5.html
>>
>>If not us, who? If not now, when?
>>
>>- Slogan by
>>Czech University Students in Prague, Nov. 1989.
>>
>>Quoted in: Observer (London, 26 Nov. 1989).
>
>--
>Wayne McGuire
>http://www.cybercom.net/~wmcguire
>
<snip>
===========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell, Sui Juris : Counselor at Law, federal witness 01
B.A.: Political Science, UCLA; M.S.: Public Administration, U.C.Irvine 02
tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night 03
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_____________________________________: Law is authority in written words 09
As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall 10
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======================================================================== 12
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