Washington, D.C. – In a letter today to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Third District Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC) renewed his request for an investigation of former Durham County, North Carolina District Attorney Mike Nifong's prosecution of three Duke University student athletes falsely accused of an alleged sexual attack on a woman at a March 2006 party in Durham.
“In light of the North Carolina State Bar’s ruling last week that Mr. Nifong will be disbarred for committing numerous acts of misconduct, it is clear Mr. Nifong’s conduct constituted an illegal abuse of authority and cries out for federal oversight,” Congressman Jones wrote.
“As you stated in your January 11, 2007 letter to me, the Department of Justice ‘is responsible for investigating and prosecuting criminal conduct,’ including ‘willful misconduct by local and federal law enforcement officers,’” Jones wrote. “I believe that the findings of the North Carolina State Bar confirm that there is probable cause to investigate the willful misconduct of Mr. Nifong, namely, his actions to deprive the accused Duke students of their right to due process as guaranteed to them by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.”
“The North Carolina State Bar found that Mr. Nifong, among other abuses, made extrajudicial statements to the media with the knowledge that they would be prejudicial to the defendants, failed to disclose exculpatory DNA evidence in a timely manner, failed to comply with a discovery request from the defense, made false statements to the court, and engaged in numerous acts of dishonest conduct,” Jones continued. “The North Carolina State Bar’s conclusions indicate that Mr. Nifong engaged in willful misconduct in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242, which the Department of Justice has deemed applicable to abuses of authority under color of law.”
“Now that the North Carolina State Bar has concluded its review of Mr. Nifong’s activities and determined that Mr. Nifong engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and misrepresentation, the Justice Department has no reason not to investigate the substantial legal evidence suggesting Mr. Nifong violated these young men's civil rights, permanently damaging their reputations. I strongly encourage you to take action in this case,” Jones concluded.
18 comments:
That's pretty funny. How is Gonzalez who has been all but impeached for his lies and deception going to investigate the Fong. Besides the guy is too busy pandering to those "who have representation without taxation". Unless the defendents are illegal aliens about to be deported Gonzales has no interest in the citizens of the United States. Citizens' rights ? Whats that ?
Duke should support this call for a Federal investigation.
Uh huh ? The defendents are white males -forget it they have no rights in the eyes of the Federal Goverment. Haven't you read the new Politically Correct Bill of Rights.
Earth to Alberto Gonzales, do you read me? Over. Alberto Gonzales? Over. Come in Alberto. Over. Alberto do you read me? Over. Earth to Alberto. Come in Alberto. Over.
I would not get too excited.
He could just be playing politics.
I am from another state, up north, so I do not know the man. And maybe he has been on this "fiasco" from the start.
Or maybe just a politician exploiting the situation.
Where do we go to find a 'justice department' to investigate Brodhead et al within Duke? They ignored rights, rushed to judgment, abandoned Duke, lied, and have refused to admit any wrong. They need to be exposed and they need to be swept out.
Jones is a honest politician and I do not think he is doing this for votes (he happens to be my congressman). What seems likely is that he is responding to a constituent's complaint to him (read: lawyer). This seems most likely given his initial letters to the DoJ (letters had only basic knowledge of the case).
Jones says what he wants to say. If you'd like to find out more about him you will probably be interested in his Iraq war position. The man is conservative but wants to get out of Iraq. His private comments on the matter describe the Iraq war as a 'waste' (not public comments that I know of). He describes himself as angry because he was lied to.
Well, I think North Carolina's doing a good job of cleaning up after Nifong, from Cooper to the Disciplianry Hearing with Williamson---these men went out of their way to proclaim the young men innocent. They didn't have to show such generosity of spirit and commitment to truth and justice.
I am still concerned because Nifong's going to build the rest of his life on the supposition that the LAX team are guilty of "something"---its on this platform that he will get his next job. In addition, the Duke 88 were hateful, lacked empathy, picked the wrong targets for condemnation---and like Nifong seem to be clinging to the belief that they are of some higher order: right even when they are wrong. Montgomery-Blinn of the Innocence Inquiry Commission should be shown the door---she has about the same ability to reliably assess situations and understand the essence of the law, as Nifong. Brodehead's got a mess with the 88 whose power he upped when he should have marginalized them. At least he invited the two back when the first charge was dropped. He's probably someone who tries to do the right thing.
But, let's give credit for the North Carolinian lawyers who are extricating these young men and their families from this sorry situation. They are among the righteous and should be honored as such.
Cooper is a joke. Hed rather pander to the black community then standup and do the righty thing. Hes just like Clinton
Agreed, Nifong's actions put these innocent men through Hell, and though I am no lawyer, intuitively it seems to me that the young mens' constitutional rights were trampled on.
BUT, North Carolina seems to have done a very credible job of pinning Nifong for his wrongdoings, and not allowing him to excape with his glib excuses. Why pile on with the federal government to fix a problem that has already been fixed? I am much more concerned that the Group of 88 continue to escape accountability for their irresponsibly prejudicial actions within the university.
The funny thing is that "if Nifong had handed in his license" there would be speculation but no official findings from the Bar.
That offical findings from the Bar (with Beths and Gov help)has forced Hudson to appoint a SP.
The official report may also make the Feds get involved.
Nifong is an idiot. Now people are investigating. Also some would say its over he got what he deserved. But Nifong even screwed that up, He could not resit slandering the players one last time. And then he tries to stay in office for 4 more weeks.
The falsely accused are not illegal immigrants/welfare recipients from South America and DOJ/Gonzales does not have a mexican drug as a partner here, so DOJ will not get involved.
This is sad reality today. Thank god that liberal clown is not sitting on the supreme court.
WHAT ABOUT THE POLICE?
Sorry for shouting. But it bugs the heck out of me that even people who are calling for investigation of Nifong are not calling for investigation of the police.
All the evidence aboused by Nifong was manufactured by the police.
My sense is that there will be a federal investigation, or at least a state criminal investigation. I doubt this one is going to be ignored, if for no other reason than the huge amount of publicity it has stirred.
Nifong wanted publicity, saying he was getting a "million dollars worth." Well, Mikey, be careful for what you wish, because you just might get it.
Blah blah "liberals" blah blah blah... so many of you commenters are broken records. Cooper is a hero of this case, and by no stretch of the imagination is Alberto Gonzalez a liberal!
He has so little respect for civil rights in the War on Terror that he makes Ashcroft look like an ACLU member.
Uhm, the Durham Police Department is not run by a white person, and thus, cannot be held accountable in this affair. For the last time, whites must pay for the black female that lied to police, and for the black studies professors who rushed to judgment on the white accused. When will whites ever learn their lesson?
Like some of the others above, I'd like to see the police investigated for, amoung other things, their dual standard of justice. Locals get one thing and Dukies get another. Add to that, witness tampering and other possible crimes, what more does it take.
This is the time to pile it on. Nifong needs to be put down hard. Don't think black people are finished with this. Black race agitators and their white, bootlick minions in academia are going to reinvent him as a victim of white wealth. The vast majority of black people and the NYT would still like to see those three guys rotting in prison for the crime of being white and wealthy.
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