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Noel Hillman
The Chief Prosecutor in the Abramoff Investigation and former US Attorney;
Former Chief of the Office of Public Integrity
One of four judges in the Siegelman case is Noel Hillman.
Hillman was, through the core period in which the Siegelman
case was developed, the head of the Public Integrity Section
(PIN) within the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. His
unit had responsibility for the prosecution of elected and
appointed public officials at all levels of government—state,
federal and local. It also had responsibility for criminal action
involving elections officials.
Hillman, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, was the
lead Justice Department prosecutor in the Jack Abramoff Capitol
Hill lobbying scandal. His political ambitions had been recently
thwarted when he had approached Bush about a federal
judgeship and been turned down.
However, the investigation into Jack Abramoff, the disgraced
Republican lobbyist, took a surprising turn when the Justice
Department said the chief prosecutor in the inquiry would step
down AND because he had suddenly been nominated to a
federal judgeship by President Bush. This move ended his
involvement in an investigation that had reached into the
administration as well as into the top ranks of the Republican
leadership on Capitol Hill. Some claimed that Bush essentially
"bribed" Hillman to look the other way concerning the Abramoff
investigation and the White House.
The White House, which announced Bush's selection of Hillman
in a routine e-mail message that included 15 other nominations
to judgeships and federal jobs, dismissed the Democrat
originated calls for a special prosecutor to replace Hillman.
"The Justice Department is holding Mr. Abramoff to account, and
the career Justice prosecutors are continuing to fully investigate
the matter." [1] [2]
When charges were announced in Oct. 2005 against Siegelman
at a press conference convened in Montgomery, Noel Hillman,
as head of PIN, traveled down to Montgomery to deliver the
message stating, ironically as it turns out, “Public Integrity does
not do politics”. There with him stood Leura Canary despite her
claims that she had recused herself from the case. (Similarly, as
the case proceeded, Leura Canary did not keep any distance
from it. She gave interviews to the Los Angeles Times and to the
Montgomery Advertiser about the case. Not the conduct of a
‘recused’ U.S. Attorney.)[3]
[1] PoliticalFriendster
[2] Harper's 7/13/07
[3] Harper's 9/14/07
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| __________________________________________________________________________________________ Sponsored by Friends of Don Siegelman 2007 <feedback> __________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| Noel Hillman |
| photo: government Noel Hillman, Former Chief of PIN, the Office of Public Integrity; also known as the Abramoff Prosecutor |
WHITE HOUSE
NOEL HILLMAN
NOEL HILLMAN
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