Local News - guampdn - Watchdog urges probe of attorney's demotion

By Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Pacific Daily News
gdumat-ol@guampdn.com
An ethics watchdog organization in Washington, D.C., sent a letter yesterday to Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine requesting an investigation into the demotion of Frederick Black, former acting U.S. attorney on Guam.

Black had been supervising a grand jury investigation into lobbyist Jack Abramoff's secret arrangement with Guam Superior Court officials to lobby against a court revision bill then pending in the U.S. Congress, according to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, referring to an Aug. 7 Los Angeles Times report about the lobbying.

Black still is an assistant U.S. attorney on Guam and has declined to comment.

The nonprofit watchdog stated it sent copies of the request for an investigation to U.S. senators and congressmen who lead the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, which have oversight of the Justice Department and the federal courts.

"The demotion of ... Black looks political and should be investigated," Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said in a press release.

"The fact that Mr. Black's demotion apparently resulted in the termination of a serious public corruption investigation into a friend of the White House, makes the situation all the more egregious," according to Sloan. "This administration needs to be held accountable for its actions. An investigation by the Department of Justice Inspector General would be a good first step."

Black was demoted a day after a Nov. 18, 2002 federal grand jury subpoena directed at Anthony Sanchez, administrative director of the local court at the time the payments to Abramoff were made through a California attorney, according to the watchdog's letter to the Justice Department inspector general.

Sanchez declined to comment when reached by phone yesterday.

The organization further wrote, in part based on the Times report, that Guam Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks is reviewing 36 payments of $9,000, totaling $324,000, made to Abramoff and paid through a middleman, California lawyer Howard Hills.

Brooks said to the Pacific Daily News yesterday that she could not comment on the specifics of an ongoing audit.

The island's elected public auditor did confirm that her office has an ongoing audit of the local Judicial Building Fund, and Vicente Pangelinan requested the audit when he was the speaker of the Guam Legislature.

"It's in the mill," Brooks said of the audit of the Judicial Building Fund. "We do want to get it out sooner than later."

According to Pacific Daily News files, Pangelinan had raised concern over the Superior Court's payments of as much as $600,000 for lobbying.

Sanchez, the former court administrative director, is acting director of the Bureau of Statistics and Plans under Gov. Felix Camacho's administration.

At the time of Black's demotion, he was directing a long-term investigation into allegations of public corruption in the administration of then-Gov. Carl Gutierrez, according to the Times, which added that supporters of Gutierrez had lobbied for Black's demotion.

But attorney Randall Cunliffe, speaking for Gutierrez, told the Pacific Daily News Monday that Abramoff was not a Gutierrez ally.

In fact, Cunliffe said, Abramoff had worked to undermine Gutierrez's re-election campaign in 1998 and had worked for the gubernatorial campaign of now Gov. Felix Camacho, who won the race for governor in 2002.

Camacho administration spokeswoman Erica Perez said Monday Abramoff had not worked for Camacho's gubernatorial campaign and has not been paid for lobbying under the Camacho administration.

Cunliffe also said it was Camacho who nominated Black's replacement, Lenny Rapadas, as the U.S. Attorney on Guam.

Copies of the watchdog's request for an investigation into Black's demotion were sent to Sens. John McCain, Arlen Specter and Patrick Leahy.

McCain, R-Arizona, is chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and serves on the Armed Services, and Commerce, Science and Transportation Committees.

Specter, R-Pennsylvania, is chairman of the U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee, while Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, is a ranking member of the Judiciary Committee.

Congressmen James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wisconsin; and Rep. John Conyers Jr., R-Michigan, also were provided copies of the request for a Justice Department Inspector General investigation into Black's demotion.

Sensenbrenner is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Conyers leads the Democratic side of the House Judiciary Committee.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington describes itself as a group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.

According to the group, it drafted the ethics complaint against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, filed by former Congressman Chris Bell, for which DeLay was admonished last year.