Is Lam's forced resignation as San Diego US attorney related to the investigation of former House appropriations committee chairman Jerry Lewis?

From a knowledgeable reader: "I strongly suspect that the forced resignation of Carol Lam has much more to do with her office's prosecution of Jerry Lewis - and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's defense of Lewis - than her alleged failure to prosecute immigration and gun smuggling cases. This excuse for firing Lam makes no sense given that public integrity cases are in the top five of Justice Department priorities ...

"It is far more likely that Lam's forced resignation was part of Gibson, Dunn's aggressive defense of Jerry Lewis - a defense that the White House may be aiding against its own Justice Department.

"Consider these facts:

Jerry Lewis has reported paying Gibson, Dunn $800,000 in legal fees - far more than any other public official known to be under investigation - except Tom DeLay, who is under both federal and state investigation.

Even accounting for Gibson, Dunn's well-known penchant for over-lawyering a case, legal fees of that magnitude indicate that five or six lawyers are working full-time on Lewis's defense.

Shortly after Lewis hired Gibson, Dunn to represent him, Gibson, Dun hired Deborah Wong Yang, the principal prosecutor in the Duke Cuninngham case.

Yang is co-chairing Gibson, Dunn's Crisis Management Team with Bush's former Solicitor General Ted Olson.

Gibson, Dunn - and Olson's Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group in particular - is a well-known training ground for conservative legal activists who conservatives have tired for decades to install as federal judges.

Gibson, Dunn has many, many ties to the Bush White House. And, in fact, the White House side-stepped the usual U.S. Attorney selection process in order to try and install a Gibson, Dunn partner as the U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles.

This reader's conclusion: "The White House doesn't want the Lewis prosecution to proceed given what Lewis, as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, knows about the Bush Administration's covert budget. If Gibson, Dunn can get the White House to try and get one of its partners appointed to be the U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles, they certainly could have input into which U.S. Attorneys in California are replaced - thereby helping both the White House and their client, Jerry Lewis."

Posted by Laura at January 14, 2007 11:50 AM