Is O'Connor a shoe in for his "cover up" abilities?

file photo Kevin J. O'Connor
[click here] for my email to US Senator Patrick Leahy on O'Connor

O'Connor's wife worked in the former Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland's office and had a lake cottage next to the Rowland, infamous one, improved with bribe money. Did O'Connor get improvements on his cottage too, with Rowland bribe money?

Clearing Path For O'Connor

By JESSE A. HAMILTON | WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
March 7, 2008

WASHINGTON — - Connecticut's chief law-enforcement official, U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O'Connor, awaits one final Senate vote before he can assume the job as the No. 3 official at the Department of Justice.

The nomination of the Connecticut lawyer, who has shot up quickly through the federal ranks, was approved Thursday morning by the Senate's judiciary committee.

That leaves a final vote on the Senate floor before O'Connor can become the nation's associate attorney general.



In that job, O'Connor, 40, would be directly responsible for 13 distinct divisions and offices and have some authority over five more.

His areas of control would include the civil division, tax division, antitrust, civil rights and the division for the environment and natural resources.

O'Connor would leave the Connecticut office he has run since 2002 to return to the department headquarters that he has sometimes split his time to serve.

He was appointed chief of staff to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who was finishing his time at the department.

Gonzales was replaced by Attorney General Michael Mukasey. O'Connor also served for a short time in 2007 as associate deputy attorney general.

It was unclear Thursday when the overall Senate's confirmation vote will be scheduled.

There has been no strong resistance to O'Connor's nomination during the confirmation process. A hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month seemed more congratulatory than confrontational.

The Department of Justice's No. 2 position was filled earlier this week by a Chicago federal judge, Mark R. Filip, also a relatively young 41.

With that move, and the potential that O'Connor will soon follow, the department has all-new leadership.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said Congress seems to be loosening the logjam on confirmations. He sees O'Connor as part of the new era.

"There's been a lot of controversy at the Justice Department," Tobias said. "It'd be good to have him in place."

And the state gets something out of it, in Tobias' view. "It's good for Connecticut, too, to have somebody that high in the Justice Department. If there's something special going on, they have his ear."

Contact Jesse A. Hamilton at jhamilton@courant.com. For more news and views from Washington, visit Hamilton's blog, On Background, at www.courant.com/background.

Copyright © 2008, The Hartford Courant

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A post on U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey [click here]

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My beef with O'Connor, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, former Governor John G. Rowland, Governor M. Jodi Rell, Connecticut legislatators, and the Connecticut State Police is that they all seem to cover up and endorse retaliation against citizens that get in the way of the "Good Ole Boy" system.


[click here] for a more detailed post on how the Connecticut State Police and Connecticut Court System made my life a living hell.

[click here] for my complaint to the FBI

[click here] for a video on how police use informants to beat citizens, set them up for false arrest, and to terrorize police targets out of town.

[click here] should police be able to offer Registered Confidential Informants $10,000 to set up citizens for false arrest and imprisonment? Pictures of Barbara Sattal, Connecticut State Police Col. Davoren, and more.

[click here] for my email to Connecticut Attorney General complaining about Attorney Michael H. Agranoff

Is former Connecticut State Police Commissioner Arthur L. Spada the most arrogant and dishonest Connecticut Commissioner, ever? [click here]

My email: stevengerickson@yahoo.com