In US District Court for the District of Columbia, prosecutors and the defense team for Ann Copland, a former top aide to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), submitted a status report (not available online). The prosecution and defense jointly suggest that US District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle postpone setting a sentencing date for Ms. Copland for 90 days.
Interestingly, unlike Jim Hirni or Trevor Blackann, lawyers did not assert that Ms. Copland has been cooperating with government agents. The government does claim, though, that it “anticipates that the need for Ms. Copland’s cooperation will continue for the foreseeable future”.
M. Kendall Day signed the joint report for the Justice Department, but William Welch’s name does appear on the document as head of the Public Integrity Section. The ACR Blog would prefer to see Mr. Welch extricate himself from all the Abramoff-related cased. Even though Mr. Welch is only a distant supervisor, his involvement is nothing but a distraction for the hard-working attorneys who are doing all the work in these cases.
Anti Corruption Republican
6/6/9
Magnolia Tribune
