The unethical behavior of a leading prosecutor in former President Donald Trump’s federal classified documents case has given cause for concern after a prior reprimand for “gross negligence” forced her to resign.
The perception of political persecution against Trump has only intensified after his arraignment in a Miami, Florida courthouse. Now, as the president has pleaded not guilty to 37 felony counts related to his handling of documents marked classified, a look at Special Counsel Jack Smith’s deputy Karen Gilbert has many calling foul over corruption.
The 59-year-old prosecutor once served in the Miami U.S. Attorney’s office as chief of the narcotics section until she was forced to step down in March 2009 for her role in secretly recording a defense lawyer, the Associated Press had reported at the time.
The case in question had involved a Florida physician, Dr. Ali Shaygan, who was ultimately acquitted of 141 felony counts of illegally dispensing pain medication, including a methadone prescription that preceded the June 2007 death of James Brendan Downey.
At the time, Gilbert and then-colleague Sean Cronin had not received the necessary approval from then-U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta before the two authorized a recording of Shaygan’s lawyer when they suspected witness tampering from the defense.
Meanwhile, the tapes garnered from the unauthorized wire only showed the defense attorney David O. Markus rejected bribes. The Miami Herald reported, “No evidence surfaced that the defense team was manipulating witnesses. On the contrary, defense attorneys rejected bribery invitations floated on tape from government informants.”
Shaygan, who went on to be awarded $601,795 in legal fees paid by the government said at the time of Gilbert, “I have no reason to believe that she will behave ethically in any circumstance. I do not find it appropriate for her to still be employed by the Department of Justice.”
“She was a sorry sack of lies,” the doctor added.
An apology was issued by the Justice Department that read, “The government acknowledges and deeply regrets that it made serious mistakes.” However, her past resignation was not the only cause for concern from Gilbert as Federal Elections Commission records indicated her favorability toward Democratic candidates.
According to FEC filings, the prosecutor has not only donated to the Democratic National Committee while working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but she has also donated over $2,000 to the successful presidential campaigns of Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
Tuesday, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland seeking the remaining names of those working for Smith on Trump’s documents case and said, “It should be obvious that doing due diligence in vetting an office that has apparently done no vetting of its own personnel, or worse, might affirmatively be seeking to staff with sanctioned lawyers and partisan hatchet-men (and women), is an entirely appropriate purpose and one small reason I am requesting this information.”
Of course, corporate media focused their concerns on U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon whom they charged should have to recuse herself from hearing the case because she had authorized the overruled appointment of a special master to review the documents after Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago had been raided.
MSNBC analyst demands that Trump indictment judge recuse herselfhttps://t.co/rVlCaWa5T2
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) June 12, 2023
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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