The Denver Three’s setback

July 29, 2005

The three ticket-holding, law-abiding Americans who were removed from a presidential event in Denver because of a bumper-sticker will not, unfortunately, get relief from the Secret Service.

Federal prosecutors have declined to press charges of impersonating a Secret Service agent against a White House volunteer who forcibly ousted three people from a speech by President George W. Bush in Denver on March 21.

The announcement was made without explanation today in a letter from the Secret Service to Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar and Reps. Mark Udall and Diana DeGette, all Democrats who had asked for the agency to investigate the incident.

As I’ve noted in previous posts on the subject, someone approached the Denver Three at a public event in March, pretending to be a Secret Service agent, and forcibly removed the three from the premises. Shortly after announcing that it was not one of their agents, the Secret Service said it would investigate the incident (impersonating an agent is a crime). Officials discovered who was responsible, but refused to divulge the person’s name. And today, we learned they’re not going to do anything at all.

Congressman Mark Udall, D-Colo., said in a statement, “It’s puzzling that the Secret Service would take four months to come up with nothing.”

“Frankly, if the Secret Service and White House have nothing to hide, and if no law was broken, don’t the American people have a right to know the results of the investigation and who was responsible for ejecting the Denver 3?”

“Hopefully the White House will put in place procedures for town meetings that allow all views to be heard and that respect all law-abiding individuals,” Udall said.

But before we make requests that the White House will ignore, it’s important to note that the Secret Service’s announcement is not the end of this story.

First, the Secret Service may not be moving forward on this, but the U.S. attorney’s office in Denver might. Remember, just last month we learned that the Secret Service was prepared to differ to Denver district’s acting U.S. attorney, William Leone, over whether to file criminal charges in this case. Leone has not yet publicly indicated what, if anything, he might do next.

Second, there’s still the possibility of a civil suit that could be filed by the Denver Three themselves.

Today’s announcement was disappointing, but this story isn’t over yet. Stay tuned.

This sucks. The Secret Service should at least produce some kind of report explaining what they learned or why they won’t prosecute.

  • It seem’s to be hard to get to anyone in the Bush family and yet so many people blindly follow whatever they are told, believing the Bush crime family is holier than all.
    How is it possible so many millions are fooled?

  • I’m beginning to think that the Bush Adminstration’s main goal of control is the ultimate version of “Operation Mindf**k”. People are so connected to their “safe” internal version of the world that the most egregious crimes require such a disconnect that people detach from their reasoning and just accept what they are told. It is hard to wake up every day wondering crime is going to get covered up or what scandal will quietly dissappear.

    There is also the possibility that the Secret Service knew about the screening before the event and didn’t object beforehand. In that case they would be protecting their culpability. Another option is the Secret Service doesn’t want to be embarassed by the fact that they didn’t know something illegal was going on right in front of them while the President was around. If they can’t identify their own in real-time, how can they possibly protect the President? Institutional defensiveness can be powerful.

  • How much fear and corruption has the Bush White House instilled that every investigation comes up for naught? La Cosa Nostra Bush has dumped a lot of bodies in the river and I’m waiting for one of them to come bobbing up. … Or for the media to have the fortitude to investage them. There will be some mind-boggling tell-all books when this administration is over and done with.

  • Intelligence service has been made the fool during this administration. They are years behind processing information, White House officials are outing them for political retribution, and impersonating them is not a crime as long as the perp is a Republican.

    It will take years to recover from these embarassing and dangerous policies.

  • There’s more than one way to stiffle dissent and that includes the courts too.
    There is NOT ONE institution that cannot be intimidated by this crew.

  • I heard one of the Three today on Ed Schultz. Such a shocking story. They are going to sue. Time to kick them some legal $.

  • You know, anyone can appear before a magistrate and present his or her evidence that ther is probable cause (a low standard) that a crime has been committed and get an arrest warrant issued.

    If we could find out who these people are this could be done.
    Or maybe swear out a warrant of accessory after the fact against higher officials.

    Just a thought.

  • And who’s to say that the perp wasn’t a SS agent? The SS? If they admitted it was one of their guys, then there’d be lots of ‘splainin’ to do. This way they just try to sweep it under the rug. How many times has Bu$hCo gotten away with the old “overzealous lackey” scapegoat defense? That’s always the closer, isn’t it? So much easier than admitting that the SS themselves are keeping Bubble Boy from reality.

  • I am just so disgusted with this crooked administration.
    Never I have felt such hopelessness.

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