Blog For Arizona

Michael: Senate Staffer Attacked, FBI Sees Possible Link to Investigatory Work

Via The Hill:

Senator Grassley of Iowa's Finance Committee staffer Emilia DiSanto was beaten outside her suburban home by an assailant dressed in black and wearing a hood wielding a baseball bat. She sustained serious upper body injuries, before her family scared the attacker off. The assailant made no demands, just started beating her. DiSanto lives in an area where violent street crime is very rare.

"Grassley is known for his aggressive oversight of the public and private sector. Over the past year, he has scrutinized healthcare fraud, organ-donation procedures used by hospitals, drug-safety matters and the use of nonprofit groups related to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff."

Abramoff was in a serious business dispute with Gus Boulis over the SunCruz casino when he was murdered, gangland-style, in 2001, and is under investigation for many improprieties. One must wonder if the assault of DiSanto is a sign that politics have indeed become 'criminalized', not by prosecutors like Earle and Fitzgerald who are upholding the law, but by the Republican thugs and bagmen, like Abramoff, who now infest K Street. DiSanto's experience may be an extreme example of the Republican practice of 'working the refs' - working them over with baseball bats.

posted by Michael Bryan @ 11/07/2005 11:12:00 PM