Not good. Not good at all. Stacey Pickering is trying to be so precious as he seeks to keep everything DMR under wraps. The Sun-Herald reported yesterday:
GULFPORT -- The State Auditor's Office wants a secret hearing on its attempt to seal records from the Department of Marine Resources investigation.
In a motion filed Friday in the Second Judicial District Chancery Court, State Auditor Stacey Pickering asked the court to seal its motion and all filings and orders in the Sun Herald's attempt to obtain DMR spending records.
Pickering's attorney, Melissa C. Patterson, a special assistant attorney general, argued the records are part of grand jury proceedings and therefore cannot be revealed.
Patterson argued the matter involves Harrison County Grand Jury proceedings, which she says can't be revealed because of the state's rules for circuit and county courts.
She cited one of those rules, which says in part:
"No grand juror, witness, attorney general, district attorney, county attorney, other prosecuting attorney, clerk,
sheriff, or other office of the court shall disclose any action or proceeding in relation to the indictment before the finding of an indictment or within six months thereafter or before the defendant is arrested or gives bail or recognizance.
"If such information is disclosed, the disclosing person may be found in contempt of court punishable by fine or imprisonment."
She also argued the "underlying Circuit Court matter is entirely in an investigative phase and any release of grand jury information would cause undue harm and prejudice to the investigation and potential subjects."
State and federal investigators have been investigating the DMR for months. A Sun Herald investigation and an audit by the Department of Interior Office of Inspector General found questionable spending practices at the agency.
The Sun Herald sued the DMR in January seeking spending records. In August, it asked Chancery Judge Jennifer Schloegel to add the Auditor's Office to the suit.
Although Patterson said the filing was "submitted under seal", it was on the Mississippi Electronic Courts website where the Sun Herald obtained it.
A hearing on the Sun Herald's suit is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday before Schloegel in Bay St. Louis. Article
Uh-huh, Ms. Patterson. Even if those records are examined by a grand jury, they are still public records. Period. Under her logic, a city's budget could be sealed if it was part of an investigation into say, bid-rigging. Invoices from a contractor can be sealed if the magic word "investigation" is used. What about minutes, Melissa? Did you present any minutes of board meetings to the grand jury? Are those to be sealed as well? What is Ms. Patterson trying to hide?
25 comments:
What do you expect from Pickering. He's trying to protect his supporters like Scott Walker, Joe Cloyd, and George Malvaney. It's about time for another findraiser for Stacey!
In my opinion somebody somewhere is controlling the direction and pace of this investigation. Stacey Pickering is following directions. He can have people indicted from state line to state line but for some reason he already has allowed the DMR chief scammer Bill Walker off on almost a million dollars in misused taxpayer money. He has also given this group ample time to liquidate or hide all of their assets. Now he is denying the public access to records using "investigation" as an excuse for this botched cover up. Heads need to roll starting with his.
9:33 I wonder if these are some of the directors of the DMR investigation? We all know they were/are involved with the DMR. From Scott Walker selling access to his dad, George Malvaney/USES oil spill clean up contracts and Joe Cloyd/Frontier's "tell them what we want them to hear" BS deal. Makes sense they do not want any prosecution of their associates, friends and neighbors to move forward. Maybe this is the reason they are behind Pickering with fundraisers. The answer,as always, is where the money comes from.
So...are you loyalists getting it yet?
You don't vote for people who are ideologues. You vote for people who offer solutions and have well thought out plans. You vote on competence not looks or personality or because someone shows up at church and glad hands you.
You vote for someone who has been successful at SOMETHING in life that didn't involve taking advantage of others.
You vote for people who offer solutions and have well thought out plans. You vote on competence not looks or personality or because someone shows up at church and glad hands you.
You vote for someone who has been successful at SOMETHING in life that didn't involve taking advantage of others.
You just excluded 98% of all Democrats in Mississippi.
Maybe it's time for Kingfish to see just how deep the waters run. Attempting to access certain public minutes could reveal how bad the smell is.
Any bets on whether there are some minutes being held under Pickering's cloak of investigation?
Someone remind me how much we need appropriators in Washington. They brag about giving our money back to us in grants, but look who's getting those grants the DMR, Mississippi Power, Walker, Solangi, Palazzo, Cloyd... Your appropriations aren't helping many Mississippians, mainly the crooks.
Wow! This is a package with a faint 'ticking' sound! Of course Pickering is basically invisible. When was the last time 'you' heard or read anything about him or his office except here on this site? He's cloaked in anonymity and stealth.
"Bend me over its another pickering stickering said..."
Great, but too long for a bumper sticker for his next opponent :-)
"You vote for someone who has been successful at SOMETHING in life that didn't involve taking advantage of others."
IIRC the only alternative choice voters had in the last governor's race was a guy whose only recent accomplishment of note was stealing a mayoral race twice, under the nose of our spineless SOS. Do you consider that "taking advantage of others"?
Feel will be a poor governor, but he beat the alternative choice. Sadly, that's common situation. Neither party is overflowing with statesman, leaders and visionaries.
Yvette Yeager, a former employee of the Greenville Parks and Recreation Dept. was recently arrested for the embezzlement of $85,155.65 according to a news release from Stacey Pickering's office. DMR's Bill Walker and the other members of his Marine Resources Foundation were allowed to walk away without one penny out of pocket or arrest for the misuse of $1,074,519.97.Why is Stacey Pickering covering for these scammers? Millions have been misused for everything from free chartered fishing trips for politicians statewide to buying land from family and friends for four to five times market value. When will the peoples money be recovered from these crooks? Pickering can run around arresting clerks for a few thousand dollars but cannot seem to get the will to pursue the politically connected. He has time to go to private fundraisers down on the Gulf Coast at Joe Cloyd's million dollar mansion but will he take the time to investigate and find out how Cloyds gang got all that CDBG money for Riverside(www.Riverside.ms) the $15,000,000 adult age restricted waterfront community disguised as Long Term Work Force Housing. I doubt he will because these are his politically connected supporters.I guess Ms. Yeager should have just held a fundraiser in Greenville and all would be well.
I have worked with the current auditors staff and always disappointed at the issues that get swept under the rug. I do not know why but chalk it up to politics. usm and ummc both use their foundations to pay for lost or stolen items which is not their mission or allowed for missing property under state law but that small get compared to other things.
Sounds like somebody is doing some sweeping on the DMR scandal participants. So far no one has been held responsible for anything. You have everything from 4 suspicious deaths, misuse of millions, missing boats, bogus contracts, overpaid family and friends on the payroll, conflicts of interest and more. All done in plain sight. Not one person has been arrested. The only demand for repayment was swept under the rug. It is past time for the Feds to tell Stacey Pickering to stay home so they can wrap this up. He has failed the very people that he is employed by. The real question to be answered is why? Who is he protecting?
Why would George Malvaney be involved with BMR?? Why would his company be investigated by the State Auditor?? his Company was the Prime Contractor to British Petroleum not to any state or federal enity. British Petroleum paid George's company, not the state. or is this sour grapes because somebody did not get a contract during the Clean up ?
Someone needs to sweep out from the rug Pickerings dirt with Howard Industries--What he did was criminal!!!!!!
Lots of ranting here about Pickering's probable criminal complicity in a plethora of criminal activities yet, strangely, not one iota of fact.
It sounds like one same guy posting repetitively about Howard Industries, dead bodies, missing $$$ and boats, nepotism, but no specific facts.
If you have info, call the FBI - they love earning their promotions by cleaning up Mississippi crimes and scandals :-)
Sounds like Howard Industries may need to throw Stacey a fundraiser.
6:44,George Malvaney has/had extensive ties to both the DMR(not BMR)and the DEQ. These agencies dictated much of the oil spill clean-up work. One good example of the Malvaney/USES relationship with these state agencies would be the millions spent on the skimmer boats custom built and passed on to the State thru USES who was not a boat dealer or boat builder. How many hundreds of thousands did they reap for this? Where are the boats now? Did they ever skim any oil? A total waste of money that could have been put to good use elsewhere. Did Scott Walker sell USES access to the DMR and his father, Bill Walker? Most know that Malvaney had a very strong relationship with the Walkers at the DMR, almost working from the DMR building. Also Malvaney's relationship with Trudy Fisher,head dog at DEQ is common knowledge. Walker and Fisher made most decisions for the state during the oil spill cleanup and guess who benifited the most.Did Mavaney hire Scott Walker to access his father, Bill Walker? Did Bill Walker share in any monies paid to Scott? All good questions that will be answered one day.
9:21 The "ranting about Pickering" is nothing more than questions about the appearance of him protecting some connected people and causing others who are not connected to be prosecuted. The 4 suspicious deaths,3 called suicide, of people with DMR connections are fact, not fiction. This has nothing to do with Pickering but sure adds to the reasons he should not allow anyone from the DMR scandal off like he is doing until all is known. Obviously if you think all that has been alleged about the Walker gang at the DMR is not based on facts you are very uninformed. The FBI is very aware of all that has happened,even the deaths mentioned. Stay tuned and you may see for your self very soon. Did Pickering know that Howard Industries was meeting the required employment goals by counting illegal aliens when he audited this business that he previously was employed by? I thought the commenter is asking a very good question.
UPDATE: Judge closes courtroom in hearing over DMR records
The Sun Herald argued the state auditor lifted language from the records request for the grand jury subpoena.
Has anyone ever wondered if Auditor Pickering is just trying to protect Auditor Pickering by attempting to get the Judge to seal the DMR records? I've heard that Dr. Walker has come out clean in the investigation and that would be political suicide for Pickering. It's obvious that these records exonerate Dr. Walker or Pickering would want them to be public. Anyone who truly knows Dr. Walker knows that he is an honorable person and good scientist. My guess is that Pickering thought this DMR fiasco would help his U.S. Senate race, and it has backfired on him.
Has anyone ever wondered if Auditor Pickering is just trying to protect Auditor Pickering by attempting to get the Judge to seal the DMR records? I've heard that Dr. Walker has come out clean in the investigation and that would be political suicide for Pickering. It's obvious that these records exonerate Dr. Walker or Pickering would want them to be public. Anyone who truly knows Dr. Walker knows that he is an honorable person and good scientist. My guess is that Pickering thought this DMR fiasco would help his U.S. Senate race, and it has backfired on him.
I just got thru LMAO for about thirty minutes after reading Scott Walker's comment @12:34.The only way Bill Walker will "come out clean" will be if he gives up all he knows that the Feds may be interested in about his wife, his son,Haley Barbour, Trudy Fisher, George Malvaney, Moby Solangi, Michael Janus,Robbie Maxwell, David Harris, Frank Palazzo and all of the other associates he may have conspired with to misuse the taxpayers money. Stacey Pickering is the worst Auditor Ms. has ever had and Phil Bryant comes in second. I,for god,country and state hope the DMR is the undoing of all of the politicians that participate in the plundering of this state agency all the way down to the free chartered fishing trips. The way Pickering has handled this investigation makes him appear to be a very dumb politician taking to much advice from the Frontier bunglers. They all must go if Ms. is ever to rise to #49.
Who is this David Harris everyone keeps mentioning? The son of Judge Harris on the coast? Or is this someone else?
12:34AM
The only entertaining part about your comment is that if your assertions are true, then Chaplain Pickering gave a self stickering to his senate campaign, due to having his plans spin out of control.
Likewise, the only hope for some of these folks to come clean will probably be a few years of prison laundry duty. Where the clothes are WORN ONE TIME today, and WORN ONE TIME again and again 'till rank.
12:34 would have us believe that Pickering started the investigation(s) to help his US Senate run? Laughable and probably wrong. How did the OIG get involved? The feds were probably on this prior to Pickering taking office.
The state claims there is only one copy of the records Sun Herald requested. That, if true, would be a poor practice (both in management and accounting terms) in a state sometimes struck by tornadoes, crooks, hurricanes and flooding. Because, backups.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/10/31/5075567/judge-to-rule-today-on-sun-herald.html Based on what the judge said yesterday we may know soon who Pickering was trying so hard to protect. He says he will comply with the judge's order to produce the records. We will see.
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