Recurring Government
June 15th, 2007Washington just keeps getting worse.
It was a $100 million mistake, and a federal judge said Friday he doesn’t have the power to fix it.
The Justice Department goofed last year and cited the wrong law in a binding plea agreement with telecommunication entrepreneur Walter Anderson, the largest tax scofflaw in U.S. history. That mistake made it impossible for the government to recover between $100 million and $175 million, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman said in March.
Prosecutors urged him to reconsider but Friedman reluctantly said Friday that his hands were tied.
“The court is not free to read something into a contract that is not there or to interpret uncertain language in the government’s favor,” Friedman said.
And if you don’t think that’s enough, the Middle East is exploding again, with Palestinians fighting Palestinians for Palestinian control of Palestine’s war.
Wow.