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"Bergrin allegedly told the drug traffickers....that if the informant (was) killed, (he) could get Baskerville out of jail and derail the federal prosecution....On March 4, 2004, Anthony Young (allegedly at the behest of Bergrin) shot the informant three times in the back of the head...."
From "at least....June 2008 through December 2008, Estevez, Bergrin and Moran schemed to locate and kill a number of witnesses that they believed intended (to) testify against Estevez."
Begrin's Involvement in Defending Operation Iron Triangle Soldiers
Lawyers who target high officials risk becoming victims of the system they challenge. Paul Bergrin is the latest, not for any crimes, but for threatening the wrong people - Col. Steele and high administration officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, George Bush and Dick Cheney.
It's no coincidence that he was arrested one week before Pfc. Clagett's trial, then a second time after he announced he'd target Rumsfeld for perjury regarding his sworn testimony about Abu Ghraib torture and abuse.
He got court permission for Steele to testify, something Washington wouldn't allow to avoid implicating higher-ups instead of "rotten apples" to be sacrificed. Had he done so, imagine the possibilities, including testimony from his second in command, Lt. Col. Nathaniel Johnson, calling him a "toxic leader;" that he used "kill boards," wanted a big body count, and in one pre-deployment speech told his troops:
"....where we're going they could not send a bunch of Girl Scouts and left-handed midgets to do what needs to be done....This is real, and the guy who is going to win on the battlefield is the one who gets violent the fastest. (So here's what) I want you to know. Number One, anytime you fight, anytime you fight, you always kill the other son-of-a-b*tch. Always. Do not let him live today, so he will fight you tomorrow. Kill him today....when you walk out that gate, fly out that gate, drive out that gate, I expect you to look like a killer....Man, it's time to go hunting....You are the hunter, you are the predator, you are looking for the prey, and that's all."
In his journey into the "Heart of Darkness," Joseph Conrad wrote:
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