Smoking gun: Trial lawyer asked Pelosi and Waxman to 'initiate' hearings

A California trial lawyer who stands to make millions of dollars in a pending lawsuit against Blackwater is behind the Waxman hearings against the private security company.

The letter shows the extent to which the Waxman "investigation" is motivated by partisan politics and a prominent member of one of the Democratic party's most deep-pocketed donor groups.

Daniel Callahan, a prominent trial lawyer based in Santa Ana, wrote Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) shortly after the November, 2006 elections that swept the Democrats back to power in the House, but before Pelosi became speaker. (See image above at left, and full image of three-page letter below. For a PDF copy, click here.)

Callahan sent copies to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who would again become chairman of the House Committee on Oversight; Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; and Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee; and Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Democratic leader.

The tone of the letter and the duties of the recipients show how Callahan used highly partisan terms to motivate the lawmakers to probe the company he was suing.

Callahan referred to "democratic subcommittees" that had been "looking into the issue of war profiteering" prior to the election, and that the pre-election "position of the democrats [sic] in Congress" led to evasiveness on the part of those being probed.

Saying that Blackwater's motivations have been no more than "corporate greed," the trial lawyer referred to his own civil lawsuit against the company in North Carolina, where Blackwater is based. Callahan is not on record as saying that his involvement in the suit is pro bono; he is reportedly suing on a contingency for whatever judgment he might receive.

After summing up his litigation activity, Callahan puts on his citizen hat: "Nevertheless, as American citizens, we hereby petition you to initiate, support and continue the Congressional investigations" especially on "Blackwater's conduct."

"Now that there has been a shift in power in Congress, we are hopeful that your investigation, as well as the investigations by Senator Dorgan and Congressman Waxman, will be taken seriously by these extremely Republican companies, such as Blackwater, who [sic] have been uncooperative to date, and that these investigations will be fruitful and meaningful."

The trial lawyer then offered his assistance: "To the extent that we can provide any assistance to you or these Congressional committees, we will do so to the extent permitted by law."

In February, 2007, Waxman held his first Blackwater hearing as oversight committee chairman. Waxman called Callahan's clients as witnesses. In September, 2007, Waxman's committee staff released a report on Blackwater that the committee's Republican staff chief, David Marin, denounced as having been based on the trial lawyer's information. On October 2, the trial lawyer attended the hearings; Waxman recognized the plaintiffs from the podium.

See below for images of Callahan's three-page letter.

Report: War Profiteer Defeated in Federal Court

We're hearing out of the US Federal Court of the Fourth Circuit in Richmond that a federal judge has rejected the trial lawyers' suit against Blackwater for the terrorist ambush in Fallujah, and has told the parties to settle their differences out of court.

This is a huge blow for ambulance chasing trial lawyer Dan Callahan (pictured), who had shell companies set up in North Carolina in the names of four deceased Blackwater contractors whom Islamist insurgents ambushed, murdered and mutilated in 2004. Via the shell companies, which he represented as "estates," Callahan was hoping to pocket many millions of dollars by taking advantage of the terrorists' attack on the Blackwater men. He persuaded several grieving members of the deceased men's families to go along, blaming Blackwater instead of the terrorists for the deaths, and holding out the prospect of lots of money from a court decision.

The trial lawyer is going to have to settle for a lot less now - if anything at all - after spending millions of dollars in venture capital in hopes of profiting from the atrocities.

It's also a big blow to Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Cal.), who opened up his "investigation" of Blackwater at Callahan's request, had Callahan's anti-Blackwater clients testify before Congress as expert witnesses, and followed the trial lawyer's script in holding the hearings and leaking confidential documents to the media.

Of course, this blogger's opinion that Dan Callahan is a sleaze is, indeed, an opinion, and is therefore protected speech. I'll be sure to post links to legal documents and news reports as soon as they're online.

How trial lawyers drive the anti-Blackwater train

One of the deans of Washington's journalistic community describes how trial lawyers are driving the anti-Blackwater movement.

In his October 8 Washington Post piece, syndicated columnist Robert Novak tells how an ambulance-chasing attorney crafted Congressman Henry Waxman's hearings against Blackwater. Novak cites the December, 2006 letter from a California trial lawyer requesting that incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Waxman (D-CA) probe Blackwater.

BlackwaterFacts.com posted the letter on October 3.

Among other things, Novak reveals that the same day Waxman demanded that Blackwater CEO Erik Prince appear before his committee, the trial lawyer, Daniel Callahan, called Blackwater counsel Joseph Schmitz. And here's where the case reeks of what reasonable people might call extortion: The trial lawyer told Schmitz that he could "bury" the bad publicity if Blackwater would fork over $20 million in cash.

Callahan is suing in North Carolina, along with local trial lawyer David Kirby, a former partner of ex-Senator John Edwards (pictured).

"While the trial lawyers wanted money, Democrats wanted more bad publicity for Blackwater -- and the Bush administration," says Novak. "Questioning by Democrats seemingly came straight from Callahan's legal briefs."

Forging ahead for the trial lawyers

Congressman Henry Waxman, the California Democrat who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is pressing ahead with more political favors requested by trial lawyers.

The Federal Times has the story.

In December 2006, a major California trial lawyer, Daniel Callahan, requested incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Waxman to hold hearings on Blackwater whose scope and content coincided with his lawsuit against the company.

Waxman (pictured) complied, holding a hearing featuring Callahan's plaintiff clients in February, and an October 2 hearing with the defendant in Callahan's case, Blackwater CEO Erik Prince, as the main witness.

Waxman is now demanding more information from Blackwater, including data on Blackwater's profit margin from its government contracts. As a private company, Blackwater is not liable to divulge such information. Prince told lawmakers at the hearing that they were asking him to reveal trade secrets that would damage his business.

Campaign corruption: Edwards attacks Blackwater as his trial lawyer former partner sues

Former Senator John Edwards, the trial lawyer now running for president, has made campaign statements attacking Blackwater - but has not revealed to the public that his friend and former law partner stands to make millions of dollars in pending litigation against the diplomatic security provider.

In an October 30 news release from his presidential campaign, Edwards called for a congressional investigation of State Department immunity for Blackwater contractors, and for a redoubling of Justice Department probes.

Edwards failed to disclose that one of the trial lawyers suing Blackwater, David Kirby, is his former partner. Kirby is the North Carolina end of the lawsuit brought forth by California trial lawyer Daniel Callahan. Callahan requested that Rep. Nancy Pelosi, now speaker, and Rep. Henry Waxman "initiate" hearings on Blackwater. Waxman complied, calling Callahan's clients as witnesses and has recycled the trial lawyer's legal briefs as congressional "investigative" documents.

Could Edwards be jumping on the anti-Blackwater issue to help his trial lawyer friend make money?

Trial Lawyer Still Hiding from Media

The trial lawyer who took advantage of grieving Blackwater families and tried to profit from the terrorists who murdered four contractors is still hiding from the media.

More than a week after a federal court effectively threw out his case against Blackwater, California trial lawyer Daniel Callahan has avoided making any press appearances.

Callahan devised a high-profile psychological campaign to discredit Blackwater, exploit the families of four Blackwater contractors murdered in Fallujah in 2004, and make millions from his made-for-media lawsuit. He's the source of phony allegations that Rep. Henry Waxman made against the company - allegations repeated without substantiation in the media. But since the federal court told the plaintiffs to abide by the terms of Blackwater's own contract, Callahan has been strangely silent.

Profile in courage.

Should trial lawyers make terror policy?

Who should make US policy concerning terrorism: the president and Congress, who serve the nation's interests, or the trial lawyers, who seek to profit for themselves? Ted Frank of the American Enterprise Institute looks at the issue in a September paper titled, "Should trial lawyers make terror policy?"

Among the trial lawyers at work, Frank notes, is Daniel Callahan, who is trying to make millions by suing Blackwater on behalf of family members of the four security men who were murdered and mutilated by Islamist militants in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.

Callahan, Frank writes, "is clear that his goal is more than simple recovery for his clients: 'As we expose Blackwater in this case, it will also expose the inefficient and corrupt system that exists over there [in Iraq].' He has successfully lobbied the Democratic Congress to hold hearings that promote his litigation, in part by calling Blackwater an 'extremely Republican' company."

Waxman brings trial lawyer clients to hearing

Concluding the October 2 Blackwater hearing. House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman recognized clients of a trial lawyer who is suing Blackwater USA for an eight-figure sum, holding the company responsible for the Sunni extremist murders of four Blackwater guards in Fallujah.

On resuming his post as committee chairman early this year, Waxman responded to the request of the trial lawyer, Daniel Callahan, to hold hearings on behalf of his lawsuit. Callahan made the request specifically to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Three Federal Judges Throw Out Fallujah Lawsuit

A panel of three federal judges has effectively thrown out the highly publicized lawsuit against Blackwater in relation to the ambush of four of its security contractors in 2004. The federal appeals court judges have ruled that Blackwater's contract that each of the men signed - requiring any disputes to be resolved in confidential arbitration and not in court - is valid and must be observed.

The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, which serves the area near Blackwater Worldwide's headquarters, has the story. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond dismissed the petition filed by trial lawyer Daniel Callahan on behalf of shell companies that another trial lawyer set up in the names of the estates of the deceased.

Callahan planned to make millions of dollars profiting from the insurgents who murdered the four American military veterans, mutilated their bodies, and hung two of the bodies from a bridge in Fallujah, Iraq, in March, 2004.

Blackwater spokesman Anne Tyrrell says that the federal appeals court has vindicated the company, and upheld the firm's contracts. "The federal courts have now honored those written agreements," Tyrrell says in the article.

Loser In Fallujah Suit Is Hiding from Press

California trial lawyer Daniel Callahan was never shy about talking to the press during his effort to profit financially from the deaths of four American military veterans in Iraq.

But now that a federal appeals court has effectively thrown out his suit against Blackwater, Callahan suddenly isn't talking.

The Virginian-Pilot, which serves the area near Blackwater Worldwide's headquarters and has been one of the main newspapers to break stories about the company, tried to get comments from both sides of the case for its October 21 story about the court decision.

Only Blackwater spokesman Anne Tyrrell would talk to the newspaper. According to Virginian-Pilot reporter Louis Hansen, the trial lawyers "did not respond to requests for comment."

Waxman abusing his power to help trial lawyers value Blackwater suits?

Congressman Waxman appears to be abusing his authority as chairman of House oversight committee, demanding to know the profits of a private company as part of his "accountability" crusade.

Congress has no legitimate reason to know the profits of a private company. Yet, at the behest of a trial lawyer who stands to make millions by suing Blackwater, Waxman is using his committee to try to do just that.

Using data furnished by the State Department, Waxman has already shown that Blackwater saves the taxpayer an estimated $100,000,000 a year or more as a private sector alternative to diplomatic security in Iraq.

The only reason why Waxman would need to know Blackwater's total

profits is if he was colluding with the trial lawyer who is suing the company. If he can get Blackwater to divulge its profits in dollar terms, he will will help the trial lawyers establish exactly how much they can hope to steal from Blackwater in a litigation maneuver.

The trial lawyers currently suing Blackwater include Daniel Callahan of Callahan & Blaine, terrorist attorney Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and al Qaeda fundraising attorney Shereef Hadi Akeel of Akeel & Valentine.

Is Waxman abusing power to aid trial lawyers?

Not even Jack Abramoff could top this one - getting a senior congressman to abuse his committee chairmanship by holding hearings to benefit a trial lawyer.

But that's what a California trial lawyer apparently got Rep. Henry Waxman to do in his jihad against Blackwater USA.

Waxman is holding another show trial of Blackwater on October 2.

The sleazy-looking arrangement came to light earlier this year when Waxman (D-Calif.) held an "investigative" hearing on Blackwater, and called in witnesses who happened to be plaintiffs in a case against the company.

Waxman chairs the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, a post that grants him sweeping investigative powers.

The Overlawyered blog reported last February, "Nice tactic, if you can get away with it: after filing suit, get a House committee to conduct a hostile investigation of your opponent with your clients appearing as friendly witnesses. That's what appears to have happened in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's hearings last week on alleged shortcomings in the work of Iraq contractor Blackwater USA. The friendly witnesses in this case, called by committee chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), were family members of several Blackwater consultants killed in Iraq, who are suing the company for damages. According to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the hearing followed upon the sending of a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by Orange County, Calif., plaintiffs’ lawyer Daniel Callahan of Callahan & Blaine, who's representing the families. The letter urged a "fruitful and meaningful" investigation of "these extremely Republican companies, such as Blackwater, who have been uncooperative to date."

Waxman to Leave Committee Whose Powers He Abused

Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has upset the House seniority system to chair the Energy and Commerce Committee, a move that will require him to step down as chairman of the investigative committee whose powers he abused while helping his trial lawyer friends harass Blackwater.

Longtime loyal Waxman staffer Philip Schiliro (pictured at right) is moving up Pennsylvania Avenue, where President-Elect Barack Obama has named him chief of White House congressional relations. Schiliro is leaving as the ultra-partisan staff director of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, from which he ran the anti-Blackwater hearings in partnership with trial lawyers as they sued the company.

Within two weeks of trial lawyer Daniel Callahan writing to Waxman requesting partisan attacks on Blackwater, Schiliro told the Washington Post that he planned to focus the committee investigations on Iraq, contracting, and the response to Hurricane Katrina - coincidentally the exact issues that had generated controversy for Blackwater. The Post noted at the time that when run by the Republicans under the chairmanship of Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), the Committee had a "relatively bipartisan tone." Schiliro turned it into an ultra-partisan attack machine.

2004 Fallujah incident was ambush

The 2004 incident in Fallujah that left four Blackwater guards dead and mutilated was a planned ambush designed for its propaganda effect.

That's what a Blackwater report to Congress explains, in the company's first significant public comment on the matter. A California trial lawyer is suing Blackwater, alleging that the firm was negligent in sending its men on the fatal mission. That lawyer, Daniel Callahan, has been the source of congressional allegations against the North Carolina company.

After years of silence, Blackwater gives a revealing account of a well-prepared ambush of private security guards Jerry Zovko, Wesley Batalona, Michael Teague and Scott Helvenston. The Associated Press gives the following highlights:

• Sectarian Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) personnel "intentionally betrayed" the Blackwater guards and led them into the ambush;


• "It was ICDC betrayal and enemy ambush — not contractor incompetence — that led to the deaths of four Blackwater personnel on March 31, 2004," the company says.


• "Stronger weapons, armored vehicles, ammunition or maps would not have shielded these brave military veterans from the certain death that awaited them on that morning," Blackwater says. "Even if Blackwater had placed six men on the mission, the result would likely have been the same."


• ICDC representatives showed the Blackwater guards the quickest route through Falljuah. At a downtown crossing, Iraqi police stopped the convoy.


• As the convoy moved out of the intersection, at least five gunmen opened fire at close range with Kalashnikov assault rifles. Two of the shooters held video cameras in one hand.


• "The fact that the assailants were set to record the murders is further proof that there was a pre-existing plan at work," according to Blackwater.


• Oncoming traffic cut off the escape route. The non-US drivers escaped. The four American guards never had time to fire a shot.


• "The ambush, apparently, was only intended to kill the Americans."


• Nearly four hours passed before the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps or Iraqi police began to investigate.
  

Waxman Strategy: Make Blackwater Ineligible for Federal Contracts

As he continues to hammer away at the linchpin that keeps US diplomatic activity secure and the troops resupplied in wars on the other side of the world, Congressman Henry Waxman is revealing his strategy.

If he can't discredit the job Blackwater is doing - with its 100 percent success record defending diplomats, aid workers, and visiting congressmen and senators from terrorist attack - Waxman thinks he can destroy the company by picking away at regulatory issues.

ProPublica.org describes what's happening: "Waxman appears to be taking a new tack: scrutinizing the contractor's employment practices to make it ineligible for future federal contracts."

"So far," says ProPublica.org, whose reporting is biased against the company, "Waxman's strategy seems to be working."

Waxman began his jihad against Blackwater in February 2007, at the behest of a California trial lawyer. The trial lawyer, Dan Callahan, is suing the company on behalf of shell companies that another trial lawyer set up in the names of four security guards whom terrorists murdered in 2004.

Sounds like a sleazy arrangement: A congressman using taxpayer dollars to discredit a defendant in a lawsuit on behalf of a private businessman, a trial lawyer, who stands to make millions by suing a private company that the congressman is pressuring the government to investigate. Too bad there's no accountability to stop such abuse.

Waxman 'investigation' tracks trial lawyer allegations

Blackwater's report to a House panel on the killings of four of its men in Fallujah in 2004 says that the congressional committee's "investigation" is politically motivated and that it tracks with a lawsuit filed by a trial lawyer who stands to make millions of dollars from suing the company.

Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA, pictured) has led the hearings in response to a request from trial lawyer Daniel Callahan.

Bloomberg reports, "Blackwater officials, in their response yesterday to Waxman's accusations about the Fallujah incident, said there were 'striking similarities' between Waxman's report and a lawsuit filed against the company on behalf of the families of the four victims.

"The complaint and the Waxman report, for example, both accuse Blackwater of not using armored vehicles as a way to save costs. Waxman's report 'intentionally or not, tracks the litigation position,' Blackwater said.

"The report also noted a Dec. 13, 2006, letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in which an attorney for the families urged Congress to investigate allegations of cost cutting by 'extremely Republican companies' such as Blackwater."