Cheney, Gonzales Indicted in Texas

This is a weird one. Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, along with some local officials, have been indicted by a South Texas grand jury. Cheney and Gonzalez are accused of of engaging in organized criminal activity related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.

The Cheney indictment stems from his investments (some $85 million worth!) in companies that run the Texas prisons where the abuses took place.

Cheney's indictment on a charge of engaging in an organized criminal activity criticizes the vice president's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.

Megan Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Cheney, declined to comment on Tuesday, saying that the vice president had not yet received a copy of the indictment.

As for Gonzales, he's accused of using his position as AG to stop an investigation in 2006 into abuses at one of the privately-run prisons.

Gonzalez's attorney, George Terwilliger III, said in a written statement, "This is obviously a bogus charge on its face, as any good prosecutor can recognize. Hopefully, competent Texas authorities will take steps to reign in this abuse of the criminal justice system."

I'm no legal scholar but it seems unlikely that we'll be seeing either Cheney or Gonzales in a South Texas courtroom any time soon. The indictments seem to be part of a last minute charge-a-palooza in a county known for some oddball legal moves.

The indictment, which had not yet been signed by the presiding judge, was one of seven released Tuesday in a county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles in recent years. Another of the indictments named a state senator on charges of profiting from his position.

Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra himself had been under indictment for more than a year and half before a judge dismissed the indictments last month. This flurry of charges came in the twilight of Guerra's tenure, which ends this year after nearly two decades in office. He lost convincingly in a Democratic primary in March.

At the very least the indictments are an annoyance for Gonzales and Cheney and possibly a clue of legal roadblocks to come for the most secretive White House in history. And fighting charges like this will become a whole lot harder for them once the Bush administration is out of power.