John Albaugh's Cooperation

Today in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, a Joint Motion to Continue Status Conference (.pdf) was filed in the case of USA vs. John Albaugh. Basically this document asks Judge Ellen S. Huvelle to delay the sentencing process for John Albaugh due to his continuing cooperation. Mr. Albaugh was a former aide to former Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) and figures prominently in the indictment of Kevin Ring.

If all we learn from such a document is that a status conference has been reset, the ACR Blog typically won't mention Motions to Continue. Of course, there is something different in this Motion:

The government anticipates that Mr. Albaugh's cooperation will continue for the foreseeable future, and in any event well into late-2009.

Normally the government doesn't set an anticipated conclusion date of a defendant's cooperation. The ACR Blog can't get inside the head of the lawyers who drafted this document. We don't know if there truly is something significant about "late-2009" or not.

Mr. Ring's trial is expected to begin in early September and last about a month. The ACR Blog wonders if the conclusion of Mr. Ring's trial really is the end of Mr. Albaugh's cooperation.

Court documents related to Mr. Albaugh's plea deal identify former Rep. Istook as "Representative 4". When the DoJ uses codenames like "Representative 4", the ACR Blog infers that the person identified faces legal jeopardy. Not all Congressmen are given such codenames. Recall that former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) was identified as "the New Mexico tribe's U.S. Representative", not "Representative 6".

Perhaps we're making a mountain out of a molehill here, but does the possible conclusion of Mr. Albaugh's cooperation in "late-2009" portend well for Rep. Istook? We'll certainly be watching in three months to see what is said about Mr. Albaugh's cooperation at that time. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Albaugh's cooperation is still needed after Mr. Ring's trial.