Corruption

I came down here to American Samoa to get away from the drama and pressure of working in the District Attorney's Office back home. But it seems that drama is everywhere. Right now, the Attorney General's Office is caught up in a nightmare of a public relations scandal. One of the Assistant Attorney General's in our office recently filed 24 felony counts against 4 staff members in our office for embezzeling. Three of the defendants were transferred to another division of the office, the fourth resigned, and the attorney who filed the charges against them was fired. Makes sense, right? Then, when our office tried to get the court to appoint an independent prosecutor, which the law mandates, the cases were dismissed. Awesome. And while the rumor mill runs rampant across the schoolyard that is American Samoa, our office remains silent. No press releases, no PR damage control, not even an in-office meeting with the attorneys and staff to say this is what is going on. Nothing. It is unbelievable.

Here are just a few of the articles in the Samoa News about it:
AG sacks lawyer who filed charges in alleged CI scam
Ward nixes move for dismissal in alleged CI scam;AG says there is no intention by his office not to prosecute case
Independent Prosecutor Law hasn't been okayed by Interior; Ward: There has to be a way to depoliticize prosecutions or the feds will step in
Alleged CI Scam Case Dismissed

And some of the letters to the editor:
"UNBELIEVABLY SHAMELESS!"; "SHAMEFUL AG DECISION"; "ALLEGED CI SCAM"

I swear it's like I'm working for the mob. I'm waiting to wake up one morning with a horse's head in my bed.