Mike Zullo was presented with a subpoena in the Melendres case, and he produced thousands of pages of documents, but he also suggested that some documents might be protected under the 5th Amendment freedom from self incrimination. So what is Zullo hiding?
All of the Zullo documents were given to attorneys for Arpaio, and a list of withheld documents has entered into the court record. So here is the list in Microsoft Excel format (you can view the document without Excel).
I wanted to get this out as quickly as possible, so I haven’t studied it. Readers should note that “David Webb” is a pseudonym for Dennis Montgomery. I believe that “detmack” is Brian Mackiewicz. “1tick” is Mike Zullo and T_anglin is Travis Anglin of the MCSO. Flynn likely refers to Michael J. Flynn, who at one time was Dennis Montgomery’s attorney.
In the mean time, Judge Snow has denied a request for a 30-day delay from Mike Zullo, saying that Zullo has had enough time already to find an attorney. Zullo wanted the County to pay for an attorney for him, but the County’s position is that it will not. Judge Snow has recognized Mike Zullo’s motion as a request for a “protection order.” For additional information on the legal updates, see the article: “Joe Arpaio’s Birther Buddy Slams Sheriff’s Lawyers” by Stephen Lemons of the Phoenix New Times.
The deposition of Mike Zullo, in which he basically refuses to answer questions without an attorney, again raises the issue of criminal charges against Zullo, an issue raised by Zullo himself. Zullo said:
My position is this is an accusation of criminal wrongdoing and a civil process is being used in light of probable cause.
In the dialog that followed where Zullo refused to answer questions, Zullo did say that his concern refers to a brief from one of the Plaintiff’s attorneys from Covington & Burling, marked in the deposition as Exhibit number 2934, and in particular the footnote to that brief.
Photo courtesy of the Phoenix New Times.
So Zullo is claiming protection from charges related to the Montgomery Affair insofar as Montgomery was allegedly in possession of stolen government data. Here’s the list in text form from 18 U.S.C.:
- 793(b)-(f) taking or communication of documents relating to national defense
- 798 disclosure of classified information
- 1503 intimidation of federal court and obstruction of justice
- 1509 obstruction of court orders
- 1924 unauthorized removal of classified information
- 2511 interception electronic communications
- 2701 unlawful access to stored communications
Those charges will be hard to prove, given that all the information alleged in that list, according to Arpaio, is junk.