Bush in Trouble! RICO Prosecution Going Full Steam Ahead
“This lawsuit may be the most important case in U.S. History” Phillip Berg attorney for Ellen Mariani said.
By Katherine Yurica
SAN FRANCISCO, 4:00 a.m. January 8, 2004.
In a stunning forty-five minute interview with Ray Taliaferro, the news talk show host for the Early Show on KGO AM
radio, Ellen Mariani and her lawyer Phillip Berg of Philadelphia fielded questions. Mrs. Mariani is the widow of Louis
Neil Mariani, who was a passenger on the United Airlines Flight 175 when the plane slammed into the South Tower of the
World Trade Center.
Mrs. Mariani said, “I’m not a Democrat and I’m not a Republican. I’m just a woman who has lost her husband and I want to
know why and how it happened. I want my questions answered.” She said, “All the victims have a right to know the truth
about what happened and that’s why I am suing—not just for myself but for all the families.”
Mrs. Mariani admitted that she searched long and hard for a lawyer with the courage to take on the President of the
United States.
Phillip Berg, a former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Pennsylvania, now in private practice, said he
believed Ellen Mariani’s case would be judged by history as the most important case ever tried.
Berg’s assertion may be true when one considers John Dean’s assessment of how Richard Nixon was brought down in the
Watergate scandal in the 1970s. A bungled break-in attempt at the Watergate offices of Lawrence O’Brien, the chairman of
the Democratic National Committee, which led to a civil suit against Nixon’s reelection committee (CRP), according to
Dean, pulled down Richard Nixon. The lawsuit, Dean wrote, was the significant factor in “the unraveling of Watergate.”
Dean wrote of Watergate, “Long before Congress became involved and a special prosecutor was appointed, Joe Califano,
then general counsel to the Democratic National Committee and later a Cabinet officer, persuaded his Democratic
colleagues to file a civil suit against the Nixon reelection committee. And that maneuver almost broke the Watergate
cover-up wide open.”
If Dean’s analysis is correct and if Phil Berg is able to surmount motions for dismissal and motions for summary
judgment, Americans are in for the ride of their life. In fact, Berg said he received a notice that a hearing set for
January 14th on a motion for dismissal had just been canceled.
Jeffrey Trueman, Berg’s assistant and a consultant to Ellen Mariani told this reporter that they need all the help they
can get. They are hoping to put together a legal team consisting of experts who have prosecuted RICO cases. The Mariani
team has posted their requests for volunteers as well as for donations on their web site at http//www.911forthetruth.com
Berg said “a number of Californians have offered assistance to us, and we appreciate their help greatly. Edward Asner
has offered backing along with other Hollywood personalities. But the most important thing is for people—several million
of them—to come to our web site and sign the petition that tells the world that Americans want to find out the truth.”
Note: In the interest of full disclosure, in August of 2003, the Yurica Report posted our article on a RICO prosecution of
the Bush administration as an alternative to impeachment. The article detailed the events that make up the pattern of
racketeering that meets the RICO statute’s requirements for the prosecution of such a case. You may read our analysis at http://www.yuricareport.com (Believe me, it’s not dull!) Also, this reporter and the Yurica Report have made contributions to the Ellen Mariani
team following contact with us, in the form of research and suggestions.
Katherine Yurica was educated at East Los Angeles College, U.S.C. and the USC school of law. She worked as a consultant for Los Angeles
County and as a news correspondent for Christianity Today plus as a freelance investigative reporter. She is the author
of three books. She is also the publisher of the Yurica Report.