Newly surfaced court documents reveal that Karen Gilbert, a prominent prosecutor involved in the case against former President Trump regarding sensitive documents, had previously faced penalties for unethical conduct in a federal narcotics case. The documents indicate that in 2009, Gilbert, who now plays a crucial role in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s pursuit of Trump, was compelled to resign from her position as chief of the narcotics department at the Miami U.S. Attorney’s office due to her involvement in the secret recording of a defense lawyer.
The case in question revolved around Dr. Ali Shaygan, a family physician from Florida accused of unlawfully distributing 141 doses of pain medication. Tragically, a few days after receiving a methadone prescription from Shaygan in June 2007, James Brendan Downey passed away. The federal government also alleged that Shaygan had distributed controlled substances such as Xanax, hydrocodone, and Roxicodone.
During the investigation, Gilbert, along with her former colleague Sean Cronin, became suspicious of witness tampering and made the controversial decision to wiretap Shaygan’s attorney without obtaining proper authorization from the local U.S. Attorney. Ultimately, all charges against Shaygan were dropped, and he now argues that Gilbert should not be involved in federal prosecutions due to her questionable ethics. He expressed a lack of confidence in her ability to behave ethically in any circumstance and deemed her continued employment at the Department of Justice inappropriate, going so far as to call her a “sorry sack of lies.”
U.S. District Judge Alan Gold delivered a scathing 50-page decision, awarding Shaygan $601,795 in attorney costs and condemning the government for its “bad faith” and “gross negligence” in its handling of Gilbert and her team. The Department of Justice acknowledged its serious mistakes in court documents, expressing regret for the situation.
Furthermore, records from the Federal Election Commission reveal that Gilbert has made political contributions totaling over $2,000 to the campaigns of both President Biden and former President Obama. These donations are part of a broader pattern of political support for Democratic candidates running for federal office.
In response to these revelations, Representative Gaetz commented that it should be evident that due diligence is necessary in vetting an office that seemingly failed to vet its own personnel or potentially sought to hire sanctioned lawyers and partisan individuals. Gaetz views this as a legitimate reason to request further information on the matter.