Is a prominent Democratic attorney in Miami being targeted by the Bush crime syndicate?

Maybe I need to adjust my tin-foil hat, but this story has all the earmarks of a Drunky McStagger political hit:

Ben Kuehne is a top-tier Miami defense lawyer, the type other attorneys rely on for legal advice. Member of the Florida Bar's Board of Governors. Ex-president of the Dade County Bar Association. Counsel to former Vice President Al Gore during the 2000 vote recount.

Now, Kuehne stands accused of a crime for the advice he gave to a defense team headed by another high-profile Miami lawyer, Roy Black, in a Medellin cocaine cartel smuggling case. And his unprecedented indictment on money-laundering and obstruction of justice charges as part of a U.S. sting operation is sending shivers down the spines of defense attorneys nationwide.

"I tell you frankly it scares the life and soul out of me, and to all others," said defense attorney Milton Hirsch.

Some defense attorneys say lawyers will stop taking cases involving defendants whose financial situations are murky because of fears they could someday face charges themselves.

"This will affect many types of white-collar criminal cases, not just drug kingpin cases, and may well impact the ability of defendants to hire talented and zealous lawyers," said Miami defense attorney Neal Sonnett, who recently represented former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff in a fraud case.

Kuehne, 53, is accused of writing opinion letters that Colombian drug kingpin Fabio Ochoa had enough money free from the taint of drug trafficking to pay some $5.2 million in legal fees. For his advice, Kuehne was paid just under $200,000 by Black's firm and others involved in Ochoa's defense.

Now, of course, I don't know the facts beyond what is stated in the article. However, it's what comes out later in the article that, well, sends shivers down my spine:

The case is being handled by the U.S. Justice Department in Washington rather than the Miami U.S. attorney's office. In a statement, the Justice Department said it "approaches with great care" any possible prosecution of a defense lawyer.

"However, when there is clear evidence of wrongdoing, the department will honor its commitment to the pursuit of justice. Attorneys are not immune from prosecution for money laundering simply on the basis that they represent criminal defendants," the statement said.

See, it's the fact that DOJ in Washington has to take this on rather than leaving it with the local U.S. Attorney's office -- as is customary -- that raises red flags with me. Moreover, as a recovering attorney myself, this sort of thing is extremely troubling: if you can be charged with obstruction of justice and money laundering for what appears to amount only to providing a legal opinion -- which, after all, is your job if you're a lawyer -- then you're on a slippery slope, and pretty far down it for that matter.

Perhaps, as I have said repeatedly, I don't know all the facts, and maybe Mr. Kuehne was engaged in far more than merely writing opinion letters. But the Bush crime syndicate has hardly earned the benefit of the doubt over the last seven-plus years, so I'm inclined to see a political motive ... do you?