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| 5/24 |
| 2007/3/12-15 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:45944 Activity:high |
3/12 Alberto Gonzales and Pete Domenici, buh-bye
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/012983.php
\_ Hi there. So I guess every administration fires
\_ It's not just the firing, it's the (ab)use of the Patriot Act
to replace the fired attorneys with Bush-cronies without
Senate approval. But of course, no one in our government
ever abuses the Patriot Act!
\_ Why isn't the attorney general's office busy rooting out
corporate crime, fraud, criminal conspiracies, government
contractor fraud? Are they really that petty that they would
devote a lot of time over firing a few federal prosecutors
who weren't sufficiently anti-Democrat? Maybe this is better
than Ashcroft's obsession with prosecuting porn, but I'm not
sure. I like how they originally thought for a brief amount
of time that they should fire EVERY SINGLE federal prosecutor
and replace them with Bush friendly appointees. See that
last line again. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM. Funny stuff.
\_ It's not just the firing, it's the (ab)use of the Patriot Act
to replace the fired attorneys with Bush-cronies without
Senate approval. But of course, no one in our government
ever abuses the Patriot Act!
\_ Why not post a news article instead of some wonk's blog?
\_ If you don't know who Josh Micah Marshall is, just say so.
If you don't like his blog, read him in The Hill.
\_ HERE. HAPPY?
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yo9knb (news.yahoo.com)
\_ I'm not the op, but what's wrong with posting a link to a blog?
It's also worth noting that TPM isn't just some random blog, it
has a readership that rivals some newspapers. TPM is clearly a
liberal source, but, last I checked, having a variety of
viewpoints strengthens debate. Why not post a link to a
conservative source on the story? I took a look on little
green footballs but he doesn't appear to have a post about this.
-dans
\_ I actually just found the blog post hard to read. He assumes
you've read his previous stuff. That doesn't mean I want a
rightie blog.
\_ That's an interesting point. -dans
\_ Oh look, dans thinks something is interesting!
The motd isn't about what you think is interesting. -tom
\_ Yes, it's about tom being an asshole with NPD.
Well, that or people impersonating tom being an
asshole with NPD, which is equally amusing. -dans
\_ Sorry to interupt, but what's NPD?
\_ Narcissistic Personality Disorder -dans
\_ Narcissistic Personality Dansorder -dans
\_ It is pretty funny to watch you two
arguing over who is the biggest jerk...
\_ I serve at the pleasure of the motd.
Also, I am recovering from NPD, which
is why I am able to admit I have it
unlike Tom and also why I would like to
help him. Tom, the first step is
admitting you have a problem.
-dans
\_ dans, I want you to stop talking
about me in the motd immediately.
-tom
\_ I can't believe tom actually wrote
this since it was tom (or someone
who signed as tom) who stepped in
to this thread slamming dans in
the first place only a few lines
up. That would be shockingly
hypocritical.
\_ I'm reasonably certain it was
somebody who signed as tom on
the first one. One usally have
to eviscerate tom's points
before he resorts to insulting
you. Though being shockingly
hypocritical is totally in
character for tom since, in his
head, it all makes sense. -dans
you. -dans
\_ Here is a link to a Washington Post article:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/34647w (washingtonpost.com)
Re the subject matter - what is the big deal here? BUSHCO fired
some attorneys for political reasons? So what? It happens all
the time.
\_ It absolutely does not "happen all the time". This is a big
deal because it's unprecedented. And for the executive to
fire DoJ prosecuters at the whim of legislators is possibly
a separation of powers issue. Gonzales is holding a 2pm ET
presser. Let's see if he resigns.
\_ It does happen all the time:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ywyvym (nytimes.com)
The Times notes that on 24 March 1993 AG Reno demanded
the resignation of all US Attorneys for an arguably
political reason - to stop the on-going investigation
of Dan Rostenkowski.
\_ These are not just attorneys; they're US Attorneys,
responsible for deciding what gets investigated and
prosecuted in their regions. The accusation is that they were
fired because they refused to open potentially politically
damaging investigations of Dems for corruption just prior to
the '06 elections. If they're being fired because of
incompetence or failure to do their jobs, that's one thing;
if they're being punished for not caving in to political
pressure to open spurious investigations for political gain,
that's something else entirely.
\_ How else was Karl Rove going to create his
Thousand Year^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^HPermanent Republican
Majority?
\_ Old jungle saying: to the victor go the spoils. BUSHCO
won the 04 election, they can decide how they want to
run the DOJ. If that means they want to get rid of US
attorneys they don't like, that is w/in their executive
discretion.
I agree that BUSHCO acted in a potentially stupid and
short-sighted manner and have set a very bad precedent
for future administrations, but there isn't anything
"wrong" w/ what they have done; it was completely w/in
their discretion to act like a bunch of idiots.
NOTE: I agree that if the new appointments are done w/o
senate approval and by abusing the Patriot act, then
the appointments are VERY suspect and maybe illegal,
but I cannot agree that they dismissals rise to that
level.
\_ The rolling resignations say otherwise. Gonzales
TESTIFIED UNDER OATH about this matter. He lied.
That's what us jungle folk call "perjury".
\_ So what? Try him for perjury. That still doesn't
make the dismissals wrong. Appointing cronies
w/o senate approval, I think, crosses the line.
\_ If the dismissals had been across the board or
hadn't labeled the failure to prosecute Dems as
incompetence and dereliction of duty, they would
not have occasioned as much attention.
\_ Wow, just wow. So subverting the justice system
for political gain is just hunky dory? This thread
is just crying out for a Godwin...
\_ Justice is not subverted simply b/c one set of
prosecutors is replaced w/ another. Justice can't
be subverted so long as the judiciary remains
independent of the executive.
The real issue here is merely whether BUSHCO
acted w/in its discretion in dismissing attorneys
who worked for it. They did, regardless of the
motivations for doing so. Let's say that Pres.
ALGOR fired a bunch of US attorneys for failing
to start politically motivated investigations
against big oil, would it even be a "scandal"?
Probably not.
BUSHCO, like every other administration, is
also free to appoint whoever they want as
replacement attorneys provided that they do
not bypass the approval process. Bypassing
the approval process is arguably subvertion
of justice.
\_ It may not be subverting justice, but it is
certainly going to look bad politically, that
BushCo fired justice dept attorneys, to try
and cover up for Abramoff and DeLay.
\_ That I can agree w/. It looks *really*
stupid, but if BUSHCO wants to act like
a bunch of idiots, that is w/in their
discretion (and not really out of char-
acter). Its too bad there is no national
recall election.
\_ My reference to the Thousand Year Reich was
not Hitleresque enough for you?
\- you may enjoy:
http://www.cafepress.com/ipa_politics.14487589 |
| 5/24 |
|
| www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/012983.php The White House was deeply involved in the decision late last year to dismiss federal prosecutors, including some who had been criticized by Republican lawmakers, administration officials said Monday. Last October, President Bush spoke with Attorney General Alberto R Gonzales to pass along concerns by Republicans that some prosecutors were not aggressively addressing voter fraud, the White House said Monday. Senator Pete V Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, was among the politicians who complained directly to the president, according to an administration official. Perhaps as telling, according to the new Times article, Kyle Sampson, Alberto Gonzales's Chief of Staff and the guy who was actually in charge of drawing up the list ... And one other tidbit -- Sampson had a partner in assembling the list: then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers. Late Update: There's a sub-issue emerging in the canned US Attorneys scandal: the apparently central role of Republican claims of voter fraud and prosecutors unwillingness to bring indictments emerging from such alleged wrongdoing. Very longtime readers of this site will remember that this used to be something of a hobby horse of mine. And it's not surprising that it is now emerging as a key part of this story. The very short version of this story is that Republicans habitually make claims about voter fraud. And in most if not every case the claims are little more than stalking horses for voter suppression efforts. reported on and written about this issue at great length. So this becomes a critical backdrop to understanding what happened in some of these cases. Why didn't the prosecutors pursue indictments when GOP operatives started yakking about voter fraud? Almost certainly because there just wasn't any evidence for it. Gonna Be A Long Night Update: The Post also got a piece of the Monday document dump. Many of the key points are the same as what appears in the Times. Perhaps the most important of which is this: the Patriot Act provision allowing the Attorney General to appoint US Attorneys by fiat was at the heart of this. The Post quotes an email from the now resigned Sampson in which he tells Miers: "I am only in favor of executing on a plan to push some USAs out if we really are ready and willing to put in the time necessary to select candidates and get them appointed. It will be counterproductive to DOJ operations if we push USAs out and then don't have replacements ready to roll immediately. I strongly recommend that as a matter of administration, we utilize the new statutory provisions that authorize the AG to make USA appointments. we can give far less deference to home state senators and thereby get 1) our preferred person appointed and 2) do it far faster and more efficiently at less political costs to the White House." And here's the piece in the Post story which should lead to Sen. One e-mail from Miers's deputy, William Kelley, on the day of the Dec. Sampson wrote in an e-mail a week later: "Domenici is going to send over names tomorrow (not even waiting for Iglesias's body to cool)." As has happened so many times in the last six years, the maximal version of this story -- which seemed logical six weeks ago but which I couldn't get myself to believe -- turns out to be true. We now know that Gonzales, McNulty and Moschella each lied to Congress. We know that the purge was a plan that began at the White House -- and it was overseen by two of President Bush's closest lieutenants in Washington -- Miers and Gonzales. And remember this key point: The 'document dump' is meant to get bad news out of the way fast. And if you're not in deep crisis mode, ya' never do it on a Monday. |
| preview.tinyurl.com/yo9knb -> news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_on_go_co/congress_prosecutors&printer=1;_ylt=A0WTUdS31vZFKNUApi6MwfIE Gonzales: Prosecutors firings mishandled By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago Attorney General Alberto Gonzales acknowledged that mistakes were made and accepted responsibility Tuesday for the way eight federal prosecutors were fired. At a Justice Department news conference, Gonzales said he would find out why Congress was not told sooner that the White House was involved in discussions of who would be fired and when. He did not back away, however, from his stance that the dismissals that did take place were appropriate. "I stand by the decision and I think it was the right decision," Gonzales said. Democrats in Congress have charged that the eight dismissals announced last December were politically motivated and that some of those ousted have said they felt pressured by powerful Republicans in their home states to rush investigations of potential voter fraud involving Democrats. Justice Department officials, led by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, told lawmakers under oath that the decision to fire eight US attorneys in December was made solely by the Justice Department and said the decision was based on performance, not politics. E-mails released Tuesday, however, revealed that the firings were considered and discussed for two years by Justice Department and White House officials. "Obviously I am concerned about the fact that information -- incomplete information was communicated or may have been communicated to the Congress," Gonzales said. "I believe very strongly in our obligation to ensure that when we provide information to the Congress, it is accurate and it is complete. And I very dismayed that that may not have occurred here." Gonzales earlier accepted the resignation of his top aide, Kyle Sampson. Authorities said that Sampson failed to brief other senior Justice Department officials of his discussions about the firings with then-White House counsel Harriet Miers. E-mail correspondence between Sampson and Miers indicate they began two years ago to consider individual US attorneys for possible dismissal. As the list took shape, their correspondence indicated possible political backlash from the attorneys and their congressional allies. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. |
| preview.tinyurl.com/34647w -> www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031201818_pf.html REAL ESTATE Firings Had Genesis in White House Ex-Counsel Miers First Suggested Dismissing Prosecutors 2 Years Ago, Documents Show By Dan Eggen and John Solomon Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, March 13, 2007; A01 The White House suggested two years ago that the Justice Department fire all 93 US attorneys, a proposal that eventually resulted in the dismissals of eight prosecutors last year, according to e-mails and internal documents that the administration will provide to Congress today. The dismissals took place after President Bush told Attorney General Alberto R Gonzales in October that he had received complaints that some prosecutors had not energetically pursued voter-fraud investigations, according to a White House spokeswoman. Gonzales approved the idea of firing a smaller group of US attorneys shortly after taking office in February 2005. The aide in charge of the dismissals -- his chief of staff, D Kyle Sampson -- resigned yesterday, officials said, after acknowledging that he did not tell key Justice officials about the extent of his communications with the White House, leading them to provide incomplete information to Congress. Lawmakers requested the documents as part of an investigation into whether the firings were politically motivated. While it is unclear whether the documents, which were reviewed yesterday by The Washington Post, will answer Congress's questions, they show that the White House and other administration officials were more closely involved in the dismissals, and at a much earlier date, than they have previously acknowledged. Several former prosecutors have since alleged intimidation, including improper telephone calls from GOP lawmakers or their aides, and have alleged threats of retaliation by a Justice Department official. Administration officials have portrayed the firings as a routine personnel matter, designed primarily to rid the department of a handful of poor performers. But the documents and interviews indicate that the idea for the firings originated at least two years ago, when then-White House counsel Harriet E Miers suggested to Sampson in February 2005 that all prosecutors be dismissed and replaced. Gonzales rejected that idea as impractical and disruptive, Justice officials said, but over the next 22 months Sampson orchestrated more limited dismissals. "I recommend that the Department of Justice and the Office of the Counsel to the President work together to seek the replacement of a limited number of US Attorneys," Sampson wrote to Miers in January 2006. A "limited number of US attorneys could be targeted for removal and replacement, mitigating the shock to the system that would result from an across the board firing." Administration officials say they are braced for a new round of criticism today from lawmakers who may feel misled by recent testimony from Gonzales, Deputy Attorney General Paul J McNulty and William E Moschella, principal associate deputy attorney general. Several Democrats have called in recent days for Gonzales to resign. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that "it doesn't appear the president was told about a list nor shown a list" of US attorneys at any point in the discussions. She said White House political adviser Karl Rove had an early conversation with Miers about the idea of firing all chief prosecutors and did not think it was wise. Bush mentioned complaints about voter-fraud investigations to Gonzales in a conversation in October 2006, Perino said. Gonzales does not recall the conversation, Justice Department officials said. Bush "believes informally he may have mentioned it to the AG during the meeting discussing other matters," Perino said. "White House officials including the president did not direct DOJ to take any specific action with regards to any specific US attorney." Rove and other White House officials also forwarded complaints that US attorneys were not doing enough to prosecute voter fraud. Since the 2000 presidential election ended in dispute in Florida, Republicans have repeatedly raised concerns about possible voter fraud, alleging that convicted felons and other ineligible voters have been permitted to cast ballots to the benefit of Democrats. Congressional committees yesterday requested that Rove testify before them about the firings; the House Judiciary Committee also requested that Miers appear. The e-mails show that Rove was interested in the appointment of a former aide, Tim Griffin, as an Arkansas prosecutor. Sampson wrote in one that "getting him appointed was important to Harriet, Karl, etc." Sampson sent an e-mail to Miers in March 2005 that ranked all 93 US attorneys. Strong performers "exhibited loyalty" to the administration; low performers were "weak US attorneys who have been ineffectual managers and prosecutors, chafed against Administration initiatives, etc." At least a dozen prosecutors were on a "target list" to be fired at one time or another, the e-mails show. Two were given strong evaluations: David C Iglesias in Albuquerque, who has alleged political interference from GOP lawmakers, and Kevin V Ryan in San Francisco, whose firing has generated few complaints because of widespread management and morale problems in his office. Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said last night that Gonzales will announce new ways of evaluating US attorneys, but said the department still believes the firings were "based on performance-related considerations." In January 2006, Sampson sent to the White House the first list of seven candidates for dismissal, including four who were fired at year's end: Chiara, Cummins, Lam and Ryan. The list also recommended Griffin and other replacements, most of whom were edited from documents viewed by The Post. In September, Sampson produced another list of firing candidates, telling the White House that Cummins was "in the process of being pushed out" and providing the names of eight others whom "we should consider pushing out." Iglesias, the New Mexico prosecutor, was not on that list. Pete V Domenici and other New Mexico Republicans that he was not prosecuting enough voter-fraud cases. Sampson also strongly urged bypassing Congress in naming replacements, using a little-known power slipped into the renewal of the USA Patriot Act in March 2006 that allows the attorney general to name interim replacements without Senate confirmation. "I am only in favor of executing on a plan to push some USAs out if we really are ready and willing to put in the time necessary to select candidates and get them appointed," Sampson wrote in a Sept. "It will be counterproductive to DOJ operations if we push USAs out and then don't have replacements ready to roll immediately. "I strongly recommend that as a matter of administration, we utilize the new statutory provisions that authorize the AG to make USA appointments," he wrote. By avoiding Senate confirmation, Sampson added, "we can give far less deference to home state senators and thereby get 1) our preferred person appointed and 2) do it far faster and more efficiently at less political costs to the White House." A week later, Sampson wrote: "Domenici is going to send over names tomorrow (not even waiting for Iglesias's body to cool)." The documents also provide new details about the case of Griffin, a former Republican National Committee researcher who was named interim US attorney in Little Rock in December. E-mails show that Justice officials discussed bypassing the two Democratic senators in Arkansas, who normally would have had input into the appointment, as early as last August. By mid-December, Sampson was suggesting that Gonzales exercise his newfound appointment authority to put Griffin in place until the end of Bush's term. f we don't ever exercise it then what's the point of having it?" Post a Comment Comments: (Limit 5,000 characters) Post Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who viol... |
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