Adios Alberto?

[Zipp0 1]

In the wake of the firing of 8 US attorneys involved in politically sensitive investigations, and the uproar over FBI abuses of the Patriot Act. many are calling for Gonzales to go. Should he step down?

(http://www.nytimes.com/)


(http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nyti...
d=animate2_namesake88x31.gif&goto=http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thenamesake/)


____________________________________
March 12, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Overblown Personnel Matters
By _PAUL KRUGMAN_
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnis...)


Nobody is surprised to learn that the Justice Department was lying when it
claimed that recently fired federal prosecutors were dismissed for poor
performance. Nor is anyone surprised to learn that White House political operatives
were pulling the strings.
What is surprising is how fast the truth is emerging about what Alberto
Gonzales, the attorney general, dismissed just five days ago as an “overblown
personnel matter.”
Sources told Newsweek that the list of prosecutors to be fired was drawn up
by Mr. Gonzales’s chief of staff, “with input from the White House.” And Allen
Weh, the chairman of the New Mexico Republican Party, told McClatchy News
that he twice sought Karl Rove’s help — the first time via a liaison, the second
time in person — in getting David Iglesias, the state’s U.S. attorney, fired
for failing to indict Democrats. “He’s gone,” he claims Mr. Rove said.
After that story hit the wires, Mr. Weh claimed that his conversation with
Mr. Rove took place after the decision to fire Mr. Iglesias had already been
taken. Even if that’s true, Mr. Rove should have told Mr. Weh that political
interference in matters of justice is out of bounds; Mr. Weh’s account of what he
said sounds instead like the swaggering of a two-bit thug.
And the thuggishness seems to have gone beyond firing prosecutors who didn’t
deliver the goods for the G.O.P. One of the fired prosecutors was — as he saw
it — threatened with retaliation by a senior Justice Department official if he
discussed his dismissal in public. Another was rejected for a federal
judgeship after administration officials, including then-White House counsel Harriet
Miers, informed him that he had “mishandled” the 2004 governor’s race in
Washington, won by a Democrat, by failing to pursue vote-fraud charges.
As I said, none of this is surprising. The Bush administration has been
purging, politicizing and de-professionalizing federal agencies since the day it
came to power. But in the past it was able to do its business with impunity;
this time Democrats have subpoena power, and the old slime-and-defend strategy isn
’t working.
You also have to wonder whether new signs that Mr. Gonzales and other
administration officials are willing to cooperate with Congress reflect the verdict
in the Libby trial. It probably comes as a shock to realize that even
Republicans can face jail time for lying under oath.
Still, a lot of loose ends have yet to be pulled. We now know exactly why Mr.
Iglesias was fired, but still have to speculate about some of the other cases
— in particular, that of Carol Lam, the U.S. attorney for Southern
California.
Ms. Lam had already successfully prosecuted Representative Randy Cunningham,
a Republican. Just two days before leaving office she got a grand jury to
indict Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor, and Kyle (Dusty) Foggo, the former
third-ranking official at the C.I.A. (Mr. Foggo was brought in just after the 2004
election, when, reports said, the administration was trying to purge the
C.I.A. of liberals.) And she was investigating Jerry Lewis, Republican of
California, the former head of the House Appropriations Committee.
Was Ms. Lam dumped to protect corrupt Republicans? The administration says
no, a denial that, in light of past experience, is worth precisely nothing. But
how do Congressional investigators plan to get to the bottom of this story?
Another big loose end involves what U.S. attorneys who weren’t fired did to
please their employers. As I pointed out last week, the numbers show that since
the Bush administration came to power, federal prosecutors have investigated
far more Democrats than Republicans.
But the numbers can tell only part of the story. What we really need — and it
will take a lot of legwork — is a portrait of the actual behavior of
prosecutors across the country. Did they launch spurious investigations of Democrats,
as I suggested last week may have happened in New Jersey? Did they slow-walk
investigations of Republican scandals, like the phone-jamming case in New
Hampshire?
In other words, the truth about that “overblown personnel matter” has only
begun to be told. The good news is that for the first time in six years, it’s
possible to hope that all the facts about a Bush administration scandal will
come out in Congressional hearings — or, if necessary, in the impeachment trial
of Alberto Gonzales.

--------------------------
Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[JohnnyD 0]

Without a doubt.
This is also the man who wrote that the Geneva Conventions were outdated and the US did not need to follow them.
Should have been gone long ago.

[IanHarrop 42]

Quote

Without a doubt.
This is also the man who wrote that the Geneva Conventions were outdated and the US did not need to follow them.
Should have been gone long ago.

Yes but who was going to fire him? His opinion met the needs of GWB.

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[BillyVance 34]

Just about everybody Bush has appointed will need to go when his term is up.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Andy9o8 2]

Quote

Just about everybody Bush has appointed will need to go when his term is up.

Um...by defintion, just about all of them will go when the term is up.

[IanHarrop 42]

Quote

Just about everybody Bush has appointed will need to go when his term is up.

Now that's the truth !!!

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[billvon 3,078]

>Yes but who was going to fire him?

Same guy who 'fired' Rumsfeld! Bush directly, the voters indirectly.

[JohnnyD 0]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_on_go_co/congress_prosecutors
Seems to be getting more interesting by the day.

[Andy9o8 2]

Quote

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 U.S. attorneys for possible dismissal. As the list took shape, their correspondence indicated possible political backlash from the attorneys and their congressional allies.

In other words,, supposedly Gonzales' deputy and Miers were working on this for TWO YEARS but Gonzales didn't know, right? Bullshit.

Another example of a guy at the top in this administration letting a deputy take the bullet for him but not having the guts to man up: Cheney sacrifices Libby; Gonzales sacrifices Sampson. Cowards.

[billvon 3,078]

>Another example of a guy at the top in this administration letting a
>deputy take the bullet for him but not having the guts to man up . . .

This is the GOP. Shit rolls downhill; only money and praise rolls uphill. The buck stops over there somewhere.

[livendive 8]

Quote

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_on_go_co/congress_prosecutors
Seems to be getting more interesting by the day.

Indeed

***E-mails lay out plan to dismiss U.S. attorneys
POSTED: 10:50 a.m. EDT, March 14, 2007

• Messages categorize attorneys as positive, neutral or "strikeout"
• White House, Justice Department coordinated decision-making
• Gonzales aide warned administration to prepare for "political upheaval"
• White House legislative, political, communications divisions signed off on plan

From Bill Mears
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An e-mail from the Justice Department's Kyle Sampson in March 2005 laid out a simple formula for evaluating whether the 93 U.S. attorneys should stay or go.

On a chart given to then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers, Sampson -- chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales -- listed attorneys in three categories:

"Bold = Recommend retaining; strong U.S. attorneys who have managed well, and exhibited loyalty to the president and attorney general.

"Strikeout = Recommend removing; weak U.S. attorneys who have been ineffectual managers and prosecutors, chafed against administration initiatives, etc.

"Nothing = No recommendation; have not distinguished themselves either positively or negatively."

Sampson was in charge of deciding which U.S. attorneys would be removed in a shakeup last year. Eight prosecutors were eventually removed. Sampson resigned from his post Monday, just as the e-mails he wrote were released publicly.

The e-mails show how closely officials in the White House and the Justice Department coordinated in deciding which names to include for firing, as well as the method and timing of the announcements. (Read Sampson's e-mail exchanges with administration officials - pdf)

The White House disclosed Tuesday the shakeup was first proposed by then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers, who wanted to replace all 93 U.S. attorneys with "fresh blood" after President Bush's re-election in 2004, spokesman Tony Snow said.

In a three-page memo dated January 1, 2006, Sampson noted the practical and political obstacles of dismissing U.S. attorneys.

"Wholesale removal of U.S. attorneys would cause significant disruption to the work of the Department of Justice," he wrote. "Individual U.S. attorneys often were originally recommended for appointment by a home-state senator who may be opposed to the president's determination to remove the U.S. attorney."

But Sampson concluded, "None of the above obstacles are insuperable," suggesting instead "the replacement of a limited number of U.S. attorneys," not the wholesale changes Miers wanted.

He then went on to recommend three U.S. attorneys for dismissal: Margaret Chiara of Michigan, Henry "Bud" Cummins of Arkansas and Carol Lam of California.

From the winter through the fall of 2006, Miers and Sampson traded e-mails, adding names and outlining the political fallout that might result from the prosecutors themselves and their congressional allies.

One e-mail involved efforts to replace Cummins with Timothy Griffin, a former aide to top White House official Karl Rove. (Read documents on Griffin's nomination - pdf)

"We have a senator problem," noted Monica Goodling, a Justice Department liaison to the White House, over Cummins' pending dismissal. The August 18 e-mail also suggested a possible "confirmation issue with Griffin."

Word of Cummins' pending departure and Griffin's nomination was leaked to an Arkansas newspaper in late August, one memo notes.

About a month later, on September 13, Sampson placed Little Rock-based Cummins on the list of U.S. attorneys "in the process of being pushed out."

Miers thanked him four days later, but noted she had not had much time to focus on the issue. "Things have been crazy," she wrote.

Two months later there still was no decision from the White House on the final "cut" list. In a November 15 memo, Sampson urged Miers to reach out to Rove's office as a "pre-execution necessity I would recommend."

Messages anticipate 'political upheaval'

He added, "I am concerned that to execute this plan properly we must all be on the same page and be steeled to withstand any political upheaval that might result. ... If we start caving to complaining U.S. attorneys or senators then we shouldn't do it -- it'll be more trouble than it is worth."

Three weeks went by and Sampson was getting anxious waiting for the "green light" from the White House counsel's office.

Finally, on December 4, William Kelley, Miers' deputy, gave the word: "We're a go for the U.S. attorney plan. WHU leg (office of legislative affairs), political (office), and communications have signed off and acknowledged that we have to be committed to following through once the pressure comes." (Read how officials dealt with the reaction - pdf)

A detailed memo outlined each U.S. attorney to be let go, and the names of key senators or party officials from the prosecutors' home states who would be informed.

Talking points were suggested to help "prepare to withstand political upheaval." Such points included that "the administration made the determination to seek the resignations (not any specific person at the White House or the Department of Justice)."

The White House says President Bush never directed the Justice Department to fire a U.S. attorney, and that concerns about the performance of certain prosecutors were appropriate.

As Sampson suggested back in January 2006, Chiara, Cummins and Lam were among the eight fired prosecutors. In Arkansas, Cummins' post was filled by former Rove aide Griffin on an interim basis, but he said last month he would not seek Senate confirmation because of the "partisan circus" surrounding the firings.

The reaction on Capitol Hill to the dismissals was mixed. Deputy White House Counsel Kelley told Sampson and Miers in a December 8 memo of "disgruntlement" in Nevada. Republican Sen. John Ensign "is very unhappy about the decision" to let U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden go, he said.

But in New Mexico, Kelley reported, Republican Sen. Pete Domenici was "happy as a clam" and offered to quickly provide names of possible replacements.***

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[JohnnyD 0]

Nice. Now he's put the ball in Bush's court.

A brief summary of his record:
- Geneva Conventions outdated and need not be followed
- Authorized use of interrogation tactics expressly forbid in Geneva Conventions
- Illegal domestic wiretapping
- Illegally and improperly used the Patriot Act to spy on Americans
- Orchestrated the firing of US district attorneys based on their support of the administration

Response from the president: "He's a standup guy"

Unbelievable. And Americans wonder why our image in the world is so tarnished.

[Andy9o8 2]

Today's spin: Bush is "upset" over the way the US Atty firings were handled.
In other words, he (now!!) takes no responsibility for the actions of Harriet Miers, his former counsel and long-time close advisor.
Didn't he once think so highly of her he nominated her for the SCOTUS? Yep.

Reminds me of the scene in Casablanca, where Captain Renault says, "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!", as he is handed his winnings for the day.

Move along, people. No hypocrisy to see here.

[billvon 3,078]

>Response from the president: "He's a standup guy"

Heckuva job, Albie!

[Andy9o8 2]

And now the spin for March 15, 2007:
In response to REPUBLICAN Sen. John Sununu calling for Gonzales' ouster, the the White House reverted to its old method of making an ad hominem attack on the messenger - of course, with an anonymous spokesman:

Quote

One White House official told CNN that Sununu "has been a vociferous critic of the Justice Department in the past. Just look at his record. It's been that way for quite a while."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/14/fired.attorneys/index.html

Absolutely gutless cowards. They've lost all moral authority to govern.

[rushmc 23]

Interesting that this is even brought up on this site. Clinton fired all 93 of them as was his right (even though the reasons were much more questionable)

This is a non issue non story media feeding frenzy bs hit move.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[idrankwhat 0]

Quote

Interesting that this is even brought up on this site. Clinton fired all 93 of them as was his right (even though the reasons were much more questionable)

This is a non issue non story media feeding frenzy bs hit move.

I wonder why Gonzales and Bush have apologized for the mistakes and why Sununu said he should be fired if this is such a non-issue. I especially liked Gonzales' apology.
(paraphrasing) "I screwed up and take responsibility. Someone else will be fired

[rushmc 23]

Quote

Quote

Interesting that this is even brought up on this site. Clinton fired all 93 of them as was his right (even though the reasons were much more questionable)

This is a non issue non story media feeding frenzy bs hit move.

I wonder why Gonzales and Bush have apologized for the mistakes and why Sununu said he should be fired if this is such a non-issue. I especially liked Gonzales' apology.
(paraphrasing) "I screwed up and take responsibility. Someone else will be fired

the mistakes were about communications to congress, not the firings

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rushmc 23]

Here, learn something.

http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009784


http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title3/2musa.htm#3-2.120

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rushmc 23]

It is quite entertaining watching all get sucked into this

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[Andy9o8 2]

I know this may come as a shock to you, but CDIF really isn't an absolute defense for every failing of the Bush Administration. I mean, it's fine if all you want to do is preach to the choir, but if you're going to persuade anyone else, you'll have to do better than that.

[Zipp0 1]

Presidents almost never fire these guys during their terms. They fire them right at the start. These were Bush's people and were fired to make way for Rove's buddies and other BS reasons. Also, an end run was made around congressional oversight with that piece of shit Patriot Act. Lastly, we may have executive branch tampering in the Judicial branch - a big no -no.

--------------------------
Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[idrankwhat 0]

Quote

the mistakes were about communications to congress, not the firings

It's ok. You can say "lied".

[idrankwhat 0]

Quote

Here, learn something.

Back at ya. And don't let the copy of the memo get in the way of shooting the messenger
Now I know why Sampson was fired. Too much "truthiness".

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/13/sampson-rove-attorney/

[rushmc 23]

Quote

Quote

Here, learn something.

Back at ya. And don't let the copy of the memo get in the way of shooting the messenger
Now I know why Sampson was fired. Too much "truthiness".

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/13/sampson-rove-attorney/

and why was the one working on the Rostenkowski case fired??

give me a break

The only mistake made was they were not fired day one because Bush wanted to play nice.

Get over it , there is no story here

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln