July 11, 2007
Taylor's Account Of Firings Paints Benevolent White House Picture
Former White House aide Sara Taylor, answering a subpoena from the Senate Judiciary Committee, bobbed through a legal minefield this morning as lawmakers lobbed questions she could not answer.
"In light of the president's direction, I will answer faithfully those questions that are appropriate for a private citizen to answer while also doing my best to respect the president's directive that his staff's communications be privileged," she said in an opening statement.
Taylor had been ordered to testify in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys late last year. But on Monday, White House counsel Fred Fielding notified the committee that Taylor and Harriet Miers would not divulge to Congress matters concerning "White House consideration, deliberations or communications, whether internal or external, relating to the possible dismissal or appointment of United States Attorneys, including consideration of possible responses to congressional and media inquiries on the United States Attorneys matter."
Despite the restrictions, Taylor was able to offer a starkly different version of events from others who have testified on the matter.
When asked about the firing of Bud Cummins last year, Taylor disputed prior accounts that he had been unwillingly removed from the U.S. Attorneys office in Arkansas to make room for an ideological friend to the White House, Tim Griffin. Instead, she said the firing was a result of unfortunate timing.
"I had heard a while ago that [Cummins] wanted to leave," Taylor said. "We found ourselves in a situation where we have a U.S. attorney who had been planning to leave, to the best of my knowledge, and we had identified an exceptionally qualified candidate" in Griffin.
Taylor appeared to be saying that Cummins' plans to step down were widely known, and that the White House was just preparing for his exit. She would not say why Cummins was fired, however, only allowing that the "whole situation was awkwardly handled."
Taylor returned to Griffin later on in her testimony, saying, "I think it is horrible what is happening to Tim Griffin." Griffin, a former opposition researcher for the RNC and aide to Karl Rove, resigned in May amid controversy over his hiring.
Taylor acknowledged a close professional relationship with Griffin. She insisted that he was qualified for the position, though she would not answer questions about how the White House decided on him for the job.
In testimony before the committee in February, then-Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said that Cummins had not been removed because of his performance, but so Griffin could take his place. McNulty later became the highest-ranking DOJ official to step down amid the attorney firings controversy.
His testimony, along with a trove of e-mails [PDF] sent from the White House using RNC accounts, led lawmakers to focus on Taylor's role in the firings. Taylor dismissed Cummins as "lazy" -- though DOJ officials had only praise for his performance -- and in one e-mail appeared to get very angry at McNulty's testimony.
Taylor denied that her anger had to do with a decision to subject Griffin to Senate confirmation rather than allow his appointment to stand indefinitely. But she did apologize for calling Cummins "lazy," saying the remark was "unkind and unnecessary."
Though the two leaders of the panel, Democrat Patrick Leahy and Republican Arlen Specter, were sympathetic to Taylor's bind, other members were more openly suspicious of her responses.
As frequent as her "I can't answer" responses were claims that "I can't recall" that incident or event -- drawing unfavorable comparisons to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who has been badly bruised in the firings controversy.
Exhausted by a barrage of questions from Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, Taylor said, "Senator, I can't remember what I had for breakfast last week."
Cardin fired back, "I would assume what you had for breakfast last week was not a subject of intense national attention."
Cardin also reminded the witness that she was legally free to defy the president's executive privilege order, particularly because she is now a private citizen.
Earlier in the hearing, Taylor indicated that was highly unlikely.
"I know the president to be a good and decent man. I admire his unflinching devotion to always do what he believes is right for this country," she said in her opening remarks. She also insisted that her resignation in late May was planned before the uproar over the firings.
Taylor's testimony stood in contrast to that of McNulty and two other top DOJ officials, Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling. All three acknowledged that the firings may have been politically motivated and improper, with Goodling admitting to the House Judiciary Committee in May that she "crossed the line."
Several members seemed startled, and skeptical, at Taylor's sunnier version of events.
"You seem to be selective in the use of the presidential privilege," Cardin said, referring to Taylor's refusal to answer some questions and willingness to go into detail on others. "It seems like you're saying, 'Yes, I'm giving you all the information I can when it's self-serving to the White House.'"
Congressional Democrats and independent Republicans have been trying to push back against what they see as a White House power grab since January, but so far have little more than hearings to show for it. Gonzales has still not resigned despite a blizzard of bipartisan criticism and damning reports about his performance. Though the committee leaders have hinted they will try to take the White House to court over access to documents and testimony, Specter, the ranking Republican, said that he would not support a contempt citation for Taylor following her testimony today.
See AP's and the Washington Post's accounts of the hearing for more.
Posted at 1:50 PM
Posted to:
Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Harriet Miers, President Bush, Sara Taylor
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