February 28, 2008
Bye-Bye! The Last Gate Post Ever.
At least a few of our readers have figured it out already, but here goes: We've been winding things down at The Gate for the last couple of weeks, and today we formally say goodbye. Actually, we prefer John McLaughlin's way of doing things, so we say: Bye-bye!
It has truly been an honor and pleasure to write for and interact with you. (Even the Ron Paul fanatics who hate us because we don't cover him enough.)
The Gate would have turned a year old next month, but we're pretty proud of the more than 1,700 posts we've churned out. Most memorable for me -- Jane Roh -- was covering the U.S. attorney firings investigation, which culminated with the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in August, and liveblogging the David Petraeus/Ryan Crocker hearings in September. It's been an intense and rewarding experience, and I'll always be grateful for those opportunities.
And then there's our campaign coverage, where I've gotten some witty and insightful assists from fellow Deputy Managing Editor Irene Tsikitas. The abundant and frequently silly MSM campaign coverage wore us out at times, but it's been a real honor covering what is likely the most pivotal presidential election of my lifetime. (Won't miss liveblogging those debates, though.)
You can tell by the accompanying photo that we had lots of fun along the way, too. Thanks to our online graphics team, Ryan Merrill and Reuben Dalke, for gamely producing myriad image requests.
As for me, I am leaving National Journal and moving on. I will still be participating in the Horserace '08 weekly radio roundtable on the campaigns, so look for me on air and online. To keep up with my whereabouts and reporting, visit me on Facebook. If you want to weigh in on the demise of The Gate, e-mail thegate[at]nationaljournal.com.
Thanks for reading along. I enjoyed writing for you.
-JANE ROH
Posted at 3:27 PM
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Attorney Scandal, Campaigns, Iraq, WH 2008
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February 14, 2008
House GOP Walks Out Over Contempt Vote, FISA
UPDATED.
Enraged House Republicans staged a walkout from the floor after Democrats sought a contempt of Congress vote for White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers.
"We will not stand for this and we will not stay for this," said Minority Leader John Boehner, speaking from the House floor. "I would ask my House Republican colleagues and those who believe that we should be here protecting the American people to not vote on this bill. Let's just get up and leave."
And with that, a few dozen House GOP lawmakers got up and left. They convened on the Capitol steps to address the cameras.
Continue reading "House GOP Walks Out Over Contempt Vote, FISA"
Posted at 3:53 PM
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Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, Harriet Miers, Homeland Security, House, President Bush, Senate, Terrorism
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January 30, 2008
Mukasey Frustrates Again On Waterboarding
Attorney General Michael Mukasey fended off questions today on waterboarding, CIA destruction of interrogation tapes, the U.S. attorney firings and other high-profile issues in his first appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee since his contentious confirmation hearings three months ago.
Mukasey said the CIA does not conduct waterboarding now and that the committee would be privately informed should that change. Mukasey repeatedly declined to say if waterboarding -- an interrogation technique that causes suspects to believe they are drowning -- constitutes torture, or to confirm if it was used by the CIA.
"Given waterboarding is not part of the [interrogation] program and may never be added to the program, I don't think it's appropriate for me to comment on its legality," he testified. Mukasey did suggest a standard where the brutality of an interrogator's action would be weighed against the value of information elicited to decide if the act constitutes torture. That position drew rebukes from several committee Democrats.
Continue reading "Mukasey Frustrates Again On Waterboarding"
Posted at 5:48 PM
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Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, CIA, Constitution, Michael Mukasey, President Bush, Terrorism
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December 13, 2007
Senate Panel Holds Rove, Bolten In Contempt
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-7 today to hold former White House political adviser Karl Rove and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten in contempt of Congress for non-compliance with subpoenas in the investigation of the U.S. attorney firings scandal.
"This is not a step I have wanted to take," Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement. But, he went on: "White House stonewalling is unilateralism at its worst, and it thwarts accountability. Executive privilege should not be invoked to prevent investigations into wrongdoing, and abusing it should have remedies and consequences."
Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., crossed party lines to vote with the committee's 10 Democrats in favor of the citations, though Specter acknowledged that the vote was "highly likely to be a meaningless act."
Continue reading "Senate Panel Holds Rove, Bolten In Contempt"
Posted at 7:10 PM
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Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, Karl Rove, Patrick Leahy, Senate
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ABA Journal Not Above Usual Magazine Stunts
It's a sort of truism in lawyering circles that if you become a household name, you're doing something very wrong. This week, the ABA Journal has several cases in point.
In an apparent bid to show that it can compete with general-interest rags in cover-shot gimmickry, the usually super-serious magazine of the American Bar Association has named former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as its 2007 Lawyer of the Year... and Gonzales' successor Michael Mukasey as 2008's Lawyer of the Year.
"The top legal story of 2007 was unquestionably the unraveling of support for the Bush administration's expansive view of presidential power during wartime, and with it, the slow-motion destruction" of Gonzales, ABA Journal's cover story reasons. "And now, all those problems have been dumped in the lap of the new AG.... How he'll deal with them -- in the middle of a presidential campaign, no less -- promises to make him the top legal newsmaker of 2008."
Certainly, Gonzales' collapse is one of the biggest stories of 2007. But Lawyer of the Year?
Continue reading "ABA Journal Not Above Usual Magazine Stunts"
Posted at 1:25 PM
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Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Michael Mukasey, President Bush
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December 10, 2007
U.S. Attorney Firings: Where Are They Now?
The Los Angeles Times followed up on the nine federal prosecutors ousted in a politically tainted DOJ sweep last year. Most are on to new jobs in private firms, and several have been honored for standing up to the "loyal Bushies" who orchestrated their firings.
Reports the Times: Paul Charlton, "now a partner in a Phoenix law firm, says that as a group, the attorneys have fared much better than the department officials who orchestrated their demise."
Perhaps the best known of the bunch, David Iglesias, will be out with a book about the scandal next year.
Posted at 12:08 PM
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November 14, 2007
Bush Takes Swipe Over Gonzales Again As Mukasey Sworn In
President Bush could not resist expressing his anger at the unceremonious way in which longtime confidante Alberto Gonzales was disposed from his job -- even as the man who replaced him as U.S. attorney general, Michael Mukasey, was just feet away for his own formal swearing-in.
"Our new attorney general, Michael Mukasey, follows in the footsteps of a fine man and fine American, Al Gonzales," Bush said, as Mukasey and Chief Justice John Roberts stood by for the ceremony. "As White House counsel and attorney general in my administration, Al Gonzales worked tirelessly to make this country safer and to ensure all Americans receive equal justice in the eyes of the law," the president continued, thanking Gonzales and his family for their "service to our nation."
Few in Washington share Bush's high opinion of Gonzales, however, which is the reason why the former AG resigned in late August after months of bipartisan calls for his ouster. Bush has apparently not gotten over the slight to his longtime friend and to his own judgment. When he announced Mukasey's nomination in September, he also took time from praising his pick to indirectly chide critics over Gonzales.
Continue reading "Bush Takes Swipe Over Gonzales Again As Mukasey Sworn In"
Posted at 11:38 AM
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November 05, 2007
House Judiciary Cmte. Files Miers/Bolten Contempt Report
The House Judiciary Committee has filed an 862-page report [PDF] recommending that lawmakers find former White House counsel Harriet Miers and current Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten in contempt for refusing to testify or provide documents in an investigation into the U.S. attorney firings of last year.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to bring a vote on the criminal contempt citation to the floor, though the timing of that has not been announced. If a simple majority of the House does find Miers and/or Bolten in contempt, the matter will be referred to D.C.'s U.S. attorney, Jeffrey Taylor. And herein lies yet another speed bump in congressional Democrats' quest to get to the bottom of those firings.
Continue reading "House Judiciary Cmte. Files Miers/Bolten Contempt Report"
Posted at 6:37 PM
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Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, Harriet Miers, House, Michael Mukasey, President Bush
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October 17, 2007
Liveblogging The Michael Mukasey Confirmation Hearing: Part II
[Liveblogging The Michael Mukasey Confirmation Hearing: Part I]
End note. Thanks to the schedule provided by the Judiciary Committee, we were under the impression that the witness round was today. It is tomorrow, and about that we have no complaints.
Patrick Leahy didn't yell at anyone today. That hasn't happened in a long time. He expressed hope this morning and in closing that Mukasey's confirmation will signal the beginning of a healing process at DOJ. The Democrats on this panel have been accused of partisan bloodlust in this saga, but you have to believe Leahy wants this chapter closed. It's been an exhausting nine months for the committee, and the tug of war with the White House is far from over. A new attorney general that has the confidence of Congress means one fewer battlefront.
C-SPAN3 is replaying the hearing throughout the day; watch it here.
4:32. Cardin, who is intimately familiar with Election Day shenanigans, doesn't give up. He asks about a Georgia voter ID law that was overturned two years ago after a federal judge likened it to the Jim Crow-era poll tax. Cardin is undoubtedly aware that the issue goes before the Supreme Court next year.
"I think if identification is made available and... every step is taken that allows everyone who is allowed to vote to" have access to the polls, "it seems to me that the comparison to the poll tax would be over the top," Mukasey responds.
But is it right when the "energy committed to weeding out the few" outweighs that used to ensure greater numbers to the polls, Cardin asks, conjuring Democrats' impression of the Republican Justice Department. "That shouldn't be what the Justice Department is doing, I hope you agree with that."
"I certainly do," Mukasey responds.
By the way, whatever party was responsible for the deceptive fliers and phone calls that threatened Cardin's Senate bid last year: Mukasey considers the tactics "flat-out fraud and pernicious fraud."
Continue reading "Liveblogging The Michael Mukasey Confirmation Hearing: Part II"
Posted at 5:00 PM
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Liveblogging The Michael Mukasey Confirmation Hearing: Part I
[Liveblogging The Michael Mukasey Confirmation Hearing: Part II]
12:20. Recess. So far, no big surprises, but plenty to reassure those who anguish over DOJ's loss of credibility under Gonzales. We'll resume with testimony from the witness panel -- fomer AG Dick Thornburgh among them -- later this afternoon in a new post.
12:11. "More recently, a statute called the USA Patriot Act has become the focus of a good deal of hysteria, some of it reflexive, much of it recreational," Mukasey wrote in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal in 2004.
Russ Feingold somewhat ridiculously asks if Mukasey believes that all critics of the Patriot Act engage in "recreational hysteria." He doesn't, of course, and acknowledges parts of it can be improved. Like most non-partisans on the act, Mukasey sees good and bad there. The point of the op-ed is best summarized in the second half of its title: "Before attacking the Patriot Act, try reading it."
12:02. "I'm going to assure you there isn't going to be any stonewalling," Mukasey says when Charles Grassley asks about the load of documents and testimony his panel has been denied by the administration. "I'm certainly going to review the clearance process simply to make sure that it is a clearance process and not just a black hole."
Continue reading "Liveblogging The Michael Mukasey Confirmation Hearing: Part I"
Posted at 12:22 PM
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October 11, 2007
Representing Alberto Gonzales
Formerly the highest-ranking law enforcement official in the nation, Alberto Gonzales knows the value of a good lawyer, and it appears he's putting that knowledge to use. AP reports that the former attorney general has hired George Terwilliger, a former Justice Department official who now serves as one of Washington's toughest white-collar crime defense attorneys, to represent him in the ongoing investigations into Gonzales' conduct at DOJ.
In an ironic twist, Terwilliger was reportedly on the White House's short list of possible replacements for Gonzales when he exited the department last month.
In an interview with AP, Terwilliger warned that Gonzales' decision to hire him should not be read as an admission of guilt. "Investigations are conducted to find the facts," he said. "And the facts will show that Judge Gonzales acted honorably in all circumstances while holding positions of great responsibility and importance to maintaining the safety of the country."
Posted at 7:56 AM
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October 04, 2007
CIA Interrogations To Take Center Stage In Mukasey Hearings
UPDATED.
Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are incensed at the revelations in this morning's New York Times report outlining secret legal opinions the Bush administration has used to justify harsh interrogations techniques for terrorism suspects.
"It would be bad enough if this administration had disgraced itself and this country by engaging in cruel and degrading treatment of detainees. It is worse still that it enlisted the Justice Department in the effort to justify and cover up its activities," said Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, speaking on the floor of the Senate today.
Kennedy is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which yesterday announced that confirmation hearings for attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey would begin as early as two weeks from now. Chairman Patrick Leahy appeared to be signaling that he would not hold up Mukasey's hearings despite an ongoing confrontation with the White House over the NSA surveillance program and U.S. attorney firings scandal. While the revelations about DOJ possibly signing off on torture will probably not affect the hearing timeline, they will almost certainly have a huge impact on Mukasey's confirmation.
A congressional source with close knowledge of the committee said that "a lot of people are really, really angry" about the secret opinions. According to the Times report, the White House took backdoor measures to keep CIA interrogation techniques like "head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures" in play by way of secret DOJ memos asserting their legality -- even as it publicly bowed to demands by Congress and the Supreme Court to outlaw them.
Continue reading "CIA Interrogations To Take Center Stage In Mukasey Hearings"
Posted at 6:15 PM
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Wilson, Possibly Udall To Seek Domenici's Senate Seat
UPDATED.
After 35 years of service, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., is announcing that he will retire when his term is up next year.
None of the networks are airing it, but according to an earlier draft of his announcement obtained by AP, the senator is revealing that he has "a progressive disease that can cause dysfunction in the parts of the brain important for organization, decision-making and control of mood and behavior." The statement said that the progression of the disease is unpredictable, but Domenici is "not willing to take a chance that the people who have so honored me with their trust for 40 years might not be served as well as they deserve in the United States Senate." (AP has more details on the condition, known as frontotemporal lobar degeneration, or FTLD.)
Speculation about who would replace him was well under way even before Domenici made it official. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., made known her intention to replace the aging senator earlier today. Now it looks as if Democratic Rep. Tom Udall could be her opponent.
Continue reading "Wilson, Possibly Udall To Seek Domenici's Senate Seat"
Posted at 6:10 PM
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September 27, 2007
Where's John Ashcroft? Part Deux
We've asked it before and we're asking it again: Where in the world is former Attorney General John Ashcroft?
Very busy, his people say, and apparently too busy to give his version of that mysterious bedside visit to the press. Humph.
Actually, Ashcroft did speak to the press today, but on a completely unrelated matter. He appeared at a press conference in New Jersey to talk about a federal investigation into five hip and knee surgical implant companies found to have bribed surgeons into using their products. The companies have agreed to hefty fines and monitoring under an agreement that allows them to avoid criminal prosecution, and Ashcroft will be the independent monitor for Indiana-based Zimmer, Inc.
Continue reading "Where's John Ashcroft? Part Deux"
Posted at 3:16 PM
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September 17, 2007
Bush Nominates Mukasey For Attorney General, Still Sore Over Gonzales
UPDATED.
As expected, President Bush formally announced his nomination of retired federal judge Michael Mukasey to take the helm at the Department of Justice -- but not without an indirect jab at his critics over the resignation of the previous attorney general, Alberto Gonzales.
Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn this morning, Bush said, "When [Mukasey] takes his place at the Justice Department, he will succeed another fine judge." Recalling Gonzales' resume as a Texas Supreme Court judge, White House counsel and AG, Bush continued, "This honorable and decent man has served with distinction."
If that was a message to Gonzales' many critics in the Beltway, the president then narrowed his remarks to critics on Capitol Hill. "The attorney general takes on an important responsibility for the country. It is vital that the position be confirmed quickly. I urge the Senate to confirm Judge Mukasey promptly," he said.
Continue reading "Bush Nominates Mukasey For Attorney General, Still Sore Over Gonzales"
Posted at 12:48 PM
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September 12, 2007
Gonzales May Be Out, But Has The Battle Just Begun?
UPDATED.
Remember Alberto Gonzales?
The attorney general hasn't left office yet, but ever since he handed in his resignation to President Bush, the furor over his handling of the attorney-firings scandal and a National Security Agency surveillance program has largely subsided, thanks to more recent news from Larry Craig and David Petraeus.
That doesn't mean congressional Democrats are going to drop their beefs with the Justice Department. On the contrary, Roll Call reported (subscription) earlier this week that "even if Bush nominates an otherwise noncontroversial attorney general," sources from both sides of the aisle "don't expect a speedy confirmation." The Democratic leadership is expected to press the administration for more information regarding ongoing DOJ investigations before considering Bush's nominee.
Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected out of hand one of the White House's rumored top choices to replace Gonzales, former Solicitor General Ted Olson. "I intend to do everything I can to prevent him from being confirmed as the next attorney general," Reid said in a statement. "Clearly if you made a list of consensus nominees, Olson wouldn’t appear on that list," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., told the New York Times yesterday.
Continue reading "Gonzales May Be Out, But Has The Battle Just Begun?"
Posted at 5:33 PM
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August 30, 2007
DOJ Inspector General Investigating Gonzales Testimony
The resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, effective Sept. 17, does not mean he will be able to wash his hands of the intense scrutiny he has faced in office.
Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine affirmed today in a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy that his office was investigating the possibility that Gonzales may have perjured himself multiple times in recent testimony before Leahy's committee and others.
Continue reading "DOJ Inspector General Investigating Gonzales Testimony"
Posted at 3:20 PM
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August 29, 2007
Daydreaming About Gonzales' Successor
The obits on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales are borderline gleeful, and for that reason it will be a good day indeed when Washington no longer has Al Gonzales to kick around anymore. There's little disagreement on how good Gonzales was at his job (not very) or whether he stayed on the job too long (he did). Now Washington insiders are playing their second-favorite sport: the speculation-a-thon.
Will President Bush really move DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff over to DOJ? Will there be an ugly nomination battle? And what will become of Gonzales, the man known affectionately (and not so affectionately) as Gonzo?
Continue reading "Daydreaming About Gonzales' Successor"
Posted at 9:46 AM
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Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Harriet Miers, President Bush
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August 28, 2007
Paging John Ashcroft
Now that Alberto Gonzales is on his way out of the DOJ, will John Ashcroft finally come out and talk about that dramatic night in his hospital room?
A few pundits are joking that Gonzales' poor performance as attorney general succeeded in making Ashcroft look good. The former AG was the regular butt of jokes because of his old-fashioned brand of patriotism and religious devoutness, which is pretty unfair. We've said it before and we'll say it again: a few people out there might owe Mr. Ashcroft an apology.
Continue reading "Paging John Ashcroft"
Posted at 1:01 PM
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August 27, 2007
Alberto Gonzales Resigns; Chertoff Floated As Replacement
UPDATED.
Describing his career trajectory as "a remarkable journey," U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced he was finally stepping down after months of bipartisan calls for his resignation.
"Yesterday, I met with President Bush and informed him of my decision to conclude my government services as attorney general of the United States effective September 17," Gonzales said at a 10:30 a.m. EDT press conference. "It has been one of my greatest privileges to lead the Department of Justice."
The timing of Gonzales' announcement, late in the summer while Congress and the president are away, succeeded in taking the Beltway by surprise. Together, Gonzales and Bush had formed a two-man chorus of defiance, insisting the AG would not resign in the face of what they termed a political witch hunt. Neither Gonzales nor Bush publicly wavered on the matter, despite a mountain of damning testimony -- much of it the AG's own -- portraying him as an out-of-touch, ineffectual leader of the nation's criminal justice system.
Continue reading "Alberto Gonzales Resigns; Chertoff Floated As Replacement"
Posted at 5:10 PM
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August 21, 2007
Cheney Removes Himself -- Again -- From Executive Branch
CORRECTED.
Less than two months after Dick Cheney reversed course on the claim under a congressional threat and much ridicule, the vice president is once again severing himself from the executive branch of government -- this time to defy a subpoena.
In June, Cheney's lawyers whipped out a novel -- and almost certainly wrong -- claim that as the Senate's tiebreaker, his office actually belongs in the legislative branch. At the time, he was resisting an executive order renewed by President Bush that their offices hand over reports on classified data to the National Archives. Red-faced officials eventually said they would back off of the bizarre claim.
But yesterday it resurfaced, in a letter [PDF] to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy.
Continue reading "Cheney Removes Himself -- Again -- From Executive Branch"
Posted at 5:40 PM
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Arlen Specter, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, Dick Cheney, Patrick Leahy, President Bush, Senate
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August 16, 2007
Ashcroft Was 'In No Condition' For Gonzales, Card Visit
Newly released notes from FBI Director Robert Mueller indicate two White House aides ignored the health concerns of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft as they tried to pressure the AG to sign off on President Bush's secret, possibly unconstitutional domestic spying program.
In the notes [PDF], obtained by the House Judiciary Committee and released today, Mueller seems to have been angered by then-White House Chief of Staff Andy Card and former counsel Alberto Gonzales, who insisted on seeing Ashcroft in his hospital room while the AG was recovering from gall bladder surgery and acute pancreatitis. Mueller says he was tipped off to the visit by then-Deputy AG James Comey, who assumed acting AG powers during his boss' illness.
Having reached Mueller while he was dining with his wife and daughter, Comey said that Ashcroft was "in no condition to see them, much less make decision [sic] to authorize continuation of the program." As is consistent with their sworn testimony, Comey requested Mueller's presence at the hospital to "witness" Ashcroft's condition.
Continue reading "Ashcroft Was 'In No Condition' For Gonzales, Card Visit"
Posted at 6:41 PM
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August 14, 2007
Final Verdict On Rove May Never Come
The passage of time has a way of bringing legends back down to earth. But when you're as inscrutable, provocative and, yes, mythic a figure as Karl Rove, the process by which history judges will probably meet no end.
Since Sunday's surprise announcement that he would resign, the man who essentially got George W. Bush to the White House has been besieged by postmortems that seek to take him down a peg. The purported evidence most frequently on offer is that Rove was unable to secure for Republicans control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections.
Opines the Washington Post: Rove "should be judged on his own terms: as the would-be architect of a long-lasting Republican majority.... The GOP's wipeout in 2006 would suggest that Mr. Rove did not achieve this goal, notwithstanding his brave parting words about Republican victory in 2008."
Fair enough. But there's one very important point here that isn't lost on longtime Rove observers: He's always worked for Bush, not the other way around. The confluence of events that led to the midterm defeat -- deafness on the Iraq war, a base discontented after scandal and betrayal -- originated from the Oval Office and Capitol Hill, not the mind of one political consultant, as well-placed and influential as he was.
Continue reading "Final Verdict On Rove May Never Come"
Posted at 1:01 PM
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Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Iraq, Karl Rove, Middle East, President Bush, WH 2008
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August 01, 2007
Rove Will Not Testify In Attorney Firings Probe
UPDATED.
On the eve of Karl Rove's deadline to answer a congressional subpoena to testify in the attorney firings probe, White House counsel Fred Fielding informed the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday that, "as an immediate adviser to the president," Bush's top political adviser would not be appearing before the panel.
The executive privilege claim has also been applied to J. Scott Jennings, deputy director of political affairs for the White House, who had been asked to provide documents and testimony to the committee investigating the firing of nine U.S. attorneys.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has made a copy of Fielding's letter [PDF] and the chairman's response available on his Web site.
Posted at 5:51 PM
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July 31, 2007
House Dems Push Gonzales Impeachment; Specter Unhappy With WH Response
UPDATED.
Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee today laid out a case for forcibly removing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales from office, after filing a resolution [PDF] that would kick off preliminary impeachment proceedings.
"Americans of all stripes believe that we deserve an attorney general who will not allow the politicization of the judicial system," said the former prosecutor, flanked by other former officers of the law turned legislators. The attorney general should "respect the laws of privacy" and "be forthright with the American people and U.S. Congress," Inslee added.
If the resolution receives a simple majority, the House Judiciary Committee will conduct an investigation into whether Gonzales has committed any impeachable offenses, such as perjury.
The months-long investigation into the politically tinged firings of U.S. attorneys last year, and a related one into a secret surveillance program considered by many in DOJ to be illegal, has cast Gonzales in an unflattering light. He was elevated to the job from White House counsel in February 2005.
Democrats and Republicans alike have pushed for Gonzales to be fired or resign, but both the attorney general and President Bush, a longtime friend and career benefactor, have refused to give in. The White House has also ignored congressional subpoenas in the ongoing investigations.
Calling impeachment a "last resort," Inslee said that Congress' and the public's loss of faith in Gonzales was harmful to the judicial system and therefore to democracy. "Accordingly, I am here today with a number of colleagues to call on the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives to conduct a thorough investigation to determine whether articles of impeachment are appropriately lodged against the attorney general," the Washington lawmaker said.
Continue reading "House Dems Push Gonzales Impeachment; Specter Unhappy With WH Response"
Posted at 6:52 PM
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July 30, 2007
Rep. Inslee To Push For Gonzales Impeachment Tomorrow
Washington Democrat Jay Inslee plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday, House sources confirmed.
The move comes one day after the New York Times editorial board urged Congress to consider impeaching the nation's top cop if lawmakers continue to hit a dead end in their effort to cast light on a spate of U.S. attorney firings last year as well as internal DOJ strife over warrantless surveillance.
It was not clear whether Inslee consulted with the Democratic leadership. A spokeswoman for the House Judiciary Committee said she could not comment on the impeachment push, and calls to Inslee's and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offices were not immediately returned.
Continue reading "Rep. Inslee To Push For Gonzales Impeachment Tomorrow"
Posted at 6:02 PM
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July 26, 2007
Rove Subpoenaed As Specter Slams Dems' Special Prosecutor Request
UPDATED.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has ordered President Bush's chief political aide, Karl Rove, to testify in the U.S. attorney firings investigation. One of Rove's aides, Deputy Political Director J. Scott Jennings, was subpoenaed as well.
It is doubtful the White House will allow Rove and Jennings to testify under oath before the panel. The administration has used an executive privilege claim to rebuff Congress' demands for access to testimony and documents related to the firings.
But the evidence gathered so far by the committee has convinced a great many observers that the firings were politically motivated. Several longtime Bush allies have joined the chorus calling for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' ouster.
The Senate panel has yet to join its counterpart in the House in citing uncooperative White House or DOJ officials for contempt. To move past the executive privilege claim that will undoubtedly come in response to Rove's subpoena, the Senate committee will have to do so.
Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said that the White House's refusal to accommodate Congress was an indictment in itself.
"It is obvious that the reasons given for these firings were contrived as part of a cover-up and that the stonewalling by the White House is part and parcel of that same effort," the Vermont Democrat said in a statement. "This stonewalling is a dramatic break from the practices of every administration since World War II in responding to congressional oversight."
The White House, as per usual, dismissed the subpoenas as a meaningless political stunt.
Continue reading "Rove Subpoenaed As Specter Slams Dems' Special Prosecutor Request"
Posted at 3:47 PM
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July 25, 2007
House Panel Cites Bolten & Miers For Contempt
UPDATED.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 22-17 to cite two top White House aides -- chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers -- for contempt over their failure to cooperate with the panel's investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys.
The citations were approved on a party-line vote, as congressional Democrats stepped up their efforts to confront the White House directly over the prosecutors' dismissals. The decision is Congress' latest challenge to the White House's executive privilege claim, which Bush and his aides have invoked in their refusals to submit documents and provide testimony in the probe.
Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor subject to prison terms of up to one year and fines up to $100; it is considered a serious constitutional charge. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., conceded that the president has power to fire U.S. attorneys, but he added that the issue is "whether any administration can terminate or retain such individuals in order to influence pending criminal investigations or influence an election."
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., proposed the panel hold off on the contempt move and ask the House clerk to file a civil lawsuit to settle the issue of executive privilege. He said he feared the contempt citation case could lose in court and jeopardize future congressional efforts to gather information.
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July 24, 2007
Gonzales Is Back On The Hill. So?
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified yet again before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning. That sound you're hearing is crickets.
None of the cable networks covered the hearing live longer than a segment's worth of time, unlike his appearance in April. Back then, when the attorney firings scandal was really picking up steam, it seemed Gonzales' job might hang in the balance. But President Bush and Gonzales himself have made crystal clear that the AG isn't going anywhere.
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July 20, 2007
Bolten Faces Contempt Charge, But WH Says No
White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten is staring down a predicament that many of his fellow administration members (past and present) have faced in recent months: subpoenas for information over the U.S. attorney firings last year.
Bolten, again like many of his compatriots, argued that he did not have to provide a House panel with subpoenaed documents because he was protected by executive privilege -- invoked most recently, in different ways, by former White House aides Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor. A House panel rejected that claim, voting 7 to 3 that Bolten was not protected by President Bush's order and threatening him with contempt of Congress if he didn't produce the documents.
But the White House struck back in a different way yesterday when administration officials announced that the Justice Department would not be allowed to pursue the contempt charges once Bush issued the executive order. This new claim -- deemed a "bold new assertion" by the Washington Post -- represents a ratcheting up of the battle between Bush and congressional Democrats.
(White House photo by David Bohrer)
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July 11, 2007
Committee Weighs Options After Miers Snub
UPDATED.
Former White House counsel Harriet Miers plans to ignore a House Judiciary Committee subpoena calling for her testimony on the Hill tomorrow. Miers' attorney informed committee chairman John Conyers and Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law head Linda Sánchez last night that Miers would not appear, one day after informing Conyers that she would appear.
Miers' attorney, George Manning, confirmed that Miers would not be appearing before the committee after all in a telephone interview this afternoon. Manning would not answer any questions on why Miers had changed her mind.
About 10 minutes later, at around 3:22, the House Judiciary Committee released Conyers' and Sanchez's reactions to the turnabout. "I am extremely disappointed in the White House's direction to Ms. Miers that she not even show up to assert the privilege before the Committee," Conyers said. "We understand that the White House has asserted privilege over both her testimony and documents, and we are prepared to consider those claims at tomorrow's hearing."
Subcommittee members are expected to meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow, as scheduled. Miers' absence will be recorded, but it is unclear where the panel goes from there. A congressional aide with knowledge of the proceedings said that a discussion of how to move forward following her failure to appear is ongoing. But there is no indication the Judiciary Committee plans to drop its pursuit of her testimony, the aide added.
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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.
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July 10, 2007
Will Harriet Miers Show?
CORRECTED.
The House Judiciary Committee is holding another hearing on the U.S. attorney firings scandal on Thursday, with former White House counsel Harriet Miers a special guest of the proceedings. Miers did send an RSVP of sorts, through an attorney, and it has committee members confused.
In a letter sent to committee leaders yesterday, Miers attorney George Manning wrote, "I must inform you that in light of the president's assertion of executive privilege, Ms. Miers cannot provide the documents and testimony that the committee seeks."
President Bush yesterday invoked executive privilege to deny Congress access to testimony and documents from two former aides, Miers and Sara Taylor.
But a congressional aide with knowledge of the subpoena proceedings said Miers' attorney had already informed the committee that Miers would, in fact, testify.
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June 28, 2007
White House Rejects Congressional Subpoenas
UPDATED.
As expected, the White House is invoking executive privilege in response to an order from the Senate and House judiciary committees to hand over documents related to a round of firings of federal prosecutors last year.
In a letter to the committees, White House counsel Fred Fielding said President Bush "was not willing to provide your committees with documents revealing internal White House communications or to accede to your desire for senior advisors to testify at public hearings," AP reports. The senior advisers in question are Fielding's predecessor, Harriet Miers, and former White House political director Sara Taylor.
The effort to force transparency on the firings is a bipartisan one, and lawmakers have hinted that they are willing to take the executive branch to court in order to wrest documents and testimony relevant to the firings. Whether they actually do so while Congress is mired in a battle over immigration reform and an exit strategy from the Iraq war remains to be seen.
Legal Times has an excellent backgrounder on this White House's resistance to the attorneys firing probe.
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June 13, 2007
Subpoenas Sent To Harriet Miers, Sara Taylor
UPDATED.
The Senate and House Judiciary committees stepped up their dual investigations of the U.S. attorney firings today by issuing subpoenas to former White House counsel Harriet Miers and former White House political director Sara Taylor. It was the first time the committees have ordered former White House officials to testify on an episode that continues to cast doubt on the political independence of the Department of Justice.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers issued a subpoena for Miers to testify on July 12. Miers stepped down early this year, and is now back with Locke Liddell & Sapp, the Houston-based law firm she co-managed before joining the Bush administration in 2001. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy ordered Taylor before the committee on July 11.
(To read Miers' subpoena, click here [PDF]. To read Taylor's subpoena, as well as one ordering White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten to produce related documents, click here.)
Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate committee, painted the subpoenas as a last resort. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Specter said previous requests to speak with Taylor and Miers were met with silence.
But White House spokesman Tony Snow accused the lawmakers of seeking a "media circus" rather than the truth, citing the loads of internal documents already handed over to the committees. At the daily briefing, Snow reminded reporters that it is legal for President Bush to hire and fire federal prosecutors at whim, but said he was "not going to get into" why the White House didn't want officials testifying in public or under oath.
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June 11, 2007
Senate No-Confidence Vote On Gonzales Fails
UPDATED.
Lots of empty seats for this vote, which is actually a vote for a vote. Backers of a resolution "expressing the sense of the Senate that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales no longer holds the confidence of the Senate and of the American people" failed to get the 60 yeas to proceed to an actual vote.
The resolution was defeated as many expected, 53 to 38.
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June 07, 2007
Attorney Firings: Cheney Squeezed Justice On Spy Program
The G-8 summit, the presidential campaigns, the immigration proposal and Paris Hilton (gulp) are sucking up all the oxygen in the news cycle. In another week, maybe, the latest development in the U.S. attorney firings saga wouldn't have been buried.
In written answers to questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, former Deputy Attorney General James Comey spelled out the strongest case yet that pushback on the warrantless wiretapping program in 2004 came directly from Vice President Dick Cheney.
In testimony before the committee last month on the abrupt firing of eight U.S. attorneys, Comey revealed surprising new details about DOJ's resistance to the controversial surveillance program implemented at the direction of the White House following the 9/11 attacks. Comey said that he and other top DOJ officials, including FBI Director Robert Mueller, had decided to resign if the White House didn't agree to amend the program. Comey's testimony also revealed for the first time that former Attorney General John Ashcroft, a favorite villain of civil libertarians, had deemed the program illegal as well.
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May 24, 2007
McNulty Rebuts Testimony That He Lied To Senate Panel
Former Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, countering the testimony of another senior Justice Department official, said yesterday he told the truth when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the firing of U.S. attorneys.
"I testified truthfully at the Feb. 6, 2007, hearing based on what I knew at that time," McNulty said in a statement hours after former DOJ White House liaison Monica Goodling told the House Judiciary Committee that McNulty had not been "fully candid" in telling the Senate panel what he knew about the firings.
"Ms. Goodling's characterization of my testimony is wrong and not supported by the extensive record of documents and testimony already provided to Congress," McNulty said.
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May 23, 2007
Goodling Offers Up Red Meat On The Stand
UPDATED.
Democrats on the Hill got some answers on the U.S. attorney firings this morning when Monica Goodling began her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Goodling, a former White House liaison in the Justice Department, resigned in early April and invoked her Fifth Amendment rights when asked to testify. The committee offered her immunity later that month.
As Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., pointed out today, Goodling didn't really offer big "gotcha moments," but she has provided a much more intimate and detailed look at the decision-making process in the Justice Department than had previously been revealed to congressional investigators.
She said that her role in the firings had been exaggerated and criticized Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty -- who resigned last week -- for "misleading" statements he made about Goodling's own involvement in the firings.
"He accused me of withholding information, and I felt like I had provided him with that information that he did not communicate," she said.
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May 22, 2007
Leahy & Specter Seek More Documents On Wiretap Program
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and ranking member Arlen Specter, R-Pa., again asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today for information about the justifications for the warrantless wiretapping program, saying his response so far has been "wholly inadequate."
The request followed testimony last week by former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who revealed that the Justice Department had concerns about the legal basis for the program and refused to certify it for a period of time in 2004. Comey testified that Gonzales and former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card had approached then-Attorney General John Ashcroft while he was hospitalized, seeking his approval to renew the program.
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May 18, 2007
Comey & Ashcroft: A Dramatic Re-Enactment
Last night, "The Daily Show" aired a pretty hilarious dramatization of Alberto Gonzales and Andrew Card's late-night visit to an ailing John Ashcroft in the hospital in 2004. (Details of that visit can be found here.)
Not to be outdone, the folks at our sister publication Hotline have their own re-enactment. Enjoy.
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May 17, 2007
Dems Plan No-Confidence Vote On Gonzales
The tipping point in the attorneys firing scandal may be near, as Senate Democrats this afternoon announced they would be holding a no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
"Whoever is the attorney general of the United States is the chief law enforcement officer for the people of the United States," Sen. Dianne Feinstein said, appearing in a joint press conference with Sen. Charles Schumer. "I have lost confidence in the independence of Attorney General Gonzales from the White House."
This week has been a particularly bad week for Gonzales and the White House on the prosecutor firings. On Tuesday, lawmakers heard new details of a 2004 encounter Gonzales, then White House counsel, had with his predecessor, Attorney General John Ashcroft. Gonzales, along with the chief of staff at the time, Andrew Card, arrived at the hospital in which Ashcroft was recovering from gall bladder surgery and acute pancreatitis on President Bush's orders, in order to pressure the ailing attorney general to sign off on a domestic surveillance program the Justice Department opposed.
Only, Ashcroft wasn't the attorney general at the time -- then Deputy Attorney General James Comey was acting in his place.
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DOJ Offers Up E-Mail Tied To Rove
The Justice Department provided the Senate Judiciary Committee with a single e-mail Wednesday in response to a subpoena for the e-mails of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove related to the firing last year of eight U.S. attorneys.
The e-mail was sent Feb. 28, 2007, by J. Scott Jennings, an aide in Rove's White House shop, to what appears to be a Rove e-mail account linked to the Republican National Committee. It describes a telephone call Jennings received that day from Steve Bell, chief of staff to Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., in which Jennings says Bell flagged a news conference to be given the same day by former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias.
NationalJournal.com has the full story for free; see today's CongressDaily (subscription) for more.
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DOJ Considered Firing 26 U.S. Attorneys
The list started with eight federal prosecutors dismissed by the Justice Department. Last week, that number grew amid new revelations that another attorney had been asked to leave before the round of firings already in the spotlight.
Today, the Washington Post reports that one in four U.S. attorneys were up for dismissal during Alberto Gonzales' tenure -- contradicting the statements from the attorney general and others before Congress last week that only the names already mentioned had been targeted.
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May 15, 2007
Comey: Gonzales Pressured Ashcroft On Surveillance
UPDATED.
The White House bypassed a resistant Justice Department on its controversial domestic surveillance program three years ago, according to a former No. 2 at the department.
Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who was the top aide to then-AG John Ashcroft, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today that White House officials also sought to go over his head and appeal to a hospitalized Ashcroft -- even though Ashcroft's condition made Comey the acting attorney general at the time.
Comey described a late-night visit to Ashcroft's hospital room by Andrew Card, then the White House chief of staff, and Alberto Gonzales, then the White House counsel. Alerted by Ashcroft's wife, Comey and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller raced to the hospital, anticipating that Card and Gonzales would try to coax Ashcroft into approving the surveillance program.
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May 14, 2007
DOJ Second-In-Command Resigns
Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty today became the latest Justice official to step down in the wake of criticism of the firings of eight federal prosecutors late last year. His letter of resignation to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales cited family and financial concerns as the reasons for his exit, but ABC News is reporting that "anger" at being linked to the ongoing scandal over the firings may have been a significant factor in McNulty's decision.
In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in February, McNulty insisted that "in this administration U.S. attorneys are never -- repeat, never -- removed, or asked or encouraged to resign, in an effort to retaliate against them, or interfere with, or inappropriately influence a particular investigation, criminal prosecution, or civil case." But according to U.S. News & World Report, Gonzales was unhappy with McNulty's testimony on the firing of U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins of Arkansas.
Today, Gonzales released a statement praising McNulty for more than two years of service as his deputy and more than eight years with the department.
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May 10, 2007
Gonzales Gets Less Hostile Treatment From House Panel
With President Bush firmly behind him, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had a far smoother ride today in his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee than he did three weeks ago before a Senate panel. He received generally friendly questions from Republicans and provided skeptical Democrats little new information about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.
While Senate Judiciary ranking member Arlen Specter, R-Pa., had scathingly appraised Gonzales' performance and another GOP senator had called for his resignation, House Judiciary ranking member Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said today it was nearly time to "wrap up the U.S. attorneys' controversy."
GOP lawmakers often asked either supportive leading questions or addressed other subjects. Even some Democrats brought up parochial concerns.
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Administration Withheld E-Mails About Rove's Role In Firings
The Bush administration has withheld a series of e-mails from Congress showing that senior White House and Justice Department officials worked together to conceal the role of Karl Rove in installing Timothy Griffin, a protégé of Rove's, as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
The withheld records show that D. Kyle Sampson, who was then-chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, consulted with White House officials in drafting two letters to Congress that appear to have misrepresented the circumstances of Griffin's appointment as U.S. attorney and of Rove's role in supporting Griffin.
In one of the letters that Sampson drafted, dated February 23, 2007, the Justice Department told four Senate Democrats it was not aware of any role played by senior White House adviser Rove in attempting to name Griffin to the U.S. attorney post. A month later, the Justice Department apologized in writing to the Senate Democrats for the earlier letter, saying it had been inaccurate in denying that Rove had played a role.
Click here for Murray Waas' full report.
(Photo credit: Paul Morse)
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Gonzales Heads Back To The Hill With New Obstacles
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is testifying before the House Judiciary Committee today amid new allegations from another U.S. attorney -- one who left his job several months before the now-famous eight prosecutors were fired.
Todd Graves stepped into the spotlight yesterday when he announced that a senior Justice Department official had asked him to leave his post as U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Mo., in January 2006. The Washington Post reports that Graves was told to resign to "give another person a chance." Graves complied, but his request to stay at his job long enough to prosecute a particular high-profile case was denied.
Check back later today for another story on Gonzales from National Journal's Murray Waas.
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May 07, 2007
Justice Won't Block Goodling's Testimony About Firings
The Justice Department today said it would not stand in the way of a move by the House Judiciary Committee to grant immunity to former Justice official Monica Goodling in order to obtain her testimony about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year. In a letter to Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Justice officials reluctantly agreed not to object, suggesting information that emerges might interfere with the department's own investigation.
Read the full article in today's CongressDailyPM (subscription).
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May 03, 2007
DOJ Official Says He Was Told To Call Fired Prosecutors
The chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty told congressional investigators that phone calls he placed to four fired U.S. attorneys -- calls that three of the prosecutors say involved threats about testifying before Congress -- were made at McNulty's direction.
Michael Elston, the chief of staff, told congressional investigators in a March 30 closed-door session that McNulty specifically instructed him to make the phone calls after the Justice Department's No. 2 official learned that the fired prosecutors might testify before Congress about their dismissals.
A transcript of Elston's confidential interview with the congressional investigators was made available to National Journal.
The U.S. attorneys have said that Elston, in effect, told them that if they kept quiet about their dismissals, the Justice Department would not suggest that they had been forced to resign because of poor performance.
Click here for Murray Waas' full report.
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April 17, 2007
Goodling May Be Offered Immunity
The House Judiciary Committee will consider offering a former top DOJ official immunity in order to get her to testify about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, Bloomberg News and AP report.
Monica Goodling, a senior aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, resigned on April 6 after repeatedly rebuffing congressional Democrats' requests that she tell them what she knew about the firings. Unlike D. Kyle Sampson, another top Gonzales aide, Goodling refused to cooperate, citing the Fifth Amendment, and hired an attorney almost immediately after the scandal broke.
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April 03, 2007
Bush On Attorney Firings: Blame The Media
In today's press conference, President Bush implied that the scandal surrounding the December firings of eight U.S. attorneys might sully their reputations -- and that the press corps was at fault.
"I am genuinely concerned about their reputations, now that this has become a Washington, D.C., focus. I'm sorry it's come to this," Bush said in response to a question about the scandal.
Bush also predicted that the coming congressional hearings on the firings would prove his assertion that there was "no credible evidence of wrongdoing."
-JANE ROH
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March 30, 2007
DOJ: Gonzales Hanging On
Looks like there won't be any classic Friday-afternoon resignations today. Instead, earlier this afternoon, President Bush offered up another chorus in the song he's been singing since the U.S. attorney scandal broke weeks ago: He supports Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino predicted today that Gonzales "will survive the crisis," the Washington Post reports, and she said that Bush "believes the attorney general can overcome the challenges that are before him."
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March 29, 2007
DOJ: Sampson Implicates Gonzales In Firings
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff contradicted his former boss during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today. Kyle Sampson said he remembered discussing the dismissals of the eight U.S. attorneys with Gonzales, and that Gonzales was present at a November meeting where the matter was discussed.
In fact, the AP reports that Sampson said Gonzales knew about the proceedings "from the beginning," in early 2005.
That contradicts Gonzales' repeated statements that he didn't know about the firings. Documents about the Justice Department meeting back up Sampson's testimony, the New York Times reports.
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Sampson Stands Up
The former top aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended his old boss in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning.
In his opening statement, CNN reports, Kyle Sampson said "the decisions to seek the resignations of a handful of U.S. attorneys were properly made, but poorly explained. This is a benign rather than sinister story, and I know that some may be indisposed to accept it. But it is the truth as I observed and experienced it."
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March 27, 2007
Poll Track: Edwards Sees Movement In Static Field
When John Edwards announced he would continue to seek the Democratic nomination for president even though his wife was again battling cancer, this time in an incurable form, many wondered (though few would say aloud) a rather uncomfortable thought: Will this help him politically?
A very preliminary answer seems to be: Yes.
Continue reading "Poll Track: Edwards Sees Movement In Static Field"
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March 23, 2007
Snow: Congress Has No Oversight Over White House
In a largely overlooked exchange with reporters yesterday, White House press secretary Tony Snow said that Congress does not have oversight authority over the White House.
"The Congress does have legitimate oversight responsibility for the Department of Justice. It created the Department of Justice," Snow said during the daily briefing. "It does not have constitutional oversight responsibility over the White House."
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March 21, 2007
House Panel OKs Subpoenas For Top Bush Aides
The House Judiciary subcommittee today swatted away an olive branch offered yesterday by President Bush in the U.S. attorney firings probe. By a voice vote, panel members voted to issue subpoenas to chief White House aide Karl Rove, former counsel Harriet Miers, and other administration officials who may have had a hand in the firings.
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March 20, 2007
White House Gives The Go-Ahead For Rove & Miers
Presidential adviser Karl Rove and former White House counsel Harriet Miers will be interviewed by the congressional committees investigating the firings of eight U.S. attorneys -- but not under oath.
CNN reports that "[t]he announcement came after current White House counsel Fred Fielding met with members of the heads of the House and Senate Judiciary committees, who had considered using subpoenas to force Rove, Miers and their two deputies" to testify on the firings.
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March 15, 2007
Gonzales Targeted In Previous Probe
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales knew he was a potential target in an internal Justice Department investigation into the application of the National Security Agency's warrantless eavesdropping program, Murray Waas reports in next week's National Journal.
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March 14, 2007
Gonzales: 'I Serve At The Pleasure Of The President'
Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is deflecting questions about whether he will step down after new revelations concerning the firings of eight U.S. attorneys in December. "I work for the American people, I serve at the pleasure of the president, and I'm going to continue focusing on my job, focusing on what went wrong here and correcting it and focusing on issues that are important to the American people," Gonzales said on the "Today Show" this morning.
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March 13, 2007
Gonzales Stays Put
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sent a clear message at a 2 p.m. press conference: He isn't going anywhere. Although he did acknowledge "mistakes were made" in the testimony before Congress on the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, Gonzales said he stood by the initial decision.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., began a drumbeat of calls for the attorney general's resignation on Sunday amid accusations that the Justice Department influenced the decisions to fire the attorneys. Congressional hearings on the matter began this week, and Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, submitted his resignation yesterday.
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U.S. Attorney Wars Escalate
The flap over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys claimed another victim Monday: D. Kyle Sampson, the chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Sampson acknowledged "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," the Washington Post reports.
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March 07, 2007
Domenici Lawyers Up
Sen. Pete Domenici has hired top defense attorney Lee Blalack to represent him in a coming investigation into the firings of several U.S. attorneys last December, the Washington Post reports. The New Mexico Republican was one of two lawmakers from that state -- Rep. Heather Wilson was the other -- to phone in complaints about former prosecutor David Iglesias.
Iglesias, a Republican, told lawmakers yesterday that his one-time mentor asked about a corruption probe involving Democrats shortly before last November's midterm elections.
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March 05, 2007
Domenici May Have Spurred Prosecutor's Firing
The Justice Department today said that New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici (R) phoned U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or a deputy four times to complain about a federal prosecutor who was eventually fired, AP reports. Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias contends that two lawmakers from his state pressured him to speed up a criminal investigation involving Democrats ahead of November's midterm elections.
Domenici admitted on Sunday that he inquired about the corruption probe but denied putting the squeeze on the former prosecutor. Iglesias is one of eight federal prosecutors who were abruptly fired last December, prompting an investigation by congressional Democrats who smelled a partisan clean-up ordered by the White House.
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