Login Here
Oh, Cathie Martin. How is it that you always seem to end up in the middle of the smarmy mess? You turn up in the latest release of DOJ e-mails:
The e-mails also show that administration officials struggled to find a way to justify the firings and considered citing immigration enforcement simply because three of the fired prosecutors were stationed near the border with Mexico. While the e-mails don't provide evidence of partisan motives for the firings, they seem to undercut the administration's explanation that the prosecutors were dismissed for poor performance."The one common link here is that three of them are along the southern border so you could make the connection that DOJ is unhappy with the immigration prosecution numbers in those districts," Tasia Scolinos, a senior public affairs specialist at the Justice Department, told Catherine Martin, a White House communications adviser, in an e-mail.
Guess that move from Vice President Cheney's office over to the White House press office didn't exactly raise the ethics quota for you, now did it? And nothing like stringing together an after the fact justification for your actions, is there, folks with a finger in the Turdblossom pie? Especially when you have a lovely minion like Cathie ready to sell it to the willing enablers inside the Beltway. ("Mr. Russert, there's a call for you on Line One.") While we're looking at this, just why is the DoJ liaison with the WH press office taking a sudden leave of absence? Hmmmm?
Here's hoping that the folks at C&L are right, and that Leahy and Schumer do have a few disgruntled DoJ employee aces up their sleeves for testimony on this issue. Because sunshine is more than needed in this mess, right about now.
And perhaps they can explain the following from Katymine:
...why are DOJ employees using Yahoo email addy?Christy…. can you address the issue of government employees using NON gov. email addresses for Government business?
Anyone want an eyeopener on poor business practices put into government emails go take a gander. Didn’t anyone learn appropriate business language? Some of these people sound totally inept.
Yes, I'd like to know the answer to that myself. And oughtn't all those DoJ employees and the folks in Rove's Shop, among many, many others, start coughing up all their extraneous e-mail addresses. You know, the ones from the RNC, from yahoo, and everywhere else in between. Because I'm getting a whole "discussion off the books" feeling from these people that needs some serious explanation. And while we are at it, just how, exactly, is an e-mail discussion waged in non-governmental e-mails protected by Executive Privilege? Enquiring minds, Karl. (And loopholes that work both ways, I'm afraid. Remind me again why my taxes are paying your salary, Mr. Expensive Political Smarm Merchant.)
McClatchy has done some heavy lifting and combed through the politicization angle with a fine-toothed comb.
Last April, while the Justice Department and the White House were planning the firings, Rove gave a speech in Washington to the Republican National Lawyers Association. He ticked off 11 states that he said could be pivotal in the 2008 elections. Bush has appointed new U.S. attorneys in nine of them since 2005: Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Arkansas, Michigan, Nevada and New Mexico. U.S. attorneys in the latter four were among those fired.Rove thanked the audience for "all that you are doing in those hot spots around the country to ensure that the integrity of the ballot is protected." He added, "A lot in American politics is up for grabs."
The department's civil rights division, for example, supported a Georgia voter identification law that a court later said discriminated against poor, minority voters. It also declined to oppose an unusual Texas redistricting plan that helped expand the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. That plan was partially reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Frank DiMarino, a former federal prosecutor who served six U.S. attorneys in Florida and Georgia during an 18-year Justice Department career, said that too much emphasis on voter fraud investigations "smacks of trying to use prosecutorial power to investigate and potentially indict political enemies."
Several former voting rights lawyers, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of antagonizing the administration, said the division's political appointees reversed the recommendations of career lawyers in key cases and transferred or drove out most of the unit's veteran attorneys.
Guess McClatchy's reporters can also do "the math." I swear, the more I dig into this story, the more it reeks of Turdblossom Special.
Bob Geiger has some doozy cartoons for today on the US Attorney issue. And speaking of folks who keep turning up, Gonzales' fingerprints on approval are all over the latest round of docudump bits. Funny that they would turn up in the hands of folks in Congress while Gonzales is out of town, isn't it? (The shop working overtime for you this week, Karl?) Reader Kevster caught a great interview clip from Gonzales. The WaPo has some background on Margaret Chiara of Michigan -- hint: she was well liked by the federal judges for having integrity. Those pesky Democrats in Congress also want to be certain that the DoJ didn't tank the warrantless wiretapping investigation to play CYA for Gonzales. (Darn them, and their need to actually DO oversight, eh, George?) All in all, it's shaping up to be another interesting week ahead.
If you are still asking yourself, "Okay, what's the big deal about all of this?", have I got a bit for you from TPM. Read this from Josh, let it sink in, and then ask yourself just how many lies an Administration gets to tell the public, and the Congress, before no one ought to trust them at all? (My answer: we passed my limit a long, long time ago.)
It is well past time for some accountability on this issue. Testimony. Under oath. In public. Because, as a voter in this nation, I have a right to know what is being done in my name -- and subverting our nation's system of justice IS my business. Now, bring on the sunshine.
(Who knew there is a whole genre of "sexploitation mystery comedy" films?)
PS: I haven't had time to work this into a post this weekend, but this op-ed about national security letters definitely needs a read and some thought.
Share This 
Spotlight
frist
yo!
ho ho
The above poster just cracked me up. I thought you all could use a giggle this morning as well.
I’m truly a pacifist and really do not wish ill on any other human. But it seems like it would be a very good thing to have an “extraordinary rendition” pulled on these smarmy anal orifices. Of course, that would require building a prison at Gitmo larger than the Super Max in Colorado…
Why don’t they subpoena the NSA’s email archive?
/snark off.
And the use of outside email servers is a national security problem, because of the risk that Rove and others could have discussed classified matters using their outside email addresses.
Last night I saw a Daily Kos diary on that.
Howdy, Christy, FirePups!
Yeah, imagine that…a U.S. Attorney well-liked by not only federal judges for her integrity, but by the strongly Republican constituency in her district, dismissed without adequate reason by Washington.
Rover, that’s a f*ckup of the first water here. They don’t like Washington over much in Michigan, and they REALLY don’t like it when Washington mucks around in their backyard.
There’s a lot more going on here, buried in emails that haven’t been released and more in phone calls about which we’ll never learn.
For some perspective on Katymine’s point about the non-official email addies for official business:
I work for a Fortune
500100 company. We are prohibited from using any other email addresses for business purposes than our official ones, and everybody knows it. We have to go through little computer-based modules on ethics, protocol, document and email retention all the time, and your manager gets notified if you don’t do the modules, and he has to enforce that all his charges complete the modules, as does his manager, etc. We are blocked from using any other email sites from our work computer. I just don’t believe that any outfit under regulatory scrutiny (like the executive branch) does not enforce this type of control. Any deviation would have to be knowing and egregious.Prof @ 7
OK. Found it:
Karl Rove and GWB43.com - Huge National Security Threat?
Shitheel Orrin Hatch and his faith based logic. ‘Al Qaeda will use the oil revenues from Al Anbar Province to fund their terrorist activities’.
Orrin buddy, look at the map. Al Anbar aint got no oil.
Maybe they’ll use revenues from a sand flea circus.
-GSD
Morning, CHS!
Here’s concern troll Broder:
It seems doubtful that Democrats can help themselves a great deal just by tearing down an already discredited Republican administration with more investigations such as the current attack on the Justice Department and White House over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.
Is it possible to be more politically tone deaf?
Wowww… front paged!
Some would say that Yesterday was interesting… started reading the DOJ docs and the comments over at TPMmuckraker and got sucked into it all day.
What I found…
Several outside .gov email addys…
Yahoo, Comcast and gwb43 (RNC email addy)
My ex-US Attorney Paul Charlton was rated NUMBER ONE and was not on the hit list until it slipped that Rep. Rick Renzi was under investigation. BTW… Charltons prosecution for immigration crime was up 91% in 2005. Such a slacker.
John Dean said that executive privilege can only extend to conversations between the president and others, not staff and staff.
Prof @ 7
I don’t get this prof. Did the diarist think that the WH servers are somehow more secure than Yahoo? There’s an audit and oversight problem, but that’s true about voice communications as well.
My impression has always been that the WH communications systems are far from state of the art–I’d be very surprised if they’re using encryption, for example.
And how much does Karl “earn”?
Christie,
Slight correction, it’s David Kurtz writing at TPM, not Josh
oh goddammit. I just heard John McKay on MTP saying that Abu Gonzo “needs to understand” that his job is blahblahblah. Abu understands perfectly what his job is and it is to twist the DOJ into another instrument to enforce the permanent Repuglican majority.
Likewise, all the public statements by BushCo that sound nonsensical to reality-based humanoids make perfect sense if you put yourself in the proper viewing point. Patrick Fitzgerald is a mediocre performer if your yardstick is advancing BushCo’s agenda. The war in Iraq is a great success if you are a shareholder of Halliburton.
Anonymous Liberal over at C&L says that only the president can fire USAs. Is that correct, and if so, were these firings even leagal if the president didn’t know about them as he claims? Something about this doesn’t seem right, though, because this points hasn’t been raised by anyone else yet.
a little nugget for katymine - I actually found these links while surfing on USA story - all from Terrorist Screening Center - a DOJ unit -just scroll down a hair to the color type :)
oh and just so ya know
You Want Me On That Wall !
You Need Me On That Wall !
Wonder if this is what Bush and Blair have been hoping for. Things could heat up?
Iran defiantly rebuffed international demands yesterday for the release of 15 seized British naval personnel, claiming that the sailors and Royal Marines had confessed to entering its waters in an illegal act of aggression, and were now to be prosecuted in the Iranian capital.
The heat must be getting to Karl — Specter and Hagel were out on the take-show circuit dissing Gonzales this morning, so it sure sounds like Rove’s ready to jettison the Gonzo firewall.
Here’s a thought: If Gonzo had left last week over this, the whole bidness would have likely settled down and Rove would be safe. But it would be yet another humiliating loss of a good buddy for Bushie, as Gonzales has been him nearly long as Rove, IIRC. Now, too many reporters are joining with their blogger brethren into focusing on Turdblossom’s role in all of this.
What really hurts the Blossom is that this comes so soon after the Libby trial, and the whole ‘why isn’t Karl on trial here?’ theme of jury nullification the Libby team tried to use. That didn’t have time to fade from the public mind before this came up.
Regarding the National Security Letters: When the Patriot Act was coming up for re-auth these deceitful $%$#@ were saying that there was obviously no abuse of the Act since there were no complaints. Meanwhile they were gagging everyone who received an NSL.
Honestly, I cannot stay ahead of the curve with these guys. Every word out of their mouths is deceitful, but sometimes it takes months (years?) to realize it.
jayackroyd @ 15
In terms of interception by foreign intelligence services — Yes.
The White House servers are likely inside the building. The Republican servers are in Tennessee. Between Karl Rove (and others) in DC and the servers in Tennessee there are dozens of possibilities for interception of communications by foreign intelligence services.
(In the military, that’s what I worked on.)
Oklahoma kiddo @ 21
Since the UK’s backing down from its claim that the sailors weren’t anywhere near Iranian waters (translation: they were blatantly over the line and the Iranians have proof), I expect that the soldiers are going to be guests of the Iranian government for a little while — but most likely no longer than a few weeks. Their presence in Teheran will put pressure on the Brits to negotiate and not nuke, and the Brits in turn will put pressure on the US to do the same.
However, the government currently in power in the UK is a Labour government (though it’s Labour only in name, thanks to Tony the Third Way Man). I can very easily see Rove advising Bush that endangering those British sailors by attacking Iran would be just what is needed to give the Tories a boost in Blighty.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 21
Hopefully they won’t be tortured or otherwise harmed. I worry the Iranians might think the Geneva Conventions are “quaint” or something, and no longer apply.
Phoenix Woman @ 22
How does this executive privilege thing work with ex-staff member?
Both Kos and Josh Marshall have had pieces about members of the Bush administration illegally using personal or outside emails so their communications cannot be tracked.
There was a good point raised on the Face the Nation program this morning on the need for public testimony by Karl Rove. Rove has been giving public speeches around the country justifying the firings of the US-Attorneys and saying the Democrats are simply playing politics. So, one of the commentators asked, why can’t Rove make these same statements under oath to a Congressional committee and face cross-examination?
something else bothering me -
this from gov. website (ironically entitled “Expect More”) this is first link you get when you type in USA’s under ‘keywords’
Expect More . . .USA’s
emphasis mine
what are they talking about here ?!?!?
Prof @ 24
thanks. And you can secure a blackberry? And they pptp into the white house from home?
Rove is a must for prosecution. Get him and you’ll get the other two.
Christy commands: Now, bring on the sunshine.
Here I am ;->
One over-arching meme I got from Repub talking points this morning is the shift to “serious concern” about Gone-zo. But with this important subtext left unexplored by the talking heads. They’ll focus on Gone-zo as chum to distract from the Rove shop. Toss away the mid-sized mackerel so the media will ignore the sharks that form the core of BushCo.
Several outside .gov email addys…
Yahoo, Comcast and gwb43 (RNC email addy)
Talk about the banality of evil. I wonder if karlturd1 is active?
By the way:
“If they dropped 8 members from the Team because they didn’t play ball, well, how many others did play ball?”
Sen. Durbin on Meet the Press.
He is on it.
I haven’t heard anyone in the MSM bringing up the following facts.
*Irve Libby lied under oath and was convicted for attempting to cover up for higher-ups.
*J. Steven Griles was convicted for lying under oath.
There is an established pattern of Bush administration officials lying under oath.
They no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Swear ‘em all in.
-GSD
Whenever there is a commenter thinking perhaps Arlen Specter is starting to come around, remember he is the guy who gleefully inserted the piece into the Patriot Act allowing Bush to appoint US Attorneys without congressional approval. Although he blames a staff member, it was Specter alone who allowed it to go in.
It’s a cheesy trick Specter always employs. He talks the talk, he’s vocally “shocked” etc. by something Bushco is doing. When it’s time to vote, he never sticks to his initial statements and votes the Bush meme, always.
Wow. The plot thickens.
I haven’t been on the toobz very much the past couple of days, and I’m amazed at what has transpired in the US Atty scandal.
- Secret email systems to try and hide activities of high-ranking officials who supposedly “don’t use email”
- Documentation of meetings & memos proving that Gonzales was directly involved in the plotting to fire the attorneys, despite his denial of involvement
- Cathie Martin in the middle of it all
If the plot gets any thicker, we’ll have to use heavy mechanical equipment to get through it.
I do think we’re going to have to watch for “scandal overload”. Don’t mean to sound like a concern troll, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the GOP starts throwing out a lot of suspicious sounding information about various topics in an attempt to get us running in circles, chasing the “potential scandal du jour”. They know we love to do it - us Democrats, particularly us bloggers - are prone to sniffing out scandal. If we have too many potential scandals at once going, the Democrats could look like they’re spending all of their time investigating potential scandal, and less time accomplishing real change. I suppose that’s what us bloggers are for, though - we can sniff out the real scandal from shrewd attempts to get Democrats running in circles.
Ok, now that I’m done thinking out loud, I’m gonna make myself a cup of espresso. Just got a new machine - I had no idea how bad my old machine was. Wow.
Rove, a dingleberry with a Blackberry.
-GSD
LandOfTheFree at 38 — Oooh, send some of that espresso over here. *g*
Yeah — note that Goodling is only taking a leave of absence — she’s not resigning. Because, you know, if she resigned there’d be no way to shield her with “executive privelege”
Wankers, every one.
GSD @
39
John Dingell / Marion Barry ‘08 - the dingellbarry ticket ;)
Regardless of the outcome of the car smuggling event in the Persian Gulf, the view here is that Iran is squarely in the Bush cross hairs. We are simply not going to let the oil in that part of the Middle East get away from us. Iraq and Iran have little to do with what the Bush boys and girls tell us it does. It’s about oil. Always has been.
Monica Goodling is still on the payroll. Kyle Sampson, the connected Mormon from Utah, even though he resigned his title, is still on the DOJ payroll. No cut in pay for Kyle.
karen allen @ 37
Exactly. Chuck Hagel’s the same way. They pretend to be independent tough guys, but when crunch time hits they meekly fall in line.
The fact that both of them were sent to do the Sunday talks dissing Gonzo indicates to me that the Bushies are getting ready to dump him. They’re getting the ground prepped first — they’re having the “moderate” Republicans get in their licks first, and then tomorrow or Tuesday some of the non-moderates will join in, and by Friday Gonzo will be gone.
sunshine and a hazardous materials cleanup crew should do the trick
karen allen @ 44
Now THAT is interesting! How’d they manage that?
I have read on Daily Kos and TPM that Our Benighted Emperor’s Achilles Heel is the subpoena to “ex-staffer” Harriet Meirs. Thus, I believe this means they cannot quash her with executive privilege because the point to that, according to Court cases is they would be inhibited in giving advice at liberty in the future with such a cloud hanging over them. No more future advice for Bush’s “Homely Aunt Harriett”..
Awww… Gee! I hate it when that happens!
jayackroyd @ 27
Well, it looks like today’s talking points from the WH thru three key Republican Senators was that they questioned Gonzo’s truthfulness…
It does look like Gonzo will be thrown further under the bus this week to save Rover. I expect a resignation by Friday.
There was a great diary over at Kos yesterday about the national security issues involved in using non-WH email servers.
“Karl Rove and gwb43.com–Huge National Security Threat?” diary by Citizen92 on 3-24-07
It’s bad enough that they were probably trying to keep their communications beyond scrutiny, but in so doing they may have (again!) compromised our national security!
Tell me again how it is that this is the party that keeps us safe. They post the instructions for making an atom bomb on their website, they publish their counter-insurgency manual for all to read, they auction off ’spare’ military parts to the highest bidder…
…and Tom Engelhardt has a must read article posted at Alternet: “Neocons in Cheney’s Office Fund al Quaeda-tied Groups…and No One Cares?”
3-17-07
But, if they fire Alberto Gonzales who will protect the children?
-GSD
Rep. Chris Cannon, R-UT and Senator Orrin Hatch R-UT, via the Salt Lake Tribune and other media, have come out solidly in support of Abu Gonzales. Has anybody connected the dots and see that Kyle Sampson is their peep?
This is something I’ve brought up before, and maybe it bears a little more examination (responses will tell the tale).
I’m not so sure, if Lincoln could see what the nation has become, he would have bothered stopping the Confederacy from seceding.
In my opinion, the south in particular, has led the way in the dumbing down of our nation, a process started before I was born. If you don’t believe me, see the way our opposite numbers think.
I don’t know if I see any way out of the political morass our country is in. Even if we take power (win the Senate more decisively, and take the WH) in 2008, the circus will never end. The wingnuts are never going to figure out they’re wrong (and they ARE wrong), and given their desire to jam their ways down our throats, I just don’t see a way out. There can never be real peace among our own people, we’re descending toward being the Serbs and Croats, the Shia and the Sunnis. At my age, I probably won’t live to see he end of it , but we’re so indebted, and spread thin, so weakened by job outsourcing and the destruction of the American military by the Iraq clusterfuck,. there’s hardly any bones left to pick.
I don’t know about you, but I grow weary of the struggle. The USA is fucked. I’ve never believed until now, the US could be destroyed in a single man’s tenure, even a two-term one, but I have been proven wrong. It’s like Greg Stillson (a character from the Stephen King book “The Dead Zone”) come to life.
Would Lincoln have allowed the Confederacy to stand, had he been able to see into the future? I wish he had let them go. The remainder of the US would be stronger, smarter and better equipped to stand among the great nations of the world.
twolf1 @ 42
And Marion Barry gave DC the Metro, so he’s at least one up on Bush in terms of Good Things Done For The Greater Community. Yeah, he knows what cocaine tastes like — but if coke use was a disqualification, we wouldn’t have the Boy-King now, would we?
GSD @ 51
(^_^)
karen allen @ 52
You have, just now.
Got more on Sampson (Rove’s mini-me) and the whole Utah/Hatch/Cannon thing?
PeteCO @ 26
Now, I wonder who could possibly have given them such an idea…
I think Our Benighted Emperor is between a rock and a hard place. Once he throws Gonzo under the bus, he cannot invoke executive privilege. This whole thing has gotten way out of control.
Nixon’s tipping point was when his Repuglicans started abandoning him; eg - Lindsey Graham, Spectre, etc., today.
The guy got caught telling Congress lies.. The only one safe enough is Orin — The Great Theocracy of Utah — Hatch.
Chimpy has a support club of ONE.. Awww Gee!!
Quzi @ 49
Bob Scheiffer said the Eubanks scandal is more important than the firing of USA’s. If anything it just corroborates the fact that this Admin. politicized the DOJ. Get a clue Scheiffer!
Phoenix Woman @ 47
Can’t remember where I read that he went over to the environmental side of justice. That oughta help Gore’s cause.
Phoenix Woman @ 47
Same way Rumsfeld is still collecting a check. These people don’t fire cronies, they move them into an office with fewer windows.
Karen — Sampson was actively lobbying for the other Utah USAtty spot, with a boost from Hatch supporting his efforts. So, yes, there is a connection there in a number of ways. Hatch has a number of fingers in the Turdblossom pie.
op99 @ 9
ding ding ding. egregious, call on line 2.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 43
Gulf of Tonkin. The first thing that crossed my mind when this broke on Friday morning.
My greatist fear these days is the use of war to stop the investigations,and put a cork in the media coverage[”look look! shiny”]
Then,we get to see what Frank Zappa ment when he said “the chairs and tables are moved aside and you see the brick wall in the back of the theater”
karen allen -
it goes a little deeper than that - current USA Utah: Brett Toleman was the “unauthorized staffer” who slipped language in to rev. Patriot Act - both Hatch & Specter backed him for USA job although WH and Sampson wanted Sampson to have it - quid pro quo Senator Hatch ?
Christy made the point that Hatch is in this up to his eyeballs and I’m with her, Specter is taking heat b/c he was chairman and such a weasel, but Hatch deserves plenty of sunlight :)
EvilDrPuma @ 57
I hope you’re not “blaming America first”, Sir!
Looks like Turdblossom is taking Fredo on a little rowboat ride.
What happened to Laura and Barney?
karen allen @ 37
They’ve got something on him. I think it kills him to go along with this admin. He seems to know that he’s doing things that are bad for US. But, then they must send someone to ‘talk’ to him and he comes back on board.
Great Point!!
I hope one of the questioners of Kyle - Angel Moroni - Sampson on Thursday is “are you still being paid, and employed?”
This may be obvious to political junkies, but the average main street voter will be shocked - good fodder for Dobbs or Cafferty… Well, maybe, at least Cafferty.
EvilDrPuma @ 61
smiley @
19
we have been talking about this here at FDL for a while. bottom line, no one has been able to confirm that the President delegated his authority to fire these US Attorneys. These folks were fired (forced resignation = constructive discharge, aka fired). The powderkeg is over at the White House. The fuse is lit. That’s why Leahy and Conyers want to talk to Karl and Harriet.
snuffy @ 65
Frank, where are you when we need you?
smiley @ 19
Smiley: check out this dKos diary. Mary2002 created this on May 16 (which seems like a long time ago, when you consider what new info we’ve learned since then). She documents what the President has to sign off on. Of course, these attorneys “resigned” under pressure, so technically they were not fired.
ah Dr. Probst, therein lies the rub - they can’t get rid of him - not b/c they’re worried about his loyalty, they hired him b/c he’s weak and pliant and they know some junior investigator will have him compromising testimony in no time
Terry Olson @ 60
Can’t remember where I read that he went over to the environmental side of justice. That oughta help Gore’s cause.
I need that information. Does anyone have that?
The WaPo article linked above was quite disturbing to read. Imagine, THREE years later and the author still is under a gag order, over an investigation the FBI isn’t interested in anymore.
This is pure totalitarian Bushit!
Say, anybody know of another planet I can move to?
PhoenixWoman @55: Ah, where to start about Kyle Sampson and his fellow Mormon defenders? Sampson served a “mission” in the LDS church for two years. He graduated from Brigham Young University. His law professor, Michael McConnell, recommended him to Senator Orrin Hatch, and Sampson went to work as an employee of Hatch. Sheldon Bradshaw, a former deputy US Attorney General, has stated that Sampson “has an outstanding legal mind” and that he “has been wronged”. Bradshaw and Sampson belong to the same ward (district) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City. What a coincidence! Sampson is also good friends with a law school classmate, Elizabeth Cheney. Does the name “Cheney” somehow seem familiar? And there’s more, much more.
cbl @ 66
I printed out the email from Brett Tolman to William Moschella dated 11-9-05 at 11:06 pm (talk about the dead of night) where he replied to the request to slip the provision in: “I will get the comprehensive fix done.” Anyone got the date of Senate passage handy?
Gonzalez is testifying to the Senate Judicial Committee on April 17??? Why so soon (sigh)?
I think Kyle Sampson is a big wildcard here. He’s a Rove protege, so I doubt he’ll take the stand and tell the whole truth. But I’m very curious about which story he’s going to tell. Is he going to take the fall for the whole thing? (”It was all my idea. All by myself. As for that one-hour meeting with the AG where I was supposed to tell him about it, we just sat there in silence for sixty minutes. It was awkward, but I didn’t want my boss to know what I was up to. Then I went back to my office and wrote thousands of pages of fake e-mail about the whole thing.”) Or is he going to shiv Gonzales but protect Rove? (”Gonzo told me the Bush bet him that Gonzo could never pull off a Rove-like stunt like this without Rove’s help, so we had to keep Rove in the dark the whole time. That part worked, but since the whole thing blew up, Gonzo lost the bet. I don’t know what they were betting for, but Gonzo’s been brushing his teeth quite a bit lately.”)
Prof @ 76
I need that information. Does anyone have that?
Actually, I remember it now. Is is not Sampson. It is that Stephen Griles, recently convicted, has been sleeping with (and bought a house with) the head of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Dept — someone who also helped out a company. Not that Kyle Sampson went over there.
Do we know where Sampson is, and what his employment deal is with Justice at present?
PeteCO @ 64
My first thought, too.
cbl @ 75
I agree that they’re in a Catch-22. They can’t keep him, because he reeks of scandal, but they can’t really fire him, either, because that’s just going to make it worse. Another Bush crony will never survive the confirmation process, and a non-crony is going to have to do a bare minimum of house cleaning, and all sorts of fun stuff is going to come out.
Karl “Moroni” Sampson appears to be ready to talk. He just has to be pissed that he got passed over for USA job in Utah..
Even Lackey Toads will jump out of the water when they start to figure out they have been used. Rove and Gonzo are in a proxy war, I believe. I think Rove spoke for the WH when they had the Friday doc dump and Gonzo got egg all over his face.
It seems, therefore, the finger pointing is ready to get thick and heavy on Thursday when Sampson tries to help with more finger pointing at Gonzo. Hatch is probably telling him what to do.
It seems Our Benighted Emperor will wait until Gonzo is a “High Value Target” ie; If I give you Gonzo’s head, will you let all this die? He has to wait a while for that level to be reached. Then his “Dem’s overeach” might have some traction… “This is all over, and it was all Gonzo’s fault…”
Tired Fed
revised bill was passed 3/3/6, signed in to law 3/9
fyi - one of my unanswered questions is why did they have to have Senate Confirmation (voice vote) for USA Utah on 7/21/06 ???
Marion in Savannah –
You okay? I’ve missed your NYT firewall-outing at your website.
Prof– Alberto said he was still working there at his presser on the 13th:
more here
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/.....s-sampson/
karen allen @ 78
OK, my head just exploded. I can’t keep up anymore. I guess that’s what they want.
Maybe its time for Leahy et al to note for the record that they are not asking that DOJ and WH officers be hooded, stripped naked and photographhed, kept in a dark grave sized room chained in stress positions for hours, forced to urinate upon themselves, threatened with dogs, struck, doused with icewater and left with cold air blowing on them until their heart rates drop, or any of the other interrogation techniques that DOJ has expressly approved as humane and reasonable.
Just show up in a dark suit and yellow tie and testify under oath, with a transcript.
karen allen @
52
The support of Gonzales by the Utah republicans should come as no suprise. The current US-Attorney for Utah is Brett Tolman, who in 2006 worked for Arlen Specter pushing through the Patriot Act renewal. Tolman got unanimous confirmation by the Senate. There is some speculation that Tolman helped slip in the provision in the Patriot Act under Specter’s name which allowed US-attorney vacancies to be filled without Senate confirmation. Rove failed in a duel with Specter to get Rove’s guy in the Utah US-Attorney spot, but eventually Rove got his guy in the Arkansas slot following the firing of Cummings. It all stinks of corruption, and any time Specter himself gets near this issue people should watch very carefully.
I think they’re past the point where they can dump Gonzo and staunch the bleeding here. They would’ve had a hard time doing it before the tobacco story, but that little gem had to have put them over the edge. That one really has to be investigated, even if Gonzo were to resign today. And there are quite a few rocks that are going to have to be turned over in that case.
fwiw, going on a “mission” is a fairly common occurrence for Mormon kids. Know a lot of folks that went on them. In fact, know lot of Mormons. Just because someone is LDS, or is in the same “ward” (which is the way that things are organized in the church) isn’t uncommon — especially if they lived in the same area in Salt Lake City. What is unusual with Sampson and company is the substantial amount of patronage work that Sen. Hatch has done for them. He doesn’t do that for just anyone, Mormon or not — and the fact that this was all linked to the Patriot Act provision insertion for the Congressional oversight end-run, among many other things, ought to raise a LOT of questions.