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View Full Version : GOP support for Gonzales erodes further



LiberalNation
03-16-2007, 03:07 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/gonzales_prosecutors;_ylt=Agn9FRkkowqWcQag7HI2wXQD W7oF

WASHINGTON - Republican support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales eroded further Thursday amid an intensifying furor over his role in federal prosecutor firings, as new e-mails surfaced indicating that top White House political adviser Karl Rove had an early hand in the dismissals.

A Senate panel approved subpoenas for Justice Department officials Thursday in a probe of the firings. Subpoenas for President Bush's top aides, including Rove, could come next week.

"The new e-mails show conclusively that Karl Rove was in the middle of this mess from the beginning," said Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., adding that the revelations make it "imperative" that Rove testify under oath before Congress.

A White House e-mail to David Leitch, then deputy counsel to the president, dated Jan. 6, 2005, regarding U.S. attorneys says Rove was questioning "whether we were going to allow all to stay, request resignations from all and accept only some of them, or selectively replace them."

In a reply three days later, Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, tells Leitch that "we would like to replace 15-20 percent of the current U.S. attorneys — the underperforming ones."

"The vast majority of U.S. attorneys, 80-85 percent_I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc., etc.," Sampson's e-mail says. Later in the e-mail, Sampson wrote that home-state senators may resist replacing prosecutors "they recommended. That said, if Karl thinks there would be political will to do it, then so do I."

Sampson resigned Monday night as Gonzales' staff chief. The e-mails were released Thursday by the Justice Department.

Earlier Thursday, Rove said the controversy was being fueled by "superheated political rhetoric," adding that there was no similar uproar when President Clinton dismissed all 93 U.S. attorneys at the beginning of his first term.

"We're at a point where people want to play politics with it. That's fine," Rove told students at a journalism seminar at Troy University in Alabama.

White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said the newly released e-mail trail "does not directly contradict, nor is it inconsistent with what we've said."

Rove had a "vague recollection" that it was then-White House counsel Harriet Miers who first raised the idea of replacing all 93 federal prosecutors at the beginning of Bush's second term "and that he thought it was a bad idea and would be unwise."

One Republican, Sen. John Sununu (news, bio, voting record) of New Hampshire, has publicly urged President Bush to fire Gonzales. Still another GOP lawmaker, this one in the House and not ready to speak out publicly, said Thursday he planned to call next week for Gonzales to step down. And Sen. Gordon Smith (news, bio, voting record), R-Ore., said Thursday Gonzales had lost the confidence of Congress.

"The senator believes it would be helpful to have an attorney general that Congress can have more confidence in," said Smith's spokesman, R.C. Hammond.

Other Republican lawmakers spent Thursday urging colleagues to refrain from joining that chorus until they hear more from Gonzales and his aides directly.

"Let's give them a chance to respond before we get tough," said Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee. "I'm prepared to get tough, but I want to get tough with a basis for doing so."

The panel wants to question Gonzales about statements made by his deputies that the firings were not efforts to install new prosecutors without Senate confirmation. An e-mail released this week revealed the attorney general's top aide discussing how to "run out the clock" by invoking a new provision in the Patriot Act that would allow such indefinite appointments.

Any answers may come too late to save Gonzales' job, some lawmakers say.

One Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee who spoke on condition of anonymity because he has not yet announced his position, said Thursday he has told White House officials that Gonzales stands no chance. The lawmaker said he expects to be among other Republicans calling for Gonzales' resignation after the attorney general tells his story on Capitol Hill.

Regardless of Gonzales' fate, questions will be asked under oath of his aides and most of the prosecutors he fired. The Judiciary Committee approved subpoenas for five Justice officials Thursday as a safeguard against the attorney general's retracting his permission for them to testify voluntarily.

They are Sampson; Michael Elston, top aide to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty; Associate Attorney General Bill Mercer; Monica Goodling, Gonzales' senior counsel and White House liaison; and Mike Battle, departing director of the office that oversees all 93 U.S. attorneys.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the subpoena authorizations were not needed because Gonzales had agreed to make his aides available.

The Senate panel also authorized subpoenas for six of the eight fired U.S. attorneys. The six — Carol Lam of San Diego, Bud Cummins of Arkansas, Paul Charlton of Arizona, John McKay of Seattle, Daniel Bogden of Nevada and David Iglesias of New Mexico — testified under subpoena last week before the House Judiciary Committee.

Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), D-Vt., delayed until March 22 a vote on subpoenas for Rove; Miers and her deputy, William K. Kelley. E-mails released this week either authored by or mentioning Rove, Miers and Kelley appeared to contradict the administration's contention that Bush's staff had only limited involvement in the purge.

It's customary for new presidents to bring in their own team of prosecutors when they take office. Democrats say the Bush administration singled out some of its own nominees because they chafed at the president's priorities and efforts by Republican members of Congress and others to influence political corruption investigations.

"Eight U.S. attorneys who did not play ball with the political agenda of this administration were dropped from the team," said Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois. "We have a right to ask what that political agenda was and whether or not it was a reasonable firing and dismissal."

Some of the fired prosecutors testified last week that lawmakers leaned on them to speed up prosecutions that would hurt Democrats. Others said they felt intimidated by the agency to stay quiet. All of them were miffed by the Justice Department's contention that the dismissals were performance-related. The department then fired back, enumerating publicly what were described as performance problems for each of the fired prosecutors.

Bush on Wednesday defended the firings but criticized how they were explained to Congress. The president said he still had confidence in the attorney general but implied that his support was conditioned on Gonzales patching things up with lawmakers.

CockySOB
03-16-2007, 03:19 PM
Not sure I agree with the title based solely on the article you cite. Unless I missed a particular Republican (beyond RINO Specter) who pulled support from Gonzales, the only mention was an "unnamed" Republican who didn't want to assign their name to such until they made their position public.

On the other hand, I agree with Patrick Fey of Patterico's Pontifications (http://patterico.com/2007/03/15/5964/the-indefensible-aspects-of-the-us-attorney-firings/) said:

Alberto Gonzales is either a liar or incredibly incompetent. I think he’s a dead man walking. I predict that, late tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, or possibly one week from tomorrow, Alberto Gonzales is going to decide he needs to spend more time with his family.

The article is a good read, and raises good points critical of Gonzales, Sampson and Domenici. Patterico is worth a read on the topic, and worth bookmarking as he seems to be intent on following the topic with vigor.

Hugh Lincoln
03-16-2007, 10:09 PM
He was appointed for one reason, and one reason only. See if you can guess the reason.

Dilloduck
03-16-2007, 10:12 PM
He was appointed for one reason, and one reason only. See if you can guess the reason.

Easy---he's "hispanic"

Psychoblues
03-16-2007, 11:44 PM
Good article. Thanks a bunch!!!!

LiberalNation
03-19-2007, 09:19 PM
3,000 pages of documents arrive at Congress on attorney firings

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/19/monday/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Department of Justice Monday delivered to Congress more than 3,000 pages of e-mails and other documentation regarding the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year.

One set of the documents went to the House Judiciary Committee and another to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both committees are holding hearings on the firings, which led several Democrats and Republicans to call for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The committees were to release the documents to the public, but it was unclear how long that process would take.

The Democrat-led committees requested the documents to try to bring more clarity to the process used by the department in deciding which of the federal prosecutors to fire and why. At the core of the issue is whether, as some Democrats allege, the department fired the attorneys for political reasons. (Posted 9:42 p.m.)

LiberalNation
03-19-2007, 09:20 PM
Gonzales' hold on job grows uncertain

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070320/ap_on_go_co/fired_prosecutors;_ylt=ArJ3cb_8VucgAlcF2zrLyTKyFz4 D

stephanie
03-19-2007, 11:38 PM
Boy....You would think the Democrats got some BIG FISH or something...

Gonzales.....

The people see what's going on....The witch hunts...

I'm glad...Let's the American people see just how vicious the Dems. are...They needed to be reminded again...

I never really cared for Gonzales in the first place, I'm sure the American people could care less if he resigns...

Keep on trucking.......Democrats...

:cheers2: