US attorney

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Doctor Sues 3 Officials in Anthrax Case

Claims they leaked info, caused 'severe emotional distress'

(Newser) - A former army doctor identified as a "person of interest" in the 2001 anthrax attacks is suing three US officials for leaking information about him, the Los Angeles Times reports. In his five-year-old suit, physician Steven Hatfill claims the case caused him "severe emotional distress" and hindered his...

Next AG Will Inherit Justice Budget Crunch

Pirority on terror has left few resources for other prosecutions

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales' successor at Justice will find a department seriously weakened by budget cuts that have reduced prosecutions in all types of crimes, the Wall Street Journal reports. As funds have been redirected to fighting terrorism, positions in US attorneys offices remain unfilled, and investigations have languished for months. 

US Attorney Targeted After DoJ Brushoff

Lawyer put on pink-slip list after refusal to slow case vs. drugmaker

(Newser) - A US attorney testified yesterday that he found himself on a firings list after rebuffing DoJ pressure to slow a case—on the eve of a guilty plea. The Post reports a Justice higher-up urged John Brownlee to stall proceedings against the manufacturer of an addictive painkiller hours before it...

House Committee Charges Bush Aides With Contempt

Judiciary Committee votes along party lines to issue contempt citations to Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten

(Newser) - The House Judiciary Committee voted to issue contempt citations to two of President Bush's top aides for defying subpoenas related to the US attorney firings scandal, edging Congress closer to a Constitutional showdown with the White House over its claims of executive privilege. The committee voted along party lines 22-17...

House Panel Schedules Contempt Vote
House Panel Schedules Contempt Vote
Jul 24, 2007 9:35 AM CDT

House Panel Schedules Contempt Vote

Executive privilege battle looms in US attorney firings probe

(Newser) - Congress is speeding toward a constitutional collision with the White House over the US attorney firings, the Washington Post reports. The House Judiciary Committee votes tomorrow on contempt citations against current chief of staff Joshua Bolten and ex-counsel Harriet Miers. President Bush has said he will challenge any attempt to...

White House Expands Exec Privilege Claims

Congressional Dems face new obstacle in US attorneys probe

(Newser) - White House officials have made a broad new claim to executive privilege that would block the Justice Department from pursuing contempt charges initiated by Congress, the Washington Post reports. Citing a Regan-era legal opinion, they argued that "A US attorney would not be permitted to bring contempt charges or...

Bush Chief of Staff May Face Contempt Charge

House panel rejects privilege claim

(Newser) - White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten may face contempt charges over the administration's refusal  to turn over subpoenened documents. A House panel yesterday voted 7-3 to reject the White House contention that the documents—sought in the probe of the dismissals of US attorneys—are covered by executive privilege,...

White House Stonewalls on Subpoenas
White House Stonewalls
on Subpoenas
Jun 28, 2007 5:35 PM CDT

White House Stonewalls on Subpoenas

Bush invokes executive privilege in Senate probe of US attorney firings

(Newser) - The White House shot down attempts to subpoena internal documents concerning the US attorney firings today by invoking executive privilege. Though not a surprise, the refusal moved the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to accuse the administration of "Nixonian stonewalling." If the committee doesn't back down, the...

Gonzogate Trickles Down Into the Courts

Defense teams charge political motivation in broad array of cases

(Newser) - Months after the scandal over eight US Attorney firings first hit, the accusation of politically motivated justice has reached federal courtrooms around the country. Defense attorneys are invoking the controversy to call indictments into question in cases from bank fraud to child pornography, the LA Times reports.

US Attorney Firing Probe Spreads to White House

Congress calls Miers, another ex-official

(Newser) - The congressional investigation of the US attorney firings reached the White House today as the judiciary committee in each chamber subpoenaed a different former high-level official. Lawmakers subpoenaed documents from the White House chief of staff, the AP reports, but Karl Rove has not been served because Democrats are...

10 Arrested in Laos Takeover Scheme

Plotters led by former Laotian general and US military officer

(Newser) - Ten suspects were arrested in six Californian cities today for conspiring to overthrow the government of Laos. The plotters included a former general in the Laotian army and a former US military officer who was a covert operative during the Vietnam War, the AP reports. Most of the group were...

Elle Woods, Is That You?
Elle Woods,
Is That You?
May 24, 2007 8:49 AM CDT

Elle Woods, Is That You?

Slate 's legal correspondent is tougher on Dems than they were on Goodling

(Newser) - Monica Goodling cleared a very low bar in her Congressional testimony yesterday, Slate's Dahlia Lithwick argues, and she can thank the Democrats who questioned her for making her look good. The majority members of the House Judiciary Committee, "in expecting to question the Great Exploding Idiot Barbie," Lithwick...

Ex-Justice Aide Points Fingers
Ex-Justice Aide Points Fingers
May 23, 2007 1:26 PM CDT

Ex-Justice Aide Points Fingers

Deputy AG was 'not fully candid,' Goodling tells House committee

(Newser) - The deputy attorney general dissembled in his Senate testimony about the US attorney firings, Monica Goodling told a House committee today. Testifying under limited immunity from prosecution, the AG's former White House liaison said Paul McNulty's account was "incomplete or inaccurate" and accused him of "downplaying" the White...

Dems Crank Up Heat on Gonzales
Dems Crank Up Heat on Gonzales
May 18, 2007 7:34 AM CDT

Dems Crank Up Heat on Gonzales

No-confidence vote on the table; US attorney hit list keeps growing

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales will face a non-binding motion of no confidence in the Senate as soon as next week, intensifying pressure on the AG to resign. The Washington Post reports today that the list of US attorneys his office considered for dismissal—which Gonzales has testified included just eight names—now...

US Attorney Scandal Widens
US Attorney Scandal Widens
May 17, 2007 8:42 AM CDT

US Attorney Scandal Widens

Justice Dept. considered firing 26; documents contradict Gonzales' testimony

(Newser) - The Justice Department considered firing at least 26 US attorneys, the Washington Post reports, including 13 who still have their jobs. Alberto Gonzales' office compiled the previously undisclosed lists, which appear to indicate that the AG targeted far more prosecutors than he has acknowledged. He has testified that the purge...

Gonzales Fingers Lame-Duck Aide
Gonzales Fingers Lame-Duck Aide
May 15, 2007 7:25 PM CDT

Gonzales Fingers Lame-Duck Aide

McNulty responsible for US attorney firings, AG contends

(Newser) - Paul McNulty bears the ultimate responsibility for the US attorney firings, Alberto Gonzales said today, placing the blame for the scandal rocking the Justice Department on its second-highest-ranking official. "He signed off on the names," the AG said. McNulty, who announced yesterday that he'll step down this summer,...

Rove Had Motive to Oust Attorneys
Rove Had Motive to Oust Attorneys
May 15, 2007 7:24 PM CDT

Rove Had Motive to Oust Attorneys

Fired attorneys ticked off Rove by being lax on voter fraud, says Dan Froomkin

(Newser) - Karl Rove's role in the US attorney firings wouldn't be atypical for the power broker, writes  the Post's Dan Froomkin. Bush's ballot-calculating mastermind has long been monomaniacal about prosecuting voter fraud, a move his critics decry as a tactic to "suppress poor and minority turnout."

No. 2 at Justice to Step Down
No. 2 at Justice to Step Down
May 14, 2007 6:02 PM CDT

No. 2 at Justice to Step Down

(Newser) - Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty will quit the Justice Department after admitting he misled a Senate committee in its investigation into nine fired US attorneys. Three other top Justice officials have resigned in recent weeks, but McNulty, AG Alberto Gonzales' second-in-command and himself a former US attorney, is the highest-ranking...

White House Hid Rove's Role in US Attorney Hiring

Leaked emails show cover-up of meddling

(Newser) - Karl Rove finagled a U.S. attorney post for his protégé Timothy Griffin, and the White House concealed his role in the appointment, the National Journal concludes from previously unrelease e-mails leaked to them. Griffin replaced fired attorney Bud Cummins; a Justice Department letter (later retracted) assured Congress Rove...

Push to Oust Gonzales Loses Steam
Push to Oust Gonzales
Loses Steam
May 11, 2007 7:15 AM CDT

Push to Oust Gonzales Loses Steam

AG looks more confident as GOP defenders materialize

(Newser) - The Democrats' campaign to unseat Alberto Gonzales appears to have lost some luster, the Financial Times reports. As the House Judiciary Committee continues to grill the attorney general about the firing of nine U.S. Attorneys last year, Republicans are increasingly rallying behind their man, and are now calling for...

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