US Attorney Firings

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July 2008
- Cautious Mukasey Disappoints Former Backers
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 23, 08 3:52 AM CDT
  
  Attorney General Michael Mukasey's cautious approach has disappointed one-time backers who hoped for a new direction at the Justice Department, reports the New York Times . He has been reluctant to probe the US attorney firings that triggered predecessor Alberto Gonzales' downfall, and has moved at a snail's pace on issues from torture to mortgage fraud, critics charge. More »
- Lawmakers Make Much of Karl Rove's Empty Seat
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jul 11, 08 6:27 AM CDT
  
  Karl Rove ignored a subpoena ordering him to appear before a House committee probing alleged abuses of power in the Justice Department yesterday—and the committee didn't let that get in their way. Lawmakers printed a name card for Rove, pointed a mike at an empty chair, fetched a cool glass of water for the absent Bush strategist, and disparaged his absence freely, reports Dana Millbank in the Washington Post. More »
June 2008
- Probe Finds Bias in Justice Dept. Hiring
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jun 24, 08 3:25 PM CDT
  
  The Justice Department screened applicants to its internship and recruitment programs for conservative attitudes and credentials, rejecting applicants with liberal-sounding resumes, the Washington Post reports. Today's report by the department’s inspector general details a history of partisan hiring practices beginning in 2002 and concludes that the process "undermined confidence in the integrity of the department's hiring processes." More »
- US Attorney Probe Moves Forward
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jun 16, 08 6:33 PM CDT
  
  For the first time since it came to light 2 years ago, the US attorneys scandal has gone beyond the investigative phase. The Justice Department has asked for a grand jury to hear evidence as it weighs perjury charges against a former interim US attorney, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bradley Schlozman left government last year under fire after bragging about hiring only Bush-friendly lawyers and bringing charges against a liberal voter-registration group. More »
- Conservative Pearce Wins GOP Primary for Domenici Seat
  
  newser | Politico | Jun 4, 08 11:29 AM CDT
  
  New Mexico Rep. Steve Pearce edged out Rep. Heather Wilson in the GOP primary for retiring Sen. Pete Domenici's seat yesterday, Politico reports. The results pleased Democrats, who predict that Pearce, who ran as an unapologetic conservative, will be a weaker opponent to Democratic Rep. Tom Udall in November than the more moderate Wilson would have been. More »
May 2008
- Rove Spurns Subpoena on US Attorneys
  
  newser | Politico | May 23, 08 3:20 PM CDT
  
  Karl Rove RSVPed in the negative to the subpoena the House Judiciary Committee issued yesterday, Politico reports. His lawyer said Rove wants none of what committee chair John Conyers has promised to dole out. Citing Conyers' promise of an "ass kicking," Robert Luskin said he's not “the least bit confused about the Committee’s motives and intentions.” More »
- House Panel Subpoenas Karl Rove
  
  newser | Chicago Tribune | May 22, 08 4:42 PM CDT
  
  A House panel slapped Karl Rove with a subpoena today to compel his testimony on the White House's role in the firing of federal attorneys and the prosecution of Democratic Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, the Chicago Tribune reports. Rove, due to appear July 10, refused requests to speak voluntarily to the committee. His lawyer called the move a "gratuitous confrontation." More »
April 2008
- Executive Privilege Goes to Court
  
  newser | Mother Jones | Apr 25, 08 9:48 PM CDT
  
  The civil suit brought by Congress as it investigates the 2005-06 firings of US attorneys is becoming a groundbreaking constitutional tussle that could decide the true scope of executive privilege. The precedent that could be set in the ruling from a US district court is now more significant than the truth behind the firings, Mother Jones reports. More »
- Congress Prods Justice Dept. on Secrecy
  
  newser | Washington Post | Apr 8, 08 10:38 AM CDT
  
  Congress is redoubling its efforts to get info from the Justice Department, the Washington Post reports. Requests for classified documents have languished for as long as 3 years, and the contretemps between Congress and Alberto Gonzales over their disclosure has improved little under the new AG, Michael Mukasey. "We agree that there is always room for improvement in our effort to be responsive to Congress," said a DoJ spokesman. More »
March 2008
- House Sues Bush Aides Over Subpoenas
  
  newser | Washington Post | Mar 10, 08 6:40 PM CDT
  
  Lawmakers sued two top Bush aides today to make them testify about the sacking of federal prosecutors in 2006. The House Judiciary Committee suit seeks to enforce subpoenas against White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former Bush counsel Harriet Miers, who have refused to testify or supply subpoenaed papers. "We will not allow the administration to steamroll Congress," one lawmaker said. More »
- Mukasey Nixes Bush Aides Contempt Case
  
  newser | Reuters | Mar 1, 08 5:12 AM CST
  
  A showdown over executive privilege got more likely yesterday when Attorney General Michael Mukasey said he wouldn't pursue contempt charges against two Bush aides, Reuters reports. Mukasey rejected the request from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to refer the case to a grand jury, arguing that they had committed no crime by refusing to testify to Congress about the controversial firing of 9 US prosecutors. More »
February 2008
- House Holds 2 Bush Aides in Contempt
  
  newser | Associated Press | Feb 14, 08 5:18 PM CST
  
  The House voted today to hold two Bush insiders guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate in last year's US attorneys scandal, the AP reports. Angry Republicans boycotted the vote and walked out in protest. Democrats censured chief of staff Josh Bolten and former Bush counsel Harriet Miers for ignoring congressional subpoenas into whether prosecutors were fired for political reasons. More »
December 2007
- Committee Votes to Hold Rove, Bolten in Contempt
  
  newser | Associated Press | Dec 13, 07 12:37 PM CST
  
  The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to hold Karl Rove and Josh Bolten in contempt today, the AP reports, for ignoring subpoenas on the US attorneys scandal. The White House, however, says the citations will likely die on the Senate floor. “I vote knowing that it’s highly likely to be a meaningless act,” Sen. Arlen Specter said. “In this context, we have no alternative.” More »
November 2007
- Bush Can't Protect Rove, Senator Says
  
  newser | Associated Press | Nov 29, 07 1:21 PM CST
  
  President Bush’s attempts to protect Karl Rove from testifying about the firings of US attorneys were shot down today by the Senate Judiciary Committee, meaning Rove will likely face contempt charges unless he complies with congressional subpoenas, the Associated Press reports. Bush had cited executive privilege, which protects advisers, but Bush had no hand in the firings, the committee ruled. More »
- Dems Threaten White House With Contempt
  
  newser | Associated Press | Nov 6, 07 7:24 AM CST
  
  Democrats have threatened a vote holding White House aides in contempt of Congress if they don't cooperate with an investigation into last year's firing of federal attorneys, the AP reports. A citation, approved this summer by a House judiciary committee, was filed yesterday. If approved by the entire House, a US attorney might prosecute the case. More »
October 2007
- Gonzales Could Face Charges
  
  newser | Slate | Oct 26, 07 7:08 PM CDT
  
  Alberto Gonzales might soon find himself on an unlikely side of the law if a pending DOJ report recommends criminal charges against the former AG for lying under oath. Pending prosecution may even explain Gonzales' unexpected departure, Slate ’s Dahlia Lithwick speculates. Now he’s hired a criminal-defense attorney and stopped talking to DOJ investigators. More »
- Justice Memos Endorse Torture
  
  newser | New York Times | Oct 4, 07 9:56 AM CDT
  
  The Justice Department under Alberto Gonzales secretly endorsed the use of torture techniques during interrogation by the CIA, the New York Times reports. A classified 2005 legal memorandum authorized the harshest techniques ever used by the CIA, the Times says, including a combination of head-slapping, waterboarding, sleep deprivation, freezing, loud noises and other forms of physical pain. More »
September 2007
- Mukasey Is No Gonzales
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | Sep 23, 07 12:05 PM CDT
  
  Michael Mukasey, President Bush's candidate to succeed embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, has an independent streak that could end up changing the way the Justice Department is run. This could make things sticky for Bush in dealing with the congressional probes into activities under the previous AG's reign, suggests the Los Angeles Times. More »
- Bush's AG Pick Has History With Terror Trials
  
  newser | New York Times | Sep 20, 07 2:08 PM CDT
  
  Before America was paying attention, Judge Michael Mukasey tried a landmark terrorism case. The 1995-96 trial of blind sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, convicted with nine others of plotting a massive "day of terror" at three New York sites, forced Mukasey, now President Bush's nominee for US attorney general, to navigate issues of secrecy, security and civil liberties. More »
- The Right’s Beef With Mukasey? The Left Doesn’t Hate Him
  
  newser | Slate | Sep 18, 07 7:37 PM CDT
  
  The GOP is uneasy with Bush’s choice for attorney general, but only because liberals don't despise him, says Slate ’s Dahlia Lithwick. Unlike Roberts and Alito, Michael Mukasey doesn’t know “all 17 twists in the Federalist Society's secret handshake”—leaving open the chance that he might be (gasp!) an independent thinker. Yet Mukasey is no "renegade outside-the-Beltway badass" either. More »