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October 7, 2008 1:00:14 AM CDT

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Started by C Miller; Last updated Feb 27, 08 11:03 AM CST by K Schwartz | View history

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US Attorney Firings

Scandal hits the nation's highest law-enforcement body. Will justice be served?

The Justice Department’s decision to replace eight US Attorneys at the end of 2006 could have slipped quietly into the bureaucratic annals. Instead, it exploded into scandal when critics—including several of the fired attorneys themselves—charged that the firings had been politically motivated. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales dismissed the affair as little more than “an overblown personnel matter,” but the Democratic Congress seized on Attorneygate, subpoenaing Justice and administration players and forcing a messy confrontation on the issue of executive privilege. Meanwhile, calls for the AG to resign continue to trickle in from both sides of the aisle—leaving the Bush loyalist's future decidedly uncertain.

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  • June 2007

    • White House Stonewalls on Subpoenas

      New York Times  |  Jun 28, 07 5:35 PM CDT

      White House Stonewalls on Subpoenas

      (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 Times reports, the next step is a Congressional resolution on contempt citations. More »

    • Gonzogate Trickles Down Into the Courts

      Los Angeles Times  |  Jun 18, 07 10:28 AM CDT

      Gonzogate Trickles Down Into the Courts

      (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. More »

    • A Watergate-era editor looks at press coverage of Gonzales-gate

      NPR  |  Jun 15, 07

      "In its reporting on Watergate, the Washington Post made Barry Sussman its special editor on the scandal. We asked him about the current scandal roiling Washington%u2014the firing of the "Gonzales Eight." Sussman says the press faces a similar problem now as it did then: how to keep the public interested."

    • US Attorney Firing Probe Spreads to White House

      Associated Press  |  Jun 13, 07 12:42 PM CDT

      US Attorney Firing Probe Spreads to White House

      (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 still building the case against him. More »

    • Vote on AG Derails in Senate

      New York Times  |  Jun 11, 07 8:11 PM CDT

      Vote on AG Derails in Senate

      (Newser) - A no-confidence vote on Alberto Gonzales failed to get out of the Senate today when a procedural vote to cut off debate failed by seven votes. Both sides proclaimed partial victory: Republicans had blasted the vote as a stunt, but Democrats lured seven GOP senators across party lines to support going forward with the vote on the nonbinding motion. More »

  • May 2007

    • Elle Woods, Is That You?

      Slate  |  May 24, 07 8:49 AM CDT

      Elle Woods, Is That You?

      (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 writes, were "completely underprepared and overmatched." More »

    • Ex-Justice Aide Points Fingers

      Bloomberg  |  May 23, 07 1:26 PM CDT

      Ex-Justice Aide Points Fingers

      (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 House's role in the firings. More »

    • Dems Crank Up Heat on Gonzales

      Washington Post  |  May 18, 07 7:34 AM CDT

      Dems Crank Up Heat on Gonzales

      (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 numbers 30. More »

    • US Attorney Scandal Widens

      Washington Post  |  May 17, 07 8:42 AM CDT

      US Attorney Scandal Widens

      (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 effort was limited to the eight who were ultimately fired. More »

    • Comey's Star Rises as Support for Gonzo Falls

      Wall Street Journal  |  May 17, 07 7:39 AM CDT

      Comey's Star Rises as Support for Gonzo Falls

      (Newser) - James Comey's star turn in Senate testimony against Alberto Gonzales this week prompts speculation that the charismatic former deputy AG should be on the short list to replace him—and might even have legs as a presidential candidate some day. The Wall Street Journal assesses Comey's political future, as support for Gonzales continues to erode. More »

    • Gonzales Fingers Lame-Duck Aide

      Reuters  |  May 15, 07 7:25 PM CDT

      Gonzales Fingers Lame-Duck Aide

      (Newser) - Paul McNulty bears the ultimate responsibility for the US attorney firings, Alberto Gonzales said today, placing the blame for the scandal rocking the Justi