Should Alberto Gonzalez resign or be forced out of his job?

[thomez]

Gonzales faces calls for resignation, cancels trip

Story Highlights
• Alberto Gonzales' chief of staff resigns; source says exit related to controversy
• White House: Miers wanted to start Bush's second term with new U.S. attorneys
• DOJ, adviser Karl Rove shot down the idea; DOJ suggested 8 firings instead of 93

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales abruptly canceled travel plans Tuesday amid growing calls for his ouster over the firings of eight federal prosecutors during a White House-directed housecleaning of U.S. attorneys.

Gonzales also accepted the resignation of his top aide, Kyle Sampson, who authorities said failed to brief other senior Justice Department officials of his discussions about the firings with then-White House counsel Harriet Miers. Miers resigned in January.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, who is leading a Senate investigation of the firings, called for the second time in three days for Gonzales to step down. (Watch how a senator says Gonzales has more allegiance to President Bush than Americans' legal rights)

Additionally, Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Gonzales "ought to be shown the door -- he ought not to be in this administration. We have got to end corruption in our government. It is not OK to be corrupt."

Gonzales was expected to respond to the criticism as early as Tuesday afternoon. Sampson declined comment.

The government's 93 U.S. attorneys are presidential appointees who can be hired and fired at will. But critics say the fate of the eight who were dismissed last year appeared to have been politically motivated. And Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike said they were outraged that Justice Department officials weren't forthcoming on how the firings unfolded -- even when asked, under oath, by Congress.

A Justice Department official said Tuesday that Miers, in a February 2005 discussion with Sampson, suggested firing all of the U.S. attorneys. White House spokesman Tony Snow described the idea as a move to get fresh faces in the 4-year term jobs, and said that it was not a firm recommendation by Miers.

Sampson, according to the Justice official, rejected the idea to fire all of the prosecutors but spent the next year drawing up a list of potential dismissals. On January 9, 2006, Sampson sent Miers a memo listing what the official described as roughly 10 names of prosecutors who were viewed as underperforming in their jobs.

By September, Sampson began moving forward with the firings, the Justice official said. The White House did not ask for names to be added or removed from that list, the official said. Gonzales and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty signed off on the list around that time, the official said.

Gonzales was aware of the discussions with the White House, but McNulty and other senior department officials were not, the official said.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, the senior Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, called the Justice Department's management dysfunctional for sending Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Will Moschella to testify before the panel last week "without knowing all the facts."

"They're going to have to come up with some answers," Sensenbrenner said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "If they don't, they're going to lose everyone's confidence."

"What I'd like to hear is the truth," he said, complaining about the Justice Department's different explanations for the dismissals. If that record is not corrected, Sensenbrenner said, "then the Justice Department and the attorney general himself are going to die by a thousand cuts."

Allegations of pressure
President Bush made "no recommendations on specific individuals," Snow said. "We don't have anything to indicate the president made any calls on specific us attorneys."

On Monday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino acknowledged that complaints about the job performance of prosecutors occasionally came to the White House and were passed on to the Justice Department, perhaps including some informally from Bush to Gonzales.

Some of the prosecutors who were fired have said they felt pressured by powerful Republicans in their home states to rush investigations of potential voter fraud involving Democrats.

Perino said deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, vaguely recalls telling Miers that he also thought firing all 93 was ill-advised.

Dating back to mid-2004, the White House's legislative affairs, political affairs and chief of staff's office had received complaints from a variety of sources about the lack of vigorous prosecution of election fraud cases in various locations, including Philadelphia, Milwaukee and New Mexico, she said

Those complaints were passed on to the Justice Department or Miers' office.

"The president recalls hearing complaints about election fraud not being vigorously prosecuted and believes he may have informally mentioned it to the attorney general during a brief discussion on other Department of Justice matters," Perino said, adding that the conversation would have taken place in October 2006.

"At no time did any White House officials, including the president, direct the Department of Justice to take specific action against any individual U.S. attorney," Perino said.

Democrats target Rove
Congressional Democrats have also singled out Rove for questioning about the firings of the eight prosecutors and whether the dismissals were politically motivated.

Those demands to question Rove signaled anew Democrats' shifting focus beyond the Justice Department and toward the White House in the inquiry.

Last week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Michigan, said he would seek to interview Miers and deputy counsel William Kelly for insight on their roles, if any, in the firings.

Rove emerged as the Democrats' newest target after weekend news reports said the New Mexico Republican Party's chairman urged Rove to fire David Iglesias, then the state's U.S. attorney.

In a statement Monday, Conyers said stories about Rove's alleged link to Iglesias' dismissal "raise even more alarm bells for us."

"As a result, we would want to ensure that Karl Rove was one of the White House staff that we interview in connection with our investigation," said Conyers.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, who is leading his chamber's probe into the firings, said he also wants to question Rove.

In an interview this weekend with The Associated Press, New Mexico GOP chairman Allen Weh said Iglesias' "termination had already occurred" by the time he spoke with Rove at a holiday party last December. But Weh made no secret of his dissatisfaction with Iglesias, in part from the prosecutor's failure to indict Democrats in a voter fraud investigation.

The White House has said previously that Rove wasn't involved in the firings, but did alert Miers to complaints about Iglesias. It was not immediately clear whether Rove also told Gonzales about the complaints.

Last week, Rove called the two-month controversy "a very big attempt by some in the Congress to make a political stink about it."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Find this article at:
Gonzales faces calls for resignation, cancels trip - CNN.com

watch the video as well, 3rd paragraph here on the page of the article - Cafferty rips that ass

Gonzales faces calls for resignation, cancels trip - CNN.com

personally, I wish he would have never gotten close to the White House and I've always thought he was a piece of shit, but hopefully this will force him out of his job - I can't imagine anyone worse that could replace him

[SoFlaJDM]

his smug attitude makes me every time i see him talk

i hope he gets the boot... soon

[lew]

He should be fired.

[Pro Street]

This pretty much ended his career in my opinion

YouTube Video

[SoFlaJDM]

Originally Posted by Pro Street

This pretty much ended his career in my opinion

YouTube Video

frist is behind specter doing the jean luc picard.gif... that looks like frist

[thomez]

Fired U.S. attorneys allege political pressure
Story Highlights• Ex-prosecutor: Justice Dept. used heavy hand after attorneys quoted in media
• Fired attorney says call from senator about pending case was "unprecedented"
• Two New Mexican members of Congress deny pressuring prosecutor
• Justice Department calls claims "twisted," accuses attorneys of "grandstanding"


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Alleging heavy-handed political pressure, fired U.S. prosecutors testified Tuesday they felt "leaned on" by Republican lawmakers to seek indictments and hushed by a Justice Department official who did not want them talking about their dismissals.

Testifying before Democratic-controlled congressional committees, six of eight recently ousted prosecutors said they were fired without explanation. Several described what they said was improper pressure by Republicans on pending cases.

New Mexico's David Iglesias told lawmakers he felt pressed by Sen. Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican, last October to rush indictments against Democrats before Election Day in November.

Arkansas' Bud Cummins wrote other fired prosecutors in an e-mail last month of a "message" conveyed by a Justice Department official that if they continued to talk with news reporters, the agency "would feel forced to somehow pull their gloves off" and fight back.

John McKay, the fired U.S. attorney in Seattle, said he stopped a top aide to Rep. Doc Hastings, a Washington Republican, from asking him detailed questions about an investigation into the disputed election of Washington state's Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire in 2004.

A Justice Department official, invited to one of the two hearings, denied that any of the eight fired U.S. attorneys was improperly pressured or that they were ousted to make room for Republican political allies. Most of the firings were inspired by performance-related issues, he said.

California's Carol Lam, for example, was let go because her prosecution rate for violent crime and border violations was insufficient, William Moschella, an associate deputy attorney general, told a House subcommittee. Iglesias was fired because he had delegated too much to a deputy.

His accounting conflicts with performance reviews obtained by The Associated Press that give those ousted positive assessments.

"This administration has never removed a United States attorney to retaliate against them. Not once," Moschella said. "The department stands by its decision to ask these U.S. attorneys to resign."

A White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said administration officials were aware of the impending firings and offered no objections. Presidential adviser Karl Rove "wasn't involved in who was going to be fired or hired."

A former Rove aide, Tim Griffin, took over in Arkansas on an interim basis in December. Griffin said last month he would not seek Senate confirmation, saying a "partisan circus" had formed around his appointment.

The administration's defense took up only a few moments in the daylong parade of fired federal prosecutors across Capitol Hill, where they recounted being kicked out of their jobs, first to the Senate Judiciary Committee and then to the House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law.

Their stories spanned states and legal issues, but they insisted they were not fired for poor performance. The department's claim to the contrary, several fired prosecutors said, inspired them to speak publicly.

Fired prosecutor felt sickened
In perhaps the day's most dramatic testimony, Iglesias told senators he felt sickened when Domenici hung up on him after being told that indictments in a corruption case against Democrats would not be handed up before the November elections.

"He said, 'Are these going to be filed before November?'" Iglesias recalled. "I said I didn't think so. And to which he replied, 'I'm very sorry to hear that.' And then the line went dead."

Iglesias said he received the call from Domenici at home on October 26 or 27 and that it lasted two minutes, "tops."

"I felt leaned on. I felt pressured to get these matters moving," Iglesias testified. Asked by Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, whether such a call was unusual in Iglesias' experience, the former prosecutor answered, "Unprecedented."

In a statement late Tuesday, Domenici said, "Neither I nor those who overheard my side of the brief conversation recall my mentioning the November election to him. I did not pressure him."

Democrats tried to assemble the anecdotes into a pattern of intimidation and obstruction by the Bush administration and two Republican lawmakers.

"For over 150 years the process of appointing interim U.S. attorneys has worked well with virtually no problems," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat. "We need to assure that this kind of politicization of the U.S. attorney's offices does not happen again."

Democrats contend the administration fired the prosecutors without cause in an effort to make way for and reward GOP allies with the plum appointments -- without Senate confirmation.

A Republican joined the criticism to some extent, saying he was not convinced that the department acted properly.

"If the allegations are correct, then there has been serious misconduct in what has occurred in the terminations of these United States attorneys," Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said.

Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, a fellow New Mexico Republican, have acknowledged making the calls. They have denied placing political pressure on Iglesias. Neither responded to requests for reaction to Iglesias' testimony.

The two lawmakers may face additional questions over the matter. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said the House ethics committee "has a responsibility" to investigate Wilson's conduct.

A watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has called for investigations of both Wilson and Domenici.

In the Arkansas firing, the Senate committee released an e-mail written by Cummins regarding a phone call he says he received February 20 from a department official.

Mike Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, expressed displeasure that the fired prosecutors had talked to reporters about their dismissals, according to the text.

"If they feel like any of us intend to continue to offer quotes to the press, or organize behind the scenes congressional pressure, then they feel forced to somehow pull their gloves off and offer public criticisms to defend their actions more fully," Cummins said in the e-mail to five other fired prosecutors.

"I don't want to overstate the threatening undercurrent in the call, but the message was clearly there," he added.

Asked by Specter whether he felt he was being threatened, Cummins said, "Some people would want to interpret that as a threat, but it could also be, 'Hey, here's some friendly advice.'"

Department denies making threat
The department denied making any threat, implied or otherwise.

"A private and collegial conversation between Mike Elston and Bud Cummins is now somehow being twisted into a perceived threat by former disgruntled employees grandstanding before Congress," department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.

"Mike Elston did not tell any U.S. attorney what they should or should not say publicly about their departure, and any suggestion that such a conversation took place is ridiculous and not based on fact," Roehrkasse said.

As for the call to McKay by Hastings' aide, the congressman, who is ranking Republican on the House ethics committee, said, "It was a simple inquiry and nothing more." Ed Cassidy, Hastings' former chief of staff, is now senior adviser to Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.

Iglesias told the panel he received a call from Wilson in mid-October in which she asked him about sealed indictments -- a topic prosecutors cannot discuss. Wilson's question "raised red flags in my head," Iglesias said.

"I was evasive and nonresponsive to her question," Iglesias told the panel, saying he talked generally about why some indictments are sealed. "She was not happy with that answer. And she said, 'Well I guess I'll have to take your word for it.'" The call ended almost immediately, Iglesias said.

Asked by Schumer if he felt pressured by that call, Iglesias replied: "Yes sir, I did."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Fired U.S. attorneys allege political pressure - CNN.com

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by Pro Street

This pretty much ended his career in my opinion

It should have

[thomez]

Basically it seems like these guys were fired because they either didn't rush cases against Democrats before the election and/or they are simply making way for some more cronies (like the former Rove assistant getting the appointment). They have been told it was due to performance but their reviews were solid.

Pretty much, it seems like straight-up corruption

[ballz2wallz]

What's wrong with firing your boys? It's happened before, I have no doubt it'll happen in the future

[thomez]

Because it looks to be purely politically motivated, which is not a good reason to fire someone who is doing their job appropriately.

[ballz2wallz]

Originally Posted by thomez

Because it looks to be purely politically motivated, which is not a good reason to fire someone who is doing their job appropriately.

What about the instances in the past? Are those any different? Isn't everything in politics politically motivated?

[northhunter]

If you are a political appointee don't you serve at the pleasure of the president? Maybe I'm missing something here but it looks like politics as usual.If the democrats want to thump their chests and have yet another congressional hearing let them. Keeps them from doing anything serious but looks good on the evening news.
Maybe they can pass another nonbinding resolution about how upset they are over the firings?

[ballz2wallz]

Originally Posted by northhunter

Keeps them from doing anything serious but looks good on the evening news.

I don't know if it looks good as much as it does provide us entertainment and more to joke about, but sure, go ahead.

[tbone]

Dept. of justice is supposed to be non-political and investigate as it sees fit, not be pressured to investigate one side over the other. We have 3 SEPARATE parts of government for a reason.

[SoFlaJDM]

wait, who's roberto?

[RMNIXON]

ATTORNEY GENERAL SEEKS RESIGNATIONS FROM PROSECUTORS

March 24, 1993, Wednesday
By DAVID JOHNSTON, (Special to The New York Times); National Desk
Late Edition - Final, Section A, Page 1, Column 1, 1053 words
DISPLAYING ABSTRACT - Attorney General Janet Reno today demanded the prompt resignation of all United States Attorneys, leading the Federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia to suggest that the order could be tied to his long-running investigation of Representative Dan Rostenkowski, a crucial ally of President Clinton. Jay B. Stephens, the ...
To read this archive article, upgrade to TimesSelect or purchase as a single article

[SoFlaJDM]

that's not out of context at all... and that's completely relevant to this as well


oh, and that's the NYT... i thought everything that came from them was lies anyway