WASHINGTON, March 16, 2007
E-Mails Highlight Rove's Role In Firings
Bush's Top Political Adviser Took More Active Role In Dismissal Of U.S. Attorneys
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Play CBS Video Video Pressure To Ax Gonzales Grows Capitol Hill is livid at the White House for not coming clean about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, and for not dismissing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Jim Axelrod reports.
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Video A History Of Controversy Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is embroiled in a huge political controversy, but he was involved in several controversial proceedings before he assumed his current post. Bob Orr reports.
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Video Attorney General Under Fire In the wake of growing calls for the firing of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, President Bush has spoken in his defense. But as Bill Plante reports, the president has left room to change his mind.
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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales acknowledged that "mistakes were made" in the handling of the dismissals of U.S. attorneys. (Getty Images)
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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., now has subpoena power to compel Justice Department officials to appear and testify under oath about the firings of U.S. attorneys. (AP /APTN)
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Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire became the first Republican to call for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' ouster. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)
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Who's Who Firings Firestorm Justice Department at center of controversy over firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
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Interactive Bush Presidency The president's agenda, plus facts, figures, major events and key personalities.
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Interactive The Bush Cabinet A look at departures, new nominees and long-standing members of the president's staff.
President Bush's top legal aides were to tell congressional Democrats on Friday whether and under what conditions they would allow high-level White House officials, including Rove, to testify under oath in the inquiry.
Subpoenas could come as early as next week.
E-mails released this week, including a set issued Thursday night by the Justice Department, appear to contradict the administration's assertion that Mr. Bush's staff had only limited involvement in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, which Democrats have suggested were a politically motivated purge.
Each new piece in the rapidly unfolding saga of how the prosecutors came to be dismissed has made it more difficult for the White House to insulate itself from the controversy.
The latest e-mails between White House and Justice Department officials show that Rove inquired in early January 2005 about firing U.S. attorneys.
As CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reported, one of the e-mails says Rove asked a White House attorney, "'how we planned to proceed regarding U.S. Attorneys, whether we were going to allow all to stay, request resignations from all and accept only some of them or selectively replace them, etc.’"Kyle Sampson E-mails, 2005
The one-page document, which incorporates an e-mail exchange in January 2005, also indicates Gonzales was considering dismissing up to 20 percent of U.S. attorneys in the weeks before he took over the Justice Department.
In the e-mails, Gonzales' top aide, Kyle Sampson, says that an across-the-board housecleaning "would certainly send ripples through the U.S. attorney community if we told folks they got one term only." But it concludes that "if Karl thinks there would be political will to do it, then so do I."
Sampson resigned this week over the prosecutors' firings and the Justice Department's misleading of Congress about the process.
The e-mails "show conclusively that Karl Rove was in the middle of this mess from the beginning," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "Every time new information comes out, it proves that the White House was not telling the truth."
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 Troy University in Alabama.
The White House said the e-mails don't undercut their account of Rove's involvement in the matter. Rove has a "vague recollection" that the idea to fire all 93 U.S. attorneys at the start of Mr. Bush's second term came from then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers, deputy press secretary Dana Perino said.
"He thought it was a bad idea and would be unwise," Perino said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed Justice Department officials in the probe. The panel will vote March 22 on subpoenas for Rove, Miers and her deputy, William K. Kelley.
More Republicans called for his ouster, and one Republican strategist close to the White House told CBS News that Gonzales is "finished."
Congressman Dana Rohrbacher became the latest Republican to say Gonzales should go, reported CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod.
"Even for Republicans this is a warning sign … saying there needs to be a change," said Rohrbacher. "Maybe the president should have an attorney general who is less a personal friend and more professional in his approach."
Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire has also publicly urged Mr. Bush to fire Gonzales. Another GOP lawmaker not ready to speak out publicly, said Thursday he planned to call next week for Gonzales to step down. And Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., said Thursday that Gonzales had lost the confidence of Congress.
Other Republican lawmakers are trying to quell the uproar until they hear from Gonzales and his aides.
"Let's give them a chance to respond before we get tough," said Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the senior Judiciary Committee Republican. "I'm prepared to get tough, but I want to get tough with a basis for doing so."
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 Republican efforts 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."
Mr. 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.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- Denial is not just a river in Egypt... Regardless of what anyone wants to believe, politics is one of the few professions in the world where it is easy for an objective person to know who the worst of the worst is, who the most morally compormised people are, they are the most successful politicians... It doesn't have to be that way but if the average person is willing to sit back and play a passive role in determining the shape our world will take, it becomes inevitable...
- Reply to this comment
- Rove is evil. He is all about exploiting the system, not improving it. If he claims to be a good christian, he better pray there is no god. Power for power's sake. Their security depends on depriving you of yours.
Looks like Reagan was the only one able to get away with the amnesia alibi. Guess why. - Reply to this comment
If Rove says he had no involvment in this then I believe him.
He's a good Christian.- Reply to this comment
- Please consider signing the following petition, calling for an immediate end to the U.S. inflicted debacle in Iraq.
Posted by feelfree1
Please consider getting a job!! - Reply to this comment
- it's all part of the grand coup which started with the stolen election of 2000 and solidified it's hold on power with the inside acts on 9/11
Posted by king77shaw at 05:47 PM : Mar 16, 2007
Still whining about the 2000 election, BooHooHooHOOHoo!! Get over it loser!! - Reply to this comment
- TO BAD WE CAN'T HAVE THE ELECTIONS NOW, BEFORE HE DOES ANYMORE DAMAGE..CAN ANYONE SPELL .....
IMPEACH.
WOW I THINK NOT. - Reply to this comment
- How can we forget that Bill Clinton fired 93 attys when some dingbat keeps putting that in every 10 seconds if they were all republicans I say Bravo Bill Clinton. It seems Your own Chief of Staff who is a republican can't keep republican attys in office either.What's wrong with you guys these were your friends.
- Reply to this comment
- You Libs make me and other sane thinking people sick to our stomachs.
Posted by BIGDADPATRIO
Well the sane part rules YOU out!! - Reply to this comment
- They will fire Gonzales before they expose Rove or Meirs. Gonzales is gone,and none too soon he ought to be ashamed as to all he has done to help his buddy see where it got him zelch. I hope they find out even more. The Justice dept. is suppose to be free of POLITICS and Gonzales has done nothing but POLITICS since becoming ATT.GENERAL. That is why Bush wanted him there,
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- It seems that Bush and Company are following the steps of the others. Too many times they stir up a controversy (such as the recent uproar of same *** marriage)and get our attention on that while they slip something big buy us (such as electronic survailance without a court order). The latest about the US Attorneys getting fired is just one thing that they thought they could get by the public eye. Sadly it seems that they dirty dealings are not limited to just one party, but both parties are deep into the corruption and power grabbing. The public needs to get involved and put a stop to these attempts to control everything.
- Reply to this comment
- Rove is a great American doing his job. Apparently the only job that democrats seem to have is subversion.
- Reply to this comment
- RandallDS, it's called the REPUBLICAN EFFECT.
Posted by wayfedup at 06:17 PM : Mar 16, 2007
Perfect name for it! - Reply to this comment
- U R a bunch of idiots it was Bill Clinton who did the outing it just very slow coming down the line and was not to take effect in January '07 and by the way it was Hillary Clinton who exposed V. Plames. Why R U folks so slow on the draw. rove could not have possible exposed Plame as he can not spell the name, how in the he**ll do U think he could pronounce such a hard word. Now Cheney could not have done it as he was hunting and *** near killed one of his friends that day and gW was out for lunch (actually he was looking for Monica did not find her so he really has no alibi she told me he never found her as she did not like him as he was too small of a man for her and i do not have an alibi either) so get it right Valerie's outing was done on Bill Clintons watch. Quit acting so da**mn dumb. the best of good byes frank bowers in austin, tx.
- Reply to this comment
- U R a bunch of idiots it was Bill Clinton who did the outing it just very slow coming down the line and was not to take effect in January '07 and by the way it was Hillary Clinton who exposed V. Plames. Why R U folks so slow on the draw. rove could not have possible exposed Plame as he can not spell the name, how in the he**ll do U think he could pronounce such a hard word. Now Cheney could not have done it as he was hunting and *** near killed one of his friends that day and gW was out for lunch (actually he was looking for Monica did not find her so he really has no alibi she told me he never found her as she did not like him as he was too small of a man for her and i do not have an alibi either) so get it right Valerie's outing was done on Bill Clintons watch. Quit acting so da**mn dumb. the best of good byes frank bowers in austin, tx.
- Reply to this comment
- U R a bunch of idiots it was Bill Clinton who did the outing it just very slow coming down the line and was not to take effect in January '07 and by the way it was Hillary Clinton who exposed V. Plames. Why R U folks so slow on the draw. rove could not have possible exposed Plame as he can not spell the name, how in the he**ll do U think he could pronounce such a hard word. Now Cheney could not have done it as he was hunting and *** near killed one of his friends that day and gW was out for lunch (actually he was looking for Monica did not find her so he really has no alibi she told me he never found her as she did not like him as he was too small of a man for her and i do not have an alibi either) so get it right Valerie's outing was done on Bill Clintons watch. Quit acting so da**mn dumb. the best of good byes frank bowers in austin, tx.
- Reply to this comment
- ttinsly, I'll take one of these "ridiculous" people over 100 of those like you any day. ONE has more patriotism & morality than 10,000 of those like you could ever muster.
- Reply to this comment
- wayfedup, you are such a friggin idiot. It never was about a BJ. It was about the fact that the President of the United States LIED UNDER OATH IN A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION. You Libs make me and other sane thinking people sick to our stomachs.
- Reply to this comment
- I'm not sure if it should be called the Cheney Effect or the Rove Effect since both are such disgusting slimy as*shole liars themselves. Maybe it's a joint effect?
Posted by RandalDS at 06:13 PM : Mar 16, 2007
RandallDS, it's called the REPUBLICAN EFFECT. - Reply to this comment
- If it is so clear cut as the Bushbot bootlicks propose and its just an overblown personnel matter, why all the lies when the truth would serve?
Anyone? Buehler?
Posted by energyecon at 04:21 PM : Mar 16, 2007
I think it's because this White House is full of compulsive liars. Even when the truth would actually serve them better they've become so secretive that they lie out of reflex. I'm not sure if it should be called the Cheney Effect or the Rove Effect since both are such disgusting slimy as*shole liars themselves. Maybe it's a joint effect? - Reply to this comment
- Perhaps Congress should stop wasting my tax dollars on investigating non issues and start earning their salaries by confronting and legislating issues that would move the country forward rather than back.
Posted by worldcomment at 01:56 PM : Mar 16, 2007
I'll JUST BET YOU didn't feel that way when the congress(REPUBLICAN) was delving into CLINTON'S BJ by MONICA, now DID YOU, HYPOCRITE?!?!?! - Reply to this comment
