Will Gonzales Fall For Attorney Firings?
Sources: AG's Ouster Is Inevitable; Fired Attorney Blames Partisan Politics
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Gonzales: A Matter Of Time?
Republicans close to the Bush administration tell CBS News it's inevitable that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be fired. Jim Axelrod has more.
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Eye To Eye: David Iglesias
Only On The Web: Katie Couric talks with David Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico, about the circumstances surrounding his firing.
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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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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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Firings Firestorm
Justice Department at center of controversy over firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
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"I believe, and I think all my colleagues believe, the real reason is partisan politics," the former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, David Iglesias told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric. "I believe I was fired because I did not play ball with two members of the Republican delegation here in New Mexico. I did not give them privileged information that could have been used in the October and November time frame."
The fallout from the firings continues to grow in Washington, and sources tell CBS News that it looks like Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will take the fall.
Republicans close to the White House tell CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod that President Bush is in "his usual posture: pugnacious, that no one is going to tell him who to fire." But sources also said Gonzales' firing is just a matter of time.
The White House is bracing for a weekend of criticism and more calls for Gonzales to go. One source tells CBS News he's never seen the administration in such deep denial, and Republicans are growing increasingly restless for the president to take action.
The Justice Department has said the attorneys were fired for performance issues, but CBS News has also obtained performance reviews for some of the fired U.S. attorneys. Nine months before John McKay was fired as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, he was described as an "effective, well-regarded and capable leader," Axelrod reports.
Bud Cummins, the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, was called "very competent and highly regarded" in a January 2006 review obtained by CBS News.
Carol Lam, who was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, was described as an "effective manager and respected leader" in February 2005.
"I got great office reviews," Iglesias told Couric. "I was not on any kind of resignation list until Nov. 15, 2006, and that was two weeks after I received two very inappropriate calls from two Republican members of Congress."
Meanwhile, the White House dropped its contention Friday that former counsel Harriet Miers first raised the idea of firing U.S. attorneys, blaming "hazy memories" as e-mails shed new light on Karl Rove's role.Watch Couric's Interview With David Iglesias
Presidential press secretary Tony Snow previously had asserted Miers was the person who came up with the idea, but he said Friday, "I don't want to try to vouch for origination." He said, "At this juncture, people have hazy memories."
The White House also said it needed more time before deciding whether Miers, political strategist Rove and other presidential advisers would testify before Congress.
The Justice Department said late Friday that all of the documents requested by Congress will be delivered to Capitol Hill.
"Given the importance of the issues under consideration and the presidential principles involved, we need more time to resolve them," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. She also said White House Counsel Fred Fielding suggested to the House Judiciary Committee that he get back to members on Tuesday.
Fielding called a staff member of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday afternoon, saying he needed to clear the White House's position with President Bush, according to an official who works for the panel. That official spoke only on condition of anonymity because the conversation had been private.
After receiving word of the delay, committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said his panel would vote next week on subpoenas for Rove, Miers and other officials.
Snow's comments came hours after the Justice Department released e-mails Thursday night pulling the White House deeper into an intensifying investigation into whether eight firings were a purge of prosecutors deemed unenthusiastic about presidential goals.
Snow said it was not immediately clear who first floated the more dramatic idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys shortly after President Bush was re-elected to a second term.Kyle Sampson E-mails, 2005
"This is as far as we can go: We know that Karl recollects Harriet having raised it and his recollection is that he dismissed it as not a good idea," Snow told reporters. "That's what we know. We don't know motivations. ... I don't think it's safe to go any further than that."
Asked if President Bush himself might have suggested the firings, Snow said, "Anything's possible ... but I don't think so." He said Mr. Bush "certainly has no recollection of any such thing. I can't speak for the attorney general."
"I want you to be clear here: Don't be dropping it at the president's door," Snow said.
Subpoenas demanding testimony from White House officials could come next week.
Conyers said the House Judiciary Committee "must take steps to ensure that we are not being stonewalled or slow-walked on this matter." He said, "I will schedule a vote to issue subpoenas for the documents and officials we need to talk to."
"We hope that this delay is not a signal they will not cooperate," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is leading the Senate's probe into the matter. "The story keeps changing, which neither does them or the public any good."
More Republicans called for Gonzales' ouster late in the week.
Congressman Dana Rohrbacher became the latest Republican to say Gonzales should go, reported 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."
Republican Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire has called for Bush to replace Gonzales, and a Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee, speaking on condition of anonymity, has said he plans to do the same next week.
House Democratic Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina said the controversies reflected poorly on administration officials generally.
"They don't know anything about running government. They're just political hacks," Clyburn said at a news conference in Columbia, S.C. "Gonzales is just a political hack."
Other GOP lawmakers have joined Democrats in harsh indictments of Gonzales' effectiveness but have stopped short of saying he should be fired.
"I do not think the attorney general has served the president well, but it is up to the president to decide on (Attorney) General Gonzales' continued tenure," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
The latest e-mails between White House and Justice Department officials show that Rove inquired in early January 2005 about firing U.S. attorneys. They also indicate Gonzales was considering dismissing up to 20 percent of U.S. attorneys in the weeks before he took over the Justice Department.
In one e-mail, Gonzales' top aide, Kyle Sampson, said an across-the-board housecleaning "would certainly send ripples through the U.S. attorney community if we told folks they got one term only." The e-mail concluded that "if Karl thinks there would be political will to do it, then so do I."
Sampson resigned this week amid the uproar.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote for next Thursday on authorizing subpoenas for Rove, Miers and her deputy, William K. Kelley. The panel already has approved the use of subpoenas, if necessary, for Justice Department officials and J. Scott Jennings, a White House aide who works in Rove's office.
E-mails between the White House and the Justice Department suggest that Jennings was involved in setting up a meeting on a possible replacement for soon-to-be-fired New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias and in responding to "a senator problem" with the proposed replacement of Bud Cummins, then U.S. attorney for Arkansas.
Among the Justice Department officials named in the subpoenas is Associate Deputy Attorney General William E. Moschella. Lawmakers want him to testify about whether the White House consented to changing the Patriot Act last year to let the attorney general appoint new U.S. attorneys without confirmation.
In an interview with The Associated Press this week, Moschella said the change was not aimed at bypassing the Senate but ending meddling by judges in filling vacant prosecutors' jobs. Under the former law, federal judges could appoint interim U.S. attorneys in jobs that were vacant for more than 120 days.
"There's a conspiracy theory about this and it's nothing other than that," Moschella said.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Watch Couric's Interview With David Iglesias
Kyle Sampson E-mails, 2005


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See all 360 CommentsGonzo needs to submit his resignation and go quietly.
Maybe the Senate can actually appoint a qualified person to be the next Attorney General. Assuming George Bush knows a qualified person to nominate. And, assuming a qualified person is willing to risk his reputation by serving in the worst administration in US history.
Finding a qualified replacement willing to taint his reputation won't be easy.
Your thoughts are irrelevant because CBS is a losers in terms of market share.
Bush should fire the remaining U.S. Attorney just to DRIVE THE POINT HOME - they serve at his pleasure and not at the pleasure of CBS NEWS, or Congress.
Rep. Wilson and Sen. Dominici need to step down and Resign!
Bush removal ended Abramoff investigation
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/08/bush_removal_ended_guam_investigation/?p1=email_to_a_friend
US attorney's demotion halted probe of lobbyist
Uhm... who were those two republican congress members? and what exactly did they ask Iglesias to do? There's more to this investigation that merely the people were who inappropriately fired... MUCH more. I want more details.
I'm not a Democrat or a Republican, I'm an American. I thought Bushs were going to restore honor and dignity to the White House after the Clintons? The cognitive dissonance is so thick!
Nominate David Igleasis for US Attorney General!
Let's hope so.
Chip chip away at this ugly administration and the drug head and bionic/alien VP until they are no more; and America can regain its way.
Posted by PostAmerican at 08:10 PM : Mar 16, 2007
I really hate to hear that about Pete (assuming the rumors are true).
Several years ago, I was in Washington to meet with some government people and happened to run into Pete in a hallway. He invited me into his office and was a very gracious host. And, I wasn't one of his constituents or bringing him anything (money). Which was very unusual since Senators (congressmen generally) tend to act more like Hollywood stars than representatives of "we, the people."
He seemed like a very affable, straightforward kind of guy.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was being pressured by the White House. Which is highly likely given the Bush administration's now familiar tactic of coercion and intimidation.
Heh, seems to me they've been in deep denial since... oh, about 2003 or so.
My question is whether or not Gonzales will fall by himself, or whether prosecutors will follow the not-so-hard-to-find trail leading to Rove.
Actually no, he can IL-legally fire them for that. He could legally fire them for a number of reasons (not the one you picked of course, that's just ludicrous), it's too bad for the administration the reasons he chose were illegal.
As for Clinton firings, they were done at the beginning of his term (as Reagan did as well - commonly done then, never done near the end of the term), one of the attorneys he fired was accused of biting a strip-dancer, and another one for choking a staffer. Hardly political....
Mayday! Mayday! Evidence of another ignorant American fooled by misinformation launchers. Nice try, Dittohead, but this dog won't hunt.
1. ALL administrations hire new district attorneys at the start of their administrations - including Reagan and H. Bush. The "Clinton fired 93..." line merely illustrates how sadly you've been dumbed down by the propaganda.
2. They snuck an obscure measure into the USA PATRIOT Act that allowed for the appointment of attorneys without senate confirmation; this demonstrates both ulterior motive and premeditation. Sack your own appointees and replace them with cronies (Rove puppets), sans senate confirmation.
3. They fired prosecutors with sterling job performance for the following reasons: they would not cave to Republican pressure to politicize an investigation (Iglesias fired after Domenici, Wilson, and Rove interference); they prosecuted guilty Republicans and were removed to stall the case (Lam: convicted Duke Cunningham & prepared to indict Jerry Lewis for defense fraud); they placed cronies in key districts to stir up frivolous cases (Rove disciple in Arkansas in anticipation of a Hilliary victory). Them's the facts boy, read 'em and weep!
Bush had these people fired 6 years into his presidency because they refused to play dirty even illegal politics for his nasty thugger.
Bush rated these lawyers NOT by their competance but by their loyalty to him above their loyalty to the law and the constitution.
And yet you lousy UNAMERICAN morons continue to yelp and screech and moan about Clinton. Don't you know every single time you raise Bill Clinton's name you remind us just how absolutely awful a president Bush is in comparison? That George isn't fit to wipe the stains off Bill's shoes???
ATTENTION: PhocusPlease
To the aptly named focus! Take your screen name to heart, please! Your ignorance speaks ill of my fellow Americans, and I consider myself a patriot. Do your county a favor, turn off Fox and try READING for a change of pace. And for starters try reading my previous post: it will clear up some of the propaganda induced misinformation and fabricated spin you have been regurgitated. It's OK, it's not a moral failing, though a product of poor breeding might be taken into account.
We need to round up all republicans, neocons,etc and send them all to re-educashun camps to teach them how to be politcaly corect. WE CANNOT TOLERATE DESENT, we need to imprison all conservatives until they convert to OUR way of thinking. When everbudy is politicaly corect and thinks like us, then we can all get along
Re-distribute monie from rich and give to the pour, that's what the rich diserve for wurking so hard. It isnt fare that people who wurk hard get payd more.
Communize health care first, then energy, then corporations so that everbudy works for the state.
There is no god, only the state, WE know it takes a village.
Long live the gloreus peeples republic of amerika
Gonzalez and Miers don't appear willing to risk their law licenses for ol'georgie porgie - they sold their souls to him, threw away their ethics, morals and values - but seems they realize that they need their licenses to practice law to supprt themselves now that Bush is finished and neocosnervatism is dead.
Gonzalez and Miers don't appear willing to risk their law licenses for ol'georgie porgie - they sold their souls to him, threw away their ethics, morals and values - but seems they realize that they need their licenses to practice law to supprt themselves now that Bush is finished and neocosnervatism is dead.
Posted by mightypup
There you go, invoking the'Clinton Rule' again.
CLINTON RULE:
Any republican, while in the act of discussing a political topic (any political topic) with a member of the opposing party, and finding himself/herself without a valid argument, may deflect the topic by blaming Clinton for a similar (or somewhat similar) set of circumstances at some time in the distant past.
note:
The 'Clinton Rule' should be applied in a manner which implies that either; 1. "Bill Clinton committed a worse offense", or 2. "Bill Clinton also did this thing, so why is it not OK for my politician to do the same?" and; "If you did not complain when Clinton did this thing, you have no right to complain now."
Keep in mind that the Clinton administration ended many years ago and therefore your facts need not be completely accurate.
Your name is befitting to your intelligence level!!
Change the law to make it a crime. Right now it is not. You cannot make it so based upon acheiving a political purpose. In fact that may be a crime. W may be a jerk but only for listening to such non-newsworthy garbage.
I don't know where you get the idea that he is undermining the justice system. If a US Attorney talks out of turn or even opposes the Presidents agenda, he can be fired and there is no legal repercussions about it.
It is, after all, his cabinet, his Justice Department and his US Attorneys.
Wrong! Clinton did not remove the Whitewater prosecutor; the Republican appointed district attorney had already determined there was no basis for an indictment. These talking-point lies are incredibly pernicious. They throw out the lie, let it spin around the echo chamber for a few turns, and it festers into fact in the minds of the masses. THE REPUBLICAN D.A. IN ARKANSAS = NO INDICTMENT - NO EVIDENCE. Clinton lost money on Whitewater clones. The Republican controlled Congress turned to Kenneth Starr; he too found nothing in Whitewater. That's why he turned to every other innuendo he could find in his "independent" pursuit of justice. With nothing to show for nearly 75 million dollars worth of witchhunt, Linda Tripp illegally taped Monica's private conversations and you have yourself a *** scandal. No Whitewater crime/Republican DA said as much.
If a Democrat is the next President, the 'drive-by" media will not fabricate outrage at "business as usual.'
sidebar: Polls show over eighty per-cent of the American public say the "drive-by' media is biased. This 'so-called" scandal that the ratings deprived Couric is "spinning" is the reason.
We need to round up all republicans, neocons,etc and send them all to re-educashun camps to teach them how to be politcaly corect. WE CANNOT TOLERATE DESENT, we need to imprison all conservatives until they convert to OUR way of thinking. When everbudy is politicaly corect and thinks like us, then we can all get along
Re-distribute monie from rich and give to the pour, that's what the rich diserve for wurking so hard. It isnt fare that people who wurk hard get payd more.
Communize health care first, then energy, then corporations so that everbudy works for the state.
There is no god, only the state, WE know it takes a village.
Long live the gloreus peeples republic of amerika
Posted by nightdoc
An interesting yet elementary attempt to cloak the 'Clinton Rule'.
Think before you post! While prosecutors serve at the discretion of the president, if the president or his representatives pressure prosecutors or remove them to stop an investigation it amounts to obstruction of justice. In the case of Iglesias, two Republican senators (and e-mail show Karl Rove at the center) placed calls to pressure him to press charges in a case that lacked indictable evidence. That would be in your own words: "undermining the justice system." In the case of Lam she indicted and convicted a blatantly corrupt Duke Cunningham. She was fired before she could pursue the case to the next obvious crook, Jerry Lewis (Cunningham's partner in defense contracting fraud). Firing the attorney to impede an investigation into an obvious case of fraud? Repeat after me in your own words: "undermining the justice system." My goodness, think beyond the surface level of the talking-point misinformation. Why have freedom of thought and expression in this country if you exercise only half the liberty.
Interesting how Limpbow's frothing at the mouth lunatic groupies consider lying to congress and Republicans demanding the resignation or firing of a Republican Attorney General a "media generated scandal."
Rush Limpbow's lemmings are ignorant morons and proudly so.
Gonzales (his staff) lied to congress and the American people. Obviously, a Republican lying to congress & the American people is no big deal to the gay drug addict's groupies.
Posted by nightdoc
Interesting... now the right-wingers are saying it WAS Bush who did this thing.
He first says that two Republicans asked for information that could be used in the October and November time period. Later on, he told Couric that he was pleased to find out that he was listed for resignation on Nov. 15th, 2006, two weeks after he spoke to the lawmakers. That makes Nov 1st the day he spoke with them. So how, then, could that have been used in October?
He's a liar.
Wrong! Clinton did not remove the Whitewater prosecutor; the Republican appointed district attorney had already determined there was no basis for an indictment. These talking-point lies are incredibly pernicious. They throw out the lie, let it spin around the echo chamber for a few turns, and it festers into fact in the minds of the masses. THE REPUBLICAN D.A. IN ARKANSAS = NO INDICTMENT - NO EVIDENCE. Clinton lost money on Whitewater clones. The Republican controlled Congress turned to Kenneth Starr; he too found nothing in Whitewater. That's why he turned to every other innuendo he could find in his "independent" pursuit of justice. With nothing to show for nearly 75 million dollars worth of witchhunt, Linda Tripp illegally taped Monica's private conversations and you have yourself a *** scandal. No Whitewater crime/Republican DA said as much.
The primary issue is that Gonzales and his staff lied to congress and the American people.
Odd how when Clinton (allegedly) lied to the American people, it was front page and headline news for years. And became the basis for a multi-million dollar investigation and his impeachment. But when Repubs do it, it is considered no big deal.
Anyone, as notable as the President of the US, who has a sexual liason with a 22 yr. old federally tax payer funded intern and think that she is not going to tell anyone is either very, very stupid or feels he can get away with anything.
I'll take eight years of peace and prosperity over the past six years of "massive intelligence failures" that lead to the deaths of 3000 American soldiers any day.
Defend that neocons, and try doing it without invoking Clinton. Cat got your tongue?
By allowing the so-called Christian-Right to make a mockery of everything from christianity, morals, values, ethics, and patriotism we've deserved to be the laughing stock they've made us.
--- every Neocon
Posted by marcodele
CLINTON RULE:
Any republican, while in the act of discussing a political topic (any political topic) with a member of the opposing party, and finding himself/herself without a valid argument, may deflect the topic by blaming Clinton for a similar (or somewhat similar) set of circumstances at some time in the distant past.
note:
The 'Clinton Rule' should be applied in a manner which implies that either; 1. "Bill Clinton committed a worse offense", or 2. "Bill Clinton also did this thing, so why is it not OK for my politician to do the same?" and; "If you did not complain when Clinton did this thing, you have no right to complain now."
Keep in mind that the Clinton administration ended many years ago and therefore your facts need not be completely accurate.
Posted by nightdoc at 10:07 PM : Mar 16, 2007
The most poorly kept "dirty little secret" in all state houses, including the Capitol & the White House, is that a politician who is not having affairs is the exception rather than the rule.
The most common extra curricular activity in politics is extra-marital affairs. Who do you think all those "unnamed people" are who accompany politicians on their junkets?
Monica Lewinsky was a setup and she did a great job of setting Clinton up. What he didn't know was that she was not one of the normal groupies who frequent the halls of the Capitol & White House.
The question is who sent her. But, we'll probably never know.
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