"Inconvenient" U.S. Attorneys Fired?

Sen. Dianne Feinstein Says Attorneys Working Major Corruption Cases Were Let Go

(CBS/AP)  In the wake of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, some people are calling for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's head.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said Sunday he intends to subpoena White House officials involved in ousting federal prosecutors and is dismissing anything short of their testimony in public.

The Bush White House was expected to announce early this week whether it will let political strategist Karl Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers and other officials testify, or will seek to assert executive privilege in preventing their appearance.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calf., a member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she's reserving judgment about whether or not he should resign. But one of the fired U.S. attorneys is from San Diego. Feinstein said Carol Lam was fired after she sent a notice to the Justice Department that she had a case against Dusty Foggo, a defense contractor.

"The next day, an e-mail went from the Justice Department to the White House saying 'We have a real problem with Carol Lam,'" Feinstein told Chief Washington correspondent Bob Scheiffer. "All I'm saying, as the evidence comes in, as we look at the e-mails, there were clearly U.S. attorneys that were thorns in the side — for one reason or another — of the Justice Department. And they decided, by strategy, in one fell swoop, to get rid of seven of them on that day, December the 7th."

Feinstein said that even though U.S. attorneys are appointed by the President, they have to be politically independent, and she worries that if this issue isn't dealt with, U.S. attorneys will not be able to act objectively.

"That is very difficult for me to believe that you can fire seven prosecutors on a given day, five of whom are involved in major corruption cases one way or another, and the attorney general who is the head of the organization hasn't given a go-ahead somewhere along the line," she said. "We need to find that out."

Feinstein also said that senior Justice Department official William Moschella suggested a change in the Patriot Act which essentially would let the attorney general have the ability to appoint a U.S. attorney without confirmation by the Senate. She and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., have co-sponsored a bill which would prevent this from happening.

"Most, if not all, United States Senators believe it is critical to have Senate confirmation," she said. "This is what prevents people from coming in who aren't qualified, for people coming in who are political operatives. This is what makes our system of justice so stellar. It's the system of checks and balances."

[iraterepublc]

With all the coverage and commentaries about the firing of these US Justices we can all recognize just how political these firing were, but isn't this a smoke screen for the real need for a full investigation of the Bush administration's Iraqi Invasion justifications???
The Democrats have failing to move on the major priority, the responsibility we gave them when we voted them in during the 2006 election, - WE WANT A FULL INVESTIGATION OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S IRAQI INVASION JUSTIFICATIONS!

[iraterepublc]

With all the coverage and commentaries about the firing of these US Justices we can all recognize just how political these firing were, but isn't this a smoke screen for the real need for a full investigation of the Bush administration's Iraqi Invasion justifications???
The Democrats have failing to move on the major priority responsibility we gave them when we voted them in during the 2006 election - WE WON'T A FULL INVESTIGATION OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S IRAQI INVASION JUSTIFICATIONS!

[randalds]

I realize we can't spell-check our posts here, but capitalization and punctuation are critical for understanding your written message. You may have the most valid message on the board, but if your writing is a mess, most of us won't finish.

If you care enough to post, care enough to edit first.
Posted by changeit4 at 11:15 AM : Mar 19, 2007

Actually if you download the Google Toolbar it has a spell checker you can use in this dialog box. I remember to use it most of the time. Toe once in a while i still speel tings rong.

[rf35]

Did the administration actually think this would go unnoticed and unreported or are they, as some have suggested, using this as a distraction while they quietly pull off some even more disturbing scheme? Or could it simply be that Bush & Co. figure there is nothing anyone can do about it so why be sneaky?

"The Bush White House was expected to announce early this week whether it will let political strategist Karl Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers and other officials testify, or will seek to assert executive privilege in preventing their appearance."

Yep...executive privilege. Keep the good ol' boys out of the fire.

[abbe7]

Scott4261,

You couldn't be more right ...
But I would insist on the "patriot" act issue.
This is just an example of what this thing can be used for. Bush apologists present it as something benign. I would rather compare it to the enabling act which gave power to Hitler. And what is 911 if not a new Reichtag fire ?

[abbe7]

Scott4261,

You couldn't be more right ...
But I would insist on the "patriot" act issue.
This is just an example of what this thing can be used for. Bush apologists present it as something benign. I would rather compare it to the enabling act which gave power to Hitler. And what is 911 if not a new Reichtag fire ?

[last121868]

BIGDADPATRIO:
No venom or hate here, I'm just still waiting on your link...........

[changeit4]

Can I make a suggestion?

I realize we can't spell-check our posts here, but capitalization and punctuation are critical for understanding your written message. You may have the most valid message on the board, but if your writing is a mess, most of us won't finish.

If you care enough to post, care enough to edit first.

[huskerarmy]

antoniof123 - I really feel that the Bushies don't care what Bush does - he tells them what they want to hear and they aren't bright enough to want to know any different -

So you're saying that if the Bush administration said ridiculous things like, "Iraq was responsible for 9-11, Iraq was producing WMD's, Mission accomplished, the insurgency is in it's last throws, This administration had nothing to do with outing Valerie Plame, Harriet Miers was most qualified for the Supreme court, Excellent job Brownie, Firing of U.S. Attorneys was not political, etc." they would believe it? Let's get real. They can't be that stupid...

[huskerarmy]

"By the way, I am almost 60 and have been around long enough to remember when political discussions were not so full of venim and hate and unfounded accusations derived from the hate. I do miss those times."
Bigdadpatrio, I'm around your same age and I remember when the "political discussion" resorted to violence in the streets, the Kent State massacre and dogs attacking civil rights workers in the "solid" (Republican) south. I imagine in fact that today political discussion, held exclusively among those who are faithful to orthodoxy, remain quite civil.