Patrick Leahy: "American People Deserve the Truth

From Vt. Senator and Senate Judiciary Chair, Pat Leahy

Yesterday, on a bipartisan vote of 12-7, the Senate Judiciary Committee ruled that White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove are in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas issued in the U.S. Attorneys investigation. As Chairman of the Committee, I have gone to real lengths to avoid this sort of legal confrontation, but after many months the White House has yet to cooperate with these requests from our investigation -- and the American people deserve the truth.

The President denies any involvement in the political firings of Justice Department officials. Yet he and his staff continue to hide behind the veil of "executive privilege." They have essentially asserted that this privilege -- historically applied very narrowly -- covers all documents and information in their possession. It's a dramatic departure from precedent, and the Bush-Cheney administration's blanket claim of immunity from congressional subpoenas flies in the face of our system of checks and balances.

This is not about pulling a partisan "gotcha" or scoring political points. After all, Committee members of both parties supported yesterday's ruling. No, this is about defending Congress's oversight function and protecting the right of the American people to know the whole truth about the mass firings of attorneys at the Justice Department. Withholding critical evidence requested by a subpoena is a serious crime, and it's time we reminded the President and his staff that they are not above the law.

The White House's refusal to cooperate with our investigation casts further doubt on its contention that it had nothing to do with the political firings of Justice Department officials. In fact, it's now quite clear that political officials in the White House pressured federal prosecutors to bring partisan cases and sought retribution against those who refused.

Since World War II, presidential advisers have testified before Congress 74 times, either voluntarily or compelled by subpoenas -- never once refusing to comply. Executive privilege should not be invoked to prevent investigations into wrongdoing, and certainly should not prevail.

Al "Be Seeing You" in Iowa

Outgoing US AG "You can call me" Al Gonzales is making his first visit(and last in his current capacity) to Iowa today.

The Gazette reports from Des Moines:

"It's a great privilege to serve in this position and when you serve in these positions obviously sometimes there are tough decisions, there are tough times that occur. But I think we did a lot of good things," he said.

Gonzales said "I think we've done a lot of good things in protecting our country from another terrorist attack and I think we've done a lot of good things ensuring that our neighborhoods are safer from violent gangs."

Asked if he had any regrets as he steps down, Gonzales said "We're all human and all of us make mistakes. The thing that's important is to identify when those mistakes are made, acknowledge the mistakes, correct the mistakes and then you
move on."

Today's stopover was Gonzales first trip to Iowa.

AG Gonzales Resignation "Greatest Hits"

Side 1:

``I have lived the American dream. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father's best days.'' - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

``Al Gonzales is a man of integrity, decency and principle. ...After months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful distraction at the Justice Department, Judge Gonzales decided to resign his position and I accept his decision. It's sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.'' - President George W. Bush.

Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell: "I thank Alberto Gonzales for his public service and wish him well in his future endeavors," he said. "It is my hope that whomever President Bush selects as the next Attorney General, he or she is not subjected to the same poisonous partisanship that we’ve sadly grown accustomed to over the past eight months."

``The life of Alberto Gonzales has been defined by his devotion to family and deep commitment to public service. ... I appreciate his hard work in defense of our country and look forward to his future contributions.'' - House Republican Whip Roy Blunt.

``I wish him and his family all the best as they enter the next stage of their lives. The work of the Justice Department is indispensable to our global war on terrorism, and as we move forward, I trust that the next attorney general will continue an aggressive approach against those who aim to harm our nation.'' - House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.


Side 2:

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards: "Better late than never."

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson: "The resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is long overdue. The President must nominate an Attorney General who is a lawyer for the American people not a political arm of the White House."

Sen. Barack Obama: "I have long believed that Alberto Gonzales subverted justice to promote a political agenda, and so I am pleased that he has finally resigned today. The president needs to nominate an Attorney General who will be the people's lawyer, not the President's lawyer, and in an Obama Administration that person will first and foremost defend and promote the rights and liberties enshrined in our Constitution."

``He demonstrated that his loyalties lie with the president and his political agenda, not the American people or the evenhanded and impartial enforcement of our laws. ... My hope is that the president will select a new attorney general who will respect the rule of law and abandon partisanship, who will serve the American people and not the president's political ideology, and who will answer to the Constitution and not political operatives.'' - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton


``The rampant politicization of federal law enforcement that occurred under his tenure seriously eroded public confidence in our justice system. The president must now restore credibility to the office of the Attorney General.'' - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Rep. John Lewis D-GA:"It was time for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to go. His credibility was at an all time low. He had refused to cooperate with the U.S. Congress and members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees who were exercising their constitutional duty to seek the truth.

Rep. Rahm Emmanual D-IL: “Alberto Gonzales is the first Attorney General who thought the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth were three different things."

Sen. Chris Dodd: "Mr. Gonzales' Justice Department became a political wing of the Bush Administration and his resignation is long overdue. I will only vote to confirm a nominee for Attorney General who is truly independent and who will guarantee reforms that restore and uphold the Constitution."

Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid: "Alberto Gonzales was never the right man for this job. He lacked independence, he lacked judgment, and he lacked the spine to say no to Karl Rove," he said. "This resignation is not the end of the story. Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House."


Senator Edward M. Kennedy, D-MA: “The resignation of the Attorney General is long overdue. I opposed his confirmation because he came before the Senate as an enabler of the President’s misguided legal policies rather than as an independent legal voice. He had played a central role in authorizing the use of torture against detainees and other deprivations of civil liberties. Since his confirmation, he has presided over one disastrous policy after another, including the continued abuse of detainees, the approval of unlawful wiretapping by the NSA, the partisan enforcement of the voting Rights Act and the failure to enforce our other civil rights laws, the abusive use of National Security Letters and the inappropriate firing of U.S. Attorneys. He has exhibited a lack of candor with Congress and the American people and a disdain for the rule of law and our constitutional system. I strongly urge President Bush to nominate a new Attorney General who will respect our laws and restore the integrity of the office. The Attorney General should be the nation's chief law enforcement officer, not an agent of the Administration's political agenda."

Statement of Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-CA: “It is my hope that the Attorney General’s resignation will signal the beginning of a real change in the Department of Justice. This is an important step, and I hope the President moves rapidly to fill this position, since so many of the top-level people at the Department have in fact resigned. I spoke with the White House this morning, and suggested a couple of nominees who I believe would easily gain confirmation. With the right person in place, a very distressing chapter in the Justice Department’s history can be closed and the process of restoring its credibility as a strong and independent department can begin.”

``Attorney General Gonzales' ability to lead the Department of Justice had been undermined by his serious errors in judgment and conflicting statements. I am hopeful that the President will name a strong successor who will begin to restore confidence in the department.'' - Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

``I have said for a long time that I thought the president would be best served if the attorney general resigned so I think it's the right thing to do.'' - Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Republican presidential candidate.

``This is a great, great development. ...The next attorney general has to understand that his primary loyalty is to the Constitution and the rule of law and that sometimes he has to tell the president no.'' -Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico, one of the fired U.S. prosecutors.

``It is a good thing for the Department of Justice and it's an opportunity for those career professionals to begin to focus on what is important, and that is the administration of justice.'' - Fired Arizona U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton.

``There comes a time when if you don't have the respect of the Congress and the American public and your own people in the department then it's time to step down.'' - Fired Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden.

``I don't think he would have ever had to resign until they were able to hang the U.S. attorneys' firings around his neck ... To me, it could all be written off to miscommunication and bad judgment and probably could have been forgiven until they made a conscious decision to be willing to throw some of the U.S. attorneys under the bus.'' - Fired Arkansas U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins.

AG No Longer AG: No "Gonzo" to Kick Around Any More

CNN has just announced:

Embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation Monday in a brief statement at the Justice Department.

Alberto Gonzales was dogged by controversial issues including wiretapping programs and fired U.S. attorneys.

"Yesterday I met with President Bush and informed him of my decision to conclude my government services as Attorney General of the United States effective September 17."
He did not take questions from reporters.

Bush will likely nominate Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to the position, senior administration officials said.

Chertoff has headed Homeland Security since 2005. He served as a federal appellate court judge, a federal prosecutor and as special counsel for a Senate committee investigating President Clinton's involvement in the Whitewater land development.

Solicitor General Paul Clement will serve as acting attorney general, the White House press office said.

President Bush is expected to make a statement about Gonzales at 11:50 a.m. from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he has been vacationing, but will not announce a replacement, two senior administration officials said.

Another One Bites the Dust at Justice Department

From CNN

Top U.S. civil rights enforcer under fire steps down

Critics say his office hired GOP loyalists over lawyers with civil rights experience

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department's top civil rights enforcer resigned Thursday following more than a year of criticism that his office filled its ranks with conservative loyalists instead of experienced attorneys.

Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim was the first immigrant and first Korean-American to head the department's civil rights division -- a post he held for just over two years.

Kim is the latest senior Justice official to leave amid a scathing congressional investigation that has raised questions about the department's political independence from the White House.

The civil rights division's Kim had been rumored for months to be leaving the department, and is expected to join a private law firm. He worked at Justice for over 10 years, starting as a criminal trial attorney, and was one of the few Senate-confirmed senior officials left.

"For over a decade now, Wan Kim has served the Department of Justice and the American people with distinction and honor," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in a statement Thursday. "Wan has worked his way up through the department, and I will miss his honest opinions and valuable contributions as an adviser to me."

The department's civil rights division enforces federal laws prohibiting discrimination, including at work, at election polls and even at casinos. In May, Kim's office settled with MGM Mirage Inc., the world's second-largest casino company, for $55,000 over complaints that several of its hotels were not accessible to the handicapped.

Kim also pursued the illegal and exploitative trafficking of foreign women and children who were forced into slave labor in the U.S. -- often working as prostitutes. His office helped re-ignite a decades-old murder case gone cold, winning a guilty conviction in June against a reputed Ku Klux Klansman who abducted two black teenagers in a long-ignored crime from Mississippi's bloody past.

But Justice's civil rights division has drawn criticism. Last year, a Boston Globe analysis of Justice Department hiring data found that the office had become highly politicized with the hiring of lawyers who had little civil rights experience but strong GOP credentials.

Moreover, critics contend that the office has largely focused on voter fraud cases -- which civil rights groups charge are intended to hold down minority turnout.

In June, Kim testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about transfer of three minority female lawyers from the his office's voting rights section. The move had been directed by Bradley Schlozman, the former voting rights chief who also has resigned, effective last week.

During his testimony, Kim told senators that he had been concerned by the move and said remarks by Schlozman that appeared to question the women's patriotism "were intemperate and inopportune."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said Kim's resignation was part of a mass exodus from the Justice Department that "must not hinder our efforts to demand accountability." More

Crossing the Line: AG Lawyer Goodling Didn't Mean to Break the Law

Former Attorney General's Office/White House liaison, TOM (The other Monica) Monica Goodling, armed with her Attorney John Dowd and a signed order protecting her from prosecution, admitted that she did play politics when chatting with job applicants over at the AG's office. From the Washington Post
"I do acknowledge that I may have gone too far in asking political questions of applicants for career positions and may have taken inappropriate political considerations into account on some occasions," Goodling told the House panel.

"I regret these mistakes," said Goodling.

Asked if she believed she had done anything illegal, Goodling told the lawmakers: "I know I crossed the line."

"But I didn't mean to," she added.

Goodling initially refused to testify, citing her right against self-incrimination. But a federal judge, at the request of the House committee, signed an order protecting her from prosecution.

Goodling placed some of the blame for the furor over the fired prosecutors on Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, denying claims she had withheld information from him before he testified to Congress in February.

"Despite my and others' best effort, the deputy's public testimony was incomplete or inaccurate," Goodling said, adding, "I believe the deputy was not fully candid about his knowledge of White House involvement in the replacement decision."

It's Time for Gonzales to Go

Watch and see if you don't agree. Then go to http://impeachgonzales.org/

Ashcroft: "Doesn't Matter, Because I'm Not the Attorney General"

Former US Deputy Attorney General James Comey discusses the circumstances surrounding the rush to reauthorize the domestic spying program, including then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card's late-night visit to John Ashcroft's hospital bedside for his okay--even though he had turned over temporary control of the department to Deputy AG Comey.

The next day, Comey intended to resign due to the domesticc spying program being reauthorized without certifying its legality from the AG's office. More from Truthout

RU Working for the Justice Department?

Monica Goodling (Class of '95 Messiah College) who, on this blog will be henceforth referred to as "Tom" (The Other Monica), has opened a can of worms in resigning from the USAG's office because it has brought the bright glare of the scrutiny into the hallowed halls of Pat Robertson's brainchild --Regents University and its fabulous Law School. As widely reported, over 150 Regent University grads are working for the Bush administration/American people.

From Max Blumenthal: In the Washington Post-owned Slate Magazine, Dahlia Lithwick published a penetrating look at "How Pat Robertson's law school is changing America." Lithwick notes that as early as 1997, when Goodling was enrolled at Regent and working as a spokesperson for the school's Office of Government, she was ducking pointed questions from reporters.

The Boston Globe also ran a insightful look at Regent Law's impact on public policy. The Globe cited (as I did days earlier right here) Kay Coles James as the key link between Regent and the Bush White House. The Globe's Charlie Savage wrote, "In 2001, the Bush administration picked the dean of Regent's government school, Kay Coles James, to be the director of the Office of Personnel Management -- essentially the head of human resources for the executive branch. The doors of opportunity for government jobs were thrown open to Regent alumni."

Good(ling) Friday Resignation- A Conscience Decision?

The BBC reports:

A top US justice department official who refused to testify before Congress about her role in the sacking of eight federal prosecutors has resigned.

Monica Goodling, who was senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, gave no reason for her abrupt decision.

Last month she rejected an interview request from a congressional committee investigating the sackings, invoking her right not to incriminate herself.

Mr Gonzales denies the sackings last year were politically motivated.

The Democratic Party, which now controls Congress, is pushing to expand an investigation into the firings, which affected almost one in 10 federal prosecutors.

Mr Gonzales - who heads the justice department - says the attorneys were fired because of their job performance and that politics played no role.

Gonzo Practices Nuance, Sampson Has Change of Heart

From Bloomberg

AG Alberto Gonzales stated "There obviously remains some confusion about my involvement in this" referring to the firing of 13 Assistant AG's. "At the end of the day, I know what I did. And I know that the motivations for the decisions I made were not based on improper reasons."

Sampson told the panel that the White House had a large role in the firings, not limited involvement as the Justice Department originally claimed.

One-time presidential counsel Harriet Miers joined Gonzales in approving them. And under questioning from Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sampson said that looking back, he should not have advocated the firing of one prosecutor in particular, New Mexico's David Iglesias.

In his testimony, Sampson said that in retrospect he wouldn't have sacked Iglesias, who was added to the list of dismissed prosecutors after complaints from White House political adviser Karl Rove and New Mexico Republican Senator Pete Domenici. Sampson had called Iglesias a ``diverse up and comer'' and considered him for other administration jobs, e-mails released by the Justice Department show.

``It is imperative that you restore Mr. Iglesias's tarnished reputation by confirming that his performance as a U.S. attorney did not warrant dismissal,'' wrote Schumer, who is leading the Senate's investigation of the firings. ``I urge you to take this step immediately.''

Sampson and "De Lawyer"

From US News and World Report

When Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's former chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee this Thursday about the controversial firings of eight U.S. attorneys, he's unlikely to throw any big bombs at the Bush administration that are of the magnitude of a direct link between Bush's political advisor Karl Rove and the dismissals, a close associate of Sampson's tells U.S. News. But Sampson will set off some fireworks by contradicting a key assurance that Gonzales made to Congress and the American public last Tuesday that he was not in the loop during the long deliberations leading up to the firings.

Gonzo on the Ropes?

AG "You can call me Al" Gonzales had a rocky day yesterday.

Clearly AG the AG is a bit skittish. He cut short a press conference in Chicago yesterday because reporters were more interested in his conduct than his agenda.

Check out this column by Robyn Blumner: Gonzales and the invasion of your privacy

Prejudgery or Perjury? Aide Gone "Gonzo"

From AP via Forbes

A senior aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has decided against testifying before lawmakers about her role in the ousters of eight federal prosecutors, the latest flare-up in the controversy surrounding the Justice Department.

Monica Goodling's announcement that she would take the Fifth Amendment to avoid possibly incriminating herself came as the embattled attorney general cast himself as misunderstood in his conflicting accounts of his involvement in the firings.

Checks and Balances

The Senate voted overwhelmingly - and with bipartisan support - on Tuesday to strip Alberto Gonzales of the power to appoint US attorneys without its consent.

And the vote on Wednesday authorizing the use of subpoenas to compel White House officials to testify passed on a voice vote with no dissent.

The Truth, the Half-Truth and Nothing But ..Oh, Crap!

Breaking from CNN

The White House will allow key presidential aide Karl Rove and former counsel Harriet Miers to be interviewed by committees probing the firings of U.S. attorneys, but they will not testify under oath, Rep. Chris Cannon says.

Chris Cannon (R-Utah) is not known for supporting transparency, he voted against legislation to reaffirm aspects of the Freedom of Information Act of 2007, an amendment that would strengthen the Presidential Records Act, a Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act and Presidential Library Donation reform.