Sampson Resigns, Gonzales Under Pressure
As the details of the process by which eight out of the 93 US attorneys were fired emerge, calls have begun on Capitol Hill for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Kyle Sampson has now resigned as Gonzales' chief of staff. Sampson had been directly responsible for the program under which the Justice Department determined to fire the eight U.S. attorneys.
The firings were initiated at the request of former White House Counsel Harriet Miers who wanted to follow the same procedure used in the Clinton administration and fire all 93 of the U.S. attorneys, but Sampson objected: it would create too much upheaval and discontinuity and problems with ongoing prosecutions. Ordinarily, all U.S. Attorneys submit letters of resignation after each presidential election and are then either rehired or let go at the discretion of the Attorney General. Instead Sampson rated attorneys on how well they followed administration policy and how effective they were at their jobs, and ultimately identified the eight who were fired. According to latest reports, one of the key issues was how aggressively the attorneys were pursuing allegations of election fraud in cases where close elections had significant irregularities which went uninvestigated. The rating system was independent of normal performance evaluations, and has been criticized for being primarily political in nature.
The White House consulted closely on the firings, and there was some concern raised by Sampson that there might be political repercussions if legislators from the states where the attorneys were working raised objections. Partisan political outcry has been strong from Democrats on Capitol Hill, with Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator John Conyers convening a hearing last week to question those involved, including the fired attorneys. After the hearings Conyers commented, "Today, we received strong evidence that the firing of these U.S. Attorneys was politically motivated, and we clearly need to follow up on these developments with further investigations."
Some Democrats have called for the resignation of Attorney General Gonzales, but he has clearly indicated that he regrets the abrupt character of the firings, but does not believe that anything took place which was outside of the scope of normal Justice Department practices, maintaining that the attorneys fired were fired for cause, in most of the cases because they did not follow specific directives to pursue administration initiatives on gun crime, election fraud, drug enforcement and other issues.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
It looks like some of these stories - less than 12 hours old - already need some significant followup, so here's some followup and some commentary.
Sampson Resigns, Gonzales Under Pressure
At first I thought this was just another partisan witch hunt from capitol hill, but as details have emerged it turns out there actually IS a scandal here, but it's not the one promoted in the media. The actual scandal is the case of two of fired US attorneys, one in Seattle and one in New Mexico, who failed to pursue allegations of voter fraud. In both cases Democrats won extremely close elections where it turned out there were really suspicious irregularities, including dead people voting, false registrations, missing ballots and vote buying. The Bush administration directed these two attorneys to follow up on the allegations and nothing was done. In Washington the difference in the election was only 129 votes. But here's what really piques my interest. The name that keeps coming up in both of these vote fraud cases that were dropped is ACORN, the multiply indicted far-left activist group which has been responsible for election fraud in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado and Missouri. ACORN has been buying votes and filing fraudulent registrations all over the country since before the 2000 election. The scale of the fraud they have committed is enormous, but politically partisan prosecutors have been reluctant to investigate them, as was the case here. Firing was too good for these US Attorneys. They ought to be investigated for conspiracy in the fraud cases.
Pace Steps Over the Invisible Line
What the hell is wrong with Peter Pace? And how the hell did someone with such poor judgement end up in the position he's in. He ought to be kicked out on his bigoted ass. That said, the real issue here remains "don't ask, don't tell." Maybe it's time for Bush to prove once and for all that the GOP is the real party of equal rights and put an end to that policy and welcome openly gay recruits into the military.
Wall Street Staggers In Response to Junk Mortgage News
Good news and bad news is surfacing on this story today. The good news is that the most recent mortgage figures show loans up and interest rates down, so aside from the incredibly irresponsible loans it looks like the housing market overall isn't going in the tank. The bad news is that Sen. Chris Dodd of the Banking Committee is seriously talking about a mortgage bailout for the irresponsible and unqualified home buyers who are defaulting. He's talking about 2 billion dollars which would basically be a payoff for banks who gave loans to people who weren't qualified to get them. Last I checked that was fraud, and punishable by a hefty jail term, not by being given a government handout.
Dave
2 - Nancy
The mortgage industry doesn't deserve a bailout, IMO. They got themselves into trouble thru unmitigated greed, ditching normal principles of solvency for the chance to make a nickel here & now. And now we should reward them for their stupidity & greed? I think not. It's their responsibility to make a reasonable & rational decision on how much to loan, & turn down those who aren't good risks. They didn't, & didn't with malice aforethought, as it were. Let them sink.
3 - zingzing
"In Washington the difference in the election was only 129 votes."
you think there was no inquiry into this election? it went on for months! it was counted and recounted and election fraud, from both sides was brought up time and time again. frankly, i was relieved when it finally ended.
as for ACORN, they aren't very good at what they do, or at least not as good as the right-wing election fraud teams. frankly, if there has been election fraud in ohio and florida, i don't really believe it's been the left's doing. or else we just aren't very good at election fraud. either way, it's okay.
still, you do find a way to turn this story to the right, don't you? good job. your habit of telling the story "straight" in the main text and then giving your slant on it straight after is a bit disingenuous. just put your damn comments in the text if you're going to do that.
that said, i agree with you on pace and the housing market. pace is stupid. the people who bought into that housing market are equally stupid. a friend of mine and his dad concocted some scheme to purchase homes, fix them up and put them back on the market. he wanted to know if i wanted to be involved. i told him i wouldn't find that any fun, i don't have the kind of money you need to start that, that idea is rather old and the housing market is going to collapse and soon. that's the day i decided that his father has a bunch of bad ideas. who couldn't see that bubble? i was skeptical from the beginning.
4 - moonraven
Dave,
You have added zip to what has already been all over the mainstream media.
Just one comment: in New Mexico dead people are always very conscientious voters. Especially in Rio Arriba County.
5 - Dave Nalle
you think there was no inquiry into this election? it went on for months! it was counted and recounted and election fraud, from both sides was brought up time and time again. frankly, i was relieved when it finally ended.
I realize there was a lot of vote recounting and a lot of coverage in the media, but as I understand it there was never an official federal investigation from the US Attorney's office or any effort to follow up and definitively prove or disprove the allegations which were raised.
In the Bernalillo County case in New Mexico there was an investigation, but it was basically a whitewash job and no real effort was made to pursue any of the leads.
as for ACORN, they aren't very good at what they do,
They certainly get caught a lot, but my impression is that this is because of the huge amount of fraud they're involved in and the fact that they frequently neglect to pay their hirelings who then rat them out to prosecutors.
or at least not as good as the right-wing election fraud teams.
There are no right-wing election fraud teams and I have never seen credible evidence of fraud of this sort on the kind of massive organized level found on the left.
frankly, if there has been election fraud in ohio and florida, i don't really believe it's been the left's doing. or else we just aren't very good at election fraud. either way, it's okay.
I'm sure the massive election fraud engaged in by the left is okay with you, but it's not okay with the rest of us.
still, you do find a way to turn this story to the right, don't you? good job. your habit of telling the story "straight" in the main text and then giving your slant on it straight after is a bit disingenuous. just put your damn comments in the text if you're going to do that.
If I put my comments in the text, then that kind of taints the straight news I'm reporting. I put them in the comments to provide that clear division between news and commentary. I'd call that the opposite of disingenuous.
that said, i agree with you on pace and the housing market. pace is stupid.
I think that he's too stupid to be allowed to keep his job.
the people who bought into that housing market are equally stupid... who couldn't see that bubble? i was skeptical from the beginning.
I live a couple of miles from a perfect example of the problem, a neighborhood of low priced new homes where the builders were selling to people regardless of income or credit history and providing them with all sorts of bogus semi-scam financing as well. It was obvious from the get-go that they were going to have massive foreclosures.
Dave
6 - The Fifth Dentist
"Miers who wanted to follow the same procedure used in the Clinton administration and fire all 93 of the U.S. attorneys ..."
Dave you're talking about when Clinton initally took office in 1992. Every administration appoints its own U.S. attorneys. The issue here is whether the administration interfered with the independence it's prosecutors for their refusal to cooperate politically.
7 - Nancy
For those who STILL don't get it, as 5th points out, there's a fine line between cleaning house by an incoming administration (their privilege), and long afterwards, getting rid of incumbent personnel who are on record as doing good work, because they refuse or fail to take the hint & prosecute members of the opposite party just before an election. As the saying is, timing is everything, in this case. And then there's the little matter of giving a capable DA the boot because the pillsbury dough boy, Rove, wanted a cushy place to park a favorite ex-aide. Must've been the one who made all those Dunkin' Donut & Pizza Hut runs for him.
8 - Sam Jack
Way to reproduce the White House press release, Dave. What about all the stuff that's coming out over at tpmmuckraker.com? What about the fact that there was an e-mail citing 'problems' with Carol Lam on the very day that she indicted Duke Cunningham?
It seems to me that Carol Lam's firing is the real scandal here. The 'problems' the White House was having with her 'performance' seem likely to be problems with her indicting Republicans--even though Cunningham was a Republican that was later found guilty in an entirely non-partisan Court of Law.
9 - Dave Nalle
Dave you're talking about when Clinton initally took office in 1992.
1993, actually.
Every administration appoints its own U.S. attorneys. The issue here is whether the administration interfered with the independence it's prosecutors for their refusal to cooperate politically.
The problem here is that what you call 'politics' others can easily call 'policy'. It's politics when it's a campaign slogan. It's policy when you've had a few years in office and given the people a chance to implement your ideas and priorities and they haven't followed through, and in order to pursue the policies you want to represent your administration you think they should be replaced.
You cannot hold the administration accountable for firing people who don't agree with their priorities. The priorities may be political in origin, but they are represented by concrete policies and the administration has the absolute right to be represented in court by people who will pursue their agenda and not oppose it.
Dave
10 - Dave Nalle
What about all the stuff that's coming out over at tpmmuckraker.com?
I've never heard of that site, but the name certainly doesn't inspire me with confidence in its objectivity.
What about the fact that there was an e-mail citing 'problems' with Carol Lam on the very day that she indicted Duke Cunningham?
Did the email cite problems with her indictment of Cunningham? And might I note that she stayed in office for more than a year after the date of that memo to complete the prosecution of Cunningham and other cases. So nothing was done to interfere with her prosecution of Cunningham. And technically she was not fired, but resigned.
The truth is that the reason Lam was fired is that Rep. Daryl Issa is an raving nativist and made an effective case against her. When making decisions like this it's natural for the administation to take into consideration the complaints of congressmnen from the jurisdiction in question and Issa hated Lam for ignoring border issues and cutting the number of prosecutions in her office almost in half.
even though Cunningham was a Republican that was later found guilty in an entirely non-partisan Court of Law.
You defeat your own argument here, because the prosecution of Cunningham was already to the point where it wasn't going to be stopped, and did continue to a conviction.
Dave
11 - zingzing
"There are no right-wing election fraud teams and I have never seen credible evidence of fraud of this sort on the kind of massive organized level found on the left."
yeah, yeah. okay. come on. they just haven't been caught.
"I'm sure the massive election fraud engaged in by the left is okay with you, but it's not okay with the rest of us."
no, no, my point was that there is no massive election fraud engaged in by the left. there's a rag-tag organization that got caught. not a deeply inbedded political monster of a fraud team like the right has. or does it? oh...
acorn is a little shit. having your friends run the voting machines is...
12 - Nancy
You got it, Zing. Anything a 2-bit group like Acorn does is peanuts compared to the concerted, professional organization of amoral thugs the GOP has, which is run right of the the WH by ... good ol' sneakthief extraordinaire Karl Rove, therefore by extension (since he IS 'Bush's brain') Dubya himself.
13 - Dave Nalle
ACORN has operatives in dozens of states and a budget in the millions of dollars. It's hardly a two-bit organization. Some places they don't need ACORN because the local political machine is already doing the job quite well enough.
As for 'friends running the voting machines', there are more of those machines run by Democrats than by Republicans. In fact, Democrats hold a higher proportion of city and county offices nationwide, so as a result they control more voting machines for more of the population.
Dave
14 - Dave Nalle
The mortgage industry doesn't deserve a bailout, IMO. They got themselves into trouble thru unmitigated greed, ditching normal principles of solvency for the chance to make a nickel here & now. And now we should reward them for their stupidity & greed? I think not. It's their responsibility to make a reasonable & rational decision on how much to loan, & turn down those who aren't good risks. They didn't, & didn't with malice aforethought, as it were. Let them sink.
The motivation to bail them out will come from the concern that too many average people will be harmed because they own stock in mortgage banks either directly or through mutual funds.
Personally I think the extent of the 'crisis' is overstated. This situation isn't anywhere near the scale of the S&L bailout in the 80s.
What I'd like to see if something IS done about this situation is some sort of mortgage assistance program, perhaps combined with credit counseling so that some of these homebuyers who are just a month or two behind on their payments could be helped out and put back on a sound footing. Perhaps a program where they were switched over to some sort of federally backed loan program specifically designed for higher risk buyers.
Dave