Annie
Diamond Member
- Nov 22, 2003
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isn't that President Bush's Plan?
Yep, tell me again how he's a fascist. He's more liberal that Clinton was, though tougher on terror countries.
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The DOJ Scandal Becomes Clearer
- Thread starter Truthmatters
- Start date
Yep, tell me again how he's a fascist. He's more liberal that Clinton was, though tougher on terror countries.
I can go along with that deal
Until dems and reps stop squabbling over the rights of illegals nothing will be done... The bottom line is they should have no rights in this country... These kids from Jersey that were going to raid fort Dix all have american attorneys representing them ... And Border patrol agents are on trial for doing thier jobs...
Yep, tell me again how he's a fascist. He's more liberal that Clinton was, though tougher on terror countries.
it seems no one wants to claim him lately, no liberal, no conservative, no communist, no libertarian and now no fascist! lol
maybe he is just, one of a kind?
care
red states rule
Senior Member
- May 30, 2006
- 16,011
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it seems no one wants to claim him lately, no liberal, no conservative, no communist, no libertarian and now no fascist! lol
maybe he is just, one of a kind?
care
I am a Reagan conservative
I still like Pres Bush. He had made eroors - as any President has
He is much better then Gore or Kerry would have been
red states rule
Senior Member
- May 30, 2006
- 16,011
- 573
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Until dems and reps stop squabbling over the rights of illegals nothing will be done... The bottom line is they should have no rights in this country... These kids from Jersey that were going to raid fort Dix all have american attorneys representing them ... And Border patrol agents are on trial for doing thier jobs...
That is one reason why Republicans were sent packing last November
Rosotar
Member
There is a much easier answer - there were NO laws broken and Dems know it
They can fired at any time by the President
Oh yeah!
It's all the librul media's fault for trying to make a scandal out of nothing!
But wait!
Here's another Republican asking for Alberto to resign and he's not even a lib!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/16/AR2007051600804.html
How do you explain that RSR?
Rosotar
Member
I am a Reagan conservative
Well if you're still stuck on that looser that's half your problem!
I still like Pres Bush. He had made eroors - as any President has
So that's the word for the stuff that criminals do huh.....
"errors."
He is much better then Gore or Kerry would have been
What a ridiculous thing to say!
How do you know?
Truthmatters
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- May 10, 2007
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- Thread starter
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I am still waiting for the Dems to tell me whyt law was broken and why they are wasting so much time with their investagations
How about obstruction of justice for a start.
Yes they serve at the pleasure of the president but even the president is not above the law and is not allowed to abstruct justice for political gain or any ohter reason.
Rosotar
Member
How about obstruction of justice for a start.
Yes they serve at the pleasure of the president but even the president is not above the law and is not allowed to abstruct justice for political gain or any ohter reason.
Right.
I just found this
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...ay15,0,2561435.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed
For cons to keep repeating their mantra "the attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president" is disengenious. Everybody knows that's true but that's not the issue.
If he fired them to effect the outcome of an election then that's illegal.
Truthmatters
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He fired them to end cases in progress and in retaliation for NOT bringing cases even when the cases had not merit.
There is an obvious pattern of obstruction of justice if you look at the individual cases of attorney firings.
Anyone who refuses to see the pattern are so mirred in partisan politics they cant see straight.
There is an obvious pattern of obstruction of justice if you look at the individual cases of attorney firings.
Anyone who refuses to see the pattern are so mirred in partisan politics they cant see straight.
hmmmm? From Roso's link:
But recently, evidence emerged that there were more than eight. The department canned another U.S. attorney, Todd Graves of Kansas City, after he refused to go along with a voter-registration lawsuit filed against the state of Missouri -- a suit that was ultimately thrown out by a federal judge. And Justice Department officials interviewed by congressional aides report that Milwaukee's Steven Biskupic also made the hit list after Rove complained about his handling of vote fraud claims. But he was spared to avoid alienating then-House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.).
Now, vote fraud is a serious matter, and the administration is entitled to make it a priority on its law enforcement agenda -- just as it is entitled to make drug cases or white-collar crime a priority. But the evidence suggests that the department's concern had a fundamental partisan motive, which is not acceptable.
If you are still inclined to give Gonzales the benefit of the doubt on something he claims to have left mostly to subordinates, consider the testimony of his former deputy attorney general, James Comey. He told the Judiciary Committee that he had a "very positive" opinion of most of the U.S. attorneys who were dismissed, and that only one of the firings was warranted.
He was even more disturbed by charges that a former aide to Gonzales, Monica Goodling, used political criteria in the hiring of career prosecutors. Besides being a possible violation of federal law, that alleged practice would have a terribly corrosive effect. If it occurred, said Comey, "it deprives the department of its lifeblood, which is the ability to stand up and have juries of all stripes believe what you say and have sheriffs and judges and jailers -- the people we deal with -- trust the Department of Justice."
Truthmatters
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The evidence is very strong and mounting as the investigation continues.
It is very obvious why this last congress investigated nothing, they knew that no matter what they investigated it would Turn on the R partys corruption.
It is very obvious why this last congress investigated nothing, they knew that no matter what they investigated it would Turn on the R partys corruption.
Right.
I just found this
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...ay15,0,2561435.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed
For cons to keep repeating their mantra "the attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president" is disengenious. Everybody knows that's true but that's not the issue.
If he fired them to effect the outcome of an election then that's illegal.
Well except the whole thing about they were NOT fired around an election. But do make more absurd claims.
Truthmatters
Diamond Member
- May 10, 2007
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Ok now you obviously havent read any of the articles on this one have you?
Ill be right back.
Ill be right back.
Truthmatters
Diamond Member
- May 10, 2007
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Truthmatters
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- Thread starter
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- #76
2001-02
The White House appoints all eight U.S. Attorneys. The dates individuals are sworn in are as follows:
10/18/01: David Iglesias (New Mexico)
10/24/01: John McKay (Western Washington)
11/02/01: Margaret Chiara (Western Michigan)
11/02/01: Daniel Bogden (Nevada)
11/14/01: Paul Charlton (Arizona)
01/09/02: H.E. "Bud" Cummins III (Eastern Arkansas)
08/02/02: Kevin Ryan (Northern California)
11/08/02: Carol Lam (Southern California)
Late November 2004
Ed Cassidy, chief of staff for Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA), contacts U.S. Attorney John McKay (WA) following the 2004 gubernatorial election. Cassidy inquires whether McKay will pursue investigations of voter fraud. In later testimony (3/7/07), McKay recalls, "I stopped him and I told him that I was sure that he wasn't asking me on behalf of his boss to reveal information about an ongoing investigation or to lobby me on one, because we both knew that would be improper. He agreed that it would be improper and ended the conversation in a most expeditious fashion."
April 24, 2005
Justice Department official Kyle Sampson refers to David Iglesias as a, "diverse up-and-comer; solid."
Late 2004 or Early 2005
Chris Vance, Republican Party Chairman of Washington, contacts McKay to voice complaints while the outcome of the 2004 Washington gubernatorial election is still in dispute. Vance claims to have felt impelled to call McKay as a fellow Republican, and recalls the policital atmosphere that spurred his call: "Republican activists were furious because they felt that you had a Republican secretary of state, a Republican county prosecutor in Norm Maleng and a Republican U.S. attorney, but still they saw the governorship slipping away, and they were just angry." Vance also speaks regularly with Karl Rove about the election, though the timing of these conversations is unclear.
Sometime following the 2004 gubernatorial election, prominent Washington businessman Tom McCabe, disappointed with McKay's handling of voter fraud allegations, repeatedly contacts the White House to request McKay's firing.
Late December 2004
Alberto Gonzales, then White House counsel, discusses the idea of replacing all or some of the sitting U.S. attorneys with Justice Department official Kyle Sampson.
January 6, 2005
White House Deputy counsel David Leitch emails Kyle Sampson, then at the Justice Department . Leitch relays to Sampson questions from Karl Rove who, according to Leitch's colleague at the White House counsel's office Colin Newman, is curious "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."
January 9, 2005
Sampson responds to Lietch's email. In his rejoinder, Sampson explains the traditional methods of U.S. Attorney replacement, including the behavior of recent administrations. Sampson writes, "[W]e would like to replace 15-20 percent of the current U.S. Attorneys -- the underperforming ones.... The vast majority of the U.S. Attorneys, 80-85 percent, I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc." Sampson concludes the email saying, "f Karl thinks there would be policitical will to do it, then so do I."
February 3, 2005
Alberto Gonzales is confirmed by a Senate vote of 60-36. He will be sworn in as Attorney General on February 14th.
February 2005
White House counsel Harriet Miers writes to Kyle Sampson about whether to replace all 93 U.S. Attorneys.
March 2, 2005
Kyle Sampson, now counselor to Alberto Gonzales, sends an email to Miers ranking all U.S. Attorneys. Among the criteria is "loyalty to the President and Attorney General." U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM) appears on the list as "recommended retaining."
July 5, 2005
In a letter to Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA), Tom McCabe demands that Hastings "ask the White House to replace Mr. McKay," for not adequately pursuing the voter fraud allegations in the 2004 gubernatorial race. Hastings later confirms this but says, "I flat out refused to do so, which [Hastings' chief of staff] Ed Cassidy told him in the bluntest of terms."
Midyear 2005
New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Allan Weh complains about U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM) to a White House liaison working for Karl Rove.
September 23, 2005
Kyle Sampson becomes Gonzales' chief of staff.
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) contacts Alberto Gonzales to voice concerns about the performance of David Iglesias. Kyle Sampson and William Moschella, the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, are listed as in attendance.
October 20, 2005
Eighteen Republican lawmakers, led by Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) sign a letter criticizing Carol Lam's "lax" handling of immigration cases. Duke Cunningham, already under investigation for corruption by Lam's office, is listed as a signatory.
November 11, 2005
William Moschella, Assistant Attorney General, writes to director of the Executive Office for US Attorneys Michael Battle and others that "we support eliminating the court's role" in appointing interim U.S. attorneys, "and believe the AG should have that authority alone."
November 18, 2005
David Smith, Legislative Counsel for the Executive Office for US Attorneys, drafts a response to complaints aimed at the office of Carol Lam, the Southern District of California (SDCA). Smith writes, "At the close of Fiscal Year 2005, SDCA had 385 alien smuggling cases pending against 454 defendants, which is the highest annual number of cases that office has ever had." He continues, "despite the fact that both the SDCA and the Department of Justice as a whole have numerous criminal priorities in addition to criminal aliens, from Fiscal Year 200 through Fiscal Year 2005, well over half of all criminal cases filed by SDCA were cases filed under just three statutes, the primary criminal alien statutes."
The final letter would be sent by William Moschella, Assistant Attorney General. It is unclear whether the letter is ever sent.
December 14, 2005
The USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 comes out of conference. At some point during the conference, Brett Tolman, counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, added Section 502. The addition eliminates restrictions on the length of service for interim U.S. attorneys and allows future interim attorneys to serve indefinitely without Senate confirmation.
William Moschella, principal associate deputy attorney general, later tells McClatchy Newspapers that he pursued the change for the Justice Department "without the knowledge or coordination of his superiors at the Justice Department or anyone at the White House."
January 9, 2006
Kyle Sampson emails Harriet Miers, advising against replacing all U.S. Attorneys at once. Instead, Sampson suggests, "a limited number of U.S. Attorneys could be targeted for removal and replacement, mitigating the shock to the system that would result from an across-the-board firing." Sampson includes in the email a list of seven candidates to be considered for removal and replacement. The list includes U.S. Attorneys Margaret Chiara (MI), Bud Cummins (AR), Kevin Ryan (CA), and Carol Lam (CA). All of these Attorneys will eventually be fired.
January 31, 2006
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) again contacts the office of the Attorney General to voice concerns about the performance of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM). Kyle Sampson and William Moshella are listed as participating in the call.
March 2, 2006
The USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 is passed by the Senate.
March 9, 2006
Bush signs the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005.
March 3, 2006
Gonzales signs a secret order granting Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling broad discretionary powers to hire and fire political appointees (although this does not give them powers over the US Attorneys).
April 4, 2006
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) calls the office of the Attorney General for a third time to voice concerns about the performance of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, and to question whether Iglesias is up to the job. Kyle Sampson, William Moschella and Monica Goodling participate in the call.
April 27, 2006
Timothy Griffin, former Opposition Research Director for Karl Rove, emails Kyle Sampson. Griffin includes in his email a letter of recommendation from US Attorney Bud Cummins, writing, "Kyle, this might also be helpful. It is a letter written by the current Attorney, E.D. Arkansas, Bud Cummins, to me after my tenure there as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. Just thought you should have it. Thank you, Tim."
May 5, 2006
Porter Goss, director of the CIA, resigns unexpectedly, amidst controversy surrounding his chosen CIA Executive Director, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. (sub. req.)
The Wall Street Journal reports that Foggo is under investigation as part of the ongoing San Diego/Cunningham scandal. The office overseeing the investigation is that of U.S. Attorney Carol Lam. (sub. req.)
May 8, 2006
Foggo resigns from the CIA.
May 10, 2006
Carol Lam informs the Justice Department that she intends to serve search warrants to Foggo.
May 11, 2006
The LA Times reports that the investigation of Cunningham has expanded to include Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA), House Appropriations Committee Chairman.
Sampson emails deputy White House counsel William Kelley: "The real problem we have right now with Carol Lam that leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires."
Sampson also mentions to Miers a need to discuss "Tim Griffin for E.D. Ark."
May 12, 2006
Federal agents working on the San Diego/Cunningham investigation execute search warrants on the home and office of Kyle "Dusty" Foggo.
May 18, 2006
The Associated Press claims that the office of Carol Lam has prosecuted only 6% of 289 suspected immigrant smugglers for that crime in the previous year. The evidence comes from Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), who says it is an internal Border Patrol report from August, although AP acknowledges that it is "unclear"who wrote it.
May 19, 2006
The Chief of the US Border Patol, San Diego Sector, contacts Carol Lam. He informs her that the report held by Rep. Issa is an old internal Border Patrol document,relating only to a single substation. The document has been susbtantial altererd and passed off as an official report. Further, many of the comments to which Rep. Issa referred are "editorial comments inserted by an unidentified individual, and they were not approved by or ever seen by Border Patrol Management."
Lam passes these comment along to the Justice Department, saying "In light of previous media interest in this issue there is a possibility that the disclosure that the report is not genuine could generate substantial media interest."
Rep. Issa appears on Lou Dobbs Tonight and decries Lam's immigration record.
May 23, 2006
Ronald Tenpas, a Justice attorney in Washington, relays his conversation with Lam to several colleagues. According to Tenpas, "In her view, although the unrebutted criticism is making the Department look bad, she has been sitting quiet rather than attempting to respond publicly....She will do anything else that the DAG would wish, including continuing to stand silent despite the personal criticism to which she thinks she is being subject through these comments."
May 31, 2006
In an email Sampson asks, "Has ODAG ever called Carol Lam and woodshedded her re immigration enforcement? Has Anyone?"
June 5, 2006
Mike Battle, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, calls U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins (AR), asking him to resign. Cummins, in seeking an explanation, paraphrased Battle as saying "This is entirely about the administration's desire to give somebody else the opportunity." (sub. req.)
William Mercer writes Paul McNulty to discuss publicity around the immigration prosecution records for Souther California. Of the four options, three recommend getting rid of Lam.
June 20, 2006
Scott Jennings, deputy to Karl Rove, emails the Justice Department's liaison to the White House Monica Goodling. Jennings informs Goodling that Mickey Barnett, the President's nominee for the US Postal Board of Governors, would like to meet, "with someone at DOJ to discuss the USATTY situation there." Goodling agrees to arrange a personal meeting with Barnett because the matter is considered "sensitive".
June 21, 2006
Mickey Barnett and Pat Rogers, both prominent Republican attorneys in New Mexico, meet with Monica Goodling to vent frustrations about U.S. Attorney David Iglesias' handling of voter fraud investigations.
July 8, 2006
Bill Mercer excoriates Lam to Michael Elston. Mercer jokes that Elston will be sad because, "Carol Lam can't meet a deadline or that you'll need to interact with her in the coming weeks or that she won't just say, 'O.K. You got me. You're right, I've ignored national priorities and obvious local needs. Shoot, my production is more hideous than I realized.'"
August 1, 2006
Carol Lam meets Rep. Issa for the first time to discuss border investigations. Lam explains that her office must, "make a choice -- prosecute the coyotes who are smuggling but not endangering anyone, or the rapists and murderers who are coming back to rape and murder again."
Regarding immigration investigations, Lam explained that because her office had focused on delivering larger sentences for serious offenders, "The statistics show that we have, in fact,achieved significantly higher average sentences in our immigration cases; the cost was that our immigration trial rate more than DOUBLED (from 42 trials in 2004 to 89 trials in 2005) and we had to reduce the number of low-end coyote cases we filed."
According to Lam, "We left on very cordial terms without any request for follow-up information."
August 18, 2006
Justice Department officials Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling discuss with Scott Jennings how to bypass two Arkansas Democratic senators in the replacement of U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins.
August 23, 2006
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) receives a letter from the Justice Department regarding U.S. Attorney Carol Lam (CA). The letter notes that Lam's office has committed half of her attorneys to pursue criminal immigration cases, satisfying the interests of the Justice Department.
Late Summer 2006
U.S. Attorney McKay meets with Harriet Miers and deputy White House counsel William Kelley to interview for a federal judgeship. According to later testimony, McKay recalls that he was asked to explain "criticism that I mishandled the 2004 governor's election." McKay does not attribute the question to an individual, but does say it was not Miers who asked.
September 2006
Timothy Griffin, former aide to Karl Rove, returns from active duty. He begins working as a special assistant to Bud Cummins.
September 13, 2006
Kyle Sampson emails to Harriet Miers a second list recommending nine U.S. Attorneys to be replaced. David Iglesias is not included as an attorney to be replaced.
Regarding U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins (AR), Sampson writes that he is "in the process of being pushed out." Regarding the larger project of replacing U.S. Attorneys, Sampson writes, "I am in favor of executing on a plan to push some USAs out... I strongly recommend that as a matter of administration, we utilize the new statutory provisions that authorize the AG to make USA appointments." Sampson writes further that by avoiding Senate confirmation, "we can give far less deference to home state senators and thereby get 1.) our preferred person appointed and 2.) do it far faster and more efficiently at less political costs to the White House."
Early October 2006
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) contacts Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty sometime in the first week of October to discuss frustrations with U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM).
October 11, 2006
Bush passes to Gonzales complaints he has heard that some U.S. Attorneys are not adequately pursuing voter-fraud investigations. According to the Justice Department, Gonzales does not recall the conversation.
October 16, 2006
Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) calls David Iglesias to inquire about possible sealed indictments in the corruption investigation at least one state Democrat. U.S. Attorneys are legally prevented from discussing indictments under investigation. Iglesias is, in his own words, "evasive and non-responsive to her questions. I say, 'Well, we sometimes do seal indictments for national security cases; sometimes we have to do them for juvenile cases.' And she was not happy with that answer. And the she said, 'Well, I guess I'll have to take your word for it.' And I said -- I don't think I responded -- 'Goodbye,' and that was the substance of that conversation."
October 27, 2006
Senator Domenici calls David Iglesias at home. Senator Domenici asks to discuss widely reported corruption cases against local Democrats. Iglesias recalls, "And he said, 'Are these going to be filed before November?' And I said I didn't think so. And to which he replied, 'I'm very sorry to hear that.' And then the line went dead."
David Iglesias is added to the Justice Department's list of U.S. Attorneys to be replaced after complaints from New Mexico Republicans about his handling of voter fraud investigations.
November 3, 2006
Michael Elston contacts US Attorney Margaret Chiara to inform her that the White House will contact her following the upcoming elections to request her resignation. Chiara writes, "He could offer no explanation other than that I erroneosuyly assumed that good service guaranteed longevity because other USAs have been asked for their resignation without cause. In my case the service has [been] exemplary in a difficult district in addition to being an active contributor since appointment on 3 of the AG's subcommittees."
November 7, 2006
Election Day. Rep. Heather Wilson wins reelection by 875 votes. David Iglesias has not filed an indictment in the corruption case.
David Iglesias first appears on a list of US attorneys to be fired.
Chiara emails Paul McNulty: "As soon as the 'election dust settles,' I ask that you tell me why my resignation may be requested.... I need to know the truh to live in peace with the aftermath.
November 15, 2006
Sampson drafts a detailed "Plan for Replacing Certain United States Attorneys."
November 2006
Karl Rove learns that eight prosecutors are to be fired (or at least that's what an "associate of Rove" has told The New York Times).
November 21, 2006
Justice Department official Tasia Scolinos writes to Catherine Martin in the White House regarding a rationale for the firing. Scolinos claims, "The one common link here is that three of them are along the southern border so you could make the connection that DOJ is unhappy with the immigration prosecution numbers in those districts."
November 27, 2006
Attorney General Gonzales attends an hour-long meeting regarding the upcoming firings of US Attorneys.
December 4, 2006
Kyle Sampson emails Harriet Miers to about the firing plans. Sampson writes, "We would like to execute this on Thursday, Dec. 7." Referring to the fact that some United States attorneys are attending a conference in Washington, he writes, "We want to wait until they are back home and dispersed to reduce chatter."
December 7, 2006
Michael Battle, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, calls seven U.S. Attorneys to ask for their resignations. No attorney is given an explanation of why they have been dismissed.
Deputy White House counsel William Kelley states in an email that Steve Bell, chief of staff for Senator Domenici, is "happy as a clam" about the firing of Iglesias that morning.
December 15, 2006
Timothy Griffin is named replacement for U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins (AR). Mr. Cummins is hiking with his son and is unaware of the announcement.
Gonzales calls Sen. Pryor (R-AR) about his decision to replace Bud Cummins with Tim Griffin. Gonzales assures the senator that they will work together on the appointment but suggests that both men should give Griffin an opportunity.
December 19, 2006
Sampson recommends Gonzales exercise his newfound authority to replace U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins (AR) with Timothy Griffin, former aide to Karl Rove. Regarding the new provision in the Patriot Act reauthorization bill, Sampson writes, "f we don't ever exercise it then what's the point of having it?" He also notes that Griffin's appointment is "important to Harriet, Karl, etc."
December 20, 2006
Bud Cummins offers his belated resignation as U.S. Attorney.
December 2006
Allen Weh, New Mexico's Republican party chairman, visits the White House. Weh expresses his frustration with David Iglesias directly to Karl Rove during a holiday party. Weh recalls asking Rove, "Is anything ever going to happen to that guy?" According to Weh, Rove responds, "He's gone."
In late December Michael Elston, the chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, calls U.S. Attorney John McKay (WA). According to McKay, Elston calls to inquire whether McKay will complain publicly about his firing. McKay claims, "He was offering me a deal: you stay silent and the attorney general won't say anything bad about you." Elston acknowledges this call but denies that he expressed any such message.
January 4, 2007
Harriet Miers resigns as White House counsel. Her resignation becomes effective January 31st.
January 9, 2007
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) send a letter to Alberto Gonzales, inquiring about the nature of recent U.S. attorney dismissals. The letter states, "We also understand the intention is to have your office appoint interim replacements and potentially avoid the Senate confirmation process altogether," and asks for clarification of this concern.
January 10, 2007
David Iglesias writes Kyle Sampson, asking if he can use the Attorney General as a job reference. Sampson responds, "You can list the [Attorney General] as a reference- not a problem. Good luck."
January 11, 2007
Senators Feinstein, Leahy and Mark Pryor (D-AR) introduce legislation to prevent the Attorney General's office from appointing U.S. Attorneys without seeking confirmation by the Senate. This marks the first public notice of concern with the recent change to the law governing the appointment of U.S. attorneys. The Senators write in a press release, "It has come to our attention that the Bush Administration is pushing out U.S. Attorneys from across the country under the cloak of secrecy and then appointing indefinite replacements without Senate confirmation."
January 18, 2007
Alberto Gonzales testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In response to questioning by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Gonzales does not deny that his office has asked U.S. Attorneys to resign in the last year. He testifies: "But that happens in every administration, during different periods for different reasons... Some people should view that as a sign of good management."
He also testifies: "I would never, ever make a change in a United States attorney for political reasons or if it would in any way jeopardize an ongoing serious investigation. I just would not do it."
And: "I am fully committed, as the administration's fully committed, to ensure that, with respect to every United States attorney position in this country, we will have a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed United States attorney."
Early February 2007
Michael Battle, the Justice Department official who made the calls to actually fire the prosecutors, submits his resignation.
February 6, 2007
The Senate Judiciary Committee meets with the Justice Department about the recent firings. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty informs the Senate that, with the exception of Eastern Arkansas' Bud Cummins, the firings were because of "performance-related" issues.
February 8, 2007
U.S. Attorney for Nevada Daniel Bogden tells The Las Vegas Review-Journal that "To this date, no one from the department has previously identified any issues with my performance or the performance of my office."
February 9, 2007
U.S. Attorney for Seattle John McKay tells The Washington Post that his office received glowing reviews and that the Justice Department's statement that he was dismissed for "performance related" reasons is "unfair."
February 13, 2007
McClatchy Newspapers reports that at least five of the fired prosecutors "received positive job evaluations before they were ordered to step down."
February 16, 2007
Timothy Griffin announces that he won't seek Senate confirmation. He explained, "to submit my name to the Senate would be like volunteering to stand in front of a firing squad in the middle of a three-ring circus."
February 19, 2007
The Washington Post reports that six of the fired prosecutors had positive job evaluations. Former U.S. Attorney for Eastern Arkansas Bud Cummins is quoted in the story as saying "if [officials in the Justice Department] are trying to suggest that people have inferior performance to hide whatever their true agenda is, that is wrong. They should retract those statements."
February 20, 2007
Michael Elston contacts U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins (AR). Cummins describes the conversation in an email to the other fired U.S. attorneys about an hour after the call: The essence of his message was that they feel like they are taking unnecessary flak to avoid trashing each of us specificially or further, but if they feel like any of us intend to continue to offer quotes to the press, or organize behind the scenes congressional pressure, then they would feel forced to somehow pull their gloves off and offer public criticisms to defend their actions more fully.
February 22, 2007
The Justice Department is preparing a response to an inquiry made by the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the firing of US Attorneys. Sampson writes in an email, "because this letter mentions Rove and alludes to Harriet, I'd like to send it to WHCO today for their review."
February 23, 2007
Richard Hertling, Acting Assistant Attorney General, sends a letter to Senator Schumer. Hertling writes, "The Department of Justice is not aware of anyone lobbying for Mr. [Timothy] Griffin's appointment." Hertling writes further, "The Department is not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the decision to appoint Mr. Griffin."
March 1, 2007
McClatchy Newspapers reports that two members of Congress made calls to U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM) in October, pressuring him to accelerate corruption investigations into local Democrats.
Senator Domenici, when asked to respond to recent statements made by David Iglesias regarding pressure from unamed members of Congress, responds "I have no idea what he's talking about."
March 4, 2007
Senator Domenici releases a statement saying he regrets calling Mr. Iglesias.
March 5, 2007
Representative Heather Wilson acknowledges calling Iglesias. She denies that she pressured him to speed up any investigation.
Michael Battle, the Justice Department official who made the calls to fire the U.S. Attorneys, is reported to have issued his resignation. His resignation becomes effective March 16th.
March 6, 2007
The New York Times reports that the former federal prosecutor in Maryland, Thomas M. DiBiagio, says that he was forced out in early 2005 because of political pressure stemming from public corruption investigations involving associates of the state's Republican governor.
Representative Doc Hastings releases a statement saying, ""Neither I nor any member of my staff - past or present - ever contacted anyone at the White House or the Department of Justice about whether John McKay should be removed as U.S. attorney or whether he was qualified to be a federal judge."
U.S. Attorneys Daniel Bodgen (NV), Paul Charlton (AZ), Bud Cummins (AR), David Iglesias (NM), Carol Lam (CA), John McKay (WA), and Justice Department official William Moschella testify before Congress. All the fired prosecutors testify that they were never told they were being asked to step down because they performed poorly. Moschella admits that none of the prosecutors were told or warned about the supposed deficiencies in their performances before they were asked to step down.
Iglesias testifies that Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) called to question him about his office's corruption investigation of a prominent state Democrat shortly before the 2006 election.
McKay testifies that Rep. Doc Hastings' (R-WA) chief of staff called him after the 2004 election to ask whether his office was investigating allegations of Democratic voter fraud.
Cummins testifes that DoJ official Michael Elston called him on February 20th to say that if the fired prosecutors continued speaking out, the DoJ would have to release negative information about them.
Charlton and Bogden both testify that they were told by DoJ official Bill Mercer that they were being fired to make room for another Republican to build his/her resume.
March 7, 2007
Alberto Gonzales writes in an editorial in USA Today that the scandal over the firings is an "overblown personnel matter." Of the prosecutors, he writes, "they simply lost my confidence."
Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty met privately in front of members of the House and Senate judiciary committees. McNulty claims that he had limited knowledge of the firing process.
Senator Domenici confirms Iglesias' testimony that the two spoke in late October regarding ongoing investigations.
March 8, 2007
In a closed door meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Alberto Gonzales tells senators that the Bush administration would not oppose legislation requiring Senate confirmation for all U.S. Attorneys.
March 11, 2007
The White House acknowledges that Karl Rove passed complaints to the Justice Department regarding U.S. Attorneys.
March 12, 2007
Sampson, chief of staff for Gonzales, resigns his position, effective immediately. Justice Department officials claim that Sampson did not inform others at the department of the extent of his correspondence with the White House.
March 13, 2007
The Justice Department releases emails that show DoJ officials consulting with the White House counsel's office about removing certain U.S. Attorneys dating back to early 2005.
Gonzales defends the role of the Justice Department in a press conference. Concerning his personal performance, Gonzales says, "I acknowledge that mistakes were made here. I accept that responsibility and my pledge to the American people is to find out what went wrong here." When asked about specific actions that led to the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, Gonzales responds, "n an organization of 110,000 people, I am not aware of every bit of information that passes through the halls of the Department of Justice, nor am I aware of all decisions....I was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on."
The Justice Department will later reconcile this speech with evidence that Attorney General Gonzales attended a meeting on November 18, 2006 regarding the upcoming firing of US Attorneys by saying, "This meeting concerned the roll-out of the U.S. attorney plan. The information available to us does not indicate that there was discussion at this meeting about which U.S. attorneys should or should not be on the list."
March 14, 2007
President Bush comments publicly on the U.S. Attorney scandal for the first time at a press conference in Mexico. He maintains that he has confidence in Alberto Gonzales but says of the entire situation, "I'm, frankly, not happy about it... Al was right, mistakes were made, and he's going to go up to Capitol Hill to correct them."
Bush also acknowledges tepidly that he had in fact spoken to Gonzales in the past about U.S. Attorneys: "And I did receive complaints about U.S. attorneys. I specifically remember one time I went up to the Senate and senators were talking about the U.S. attorneys. I don't remember specific names being mentioned, but I did say to Al last year -- you're right, last fall -- I said, have you heard complaints about AGs, I have -- I mean, U.S. attorneys, excuse me -- and he said, I have. But I never brought up a specific case nor gave him specific instructions."
Senator John Sununu (R-NH) becomes the first Republican Senator to call for the resignation of Gonzales.
March 15, 2007
Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) becomes the second Republican Congressman to call for the resignation of Gonzales.
Congressman Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA) echoes calls for Gonzales' resignation.
ABC reports on previously unpublished emails that indicate that the idea of firing some or all U.S. attorneys was raised by Karl Rove in early January 2005.
March 16, 2007
A fourth Republican congressman, Representative Paul Gillmor (R-OH) calls for Gonzales' resignation.
Bradford Berenson, the lawyer of Kyle Sampson, releases a public statement on behalf of his client. Contradicting statements made by Gonzales as to the nature of Sampson's resignation, Berenson claims, "Kyle did not resign because he had misled anyone at the Justice Department or withheld information concerning the replacement of U.S. Attorneys," but rather because he had failed to "organize a more effective political response."
Concerning the unawareness of key Justice Department officials of the extent of communications with the White House, Berenson says, "If this background was not called to Mr. McNulty or Mr. Moschella's attention, it was not because any of these individuals deliberately withheld it from them but rather because no one focused on it or deemed it important at the time."
March 19, 2007
In a press conference, Tony Snow claims there is nothing extraordinary about Sampson discussing the need to remove Carol Lam the day after she informed the Justice Department of her decision she announced intentions to execute search warrants against a key CIA official. Snow explains that emails expressing concern with Lam's immigration policies extend back to January of 2005.
The Justice Department releases three-thousand pages of emails surrounding the discusion and subsequent firing of US Attorneys.
March 20, 2007
Fred Fielding, council to the White House, appears in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Fielding presents the Committee with a compromise from the White House. Current and former White House staff members Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, William Kelley and Scott Jennings will testify provided that:
1) the testimonies are executed in a closed-door session,
2) no transcript is kept of the meeting, and
3) the staff members are not under oath.
Senator Patrick Leahy responds, "I don't accept his offer. It is not constructive and it is not helpful to be telling the Senate how to do our investigation, or to prejudge its outcome.... Instead of freely and fully providing relevant documents to the investigating committees, they have only selectively sent documents, after erasing large portions that they do not want to see the light of day. Testimony should be on the record, and under oath."
President Bush holds a press conference to discuss the current scandal. In the conference, Bush:
reaffirms his support for Gonzales, while agreeing that Gonzales will return to the Congress committees to clarify recent information,
confirms the compromise presented by Fielding, and
announces his intention to challenge Congress' right to subpoena non-Cabinet members of his staff.
March 21, 2007
David Iglesias writes an editorial for The New York Times entitled, "Why I Was Fired"
March 22, 2007
The House Judiciary Committee authorizes subpoenas for the White House aides despite Bush's objection.
March 24, 2007
The Justice Department announces that Monica Goodling will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from her position as White House liaison.
President Bush reaffirms his support for Attorney General Gonzales
March 26, 2007
Monica Goodling announces that she will plead the 5th Amendment in response to questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Her lawyer expresses the rationale that, "certain members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have already reached conclusions about the matter under investigation and the veracity of the testimony provided by the Department of Justice to date."
March 28, 2007
Acting Assistant Attorney General Hertling sends a letter to Congress admitting that assertions in his February 23rd letter to Senators, "are contradicted by Department documents included in our production in connectino with the Committees' review of the resignations of US Attorneys."
An email from Kyle Sampson shows him suggesting that the passage, "I am not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the Attorney General's decision to appoint Griffin" be added to Hertling's letter. This is in contrast to Sampson's email claiming that the appointment of Tim Griffin was, "important to Harriet, Karl, etc."
March 29, 2007
Kyle Sampson testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kyle presents a written statement to the committee and then fields questions surrounding his role in the firings. His responses are organized below by topic.
Sampson Contradicts Gonzales
Sen. Schumer (D-NY) asks Sampson about statements made by the Attorney General on March 13, 2007. Sampson responds, "I don't think its entirely accurate." He also claims that he shared information with McNulty and Moschella, contrary to claims made by the Attorney General that information was held from them.
Revisions to the Patriot Act
Sampson says that advocating the revised Patriot Act to avoid Senate confirmation, "was a bad idea by staff that was not adopted by the principals. I did advocate that at different times." Sampson specifically acknowledges an intention to act in bad faith to avoid the Senate in the case of the Eastern District of Arkansas. He says that using the Patriot Act was discussed at the White House, but claims he did not discuss it with Harriet Miers. Although discussing the topic with Gonzales, Sampson is not sure that the Attorney General rejected the idea of appointing attorneys through the Patriot Act until late December or early January.
Carol Lam
When asked by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) about the suspicious timing of his March 11, 2006 email discussing Carol Lam, Sampson claims, "There was never any connection in my mind between asking Carol Lam to resign and the public corruption case her office was working on....The real problem at that time was her office's prosecution of immigration cases."
Senator Feinstein (D-CA) enters into testimony a letter from the Director of Field of Field Operations for the US Customs and Border Protection Agency. The letter commends Carol Lam on her prosecution of border cases.
Senator Feinstein asks Sampson about his response to public statements made by the FBI bureau chief of San Diego, who worried about the impact that firing Lam would have on current prosecutions. Sampson responds that he called FBI headquarters to complain about the statements.
Sampson acknowledges that no one in the Justice Department informed Carol Lam about problems with her immigration investigations, despite the fact that she was allegedly fired over these complaints.
Considering Corruption Cases
Sampson tells Sen. Cardin (D-MD) that there was no discussion by senior officials on the impact of the firings on impending investigations, particularly in California and New Mexico.
Sampson admits he once suggested to Harriet Miers and William Kelley the idea of adding Patrick Fitzgerald to the list of attorneys to be fired. Sampson claims that immediately afterwards, "I knew that it was inappropriate." When asked why he suggested firing the attorney overseeing in an investigation that included White House staff, Sampson says, "I'm not sure. I think it was maybe to get a reaction from them."
Sampson acknowledges to Sen. Cardin (D-MD) that he was aware of the prominent investigations being pursued in California and New Mexico. Nevertheless, he claims, "At the time, in my mind, I did not associate the asking of a US Attorney to resign and the idea that it would be done to improperly influence a case."
Karl Rove
Sampson is asked to reconcile two previous statements. Regarding his December 19, 2006 statement that appointing Tim Griffin was important to Karl Rove, Sampson says: "That email was based on an assumption. I knew that Sara Taylor and Scott Jennings [Rove staffmembers] had expressed interest in promoting Tim Griffin."
When asked why he then made no mention of Karl Rove in a February 23, 2007 letter released by the Justice Department Sampson explains, "I did not remember then ever having talked to Mr. Rove about it. I'm not sure if Mr. Rove was supportive of it."
Senator Leahy asks what Sampson knew about complaints regarding voter fraud investigations by US Attorney David Iglesias. Sampson does not recall hearing any complaints. However, Sampson says, "I do remember learning from the Attorney General that he had received a complaint from Karl Rove."
Sampson Defines Loyalty and "Loyal Bushies"
Sampson explains, "In my emails, by referring to loyal Bushies or loyalty to the President or the Attorney General, I meant loyalty to their policies and the priorities they had laid out for US Attorneys."
March 30, 2007
Michael Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, meets privately with congressional investigators from both chambers. He claims that he called three fired US Attorneys at the direction of McNulty.
April 7, 2007
Monica Goodling resigns from the Justice Department.
April 19, 2007
Gonzales testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although accepting responsibility for the firing of the eight attorneys, Gonzales disavows knowledge of the specific process by which the eight attorneys were fired. According to the Senate, Gonzales says, I dont recall sixty-four times.
Gonzales maintains that he never intended to use the changed Patriot Act to circumvent the Senates authority. However, he is unable to explain why, in the case of Bud Cummins, his chief of staff Kyle Sampson planned to avoid Senator Pryors input at the same time that the Attorney General assured Pryor that he would be consulted.
Gonzales claims he regrets saying that the eight US Attorneys lost his confidence after acknowledging that he never investigated why the particular attorneys were fired before making the statement.
Gonzales expected Carol Lam to know the complaints Main Justice had with her performance, despite the fact that she was never contacted by the Department.
Gonzales acknowledges that the Justice Department should be sensitive to the timing of investigations that might hamper voter turnout.
Gonzales stands by his decision to fire the attorneys as the right thing to do.
Senator Coburn (R-OK) calls on Gonzales to resign.
Senator Graham (R-SC) calls on Gonzales to resign.
Senator Sessions (R-AL) calls on Gonzales to resign.
April 20, 2007
Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) calls on Gonzales to resign.
April 23, 2007
President Bush announces that his confidence in Attorney General has increased after Gonzales Senate hearing.
April 25, 2007
After meeting with the Attorney General, Sen. Pryor (D-AR) reaffirms his position that Gonzales should resign.
The Senate Judiciary Committee authorizes a subpoena for Sara Taylor, a former aide of Karl Rove.
May 3, 2007
Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey testifies in front of the House Judiciary Committee after an email with Bud Cummins saying, I will not sit by and watch good people smeared. In his testimony, Comey contrasts his experiences with the fired attorneys with statements from the Justice Department. He also enumerates
The White House appoints all eight U.S. Attorneys. The dates individuals are sworn in are as follows:
10/18/01: David Iglesias (New Mexico)
10/24/01: John McKay (Western Washington)
11/02/01: Margaret Chiara (Western Michigan)
11/02/01: Daniel Bogden (Nevada)
11/14/01: Paul Charlton (Arizona)
01/09/02: H.E. "Bud" Cummins III (Eastern Arkansas)
08/02/02: Kevin Ryan (Northern California)
11/08/02: Carol Lam (Southern California)
Late November 2004
Ed Cassidy, chief of staff for Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA), contacts U.S. Attorney John McKay (WA) following the 2004 gubernatorial election. Cassidy inquires whether McKay will pursue investigations of voter fraud. In later testimony (3/7/07), McKay recalls, "I stopped him and I told him that I was sure that he wasn't asking me on behalf of his boss to reveal information about an ongoing investigation or to lobby me on one, because we both knew that would be improper. He agreed that it would be improper and ended the conversation in a most expeditious fashion."
April 24, 2005
Justice Department official Kyle Sampson refers to David Iglesias as a, "diverse up-and-comer; solid."
Late 2004 or Early 2005
Chris Vance, Republican Party Chairman of Washington, contacts McKay to voice complaints while the outcome of the 2004 Washington gubernatorial election is still in dispute. Vance claims to have felt impelled to call McKay as a fellow Republican, and recalls the policital atmosphere that spurred his call: "Republican activists were furious because they felt that you had a Republican secretary of state, a Republican county prosecutor in Norm Maleng and a Republican U.S. attorney, but still they saw the governorship slipping away, and they were just angry." Vance also speaks regularly with Karl Rove about the election, though the timing of these conversations is unclear.
Sometime following the 2004 gubernatorial election, prominent Washington businessman Tom McCabe, disappointed with McKay's handling of voter fraud allegations, repeatedly contacts the White House to request McKay's firing.
Late December 2004
Alberto Gonzales, then White House counsel, discusses the idea of replacing all or some of the sitting U.S. attorneys with Justice Department official Kyle Sampson.
January 6, 2005
White House Deputy counsel David Leitch emails Kyle Sampson, then at the Justice Department . Leitch relays to Sampson questions from Karl Rove who, according to Leitch's colleague at the White House counsel's office Colin Newman, is curious "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."
January 9, 2005
Sampson responds to Lietch's email. In his rejoinder, Sampson explains the traditional methods of U.S. Attorney replacement, including the behavior of recent administrations. Sampson writes, "[W]e would like to replace 15-20 percent of the current U.S. Attorneys -- the underperforming ones.... The vast majority of the U.S. Attorneys, 80-85 percent, I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc." Sampson concludes the email saying, "f Karl thinks there would be policitical will to do it, then so do I."
February 3, 2005
Alberto Gonzales is confirmed by a Senate vote of 60-36. He will be sworn in as Attorney General on February 14th.
February 2005
White House counsel Harriet Miers writes to Kyle Sampson about whether to replace all 93 U.S. Attorneys.
March 2, 2005
Kyle Sampson, now counselor to Alberto Gonzales, sends an email to Miers ranking all U.S. Attorneys. Among the criteria is "loyalty to the President and Attorney General." U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM) appears on the list as "recommended retaining."
July 5, 2005
In a letter to Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA), Tom McCabe demands that Hastings "ask the White House to replace Mr. McKay," for not adequately pursuing the voter fraud allegations in the 2004 gubernatorial race. Hastings later confirms this but says, "I flat out refused to do so, which [Hastings' chief of staff] Ed Cassidy told him in the bluntest of terms."
Midyear 2005
New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Allan Weh complains about U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM) to a White House liaison working for Karl Rove.
September 23, 2005
Kyle Sampson becomes Gonzales' chief of staff.
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) contacts Alberto Gonzales to voice concerns about the performance of David Iglesias. Kyle Sampson and William Moschella, the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, are listed as in attendance.
October 20, 2005
Eighteen Republican lawmakers, led by Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) sign a letter criticizing Carol Lam's "lax" handling of immigration cases. Duke Cunningham, already under investigation for corruption by Lam's office, is listed as a signatory.
November 11, 2005
William Moschella, Assistant Attorney General, writes to director of the Executive Office for US Attorneys Michael Battle and others that "we support eliminating the court's role" in appointing interim U.S. attorneys, "and believe the AG should have that authority alone."
November 18, 2005
David Smith, Legislative Counsel for the Executive Office for US Attorneys, drafts a response to complaints aimed at the office of Carol Lam, the Southern District of California (SDCA). Smith writes, "At the close of Fiscal Year 2005, SDCA had 385 alien smuggling cases pending against 454 defendants, which is the highest annual number of cases that office has ever had." He continues, "despite the fact that both the SDCA and the Department of Justice as a whole have numerous criminal priorities in addition to criminal aliens, from Fiscal Year 200 through Fiscal Year 2005, well over half of all criminal cases filed by SDCA were cases filed under just three statutes, the primary criminal alien statutes."
The final letter would be sent by William Moschella, Assistant Attorney General. It is unclear whether the letter is ever sent.
December 14, 2005
The USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 comes out of conference. At some point during the conference, Brett Tolman, counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, added Section 502. The addition eliminates restrictions on the length of service for interim U.S. attorneys and allows future interim attorneys to serve indefinitely without Senate confirmation.
William Moschella, principal associate deputy attorney general, later tells McClatchy Newspapers that he pursued the change for the Justice Department "without the knowledge or coordination of his superiors at the Justice Department or anyone at the White House."
January 9, 2006
Kyle Sampson emails Harriet Miers, advising against replacing all U.S. Attorneys at once. Instead, Sampson suggests, "a limited number of U.S. Attorneys could be targeted for removal and replacement, mitigating the shock to the system that would result from an across-the-board firing." Sampson includes in the email a list of seven candidates to be considered for removal and replacement. The list includes U.S. Attorneys Margaret Chiara (MI), Bud Cummins (AR), Kevin Ryan (CA), and Carol Lam (CA). All of these Attorneys will eventually be fired.
January 31, 2006
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) again contacts the office of the Attorney General to voice concerns about the performance of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM). Kyle Sampson and William Moshella are listed as participating in the call.
March 2, 2006
The USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 is passed by the Senate.
March 9, 2006
Bush signs the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005.
March 3, 2006
Gonzales signs a secret order granting Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling broad discretionary powers to hire and fire political appointees (although this does not give them powers over the US Attorneys).
April 4, 2006
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) calls the office of the Attorney General for a third time to voice concerns about the performance of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, and to question whether Iglesias is up to the job. Kyle Sampson, William Moschella and Monica Goodling participate in the call.
April 27, 2006
Timothy Griffin, former Opposition Research Director for Karl Rove, emails Kyle Sampson. Griffin includes in his email a letter of recommendation from US Attorney Bud Cummins, writing, "Kyle, this might also be helpful. It is a letter written by the current Attorney, E.D. Arkansas, Bud Cummins, to me after my tenure there as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. Just thought you should have it. Thank you, Tim."
May 5, 2006
Porter Goss, director of the CIA, resigns unexpectedly, amidst controversy surrounding his chosen CIA Executive Director, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. (sub. req.)
The Wall Street Journal reports that Foggo is under investigation as part of the ongoing San Diego/Cunningham scandal. The office overseeing the investigation is that of U.S. Attorney Carol Lam. (sub. req.)
May 8, 2006
Foggo resigns from the CIA.
May 10, 2006
Carol Lam informs the Justice Department that she intends to serve search warrants to Foggo.
May 11, 2006
The LA Times reports that the investigation of Cunningham has expanded to include Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA), House Appropriations Committee Chairman.
Sampson emails deputy White House counsel William Kelley: "The real problem we have right now with Carol Lam that leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires."
Sampson also mentions to Miers a need to discuss "Tim Griffin for E.D. Ark."
May 12, 2006
Federal agents working on the San Diego/Cunningham investigation execute search warrants on the home and office of Kyle "Dusty" Foggo.
May 18, 2006
The Associated Press claims that the office of Carol Lam has prosecuted only 6% of 289 suspected immigrant smugglers for that crime in the previous year. The evidence comes from Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), who says it is an internal Border Patrol report from August, although AP acknowledges that it is "unclear"who wrote it.
May 19, 2006
The Chief of the US Border Patol, San Diego Sector, contacts Carol Lam. He informs her that the report held by Rep. Issa is an old internal Border Patrol document,relating only to a single substation. The document has been susbtantial altererd and passed off as an official report. Further, many of the comments to which Rep. Issa referred are "editorial comments inserted by an unidentified individual, and they were not approved by or ever seen by Border Patrol Management."
Lam passes these comment along to the Justice Department, saying "In light of previous media interest in this issue there is a possibility that the disclosure that the report is not genuine could generate substantial media interest."
Rep. Issa appears on Lou Dobbs Tonight and decries Lam's immigration record.
May 23, 2006
Ronald Tenpas, a Justice attorney in Washington, relays his conversation with Lam to several colleagues. According to Tenpas, "In her view, although the unrebutted criticism is making the Department look bad, she has been sitting quiet rather than attempting to respond publicly....She will do anything else that the DAG would wish, including continuing to stand silent despite the personal criticism to which she thinks she is being subject through these comments."
May 31, 2006
In an email Sampson asks, "Has ODAG ever called Carol Lam and woodshedded her re immigration enforcement? Has Anyone?"
June 5, 2006
Mike Battle, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, calls U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins (AR), asking him to resign. Cummins, in seeking an explanation, paraphrased Battle as saying "This is entirely about the administration's desire to give somebody else the opportunity." (sub. req.)
William Mercer writes Paul McNulty to discuss publicity around the immigration prosecution records for Souther California. Of the four options, three recommend getting rid of Lam.
June 20, 2006
Scott Jennings, deputy to Karl Rove, emails the Justice Department's liaison to the White House Monica Goodling. Jennings informs Goodling that Mickey Barnett, the President's nominee for the US Postal Board of Governors, would like to meet, "with someone at DOJ to discuss the USATTY situation there." Goodling agrees to arrange a personal meeting with Barnett because the matter is considered "sensitive".
June 21, 2006
Mickey Barnett and Pat Rogers, both prominent Republican attorneys in New Mexico, meet with Monica Goodling to vent frustrations about U.S. Attorney David Iglesias' handling of voter fraud investigations.
July 8, 2006
Bill Mercer excoriates Lam to Michael Elston. Mercer jokes that Elston will be sad because, "Carol Lam can't meet a deadline or that you'll need to interact with her in the coming weeks or that she won't just say, 'O.K. You got me. You're right, I've ignored national priorities and obvious local needs. Shoot, my production is more hideous than I realized.'"
August 1, 2006
Carol Lam meets Rep. Issa for the first time to discuss border investigations. Lam explains that her office must, "make a choice -- prosecute the coyotes who are smuggling but not endangering anyone, or the rapists and murderers who are coming back to rape and murder again."
Regarding immigration investigations, Lam explained that because her office had focused on delivering larger sentences for serious offenders, "The statistics show that we have, in fact,achieved significantly higher average sentences in our immigration cases; the cost was that our immigration trial rate more than DOUBLED (from 42 trials in 2004 to 89 trials in 2005) and we had to reduce the number of low-end coyote cases we filed."
According to Lam, "We left on very cordial terms without any request for follow-up information."
August 18, 2006
Justice Department officials Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling discuss with Scott Jennings how to bypass two Arkansas Democratic senators in the replacement of U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins.
August 23, 2006
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) receives a letter from the Justice Department regarding U.S. Attorney Carol Lam (CA). The letter notes that Lam's office has committed half of her attorneys to pursue criminal immigration cases, satisfying the interests of the Justice Department.
Late Summer 2006
U.S. Attorney McKay meets with Harriet Miers and deputy White House counsel William Kelley to interview for a federal judgeship. According to later testimony, McKay recalls that he was asked to explain "criticism that I mishandled the 2004 governor's election." McKay does not attribute the question to an individual, but does say it was not Miers who asked.
September 2006
Timothy Griffin, former aide to Karl Rove, returns from active duty. He begins working as a special assistant to Bud Cummins.
September 13, 2006
Kyle Sampson emails to Harriet Miers a second list recommending nine U.S. Attorneys to be replaced. David Iglesias is not included as an attorney to be replaced.
Regarding U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins (AR), Sampson writes that he is "in the process of being pushed out." Regarding the larger project of replacing U.S. Attorneys, Sampson writes, "I am in favor of executing on a plan to push some USAs out... I strongly recommend that as a matter of administration, we utilize the new statutory provisions that authorize the AG to make USA appointments." Sampson writes further that by avoiding Senate confirmation, "we can give far less deference to home state senators and thereby get 1.) our preferred person appointed and 2.) do it far faster and more efficiently at less political costs to the White House."
Early October 2006
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) contacts Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty sometime in the first week of October to discuss frustrations with U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM).
October 11, 2006
Bush passes to Gonzales complaints he has heard that some U.S. Attorneys are not adequately pursuing voter-fraud investigations. According to the Justice Department, Gonzales does not recall the conversation.
October 16, 2006
Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) calls David Iglesias to inquire about possible sealed indictments in the corruption investigation at least one state Democrat. U.S. Attorneys are legally prevented from discussing indictments under investigation. Iglesias is, in his own words, "evasive and non-responsive to her questions. I say, 'Well, we sometimes do seal indictments for national security cases; sometimes we have to do them for juvenile cases.' And she was not happy with that answer. And the she said, 'Well, I guess I'll have to take your word for it.' And I said -- I don't think I responded -- 'Goodbye,' and that was the substance of that conversation."
October 27, 2006
Senator Domenici calls David Iglesias at home. Senator Domenici asks to discuss widely reported corruption cases against local Democrats. Iglesias recalls, "And he said, 'Are these going to be filed before November?' And I said I didn't think so. And to which he replied, 'I'm very sorry to hear that.' And then the line went dead."
David Iglesias is added to the Justice Department's list of U.S. Attorneys to be replaced after complaints from New Mexico Republicans about his handling of voter fraud investigations.
November 3, 2006
Michael Elston contacts US Attorney Margaret Chiara to inform her that the White House will contact her following the upcoming elections to request her resignation. Chiara writes, "He could offer no explanation other than that I erroneosuyly assumed that good service guaranteed longevity because other USAs have been asked for their resignation without cause. In my case the service has [been] exemplary in a difficult district in addition to being an active contributor since appointment on 3 of the AG's subcommittees."
November 7, 2006
Election Day. Rep. Heather Wilson wins reelection by 875 votes. David Iglesias has not filed an indictment in the corruption case.
David Iglesias first appears on a list of US attorneys to be fired.
Chiara emails Paul McNulty: "As soon as the 'election dust settles,' I ask that you tell me why my resignation may be requested.... I need to know the truh to live in peace with the aftermath.
November 15, 2006
Sampson drafts a detailed "Plan for Replacing Certain United States Attorneys."
November 2006
Karl Rove learns that eight prosecutors are to be fired (or at least that's what an "associate of Rove" has told The New York Times).
November 21, 2006
Justice Department official Tasia Scolinos writes to Catherine Martin in the White House regarding a rationale for the firing. Scolinos claims, "The one common link here is that three of them are along the southern border so you could make the connection that DOJ is unhappy with the immigration prosecution numbers in those districts."
November 27, 2006
Attorney General Gonzales attends an hour-long meeting regarding the upcoming firings of US Attorneys.
December 4, 2006
Kyle Sampson emails Harriet Miers to about the firing plans. Sampson writes, "We would like to execute this on Thursday, Dec. 7." Referring to the fact that some United States attorneys are attending a conference in Washington, he writes, "We want to wait until they are back home and dispersed to reduce chatter."
December 7, 2006
Michael Battle, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, calls seven U.S. Attorneys to ask for their resignations. No attorney is given an explanation of why they have been dismissed.
Deputy White House counsel William Kelley states in an email that Steve Bell, chief of staff for Senator Domenici, is "happy as a clam" about the firing of Iglesias that morning.
December 15, 2006
Timothy Griffin is named replacement for U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins (AR). Mr. Cummins is hiking with his son and is unaware of the announcement.
Gonzales calls Sen. Pryor (R-AR) about his decision to replace Bud Cummins with Tim Griffin. Gonzales assures the senator that they will work together on the appointment but suggests that both men should give Griffin an opportunity.
December 19, 2006
Sampson recommends Gonzales exercise his newfound authority to replace U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins (AR) with Timothy Griffin, former aide to Karl Rove. Regarding the new provision in the Patriot Act reauthorization bill, Sampson writes, "f we don't ever exercise it then what's the point of having it?" He also notes that Griffin's appointment is "important to Harriet, Karl, etc."
December 20, 2006
Bud Cummins offers his belated resignation as U.S. Attorney.
December 2006
Allen Weh, New Mexico's Republican party chairman, visits the White House. Weh expresses his frustration with David Iglesias directly to Karl Rove during a holiday party. Weh recalls asking Rove, "Is anything ever going to happen to that guy?" According to Weh, Rove responds, "He's gone."
In late December Michael Elston, the chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, calls U.S. Attorney John McKay (WA). According to McKay, Elston calls to inquire whether McKay will complain publicly about his firing. McKay claims, "He was offering me a deal: you stay silent and the attorney general won't say anything bad about you." Elston acknowledges this call but denies that he expressed any such message.
January 4, 2007
Harriet Miers resigns as White House counsel. Her resignation becomes effective January 31st.
January 9, 2007
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) send a letter to Alberto Gonzales, inquiring about the nature of recent U.S. attorney dismissals. The letter states, "We also understand the intention is to have your office appoint interim replacements and potentially avoid the Senate confirmation process altogether," and asks for clarification of this concern.
January 10, 2007
David Iglesias writes Kyle Sampson, asking if he can use the Attorney General as a job reference. Sampson responds, "You can list the [Attorney General] as a reference- not a problem. Good luck."
January 11, 2007
Senators Feinstein, Leahy and Mark Pryor (D-AR) introduce legislation to prevent the Attorney General's office from appointing U.S. Attorneys without seeking confirmation by the Senate. This marks the first public notice of concern with the recent change to the law governing the appointment of U.S. attorneys. The Senators write in a press release, "It has come to our attention that the Bush Administration is pushing out U.S. Attorneys from across the country under the cloak of secrecy and then appointing indefinite replacements without Senate confirmation."
January 18, 2007
Alberto Gonzales testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In response to questioning by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Gonzales does not deny that his office has asked U.S. Attorneys to resign in the last year. He testifies: "But that happens in every administration, during different periods for different reasons... Some people should view that as a sign of good management."
He also testifies: "I would never, ever make a change in a United States attorney for political reasons or if it would in any way jeopardize an ongoing serious investigation. I just would not do it."
And: "I am fully committed, as the administration's fully committed, to ensure that, with respect to every United States attorney position in this country, we will have a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed United States attorney."
Early February 2007
Michael Battle, the Justice Department official who made the calls to actually fire the prosecutors, submits his resignation.
February 6, 2007
The Senate Judiciary Committee meets with the Justice Department about the recent firings. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty informs the Senate that, with the exception of Eastern Arkansas' Bud Cummins, the firings were because of "performance-related" issues.
February 8, 2007
U.S. Attorney for Nevada Daniel Bogden tells The Las Vegas Review-Journal that "To this date, no one from the department has previously identified any issues with my performance or the performance of my office."
February 9, 2007
U.S. Attorney for Seattle John McKay tells The Washington Post that his office received glowing reviews and that the Justice Department's statement that he was dismissed for "performance related" reasons is "unfair."
February 13, 2007
McClatchy Newspapers reports that at least five of the fired prosecutors "received positive job evaluations before they were ordered to step down."
February 16, 2007
Timothy Griffin announces that he won't seek Senate confirmation. He explained, "to submit my name to the Senate would be like volunteering to stand in front of a firing squad in the middle of a three-ring circus."
February 19, 2007
The Washington Post reports that six of the fired prosecutors had positive job evaluations. Former U.S. Attorney for Eastern Arkansas Bud Cummins is quoted in the story as saying "if [officials in the Justice Department] are trying to suggest that people have inferior performance to hide whatever their true agenda is, that is wrong. They should retract those statements."
February 20, 2007
Michael Elston contacts U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins (AR). Cummins describes the conversation in an email to the other fired U.S. attorneys about an hour after the call: The essence of his message was that they feel like they are taking unnecessary flak to avoid trashing each of us specificially or further, but if they feel like any of us intend to continue to offer quotes to the press, or organize behind the scenes congressional pressure, then they would feel forced to somehow pull their gloves off and offer public criticisms to defend their actions more fully.
February 22, 2007
The Justice Department is preparing a response to an inquiry made by the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the firing of US Attorneys. Sampson writes in an email, "because this letter mentions Rove and alludes to Harriet, I'd like to send it to WHCO today for their review."
February 23, 2007
Richard Hertling, Acting Assistant Attorney General, sends a letter to Senator Schumer. Hertling writes, "The Department of Justice is not aware of anyone lobbying for Mr. [Timothy] Griffin's appointment." Hertling writes further, "The Department is not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the decision to appoint Mr. Griffin."
March 1, 2007
McClatchy Newspapers reports that two members of Congress made calls to U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM) in October, pressuring him to accelerate corruption investigations into local Democrats.
Senator Domenici, when asked to respond to recent statements made by David Iglesias regarding pressure from unamed members of Congress, responds "I have no idea what he's talking about."
March 4, 2007
Senator Domenici releases a statement saying he regrets calling Mr. Iglesias.
March 5, 2007
Representative Heather Wilson acknowledges calling Iglesias. She denies that she pressured him to speed up any investigation.
Michael Battle, the Justice Department official who made the calls to fire the U.S. Attorneys, is reported to have issued his resignation. His resignation becomes effective March 16th.
March 6, 2007
The New York Times reports that the former federal prosecutor in Maryland, Thomas M. DiBiagio, says that he was forced out in early 2005 because of political pressure stemming from public corruption investigations involving associates of the state's Republican governor.
Representative Doc Hastings releases a statement saying, ""Neither I nor any member of my staff - past or present - ever contacted anyone at the White House or the Department of Justice about whether John McKay should be removed as U.S. attorney or whether he was qualified to be a federal judge."
U.S. Attorneys Daniel Bodgen (NV), Paul Charlton (AZ), Bud Cummins (AR), David Iglesias (NM), Carol Lam (CA), John McKay (WA), and Justice Department official William Moschella testify before Congress. All the fired prosecutors testify that they were never told they were being asked to step down because they performed poorly. Moschella admits that none of the prosecutors were told or warned about the supposed deficiencies in their performances before they were asked to step down.
Iglesias testifies that Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) called to question him about his office's corruption investigation of a prominent state Democrat shortly before the 2006 election.
McKay testifies that Rep. Doc Hastings' (R-WA) chief of staff called him after the 2004 election to ask whether his office was investigating allegations of Democratic voter fraud.
Cummins testifes that DoJ official Michael Elston called him on February 20th to say that if the fired prosecutors continued speaking out, the DoJ would have to release negative information about them.
Charlton and Bogden both testify that they were told by DoJ official Bill Mercer that they were being fired to make room for another Republican to build his/her resume.
March 7, 2007
Alberto Gonzales writes in an editorial in USA Today that the scandal over the firings is an "overblown personnel matter." Of the prosecutors, he writes, "they simply lost my confidence."
Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty met privately in front of members of the House and Senate judiciary committees. McNulty claims that he had limited knowledge of the firing process.
Senator Domenici confirms Iglesias' testimony that the two spoke in late October regarding ongoing investigations.
March 8, 2007
In a closed door meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Alberto Gonzales tells senators that the Bush administration would not oppose legislation requiring Senate confirmation for all U.S. Attorneys.
March 11, 2007
The White House acknowledges that Karl Rove passed complaints to the Justice Department regarding U.S. Attorneys.
March 12, 2007
Sampson, chief of staff for Gonzales, resigns his position, effective immediately. Justice Department officials claim that Sampson did not inform others at the department of the extent of his correspondence with the White House.
March 13, 2007
The Justice Department releases emails that show DoJ officials consulting with the White House counsel's office about removing certain U.S. Attorneys dating back to early 2005.
Gonzales defends the role of the Justice Department in a press conference. Concerning his personal performance, Gonzales says, "I acknowledge that mistakes were made here. I accept that responsibility and my pledge to the American people is to find out what went wrong here." When asked about specific actions that led to the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, Gonzales responds, "n an organization of 110,000 people, I am not aware of every bit of information that passes through the halls of the Department of Justice, nor am I aware of all decisions....I was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on."
The Justice Department will later reconcile this speech with evidence that Attorney General Gonzales attended a meeting on November 18, 2006 regarding the upcoming firing of US Attorneys by saying, "This meeting concerned the roll-out of the U.S. attorney plan. The information available to us does not indicate that there was discussion at this meeting about which U.S. attorneys should or should not be on the list."
March 14, 2007
President Bush comments publicly on the U.S. Attorney scandal for the first time at a press conference in Mexico. He maintains that he has confidence in Alberto Gonzales but says of the entire situation, "I'm, frankly, not happy about it... Al was right, mistakes were made, and he's going to go up to Capitol Hill to correct them."
Bush also acknowledges tepidly that he had in fact spoken to Gonzales in the past about U.S. Attorneys: "And I did receive complaints about U.S. attorneys. I specifically remember one time I went up to the Senate and senators were talking about the U.S. attorneys. I don't remember specific names being mentioned, but I did say to Al last year -- you're right, last fall -- I said, have you heard complaints about AGs, I have -- I mean, U.S. attorneys, excuse me -- and he said, I have. But I never brought up a specific case nor gave him specific instructions."
Senator John Sununu (R-NH) becomes the first Republican Senator to call for the resignation of Gonzales.
March 15, 2007
Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) becomes the second Republican Congressman to call for the resignation of Gonzales.
Congressman Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA) echoes calls for Gonzales' resignation.
ABC reports on previously unpublished emails that indicate that the idea of firing some or all U.S. attorneys was raised by Karl Rove in early January 2005.
March 16, 2007
A fourth Republican congressman, Representative Paul Gillmor (R-OH) calls for Gonzales' resignation.
Bradford Berenson, the lawyer of Kyle Sampson, releases a public statement on behalf of his client. Contradicting statements made by Gonzales as to the nature of Sampson's resignation, Berenson claims, "Kyle did not resign because he had misled anyone at the Justice Department or withheld information concerning the replacement of U.S. Attorneys," but rather because he had failed to "organize a more effective political response."
Concerning the unawareness of key Justice Department officials of the extent of communications with the White House, Berenson says, "If this background was not called to Mr. McNulty or Mr. Moschella's attention, it was not because any of these individuals deliberately withheld it from them but rather because no one focused on it or deemed it important at the time."
March 19, 2007
In a press conference, Tony Snow claims there is nothing extraordinary about Sampson discussing the need to remove Carol Lam the day after she informed the Justice Department of her decision she announced intentions to execute search warrants against a key CIA official. Snow explains that emails expressing concern with Lam's immigration policies extend back to January of 2005.
The Justice Department releases three-thousand pages of emails surrounding the discusion and subsequent firing of US Attorneys.
March 20, 2007
Fred Fielding, council to the White House, appears in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Fielding presents the Committee with a compromise from the White House. Current and former White House staff members Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, William Kelley and Scott Jennings will testify provided that:
1) the testimonies are executed in a closed-door session,
2) no transcript is kept of the meeting, and
3) the staff members are not under oath.
Senator Patrick Leahy responds, "I don't accept his offer. It is not constructive and it is not helpful to be telling the Senate how to do our investigation, or to prejudge its outcome.... Instead of freely and fully providing relevant documents to the investigating committees, they have only selectively sent documents, after erasing large portions that they do not want to see the light of day. Testimony should be on the record, and under oath."
President Bush holds a press conference to discuss the current scandal. In the conference, Bush:
reaffirms his support for Gonzales, while agreeing that Gonzales will return to the Congress committees to clarify recent information,
confirms the compromise presented by Fielding, and
announces his intention to challenge Congress' right to subpoena non-Cabinet members of his staff.
March 21, 2007
David Iglesias writes an editorial for The New York Times entitled, "Why I Was Fired"
March 22, 2007
The House Judiciary Committee authorizes subpoenas for the White House aides despite Bush's objection.
March 24, 2007
The Justice Department announces that Monica Goodling will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from her position as White House liaison.
President Bush reaffirms his support for Attorney General Gonzales
March 26, 2007
Monica Goodling announces that she will plead the 5th Amendment in response to questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Her lawyer expresses the rationale that, "certain members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have already reached conclusions about the matter under investigation and the veracity of the testimony provided by the Department of Justice to date."
March 28, 2007
Acting Assistant Attorney General Hertling sends a letter to Congress admitting that assertions in his February 23rd letter to Senators, "are contradicted by Department documents included in our production in connectino with the Committees' review of the resignations of US Attorneys."
An email from Kyle Sampson shows him suggesting that the passage, "I am not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the Attorney General's decision to appoint Griffin" be added to Hertling's letter. This is in contrast to Sampson's email claiming that the appointment of Tim Griffin was, "important to Harriet, Karl, etc."
March 29, 2007
Kyle Sampson testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kyle presents a written statement to the committee and then fields questions surrounding his role in the firings. His responses are organized below by topic.
Sampson Contradicts Gonzales
Sen. Schumer (D-NY) asks Sampson about statements made by the Attorney General on March 13, 2007. Sampson responds, "I don't think its entirely accurate." He also claims that he shared information with McNulty and Moschella, contrary to claims made by the Attorney General that information was held from them.
Revisions to the Patriot Act
Sampson says that advocating the revised Patriot Act to avoid Senate confirmation, "was a bad idea by staff that was not adopted by the principals. I did advocate that at different times." Sampson specifically acknowledges an intention to act in bad faith to avoid the Senate in the case of the Eastern District of Arkansas. He says that using the Patriot Act was discussed at the White House, but claims he did not discuss it with Harriet Miers. Although discussing the topic with Gonzales, Sampson is not sure that the Attorney General rejected the idea of appointing attorneys through the Patriot Act until late December or early January.
Carol Lam
When asked by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) about the suspicious timing of his March 11, 2006 email discussing Carol Lam, Sampson claims, "There was never any connection in my mind between asking Carol Lam to resign and the public corruption case her office was working on....The real problem at that time was her office's prosecution of immigration cases."
Senator Feinstein (D-CA) enters into testimony a letter from the Director of Field of Field Operations for the US Customs and Border Protection Agency. The letter commends Carol Lam on her prosecution of border cases.
Senator Feinstein asks Sampson about his response to public statements made by the FBI bureau chief of San Diego, who worried about the impact that firing Lam would have on current prosecutions. Sampson responds that he called FBI headquarters to complain about the statements.
Sampson acknowledges that no one in the Justice Department informed Carol Lam about problems with her immigration investigations, despite the fact that she was allegedly fired over these complaints.
Considering Corruption Cases
Sampson tells Sen. Cardin (D-MD) that there was no discussion by senior officials on the impact of the firings on impending investigations, particularly in California and New Mexico.
Sampson admits he once suggested to Harriet Miers and William Kelley the idea of adding Patrick Fitzgerald to the list of attorneys to be fired. Sampson claims that immediately afterwards, "I knew that it was inappropriate." When asked why he suggested firing the attorney overseeing in an investigation that included White House staff, Sampson says, "I'm not sure. I think it was maybe to get a reaction from them."
Sampson acknowledges to Sen. Cardin (D-MD) that he was aware of the prominent investigations being pursued in California and New Mexico. Nevertheless, he claims, "At the time, in my mind, I did not associate the asking of a US Attorney to resign and the idea that it would be done to improperly influence a case."
Karl Rove
Sampson is asked to reconcile two previous statements. Regarding his December 19, 2006 statement that appointing Tim Griffin was important to Karl Rove, Sampson says: "That email was based on an assumption. I knew that Sara Taylor and Scott Jennings [Rove staffmembers] had expressed interest in promoting Tim Griffin."
When asked why he then made no mention of Karl Rove in a February 23, 2007 letter released by the Justice Department Sampson explains, "I did not remember then ever having talked to Mr. Rove about it. I'm not sure if Mr. Rove was supportive of it."
Senator Leahy asks what Sampson knew about complaints regarding voter fraud investigations by US Attorney David Iglesias. Sampson does not recall hearing any complaints. However, Sampson says, "I do remember learning from the Attorney General that he had received a complaint from Karl Rove."
Sampson Defines Loyalty and "Loyal Bushies"
Sampson explains, "In my emails, by referring to loyal Bushies or loyalty to the President or the Attorney General, I meant loyalty to their policies and the priorities they had laid out for US Attorneys."
March 30, 2007
Michael Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, meets privately with congressional investigators from both chambers. He claims that he called three fired US Attorneys at the direction of McNulty.
April 7, 2007
Monica Goodling resigns from the Justice Department.
April 19, 2007
Gonzales testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although accepting responsibility for the firing of the eight attorneys, Gonzales disavows knowledge of the specific process by which the eight attorneys were fired. According to the Senate, Gonzales says, I dont recall sixty-four times.
Gonzales maintains that he never intended to use the changed Patriot Act to circumvent the Senates authority. However, he is unable to explain why, in the case of Bud Cummins, his chief of staff Kyle Sampson planned to avoid Senator Pryors input at the same time that the Attorney General assured Pryor that he would be consulted.
Gonzales claims he regrets saying that the eight US Attorneys lost his confidence after acknowledging that he never investigated why the particular attorneys were fired before making the statement.
Gonzales expected Carol Lam to know the complaints Main Justice had with her performance, despite the fact that she was never contacted by the Department.
Gonzales acknowledges that the Justice Department should be sensitive to the timing of investigations that might hamper voter turnout.
Gonzales stands by his decision to fire the attorneys as the right thing to do.
Senator Coburn (R-OK) calls on Gonzales to resign.
Senator Graham (R-SC) calls on Gonzales to resign.
Senator Sessions (R-AL) calls on Gonzales to resign.
April 20, 2007
Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) calls on Gonzales to resign.
April 23, 2007
President Bush announces that his confidence in Attorney General has increased after Gonzales Senate hearing.
April 25, 2007
After meeting with the Attorney General, Sen. Pryor (D-AR) reaffirms his position that Gonzales should resign.
The Senate Judiciary Committee authorizes a subpoena for Sara Taylor, a former aide of Karl Rove.
May 3, 2007
Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey testifies in front of the House Judiciary Committee after an email with Bud Cummins saying, I will not sit by and watch good people smeared. In his testimony, Comey contrasts his experiences with the fired attorneys with statements from the Justice Department. He also enumerates
All fired in December of 2006.... humm last I checked the election was in November.... Could this be more of your " we all know it where I live" Bias. On top of that they were being discussed over a YEAR before being fired OR the election.. humm yup you got a smoking gun there...
Truthmatters
Diamond Member
- May 10, 2007
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Porter Goss, director of the CIA, resigns unexpectedly, amidst controversy surrounding his chosen CIA Executive Director, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. (sub. req.)
The Wall Street Journal reports that Foggo is under investigation as part of the ongoing San Diego/Cunningham scandal. The office overseeing the investigation is that of U.S. Attorney Carol Lam. (sub. req.)
May 8, 2006
Foggo resigns from the CIA.
May 10, 2006
Carol Lam informs the Justice Department that she intends to serve search warrants to Foggo.
May 11, 2006
The LA Times reports that the investigation of Cunningham has expanded to include Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA), House Appropriations Committee Chairman.
Sampson emails deputy White House counsel William Kelley: "The real problem we have right now with Carol Lam that leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires."
How can you ignore the parts like this?
Do you really care so little for the integrity of our courts?
The Wall Street Journal reports that Foggo is under investigation as part of the ongoing San Diego/Cunningham scandal. The office overseeing the investigation is that of U.S. Attorney Carol Lam. (sub. req.)
May 8, 2006
Foggo resigns from the CIA.
May 10, 2006
Carol Lam informs the Justice Department that she intends to serve search warrants to Foggo.
May 11, 2006
The LA Times reports that the investigation of Cunningham has expanded to include Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA), House Appropriations Committee Chairman.
Sampson emails deputy White House counsel William Kelley: "The real problem we have right now with Carol Lam that leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires."
How can you ignore the parts like this?
Do you really care so little for the integrity of our courts?
Porter Goss, director of the CIA, resigns unexpectedly, amidst controversy surrounding his chosen CIA Executive Director, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. (sub. req.)
The Wall Street Journal reports that Foggo is under investigation as part of the ongoing San Diego/Cunningham scandal. The office overseeing the investigation is that of U.S. Attorney Carol Lam. (sub. req.)
May 8, 2006
Foggo resigns from the CIA.
May 10, 2006
Carol Lam informs the Justice Department that she intends to serve search warrants to Foggo.
May 11, 2006
The LA Times reports that the investigation of Cunningham has expanded to include Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA), House Appropriations Committee Chairman.
Sampson emails deputy White House counsel William Kelley: "The real problem we have right now with Carol Lam that leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires."
How can you ignore the parts like this?
Do you really care so little for the integrity of our courts?
wait her term was up? Then she wasn't fired at all, she was replaced when her term expired or shortly there after. And last I checked if someone resigns they were in fact NOT fired.
And her term was up AFTER the election. Again you are claiming the election was the reason for firing them.... umm why were they fired AFTER the election ( or resigned) when your claim is they were fired to affect said election?
wait her term was up? Then she wasn't fired at all, she was replaced when her term expired or shortly there after. And last I checked if someone resigns they were in fact NOT fired.
And her term was up AFTER the election. Again you are claiming the election was the reason for firing them.... umm why were they fired AFTER the election ( or resigned) when your claim is they were fired to affect said election?
Ret sgt?
Are you serious with this gibberish of yours and excuses of yours?
YOU can NOT be that partisan....or can you be?
Care
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