Here Comes the Subpoenas

Karl Rove and Scott Jennings have been subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democrats sent a letter to Solicitor General Paul Clement. They have asked special counsel to investigate to investigative if Alberto Gonzales perjured himself to Congress.

Gonzales made claim that he visited John Ashcroft's hospital room. There have been news stories that Gonzales was seeking approval to continue a classified surveillance program. Gonzales wished to circumvent acting Attorney General James Comey. Ashcroft turned down Gonzales's request.

Gonzales testified that he visited the hospital on the behave of Democrats. Tom Daschle, Jay Rockefeller, Jane Harman and Nancy Pelosi stated that is false. Futhermore, an Office of the Director of National Intelligence document reveal that Democrats did not dicuss reauthorization of the domestic surveillance program during the March 10, 2004 meeting. Gonzales's cover story has been blown by eyewitnesses and documentation.

Testifying before a Congressional committee is the same as testifying in court. The laws of perjury apply. Elliott Abrams pleaded guilty to Congress to two felonies for perjuring himself to Congress. Abrams said these word to John Kerry about Contra funding.

"I can say that while I have been assistant secretary, which is about 15 months, we have not received a dime from a foreign government, not a dime, from any foreign government."

Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia funneled 32 million of his country's money to the Contras. The current President gave him the nickname Bandar Bush.



In other news: The House Judiciary Committee voted to file contempt charges against Joshua Bolton and Harriet Miers. Bolton accompanied Gonzales to visit Ashcroft. Miers was part of the email exchanges dealing with the U.S. Attorneys purging.

“In our system of government, no one is above the law,” Rep. John Conyers, the committee’s chairman, said in a letter to the White House.

Tony Snow responded by kicking out a Yiddish diss. I swear I'm not making this up.

“This is pathetic,” said White House spokesman Tony Snow. “We have hundreds of hearings that have produced bupkis.”

The literal definitions of bupkis is beans. Perhaps Snow is confusing the judiciary committees the House Committee on Agriculture.

If that was the case then Mr. Snow wouldn't be in full spin mode.

U.S. Attorney Greg Miller On Purge List

McClatchy Newspapers reports two more U.S. Attorneys were on the purge list.

The two prosecutors who were targeted were Gregory Miller, the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Florida in Tallahassee, and Bill Leone, the former acting U.S. attorney for Colorado.

Miller has been a potential target for termination since February 24, 2005. The St Petersburg Times reports that Miller was shocked to find out he was on the list.

"I have never been asked to resign," he said. "Nor have I ever been told by anyone at the Department of Justice that my performance was lacking or that I was being considered for termination."

The question is why Kyle Simpson place Miller's name on the purge list. Miller received a Justice Department award for superior performance in public service. Much like the other U.S. Attorneys, the evidence points to Miller being a good U.S. Attorney. The Justice Department's statements of the purge candidate's performing poorly sounds like a cover story. Sampson knew as much when he sent this email to Harriet Miers and William Kelley.

I am concerned that to execute this plan properly we must all be on the same page and be steeled to withstand any political upheaval that might result (see Step 3); if we start caving to complaining U.S. Attorneys or Senators then we shouldn't do it -- it'll be more trouble than it is worth.

Another question is if the Justice Department had problems with the job performance of these attorneys then why didn't they discuss it with them.

"You're telling me something I didn't know," Miller said. "I never heard of any concerns from the administration."

Alberto Gonzales said that only 8 U.S. Attorneys were targeted for termination. That statement is obviously false. No one is sure exactly how many U.S. Attorneys were on the purge list. The Washington Post reports that 26 U.S. Attorneys were considered for firing. Other attorneys such as Christopher J. Christie expressed the same reaction as Miller.

"I was completely shocked. No one had ever told me that my performance had been anything but good," Christie said.

The White House replaced attorneys with hacks. Leone's replacement was Troy Eid. He had little coutroom experience, but was a member of the Federalist Society. Conservative credentials count more than judicial experience.

Alberto Gonzoles Watch

Kyle Sampson said that Alberto Gonzales was aware of the firings of U.S. Attorneys.

Asked by Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, about Mr. Gonzales’s statements at a March 13 news conference that he had not participated in any discussions about the dismissals, Mr. Sampson replied, “I don’t think the attorney general’s statement that he was not involved in any discussions about U.S. attorney removals is accurate.”

Chuck Schumer got Sampson to admit that he discussed the firings with Gonzales "at least five."

The blame goes back on Gonzales and Harriet Miers.

"The decision-makers in this case were the attorney general and the counsel to the president," he said, in what may become the day's sound bite.

The White House needs to fire Gonzales before he testifies.

More Justice Department Emails

Email from Kyle Sampson to Harriet Miers and William Kelley.

The email below, and the attached document, reflect a plan by DOJ to replace several US Attorneys. By statute, US Attorneys serve for four year terms, which are commonly (but not always) extended by inaction -- in practice, they serve until replaced. They serve at the pleasure of the President, but often have very strong home-state political juice, including with their Senators. Before executing this plan, we wanted to give your offices a heads up and seek input on changes that might reduce the profile or political fallout. Thanks.

Harriet/Bill, please see the attached. Please note (1) the plan, by its terms, would
commence this week; (2) I have consulted with the DAG, but not yet informed others who would need to be brought into the loop, including Acting Associate AG Bill Mercer, EOUSA Director Mike Battle, and AGAC Chair Johnny Sutton (nor have I informed anyone in Karl's shop, another pre-execution necessity I would recommend); and (3) I am concerned that to execute this plan properly we must all be on the same page and be steeled to withstand any political upheaval that might result (see Step 3); if we start caving to complaining U.S. Attorneys or Senators then we shouldn't do it -- it'll be more trouble than it is worth.

We'll stand by for a green light from you. Upon the green light, we'll (1) circulate the below plan to the list of folks in Step 3 (and ask that you circulate it to Karl's shop), (2) confirm that Kelley is making the Senator/Bush political lead calls, and (3) get Battle making the calls t o the USAs. Let us know.

Email from Catherine Martin to Tasia Scolinos.

Its only six US attorneys (there are 94) and I think most of them will resign quietly - they don't get anything out of making it public they were asked to leave in terms of future job prospects. I don't see it as being a national story - especially if it phases in over a few months. Any concerns on your end?

Email from Kyle Sampson to Harriet Miers and William Kelley.

The email below, and the attached document, reflect a plan by DOJ to replace several US Attorneys. By statute, US Attorneys serve for four year terms, which are commonly (but not always) extended by inaction -- in practice, they serve until replaced. They serve at the pleasure of the President, but often have very strong home-state political juice, including with their Senators.

Before executing this plan, we wanted to give your offices a heads up and seek input on changes that might reduce the profile or political fallout. Thanks.

Email from Catherine Martin to Tasia Scolinos.

Paul Charlton (D. Ariz.)
Carol Lam (S .D. Cal.)
Margaret Chiara (W.D. Mich.)
Dan Bogden (D. Nev. 1
John McKay (W.D. Wash.)
David Iglesias (D.N.M.)

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.

Email from Tasia Scolinos to Catherine Martin.

Its only six US attorneys (there are 94) and I think most of them will resign quietly - they don't get anything out of making it public they were asked to leave in terms of future job prospects. I don't see it as being a national story - especially if it phases in over a few months. Any concerns on your end?

There was a clear coordination between the Justice Department and the White House. As well as an attempt not to have the firings traced back to Karl Rove.

Here Comes the Subpoenas

It's on.

The House Judiciary subcommittee has approved subpoenas for Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, Kyle Sampson and their aides. All that remains is the formality of officially issuing the subpoenas. The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote tomorrow on the subpoena issue.

But Mr. Snow said, “If they issue subpoenas, the offer is withdrawn, because it means that they will not have responded to the offer. They will have rejected the offer.”

“The moment subpoenas are issued, it means that they’ve rejected the offer,” Mr. Snow emphasized.

The White House is still talking tough. That didn't work yesterday. It won't work today.

"The White House is in a bunker mentality - won't listen, won't change," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "I believe there is even more to come out, and I think it's our duty to bring it out."

Tony Snow is making the administration sound out of touch with how much trouble they are in.

"At this point, it is our hope that Congress in fact is going to accept what is a generous, reasonable offer to enable them to do their jobs. . . . If they don't accept the offer, it lifts the veil on some of the motivations, which means that people are less interested in the truth than creating a political spectacle."

1. Democrats have made it quite clear they don't want the offer. "I want to hear Karl Rove testify under oath about the role he played in this whole affair," Harry Reid said.

2. It's a little late for an administration that has been extremely partisan to be crying wolf. Bush had much political collateral after 9/11. He used it to bash Democrats and question the patriotism of those whom disagreed with him. The President was full of tough bravado on television yesterday. He challenged Democrats and they responded with subpoenas. It was a tactically bad move and now he is suffering the consequences.

The Brownie Moment

We now know that Alberto Gonzales's days are numbered. He has received the kiss of death. George Bush has publicly come out to say he is doing a heckuva job.

“I do have confidence in Attorney General Al Gonzales,” Mr. Bush said of his old friend from Texas.

A vote of confidence from a President a 30 percent approval rating is like the Captain of the Exxon Valdez saying to ship is going to make it safely to shore.

Others have felt the warm glow of Bush's vote of confidence.

Tom Delay

"He's been a very effective leader," Mr. Bush said. "We've gotten a lot done in the legislature, and I'm convinced we'll get more done in the legislature."

That mugshot put a crimp into Bush's plans of getting more done together.



Dennis Hastert, come on down.

“Before I liberate the speaker so he doesn’t have to stand up here for that long, Speaker, I want to say this to you,” Mr. Bush said. “I am proud to be standing with the current speaker of the House who is going to be the future speaker of the House.”

Hastert at the time said "I'm going to run and presumably win in this election, and when I do I expect to run for speaker."

Hastert is now a back bencher.

Harriet Miers.

"I picked the best person I could find," Bush said at his first full-fledged White House news conference since May.

And Bush looked no further than his own office.

We can't forget Michael Brown.

"Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."

Gonzales has experienced his Brownie moment. It's only a matter of time before he resigns.