Your daily drivetime update on the US Attorney Purge...
NEWS ON INDIVIDUAL ATTORNEYS
(I've added yet another US Attorney- Kansas City USA Bradley Schlozman)
1. Fired San Diego USA Carol Lam:
2. Fired New Mexico USA David Iglesias: According to this in the WaPo, Sampson admitted that the DoJ should not have fired Iglesias. I must have missed it, because I don't remember that. Senator Schumer follows up with AG Gonzales, asking for a formal acknowledgement that Iglesias should not have been fired. That could be interesting, seeing how this Administration is usually so willing to admit mistakes.
3. Former Los Angeles USA Debra Wong Yang:
4. Fired Seattle USA John McKay:
5. Fired Arizona USA Paul Charlton:
6. Fired Nevada USA Daniel Bogden:
7. Fired Arkansas USA Bud Cummins: Cummins speaks out. Also listed in the Media Commentary section below.
8. Reassigned Guam USA Frederick Black:
9. New Hampshire USA Tom Colantuono:
10. New Jersey USA Chris Christie:
11. Interim Minnesota USA Rachel Paulose:
12. Fired Western Michigan USA Margaret Chiara:
13. Former Western North Carolina USA Robert J. Conrad, Jr.:
14. Kentucky USA David Huber:
15. Southern Mississippi USA Dunn Lampton:
16. Middle North Carolina USA Anna Mills Wagoner:
17. Interim Kansas City USA Bradley J. Schlozman: From the WaPo:
Missouri had for years been a hub of GOP allegations of election fraud -- long disputed by Democrats -- when Schlozman arrived a year ago from Justice's civil rights division. Six days before the November elections, he announced indictments of four voter-registration recruiters for a left-leaning group, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, for allegedly submitting fraudulent registrations to the election board in Kansas City, Mo. Democrats have protested.
Schlozman has been replaced (h/t drsmith131, as of Friday. No link, but his replacement was confirmed by voice vote.
CONGRESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Interviews of DoJ officials have begun, as Michael Elston was interviewed on Friday (h/t TPM).
- Alberto's testimony will remain as scheduled on April 17. One reason (as noted below)- Dems want to hear from the White House and DoJ staff first, before Alberto Gonzales goes to the Hill to tell Congress he wasn't involved and doesn't recall.
- Republican Orrin Hatch sucks. He is by far the worst of the Republicans on this story. Watch him suck, swallow, and spit out the Administration's talking points. (h/t TPMMuckraker)
WHITE HOUSE AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ACTIVITIES
- Meet Monica Goodling. TPM found a profile of her here.
- In the wake of Sampson's testimony, the White House is suddenly very interested in having Alberto Gonzales testify ahead of schedule. TPMMuckraker has more.
MEDIA COMMENTARY
- WaPo looks a little closer at those temporary and interim US Attorneys (h/t TPM).
- Media Matters also notes that TIME seems to be ignoring this story. Maybe I'm overly obsessed, but I don't understand why TIME would choose to be so blatant about its bias. Thoughts?
- Fired Arkansas USA Bud Cummins speaks out. He mostly focuses on the damage to the DoJ's credibility this will have. Money quote:
Once you have given the public a reason to believe some of your decisions are improperly motivated, then they are going to question every decision you have made, or will make in the future. That is a natural and predictable phenomenon.
- TPMMuckraker has a section on their reference page dedicated to the US Attorney scandal here.