Your daily drivetime update on the US Attorney Purge...
NEWS ON INDIVIDUAL ATTORNEYS
8 more USAs added to the list, on top of the 5 added yesterday...drip drip drip
1. Fired Southern California USA Carol Lam: From May 11, emptywheel has been closely following the Wilkes prosecution (Lam's baby), and the feces that Wilkes' lawyer Mark Geragos has been throwing everywhere. Today, she walks us through the timeline of those DoJ leaks that Geragos has been bitching about, and convincingly shows that the DoJ was purposefully interfering with this prosecution. Carol Lam's firing is important, and Main Justice's activities WRT Carol Lam and Wilkes are important. The DoJ's apparent interference with this prosecution (because of leaks that served Wilkes' defense) deserves more attention.
2. Fired New Mexico USA David Iglesias: From May 17, colorful reporter Greg Palast interviews Iglesias (h/t fbihop). A couple notable things in the interview: first, Iglesias is definitely moving forward with his complaint to the DoJ's Office of Special Counsel; and second, Greg Palast has obtained 500 of Karl Rove's emails (which I had heard previously, but forgot to tell y'all). The interview is a quick and colorful read, enjoy.
3. Former Central California USA Debra Wong Yang: From May 10, Gonzales speculates in testimony that Yang would have made more money if the DoJ fired her, and maybe that's why former White House Counsel Harriet Miers wanted her gone. Ummm, yeah...do you ever get the feeling that Gonzales has just stopped trying?
4. Fired Western Washington USA John McKay: From May 10, Gonzales admits in testimony that he's not sure why McKay was fired, based on the admission that the time when McKay was added to the list preceded the time when McKay started having "problems" with Main Justice. Also, note towards the end of the video (about 40 sec left) that Gonzales slips a little- he starts to say "when I made the decis...when I accepted the recommendations." It's a little thing, and it's by no means evidence, but this little slipup tells us that Gonzales, in his own mind, did have some role in deciding on the firings. But we already knew that, didn't we?
5. Fired Arizona USA Paul Charlton: From April 25, two bits of news, to which both answer my previous question- Charlton's investigation of Republican Congressman Rick Renzi was related to his firing.
- Muckraker has good piece here, but I'll quickly sum up. When the Renzi probe began to go public, Renzi's top aide contacted Charlton's office, which (as we saw with Pete Domenici, R-NM, and Doc Hastings, R-WA) is a big no-no. Unlike Iglesias and McKay, however, Charlton's office notified the DoJ of the improper contact. But, and this is the really interesting thing, in all the document dumps, testimony, public statements, etc., the DoJ never mentioned this improper contact, and never included Charlton's office's emails dealing with that improper contact. The DoJ concealed this. Huh.
- The Wall Street Journal is reporting here (h/t to Muckraker for their piece here) that Charlton's office had great difficulty in getting DoJ approval to move forward on the Renzi investigation. Coincidentally, that difficulty was right during midterm election season. Double huh.
6. Fired Nevada USA Daniel Bogden: From May 15, we learned yesterday that Bogden was fired because of lack of performance on "voter fraud" prosecutions. But were there "voter fraud" (or voter fraud) problems in Nevada? Well, no.
7. Fired Eastern Arkansas USA Bud Cummins: From May 10, whoa, what the hell is this? Hat tip to pidge not midge for pointing me to this story yesterday, and hat tip to madhaus for clarifying who the original author of this post is. Although this piece is mostly just wondering aloud, we do have a new character in the Cummins firing: Mark F. "Thor" Hearne, who was apparently charged with "fixing" the mess created by Cummins' investigation into Missouri Republican Governor Matt Blunt.
8. Reassigned Guam USA Frederick Black: From April 18, James Risser looks into this in an extensive diary. Set aside some time if you want to read this.
9. Fired Western Missouri USA Todd Graves: From May 15, House Judiciary Dems want more answers from Gonzales on Graves' firing and The Schloz' hiring.
10. Former Interim Western Missouri USA Bradley Schlozman: From May 15, House Judiciary Dems want more answers from Gonzales on Graves' firing and The Schloz' hiring.
11. Former Minnesota USA Thomas Heffelfinger: From May 17, Heffelfinger was on The Purge List at some point in time. We already suspected, but this is confirmation, and so Heffelfinger goes on the list.
12. Minnesota USA Rachel Paulose: From May 11, Gonzales indicated that Paulose might not actually remain the Minnesota USA for very long. I missed Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison's questioning of Alberto but hat tip to eartha for pointing me to the summary in the link. Ignore the editorializing by the reporter towards the end, though- that was annoying.
13. Fired Western Michigan USA Margaret Chiara: From May 14, this NYT article has Chiara as a source for and a witness of Lady Monica's hyperpartisanship.
14. Eastern Wisconsin USA Steven Biskupic: FROM TODAY, well, I think this settles the debate about whether Biskupic is a 'straight shooter' that acted in good faith (h/t Gareth G). Biskupic appears to have used his office as a political weapon to try and tar a Democratic governor in the runup to the midterm elections. Although Muckraker made a note of this article, Josh Marshall has not commented on this, after previously stating that he was withholding judgment on Biskupic. Josh is wrong. The amount of pressure and rough treatment given to Ms. Thompson was appalling, and it was all in the effort to get Governor Doyle, a Democrat. Enough. Biskupic is one of those USAs who did play ball with the Administration, and that's why he's still got a job.
15. District of Columbia USA Jeffrey Taylor: From May 8, this article here mostly focuses on Jay Apperson's history, but keep in mind that it was Taylor who ultimately hired him. In a vacuum, this odd hire (and its odd process) might mean nothing. But we're not in a vacuum. Taylor was a close aide to Gonzales before getting this USA job, he interacted with Main Justice frequently WRT hiring Apperson, and any hire he makes that is outside the normal screening process (as was the case with Apperson) deserves close scrutiny.
16. Western Pennsylvania USA Mary Beth Buchanan: From May 17, good lord, Buchanan was on The Purge List back in November 2006. Remember, she was consulted on the Purge. Jesus, what did she do, and what happened to take her off the list?
17. Alaska USA Nelson Cohen: From April 23, the DoJ picked this guy to be the Alaska USA over the recommendations of both Republican home state Senators Stevens and Murkowski (h/t TPM). What was so special about Cohen that the home state Republicans had to be overruled? The article hints that Cohen had a desire to return to Alaska, but that's not how these things are supposed to work. Home state Senators are supposed to have significant, if not complete, influence on who gets nominated to be a US Attorney. It looks like the DoJ in DC rode roughshod over the Senators' recommendations- why?
18. Central Pennsylvania USA Thomas Marino: FROM TODAY, Marino was added to The List in September 2006. That's a little bit more than we knew, but we still know so very little about this one.
19. Northern Texas USA Richard Roper: From April 17, hat tip to James Risser for tipping me off to this story in his diary. Quite simply, what the hell's been going on in this office? They open an investigation into Novation LLC, and two of the Assistant US Attorney's (AUSAs) working the case suddenly die. Two months later, three other AUSA's in the Dallas office resigned, two to go into private practice, and one to retire. You'll note in James Risser's diary that he discusses the Western Missouri US Attorney's office, because there is a lawsuit against Novation by a company in that area (I think?), Medical Supply Chain. But I separate that out, because that's a whole other ball of wax. If strange things happen after a US Attorney's office opens an investigation into Republican targets, however, then I get interested. And with the Dallas USA office opening a (according to the NYT link) "broad investigation" into Novation/Tenet and other health care and pharma giants, I'm interested to see where that investigation headed, and if/why it was suppressed.
20. New Jersey USA Chris Christie: From May 17, God, Christie was on The Purge List back in November 2006. A Bush Pioneer was going to be fired? So, what did he do to get on The List, and what happened to take him off The List? FWIW, Christie sounded pissed. What a mess.
21. Middle North Carolina USA Anna Mills Wagoner: From May 17, WaPo confirms again that Wagoner was on The Purge List, and she stayed on The List until Lady Monica deemed her gun prosecutions to be good enough to stay. Whatever. UPDATE some local support for Wagoner.
22. Connecticut USA Kevin O'Connor: From April 10, does this mean Mr. O'Connor is a "loyal Bushie?" And why must we insist on absentee US Attorneys?
23. New Hampshire USA Tom Colantuono:
24. Former Western North Carolina USA Robert J. Conrad, Jr.:
25. Western Kentucky USA David Huber: FROM TODAY, Huber was on The Purge List back in February 2005. Huber doesn't know why.
26. Southern Mississippi USA Dunn Lampton: FROM TODAY, Lampton was on The Purge List at some point in time. Note how McClatchy implies the same thing I've implied: that his high-profile prosecution of a Democratic donor may have saved his job. To be fair, Lampton "doesn't have a clue" as to why he was considered for the ax. In that same article, also note how home state Senators Lott and Cochran leave Lampton twisting in the wind, expressing no real support for him. Huh.
27. Northern Florida USA Gregory Miller: From May 17, Miller was on The Purge List as early as February 2005, and stayed on the list right up until the end. Why was he on The List, and how did he get off The List?
28. Former Interim Colorado USA William J. Leone: From May 17, Leone was on The Purge List at some point in time. Also, let's note that Leone was not given the permanent job, and was passed over for a Federalist Society member and former employee of Abramoff's former law firm, Greenberg Traurig. Huh.
29. Maine USA Paula Silsby: From May 17, Silsby was on The Purge List as early as February 2005, and stayed on The List for a long time. Why was she on The List, and how did she get off The List?
30. Former Southern Alabama USA David York: From May 17, York was on The Purge List back in February 2005. Why was he on The List, and how did he get off The List? UPDATE Remember that York was replaced by Deborah Rhodes, who was one of the DoJ staffers that played a role in The Purge, if memory serves me. Just throwing it out there.
31. Southern West Virginia USA Karl "Kasey" Warner: From May 17, Warner was on The Purge List early in 2005, and was then fired in August 2005. So I guess Warner wasn't bulls--tting- he really was part of the Purge.
32. Middle Georgia USA Maxwell Wood: FROM TODAY, Wood was on The Purge List at some point in time, and according to the McClatchy piece, his name was added just weeks after reports of "voter fraud" in the district were discussed in Washington, DC. Wood essentially has no comment.
33. Western Virginia USA John L. Brownlee: FROM TODAY, Brownlee was on The Purge List sometime in 2006, and according to McClatchy, for the same reason that Wood was added- "voter fraud."
34. Northern Oklahoma USA David O'Meilia: FROM TODAY, O'Meilia was on The Purge List back in February 2005. I have no idea why.
35. Delaware USA Colm Connolly: FROM TODAY, Connolly was on The Purge List in November 2006. Who called this one? Was it James Risser that told us to look at Connolly? Whoever called this, take a bow.
36. Wyoming USA Matthew Mead: FROM TODAY, Mead was on The Purge List back in January 2006.
37. Kansas USA Eric Melgren: FROM TODAY, Melgren was on The Purge List back in January 2006.
38. Former Middle Tennessee USA James K. Vines: FROM TODAY, Vines was on The Purge List back in January 2006.
39. Former Nebraska USA Michael G. Heavican: FROM TODAY, Heavican was on The Purge List back in January 2006.
CONGRESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) calls for Gonzales to resign (h/t eartha). So, I guess we know where he will stand on Alberto's no-confidence vote.
WHITE HOUSE AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ACTIVITIES
- Michael Elston, chief of staff to Alberto Gonzales, claims it was all a misunderstanding about him adding names to The Purge List. He was simply passing those names along. Oh and, when pressed, he "can't recall" who gave him those names or what the concerns were, and he's really sorry. Round and round we go, this is such bullshit.
- Tim Griffin the Karl Rove hack who replaced Cummins in Arkansas is still serving in that position, despite assurances to the contrary from Alberto. I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you.
REFERENCE SECTION
(note: this section will not be changing on a daily basis. This will be a place to put reference tools on the USA Purge)
- drational has created (or rather is still in the process of creating) a database of all the DoJ emails from the document dumps. Again, please note that this NOT comprehensive, and is still a work in progress. Very cool, though, and much appreciated considering how much time and energy that must be taking. Mucho hat tips and mojo to drational, people.
- Washington Post created a very useful graphic of the who, how, and when of The Purge List. Please note that this is not comprehensive- I only counted 23 USAs on that graphic.
- Muckraker has built a little on Washington Post's graphic, and turned it into a document collection.
PERSPECTIVE
- UPDATE, drational explains why the DoJ didn't fully respond to Leahy's subpoena for Karl's emails, and is thus obstructing this inquiry.
- From me, what does everyone think about the call for a 'no-confidence' vote on Alberto? It's non-binding, so I feel it's a waste of time. But it's possible I'm wrong. Do people think a (presumably) horrible lack of Senate support for Gonzales will really pressure Gonzales and/or Bush? I don't, and I'm prepared to debate about it.