As the many layers of the Prosecutor Purge onion are peeled away, Congressional focus is shifting to Karl Rove. Both Senate and House Judiciary Committees want to hear from Rove. Here's Schumer:
"The more we learn, the more it seems that people at high levels in the White House have been involved in the U.S. Attorney purge... Recent disclosures reveal that Rove talked to the NM State Party Chair Allen Weh before any public announcement of the firing was made and that Rove talked about Mr. Igleisas to the Attorney General and the White House Counsel. While the White House states not incorrectly that someone in Karl Rove’s position might get complaints about U.S. Attorneys, it is almost unheard of for a U.S. Attorney to be fired shortly after such discussions occur, when that US Attorney had received highly favorable reviews and ratings."
Of course the people at the highest levels of the White House were involved in the purge. That can't come as any surprise to anyone who's paid a modicum of attention to the machinations of this administration for the past six years. Of course Rove is in the thick of it.
While Rove's role is interesting, don't lose sight of the fact that it is Alberto Gonzales, confirmed by the Senate to serve as the top law enforcement officer of the land, who swore in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he understood that as Attorney General he would serve the Constitution above the president. Don't forget it was Alberto Gonzales who testified under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 18, 2007 that none of the firings were politically motivated.
Paul Krugman, via jurassicpork, hasn't forgotten:
Nobody is surprised to learn that the Justice Department was lying when it claimed that recently fired federal prosecutors were dismissed for poor performance. Nor is anyone surprised to learn that White House political operatives were pulling the strings.
What is surprising is how fast the truth is emerging about what Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general, dismissed just five days ago as an "overblown personnel matter...."
But the numbers can tell only part of the story. What we really need — and it will take a lot of legwork — is a portrait of the actual behavior of prosecutors across the country. Did they launch spurious investigations of Democrats, as I suggested last week may have happened in New Jersey? Did they slow-walk investigations of Republican scandals, like the phone-jamming case in New Hampshire?
In other words, the truth about that "overblown personnel matter" has only begun to be told. The good news is that for the first time in six years, it’s possible to hope that all the facts about a Bush administration scandal will come out in Congressional hearings — or, if necessary, in the impeachment trial of Alberto Gonzales. [emphasis mine]