A long awaited report on the Alberto Gonzales' and the White House's role in the firing of the U.S. Attorneys is set to be released tomorrow. Early news on the report brings a mixed story. First the bad news...no federal grand jury will look into AG AG's misdeeds.
However,
Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine and Office of Professional Responsibility Director H. Marshall Jarrett, who wrote the report, will not absolve department officials of blame but will recommend that efforts to resolve unanswered questions continue, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the findings had not been made public.
Why is this important?
Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey is preparing to name a prosecutor from within the department to address the questions, ensuring that the politically charged issue will extend into the next administration, the sources said.
So Mukasey is protecting the clan by kicking the can down the road...but we will have a new driver chasing the can come 1/20/09.
Earlier this year David Iglesias, the US Atty at the center of much of the controversy was expecting more:
I expect the report to be filed any day now. I expect them to conclude that there is sufficient evidence to show that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty committed perjury in their statements before Congressional committees and investigators.
The evidence is, no doubt, there, but Mukasey, et al can't bring themselves to pull the trigger.
Here's to hoping an Obama administration can complete this deal.
[note...I'm not getting ahead of myself. Even though it should go without saying, I will note that I add that last line because we know that a McCain administration will do no such thing]
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This is a bad stretch for the administration. Last week we learned that Gonzales acknowledged that Bush personally directed him to go to John Ashcroft's hospital room to try and get Ashcroft to sign off on the illegal wiretapping program. That story, unfortunately, was gobbled up in the aftermath of John McDrama's week.