“Prepare to Withstand Political Upheaval... U.S Attorneys desiring to save their jobs aided by their allies in the political arena as well as the Justice Department community, likely will make efforts to preserve themselves in office. You should expect these efforts to be strenuous."
That was part of a memo written at Justice for the White House as the effort to oust US attorneys was picking up speed.
Last October Bush contacted Gonzales about what he believed to be inadequate attention to voter fraud. Gonzales was urged to do something about the US attorneys who weren't, according to the White House, doing their job. According to the New York Times, The White House "consulted with the Justice Department in preparing the list of United States attorneys who would be removed."
The role of the president and his advisers in the prosecutor shakeup is likely to intensify calls by Congress for an investigation. It is the worst crisis of Mr. Gonzales’s tenure and provoked charges that the dismissals were a political purge threatening the historical independence of the Justice Department.
...In early 2005, Harriet E. Miers, then the White House legal counsel, asked a Justice Department official whether it would be feasible to replace all United States attorneys when their four-year terms expired, according to the Justice Department. The proposal came as the administration was considering which political appointees to replace in the second term, Ms. Perino said. Ms. Miers sent her query to D. Kyle Sampson, a top aide to Mr. Gonzales, the Justice officials said. Mr. Sampson, who resigned Monday, replied that filling so many jobs at once would overtax the department.
Of course, it's perfectly legitimate for the president to replace US attorneys at will. At issue is whether undue political pressure was exerted by the administration -- specifically by Harriet Miers and by Karl Rove. Rove was the conduit for complaints from Republicans that allegations of voter fraud weren't being investigated.
This week, the United States attorney dispute will be aired on the Senate floor during debate over legislation to roll back a provision of the antiterrorism law that allows President Bush to appoint interim United States attorneys indefinitely.
Comments