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ABC: Rove Suggested Firing All U.S. Attorneys
From ABC:
New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised by White House adviser Karl Rove in early January 2005, indicating Rove was more involved in the plan than previously acknowledged by the White House....White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters Tuesday that Miers had suggesting firing all 93 and that it was "her idea only." Snow said Miers' idea was quickly rejected by the Department of Justice.
However, Miers was Bush's staff secretary at that time in January 2005. She did not become White House counsel for another month, after Gonzales left to become attorney general.
The latest e-mails show that Gonzales and Rove both were involved in the discussion, and neither rejected it out of hand.
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Comments (9)
Node of Evil wrote on March 15, 2007 5:18 PM:Uh oh, now Rove has been bitten by the Internets. I was wondering when that would happen. So, he and Gonzales came up with the fire 'em all plan and fairly early on. As we "walk it back" there must have been a reason for Rove and Gonzales to be concerned at that time. What was it? And, what changed their minds? Perhaps the emails will shed some light on the issue. More importantly, when was the decision made to change the policy regarding the appointment of USAs w/out Congressional authorization? I get the feeling that that decision was made shortly after January 2005, but it fits into a prior pattern of usurpation of power that's been in process since at least 2002 or 2003. So, did this spur the idea that the President should be able to appoint USAs indefinitely, or did that spring out of the discussions in January?
Ian wrote on March 15, 2007 5:30 PM:Aren't there some decent DOJ lifers who hate the politization of the department and who might talk? What about DOJ investigators? Can they investigate without the AG's authorization? Can the GAO get involved? Are there ways of doing this without a special prosecuter? It seems clear the Administration would push a patsy as Special Prosecutor, since they were burned by Fitzgerald.
dzman49 wrote on March 15, 2007 5:40 PM:The "fire 'em all" plan reminds me of Nixon's request (on the day following his re-election) for the resignation of every member of his cabinet.
He didn't really want to get rid of them all, but it did allow him to consolidate his victory because he could:
1) Get rid of everyone he really did want to be shed of, and
2) Put the fear of God in those who were spared.
Arkansan wrote on March 15, 2007 6:41 PM:Last week, when Rove was in Arkansas, he compared this to Reno’s firing the USA’s at the start of Clinton’s term, with one difference. Last week, Rove acknowledged that Bush also fired “almost all” or “virtually all” at the beginning of the administration, Rove reminded that it was a presidential prerogative.
Today, Rove is telling a different story. It is true that Bush II did leave a few USA’s on for a while, but they eventually fired all the hold-over’s. It is disingenuous, to say the least, that they held many over for a considerable length of time. Certainly, by the end of the first year they were all gone.
kentuck wrote on March 15, 2007 7:19 PM:A Question:
If all 93 USA's were going to be replaced, would that have included Patrick Fitzgerald?
MIke SNJ wrote on March 15, 2007 7:51 PM:No. Fitz not a USA - he was a special prosecutor.
ohiomeister wrote on March 15, 2007 8:08 PM:Yes, it would have included Patrick Fitzgerald. While he was special prosecutor, he was also the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 15, 2007 10:49 PM:My question is "Why is ABC reporting this?"
Are they still smarting over being hosed by the lack of support from Shrub & friends over their crappy little 9-11 dramedy?
Did someone forget that they are the public face of the Happiest Place on Earth?
Did Cheney's check bounce?
DaveG wrote on March 16, 2007 4:30 PM:You people ar pathetic, how is this any different from Clinton canning 93 US Attorneys?