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NJ: DAG McNulty Ordered Calls to USAs
It's already been a rough week for Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty. Now this:
The chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty has told congressional investigators that phone calls he placed to four fired U.S. attorneys -- calls that three of the prosecutors say involved threats about testifying before Congress -- were made at McNulty's direction.Michael Elston, the chief of staff, told congressional investigators in a closed-door session on March 30 that McNulty specifically instructed him to make the phone calls after the Justice Department's No. 2 official learned that the fired prosecutors might testify before Congress about their dismissals.
Elston also, according to Murray Waas, told congressional investigators what he's been saying all along -- that none of those calls were meant to threaten the U.S. attorneys.
But somehow, three of the U.S. attorneys all got the same message: stay quiet or get smeared.
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Comments (48)
mbbsdphil wrote on May 3, 2007 5:47 PM:McNulty may have told Elston to make the calls. That doesn't mean he directed Elston to threaten the fired USA's with retribution; it doesn't mean he didn't. What's McNulty say? But I like the idea that pretty much the entire top management of the DOJ is running for cover. Which means NOBODY is doing there job.
That shouts the need for a James Comey-like lawyer to replace the evil rabbit (Holy Grail, snark) that is Alberto Gonzales. If the President fails to act for the next twenty-odd months, his successor will be able to clean the DOJ with a garden hose; there'll be nothing substantial left to start rebuilding with and enormous amounts of ill will across the country.
Rove may want that so that federal legal beagles, loyal to a new alpha dog, don't follow him to his post-administration lair, but it would be a catastrophe for the United States Government.
mo2 wrote on May 3, 2007 5:57 PM:This revelation by Elston that McNulty ordered the calls enforces suspicion that the March 1, 2006 double-secret memo giving Goodling and Sampson firing authority that was not to be shown to McNulty was an explicit attempt to shield McNulty.
Windowdog wrote on May 3, 2007 5:57 PM:I just spent 5 minutes trying to figure out what this had to do with NJ... not the smartest moment of my life.
Fortunately in NJ the Dems really are corrupt and the DA seems competent, so even if they are targeting Dems it ain't so bad since no one is really shocked and honestly the extra sunlight at places like UMDNJ is warranted and welcome.
Tlazolteotl wrote on May 3, 2007 5:59 PM:Check this out:
McKay targeted 18 months earlier than first thought?
How McKay's firing might be related to his pushing for resources to bring in assistant USA Tom Wales' killer.
Tlazolteotl wrote on May 3, 2007 6:00 PM:http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Prosecutors_McKay.html
Sorry, the tags didn't work. Article above.
Richard L. Adlof wrote on May 3, 2007 6:44 PM:McNulty: (In true bent-nose fashion) "What for they're talkin' 'bout. Dair were no horse heads in their beds, no dead fish wrapped in papers and they all gotta their knee-caps in the right places."
Elston: "Yah! Dats rite boss . . . dair wernt no friggen intimahgateshun. If dair was threats dey all woulda FELT it!"
Leahy: (Sighs visibly)
Anonymous wrote on May 3, 2007 8:12 PM:And here I am thinking McNulty might have a ounce of decency left in him and now this- just come clean Paul. It's now fairly obvious what happened- these attorneys were fired for political reasons. Just come clean.
judyo wrote on May 3, 2007 8:13 PM:I think Marcie Wheeler aka Emptywheel gets this about right.
XYZ wrote on May 3, 2007 8:21 PM:http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/05/i_call_bull.html
just saw this news story.
(Akin-Gump is the firm representing Dusty Foggo - small world!)
Secretary Suspended for Working for 'Madam'
WASHINGTON - A legal secretary at one of the area's most prominent law firms has been suspended after telling her employer she secretly worked as an escort for the accused D.C. madam.
The Akin-Gump firm is based in Dupont Circle, and according to emails viewed by ABC News, the woman told Deborah Jeane Palfrey that she enjoyed and missed the work. The woman apparently entertained clients, staffed the phones, and assigned escorts.
noryo wrote on May 3, 2007 8:32 PM:GROVER!!!!
Anonymous wrote on May 3, 2007 8:35 PM:Why do people continue to think that Paul J. McNulty is someone only tangentially involved in the purge? His background demonstrates his record as a tool and a fixer. He was the face for many of the Florida recount. He coached Ashcroft through confirmation. He was appointed U.S. Attorney in the rocket docket, where cases that need to be fixed are brought. His squeaky looks belie his position -- FIXER!
bobh wrote on May 3, 2007 9:35 PM:Smoke. Meet, Gun. Gun. Meet, smoke.
Richard L. Adlof wrote on May 3, 2007 10:24 PM:Yo! ___ @ May 3, 2007 08:12 PM,
In fact, nobody was fired "for political reasons."
Multiple folk were fired "IMPEDE AND OBSTRUCT JUSTICE."
The 'for political reasons' meme is a right wingnut talking point to deflate seriousness of the Administration's heinous acts against one the American People's most important Commons: JUSTICE.
Our use of this P. of S. phrase ultimately makes us partially responsible for continuing this crap.
Anonymous wrote on May 3, 2007 11:18 PM:From the Hill...
Internal U.S. attorney investigations to be made public
By Jeremy Jacobs
May 03, 2007
The Department of Justice (DoJ) assured senators Thursday that the results of an internal investigation into the controversial firings of eight U.S. attorneys will be made public.
In an April 30 letter, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and panel member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) asked that the findings of a joint probe of the DoJ’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) be made available.
In response, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling said that “both the OIG and OPR intend that the results of the investigation will be made public.” The findings of OPR probes are not usually made public.
“The OPR believes, however, that, in light of the highly unusual nature of this investigation, the public release of the joint report is warranted,” Hertling said.
Whitehouse, a former U.S. attorney, said he was pleased with the DoJ response.
“I’m glad the Department recognizes the American people’s interest in learning the truth behind the Bush administration’s unprecedented purge of United States attorneys,” the senator stated. “Significant questions remain about the extent to which partisan politics have overtaken the administration of justice. I expect this investigation to proceed expeditiously and look forward to seeing results.”
xargaw wrote on May 3, 2007 11:54 PM:If a USA thinks he is being intimidated, given a warning, etc., then it is safe to assume that he/she is being warned to remain silient. A prosecutor is in a good position to decifer these kind of signals better than the general public. The fact that all that received a phone call from Elston came away with the same exact impression also supports the claim that this was an inappropriate threat.
xargaw wrote on May 3, 2007 11:54 PM:If a USA thinks he is being intimidated, given a warning, etc., then it is safe to assume that he/she is being warned to remain silient. A prosecutor is in a good position to decifer these kind of signals better than the general public. The fact that all that received a phone call from Elston came away with the same exact impression also supports the claim that this was an inappropriate threat.
xargaw wrote on May 3, 2007 11:55 PM:If a USA thinks he is being intimidated, given a warning, etc., then it is safe to assume that he/she is being warned to remain silient. A seasoned prosecutor is in a good position to decifer these kind of signals better than the general public. The fact that all that received a phone call from Elston came away with the same exact impression also supports the claim that this was an inappropriate threat.
anon wrote on May 4, 2007 12:43 AM:Well, the first surprise for me in a week or so: CBS news is running a fairly intelligent overview of the USA mess. (Who is Andrew Cohen?) It's not a perfect article and it misses a lot but it's not a bad starting point and it's by far the best piece I've seen in the majors. And he directly addresses the big picture: This is bad government.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/03/opinion/courtwatch/main2758090.shtml
Here's the best bit:
...he House Judiciary Committee released the written answers from six of the eight fired federal prosecutors. They ought to be required reading for anyone interested in truly comprehending the scope of the White House's misfeasance in this matter. For only in their reading do you really comprehend just how these sharp and ambitious these public servants were before they were canned — just how much they resemble precisely the sort of government employees we need more of, not less, in this country.
Republican appointees all, some of the six fired U.S. attorneys answered their questions tersely. Others were more expansive. Some clearly still are bitter over how and why they were fired; some are angry less at what has transpired since. All, you easily could conclude from their responses, are more loyal and dedicated and true to the ideal of good governance and the dispassionate rule of law than are the cynical lot of hacks who conspired to fire them and then put their plot into action. When you read their answers carefully, you realize that the bad guys beat the good guys here (at least to this point) — to the detriment of us all. ...
Whistler wrote on May 4, 2007 3:27 AM:http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/bush_has_one_of_those_days
B W wrote on May 4, 2007 3:54 AM:Holy crap this ought to be good. Spread the word:
Bill Moyer's Journal "Forged Intelligence Documents"
MNSpectator wrote on May 4, 2007 8:04 AM:Airdate: Friday, May 4, 2007 at 9:00 p.m. EDT on PBS.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050307U.shtml
(Check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/moyers.)
"Italy's foremost investigative reporter, Carlo Bonini, takes viewers on the trail of forged intelligence documents that the Bush administration used to help make a case for war."
Our host must've been talking to Mr. Moyers for quite some time now, long before the interview... Josh was working on the back trail of those forgeries years ago.
God, it's good to have Bill Moyers back...
V. Throop wrote on May 4, 2007 11:04 AM:Note that Mr. Paul McNulty doesn't deny making the calls nor does he deny the content of the message.
Rather he blames the USA's of misunderstanding the message.
So he did make the calls and he did deliver the same message but these guys just don't understand.
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