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Elston to Targeted USAs: So Sorry
When it became apparent in March that the Justice Department would be forced to turn over all the documents relevant to the U.S. attorney firings, Michael Elston, chief of staff to the deputy attorney general, made a round of phone calls.
He wanted to apologize to the five U.S. attorneys whom he had listed on a November 1st email as "other possibilities" for firings (yesterday Elston's lawyer claimed that Elston had never intended for any of those U.S.A.s to be fired). But it sounds like a lot of the calls went like this:
Colm F. Connolly, the chief federal prosecutor in Delaware, said Elston called "to inform me that there was an e-mail that was going to be turned over to Congress and, although it was not to be disclosed publicly, often times Congress would leak things and this could be public at some point."Connolly said he "expressed disappointment" and asked how the e-mail was prepared. He said Elston told him "that there was this firing process in the works at the time, and he had been asked to find out whether there were any other U.S. attorneys about whom there had been concerns."
Connolly said Elston told him that he collected names by "speaking to people" but that he "could not remember who he spoke with, and he said he could not remember what the concerns were as they related to me."
In other words, 'Sorry for almost getting you fired and sorry I can't remember why I almost got you fired.'
Remember that Elston, as the chief of staff to the DAG, plays a key role in overseeing the U.S. attorneys. I'm guessing this won't help that working relationship.
Comments (56)
phil james wrote on May 18, 2007 4:23 PM:The USA firings were a process interrupted. Who's to say that the USAs on the list who hadn't yet been fired would not have been at some point down the line when the coast was clear?
foobar wrote on May 18, 2007 4:28 PM:"could not remember who he spoke with, and he said he could not remember what the concerns were"
...but no doubt the process was all good and proper. Sounds like this guy's got a case of Gonzolitis.
Gary wrote on May 18, 2007 4:30 PM:My theory is that the USAs on Elston's list were never considered for firing at all.
The list is a distraction. Note, it wasn't even created until November 1 . . . fairly late in the process. And, the attorney's on that list appear NO WHERE ELSE . . . none were fired, none resigned, none appear on any other lists.
Sec word: right . . . as in
bordersmuggler wrote on May 18, 2007 4:32 PM:Fishy, right?
phil james
And that interruption caused by a simple arithmetic error. Rove assured the faithful that he "had the math" for '06. Someone working to rig the numbers in Missouri or Virginia must have missed a decimal point, giving the disaffected prosecutors an ear in Congress to bring about this interruption.
Elston missed his calling. He would have make a tidy fortune as a Gestapo informer in occupied Europe.
Anonymous wrote on May 18, 2007 4:40 PM:wonkette reporting Gonzales resigning today at 5
anon, too wrote on May 18, 2007 5:02 PM:The statement issued by Maxwell Franklin Wood, apointed by Bush in 2001 to the Middle District of Georgia, who was included on Elston's list, has got to take the prize:
“I do not feel obligated to respond to media reports based on unnamed sources concerning a list not confirmed by the Department of Justice, that I have never seen, and which was compiled by a person I do not recall ever meeting who no longer works for the Department of Justice.”"
This is a really strange statement. Wonder what they have on him to get him to include so many talking points in one statement that could have been better handled with two words, "no comment."
Big Dick wrote on May 18, 2007 5:38 PM:Friday Night News Dump: Alberto Out At 5?
Hey guess who might be resigning in about 90 minutes?
A source from the WH tells me Gonzo will be out.
Announcement around 5pm today to minimize news coverage.
Well, that would be fun.
Please send more of these anonymous tips and we’ll run them. Eventually, the rumor always becomes The Truth.
http://wonkette.com/politics/dept%27-of-for-what-it.s-worth/friday-night-news-dump-alberto-out-at-5-261767.php
powkat wrote on May 18, 2007 5:58 PM:"Dude, sorry I put your name on the list, I was just, you know, bulls**tting with the AG. Oh, but hey, like if Congress asks, don't say I said anything, okay? Thanks, dude, you rock."
Anonymous wrote on May 18, 2007 6:28 PM:Typical dookie douchie. Elston is a Duke grad. I have no doubt he learned this underhandedness from the master- Republican Coach K. Elston probably took his "Business Ethics" class.
Anonymous wrote on May 18, 2007 6:31 PM:Code Word: hope
As in one can only hope Coach K gets drawn into this whole sordid affair.
"Dude, sorry I put your name on the list, I was just, you know, bulls**tting with the AG. Oh, but hey, like if Congress asks, don't say I said anything, okay? Thanks, dude, you rock."
Posted by: powkat
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA! Sad thing is I bet that is essentially how it went down.
Richard L. Adlof wrote on May 18, 2007 6:43 PM:Sic semper tyrannis. Elston will be eating alone in the cafeteria with his back to the wall . . . for a long time coming.
mo2 wrote on May 18, 2007 7:31 PM:Who asked Elston to compile a list in October and who recommended each name he listed?
Anonymous wrote on May 18, 2007 7:49 PM:Apologize for being off topic but apparently McCain told Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) "Fuck you!"
Anonymous wrote on May 18, 2007 8:09 PM:"Wait a second here," Cornyn said to McCain. "I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line."
"[Expletive] you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room," shouted McCain at Cornyn.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2007/05/mccain_cornyn_cursing_showdown.html
Just looked at the WP article the commenter @7:49 referenced.
"...a curse associated with chickens..."
???
Anonymous wrote on May 18, 2007 8:18 PM:I'll take "chickenshit" for 20 Alex.
Xman wrote on May 19, 2007 11:24 AM:Geez! All this without even having to waterboard first???!!!
"Names, just give me some names"
Xman wrote on May 19, 2007 11:27 AM:Name associuated with chickens?
Pompano Pete Jr wrote on May 19, 2007 2:05 PM:How about "cocks**ker"?
You can take the fighter pilot out of the Navy, but you can't take the Navy out of the fighter pilot. Cripes, McCain has been talking like that his entire adult life. That's why it's called "salty language".
regular lurker wrote on May 19, 2007 3:06 PM:Shorter Elston: Hey buddy. Just business. Nothing personal.
regular lurker wrote on May 19, 2007 3:11 PM:By the way, I just can't get over what cowards the Bushies are.
Barry from Alaska wrote on May 19, 2007 3:23 PM:I guess he didn't like getting called a goon and a thug.
sailmaker wrote on May 19, 2007 4:27 PM:I want to know why, all the sudden, the Republican legislature felt it a good idea to complain about the USAs. It is not usual to fire a USA midterm. The provision in the renewal of the Patriot Act was not common knowledge - or was it, amongst Republicans? Who put out the word that the USA jobs were up for review? If we can figure that out, we can pull threads to find out who made the list, and why the USAs were fired.
R. Nixon wrote on May 19, 2007 11:01 PM:On another topic-in case anyone was wondering when Barak Obama joined the "farm team" of those running the world-here's the story (from wikipedia article on Obama): after attending Columbia Univ. (a school that some have said is on "team weasel" along with Yale-for sure- when it comes to political science) he worked for a year for "Business International Corp."-a wikipedia article on that co. says they had HQ. in N.Y.C. but offices in cities around the world, including Geneva, Hong Kong, Vienna. Obama-who was probably told about the job by a prof. at Columbia, conveniently- no doubt (no doubt at all) learned "something important" here about who runs the world ( just like Clinton did as a Rhodes scholar when he read Carroll Quigley's book "Tragedy & Hope"-Cecil Rhodes was set up "by certain intl. banking families" in part to extract the wealth of Africa on their behalf-as in: gold, diamonds). Business International Corp. specialized in roundtable conferences "bringing together senior business execs. with key government figures in capital cities around the globe". This company has all (as in:"every one of" ) the earmarks of similar "world controlling/influencing groups " like the Council on Foreign Relations", Roundtable group of London, Bilderburgers, etc. Later, the Business International Corp. was sold to The Economist Group of London -who are owned (wikipedia info. again) partly by another company and partly by a group of individuals-including members of the Rothschild family-and anyone who knows anything knows what this means. So the bottom line is: Obama was identified very early on as a "farm team member" exactly like Bill Clinton was (the year before Clinton ran for president he -"the semi-lowly gov. of Arkansas- "was invited to" his first Bildeburger meeting). Obama was groomed and promoted/financed for "some important job for team weasel" and at some point they figured that he would "make an appropriate" president-unless, of course, the "people" happen to like their other handpicked choice-as in Hlllary ( trustworthy clone of "team weasel member" Bill) or their other handpicked outside choice: Edwards (after all, Edwards was picked as v.p. by Kerry-bad sign, since Kerry is Yale-Skull & Bones-like all the Bush family. Kerry covered up the BCCI banking scandal when he was on the congressional committee looking into it-by refusing, at a ceratin point, to investigate further-which wouldn't have been nice for Geo. Bush Sr.) This explains all the major media attention-and guess who owns the major media, lock stock & barrell- Obama (as in "Obama WHO !?! " ) started getting "out of the blue" around about 4 years ago."In case you didn't notice at the time " that's about when it was suddenly "Obama here, Obama there-Obama this, Obama that" . Maybe this explains the sly smile Obama always seems to have on his face, along with Jackass George Bush (and Bush's co-weaselbrain Rove), and Cheney (although his is a perpetual combo smile/ smirk. He takes his role on ""As the (controlled) World Turns" apparently more seriously than the others, perhaps?.Of course all of this is just a "conspiracy theory"( remember: there is no such concept anymore called "conspiracy fact"). It's right up there with the theory of the alleged existence of the easter bunny. Can you say "easter bunny ?"-I bet ya can!
Mick Andaboys wrote on May 20, 2007 3:03 AM:And now back to our regular blog comments.... "Chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter, 'bout schmatta, schmatta, schmatta.... Does it matter?, does it matter? "
Keith Andaboys wrote on May 20, 2007 3:06 AM:"This town is full of money grabbers-go ahead, bite the big apple-don't mind the maggots!"
Buck wrote on May 20, 2007 8:00 AM:I want to know why, all the sudden, the Republican legislature felt it a good idea to complain about the USAs. It is not usual to fire a USA midterm. The provision in the renewal of the Patriot Act was not common knowledge - or was it, amongst Republicans? Who put out the word that the USA jobs were up for review? If we can figure that out, we can pull threads to find out who made the list, and why the USAs were fired.
Posted by: sailmaker
Date: May 19, 2007 04:27 PM
BINGO!
Piglystick wrote on May 20, 2007 12:12 PM:It looks to me that there is an approach in this USA thing that is being missed.
Yes we know that "voter fraud" and "Democratic Party Corruption" were focal points of USAs duties and those that did not follow the whitehouses lead on this were fired. I think this is one of the reasons for Mr Bush's rock solid faith which some folks felt misplaced in the last election cycle (2006). Remember how Mr. Bush was convinced that the elections would go the Republicans way even though the polls seemed to indicate otherwise ? This is not surprising - After all the poll results were based on registered voters and Bush et al could, would and did delberately disinfranchise these registered voters particularly in "swing states".
The elections are not the only issue with the USAs - the USA were also coached to delay, avoid, or screw up investigations and / or legal actions. We have seen this path taken in the Mariannas, in Alaska, in North Carolina, in Florida, in Michigan and so on.
The USA's not only followed this administration's lead on skewing elections but also protected folks (particularly those folks that could suply financial support or votes) from criminal prosecution.
Folks this is a criminal conspriacy, nothing less. It goes beyond simple voter fraud.
molly wrote on May 20, 2007 2:01 PM:Here here..I'll second that criminal conspiracy...to commit fraud. Like all bushco big wigs going sround selling the war with same lies. Bush vs. US et al..Elizabeth de Varga. Former prosecuter for about 20 years. Criminal conspiracy to commit fraud.
MisterApologist wrote on May 20, 2007 2:51 PM:On my website I’ve exposed Monica Goodling and her boyfriend/Assistant US Attorney for Virginia Richard Parker (with 4 pictures)…. (she most likely got him the job)
(http://misterapologist.blogspot.com/)
Its already been reported that the US Attorney for Western Virginia, John Brownlee, was the FIRST name on the list of 5 possible candidates for firing ……
… Perhaps it would be pertinent to ask how Goodling’s boyfriend got the job as Assistant U.S. Attorney in Virginia… and perhaps it might be a good time to figure out why the US Attorney from Virginia (a battleground state) was put on the termination list….
ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© wrote on May 20, 2007 5:46 PM:Nice research, Mr. Apologist.
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Laser Haas wrote on October 11, 2007 7:55 PM:Colm F Connolly as US Attorney has refused to prosecute the eToys fraud, perjury and racketeering matters for over 3 years.
It involves more than $300 million in fraud issues in the bankruptcy cases of eToys, KB and Stage Stores.
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Bain, Stage, KB, SanKaty and other entites were owned, controlled or operated under the auspice of Mitt Romney.
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The Law firms of TBF and MNAT have confessed to filing multiple false affidavits.
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Now it is discovered, after Colm F Connolly is being nominated to be a Federal Dist Court Judge, by his resume becoming public, that Colm Connolly's office has yet to prosecute the $300 million in fraud and over 19 acts of confessed false affidavits, (after being warned not to do so). Where it is discovered that Colm Connolly was a partner with the MNAT law firm in 2001 when the Fraud and Perjury began.
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www.wjfa.net/bk/etoys.html
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