[Vision2020] Rove, Gonzalez Linked to Firings

Tony tonytime at clearwire.net
Fri Mar 16 08:01:34 PDT 2007


Tom, a sitting president has every right to fire and replace judges whom he 
deems to be incompetent or who fail to adhere to his judicial perspective. 
Bush is only doing his job just as every president before him.  No story, no 
cause for alarm or hysteria.

Get some rest.

-Tony
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
To: "Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 7:17 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] Rove, Gonzalez Linked to Firings


> >From today's (March 16, 2007) Spokesman Review -
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Rove, Gonzalez linked to firings
> E-mail refers to 'loyal Bushies'
>
> Ron Hutcheson and Margaret Talev
> McClatchy
> March 16, 2007
>
> WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced more pressure to 
> resign
> Thursday as new evidence suggested that he and presidential adviser Karl
> Rove played bigger roles in developing plans to fire U.S. attorneys than
> they've acknowledged.
>
> Rove has been President Bush's chief political adviser since Bush's first
> campaign for Texas governor, and the latest developments angered members 
> of
> Congress and created new credibility problems for the administration.
>
> Democrats cited Rove's involvement as more evidence that the firings were
> intended to purge prosecutors who refused to let partisan politics 
> influence
> criminal investigations.
>
> Administration e-mails from early January 2005 show that Rove and Gonzales
> were directly involved in the initial planning to oust prosecutors who'd
> fallen out of favor. Recounting in an e-mail a conversation he'd had with
> Gonzales, aide Kyle Sampson said that they'd decided to replace 15 percent
> to 20 percent of the 93 U.S. attorneys while retaining those who "are 
> doing
> a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc."
>
> At the time, Gonzales was serving as White House counsel while awaiting
> confirmation to become attorney general. Sampson became his chief of staff
> at the Justice Department and continued to oversee planning for a mass
> firing. Sampson resigned earlier this week amid the growing controversy 
> over
> the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys last year.
>
> An e-mail from another White House aide said that Rove wanted to know "how
> we planned to proceed regarding US Attorneys, whether we were going to 
> allow
> all to stay, request resignations from all and accept only some of them, 
> or
> selectively replace them, etc."
>
> The e-mails, which the Justice Department released after the contents were
> leaked to ABC News, call into question Gonzales' assertion that he was
> essentially in the dark about the plans to dismiss federal prosecutors.
>
> Despite expressions of support from Bush, prominent Republicans openly
> discussed the possibility of Gonzales' resignation. On Capitol Hill, House
> of Representatives and Senate committees pressed ahead with their
> investigations into the firings.
>
> One Republican, Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, has publicly urged
> President Bush to fire Gonzales. Still another GOP lawmaker, this one in 
> the
> House and not ready to speak out publicly, said Thursday he planned to 
> call
> next week for Gonzales to step down. And Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., said
> Thursday that Gonzales had lost the confidence of Congress.
>
> While Gonzales prepared to defend himself, the Senate Judiciary Committee
> laid the groundwork to subpoena top officials from the Justice Department
> and the White House if necessary.
>
> The White House downplayed the significance of the e-mails but backed away
> from earlier statements that the plan to fire all 93 U.S. attorneys
> originated with former White House counsel Harriet Miers and was swiftly
> rejected by Gonzales and Rove.
>
> "I do not have the specific answer for you as to whose idea it was," said
> White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
>
> The Justice Department issued a statement saying that Gonzales "has no
> recollection of any plan or discussion to replace U.S. attorneys while he
> was still White House counsel."
>
> In a speech earlier in the day at Troy University in Troy, Ala., Rove
> dismissed the controversy as "a lot of politics" and said the U.S. 
> attorney
> firings were proper.
>
> "We're at a point where people are playing politics with it, and that's
> fine," Rove said.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Generally, as new presidents assume office they replace US attorneys 
> either
> thru attrition (allowing contracts to expire) or termination.  Although it
> is true that Bill Clinton had fired all 93 US attorneys, this had occurred
> during the early days of his first term.  George Bush is half way through
> his second term.
>
> Another footnote:  It appears that Karl Rove's name is being linked to 
> more
> and more questionable activities.  When will he be held accountable?
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> **************************************************************
>
> "A bad cause will ever be supported by bad means and bad men."
>
> - Thomas Paine (English Writer, 1737-1809)
>
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