Think Progress

Justice weighed firing 26 attorneys.

By Nico Pitney on May 17th, 2007 at 12:57 am

Justice weighed firing 26 attorneys.

A blockbuster Washington Post story out tonight: “The Justice Department considered dismissing many more U.S. attorneys than officials have previously acknowledged, with at least 26 prosecutors suggested for termination between February 2005 and December 2006.”

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales testified last week that the effort was limited to eight U.S. attorneys fired since last June, and other administration officials have said that only a few others were suggested for removal.

In fact, D. Kyle Sampson, then Gonzales’s chief of staff, considered more than two dozen U.S. attorneys for termination, according to lists compiled by him and his colleagues, the sources said.

They amounted to more than a quarter of the nation’s 93 U.S. attorneys. Thirteen of those known to have been targeted are still in their posts. [...]

The number of names on the lists demonstrates the breadth of the search for prosecutors to dismiss. The names also hint at a casual process in which the people who were most consistently considered for replacement were not always those ultimately told to leave.



42 Responses to “Justice weighed firing 26 attorneys.”

  1. Mr. President says:

    The fact is any of them could have been fired, it’s not a big deal. If you start slippin’ up at your job, your gonna get fired.


  2. Gregor Samsa says:

    26!! Twenty-bloody-six!?

    There is no limit to the arrogance in this administration…


  3. Gregor Samsa says:

    Comment by Mr. President — May 17, 2007 @ 1:03 am

    Most of the US attorneys fired had received compliments on their performance -bucking the administration’s contention that they were fired for being under-performers.

    McNulty already testified that at least one was fired to make room for a former White House aid.

    But don’t let the facts get in the way of your loyalties, Mr P.


  4. JT8D-15A says:

    The fact is any of them could have been fired, it’s not a big deal. If you start slippin’ up at your job, your gonna get fired. Comment by Mr. President

    Does that sentiment extend to Mr Wolfowitz Mr P.?


  5. Mr. President says:

    Does that sentiment extend to Mr Wolfowitz Mr P.?

    Comment by JT8D-15A — May 17, 2007 @ 1:17 am

    It does. It extends to the President of the United States for that matter.


  6. Buck Fush says:

    Yah know the crimes are so vast that really my head is exploding….to much crime to take in at once. No wonder the public is totally overloaded on this stuff. And Jack Russel Terriors are a sheading nightmare this time of year. I rescued one and he is like a TV movie dog but wow, does he shead.

    Loving dogs and hating Repukian Scum daily


  7. Jay Randal says:

    Bush digs firing decent people and replacing them with scum.


  8. VerbalKint says:

    Wait, trolls, let me guess: The CIC can fire ‘em whenever he likes, for whatever reason.

    There. I said it for you. So just shut up.


  9. ValiantVenusGrewFromUranus says:

    It does. It extends to the President of the United States for that matter. Comment by Mr. President — May 17, 2007 @ 1:19 am

    So you’re finally calling for your own impeachment? Dum bass?


  10. Mr. President says:

    Comment by ValiantVenusGrewFromUranus — May 17, 2007 @ 1:24 am

    I defy you to produce the logic which led to that conclusion.


  11. ValiantVenusGrewFromUranus says:

    I defy you to produce the logic which led to that conclusion.
    Comment by Mr. President — May 17, 2007 @ 1:29 am

    Oh, dear child, are we doing this again? Poor st*pid little twit, you really are too thick to Luhrn, aren’t you?


  12. troll alert says:

  13. libra says:

    They’d have been way better off if they had fired all 93 at the beginning of the 2nd term, and then replaced them, selectively, “to suit”.

    Wholesale clean-up *then*, even with the same party remaining for second term, would have looked less odd than firing 8 half-way *into* the second term. They could have achieved the same goals (total partisan control of DoJ) and nobody would have even blinked (much less asked questions), because, of course, it *is* the prex’s priviledge.

    Sigh… Repubs are suuuuch idiots. They’re as good as wannabe authoritarians as the the Miami/Lackawanna/Fort Dix nuts were as wannabe terra-ists…


  14. RUCerious says:

    Hey! They needed room for the poor neglected incompetent cronies!
    Sheesh!~!


  15. Jay Randal says:

    Boy I am surprised that Bush did not fire every last US attorney in America. He has a bunch of cronies that needed jobs, but heck they prefer to steal money and not work for it.


  16. Damian says:

    WOW!

    This could be the watershed story, if only it gets the widestream press it deserves.

    Do your JOBS, people!!!


  17. Sharon says:

    I want them all to go down for the illegal wire tapping..That’s where the real Impeachable offences are, that and war crimes…Blessings


  18. Gregor Samsa says:

    Off topic but relevant:

    Wolfowitz hopes to evade some responsibility for promoting his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, and giving her an enormous pay raise, as compensation for forcing her to leave the World Bank when he took the reins.
    Riza was moved – against her will – to the State Department, where her pay climbed from almost $133,000 to $193,590, albeit in stages. For that, Wolfowitz feels the World Bank is partly to blame.

    Wolfowitz negotiating deal to quit World Bank


  19. Ben Dover says:

    Wasn’t it Gerogie Boy who said during the 2000 campaign that if elected he would “return honor and dignity to the White House?”


  20. We The People says:

    That these little pissants and the larger pissants whom they whore for imagine that the United States, our nation of 350 million people, is their personal petri dish to piss in, is a fact that in an earlier era would most certainly have seen them swing. While censure, impeachment, trial and imprisonment of Cheney, Bush, Rove, Gonzales, and on down the line is far too good for them, it is now mandatory, not optional if America is to regain any legitimacy, period. Our Senate, Congress, CIA, FBI, Judicial, Law enforcement and military are not blameless either, but they, unlike the pied pipers whose tune they have heretofore danced to, still do have a unique and historic opportunity to now, finally, do the right thing. Americans and the entire world are watching, hoping, and praying that they do.


  21. Perry Logan says:

    This was the Republicans’ last chance to game the elections. It’s all over for them now.


  22. We The People says:

    That these little pissants and the larger pissants whom they whore for imagine that the United States, our nation of 350 million people, is their personal petri dish to piss in, is a fact that in an earlier era would most certainly have seen them swing. While censure, impeachment, trial and imprisonment of Cheney, Bush, Rove, Gonzales, and on down the line is far too good for them, it is now mandatory, not optional if America is to regain any legitimacy, period. Our Senate, Congress, CIA, FBI, Judicial, Law enforcement and military are not blameless either, but they, unlike the pied pipers whose tune they have heretofore danced to, still do have a unique and historic opportunity to now, finally, do the right thing. Americans and the entire world are watching, hoping, and praying that they do.

    .


  23. leftcoast says:

    “…censure, impeachment, trial and imprisonment of Cheney, Bush, Rove, Gonzales…it is now mandatory, not optional if America is to regain any legitimacy, period.”-Comment by We The People

    Absolutely. Whether congress has the votes or not, it doesn’t matter; We must show those (especially youth) in our country who are growing skeptical of democracy and other countries who looked to us as an example of the “grand experiment” that we are capable of righting this listing ship.
    Pelosi and Reid seem hell bent to just let the crimes of this administration go unchallenged for political reasons. Well, they are derelict in their Constitutional duties and sworn oath to uphold the laws. If they can’t impeach then they should be recalled.


  24. Ben Dover says:

    The most interesting, telling, and chilling thing about the troll comments is their blatant disregard for the truth. Even if Bush wanted to fire all 93 US Attorney’s (which is his prerogative) the fact remains that since this issue was first brought to light, the DOJ officials, with few exceptions, have lied through their teeth about what went on and why. Had the DOJ officials not had anything they wanted to hide, why are they lying? Considering that Kyle Sampson and others have testified under oath, and their comments are being shown to be a lie based on other evidence, that would constitute perjury.

    Wikipedia has this to say about perjury

    Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful. Perjury is considered a serious offense as it can be used to usurp the power of the courts, resulting in miscarriages of justice. In the United States, for example, the general perjury statute under Federal law provides for a prison sentence of up to five years, and is found at 18 U.S.C. § 1621. See also 28 U.S.C. § 1746.

    Now, to me, if we have an alleged “president’ who, during the 2000 campaign vowed to “return honor and dignity to the White House” you would think that same alleged “president” would do the honorable thing and reprimand or fire those who have lied under oath (a.k.a. perjury). That hasn’t happened and in fact that same alleged “president” is openly defending the head person running the DOJ.

    Thats the issue. Unfortunately the Republic Party flunkies here trolling the thread are incapable of understanding that is the issue. We could care less about bush exercising his prerogative to fire 93 USA’s or 9300 USA’s (if there were that many). The issue is lying and deception. I guess those are Republic Family Values they cant extract themselves from.


  25. am says:

    For those calling “Mr. President” a troll, I think it’s called satire or irony, perhaps.


  26. Mugsy says:

    You KNOW they are pushing these numbers up to get closer to the magic “every single prosecutor” number so they can equate what they did to Reagan, Bush-I and Clinton changing out all Federal Prosecutors without prejudice.

    The more prosecutors they can throw into the mix, the more they can argue this wasn’t a Partisan thing.
    .


  27. jeff says:

    Let’s not forget that they were firing these guys because they

    slipped

    a provision into the Patriot Act which allowed them to be replaced without Senate approval.

    Like a thief in the night they wanted to obstruct justice, electioneer, and increase their power.


  28. Ben Dover says:

    #27. I think you’ll find that the “patriot” act allows them to appoint USA’s without Senate approval. I dont believe the “patriot” act says anything about getting rid of them.


  29. Barbarian says:

    The fact is any of them could have been fired, it’s not a big deal. If you start slippin’ up at your job, your gonna get fired.

    Comment by Mr. President

    You wanna talk about irony, this is all covered in it, and it’s quite gooey. Except the slipping up started a long, long time ago, unfortunately not in a galaxy far away.


  30. gummitch says:

    For those calling “Mr. President” a troll, I think it’s called satire or irony, perhaps.

    Comment by am

    In other words: trolling. Go read some more Mr President posts on other threads. Guy’s a classic (and no, mr.p. that isn’t a compliment; the behavior is not an indication of good mental health).


  31. John Hanks says:

    Can anyone doubt that these people routinely use blackmail, extortion and fabrication of evidence? Nothing is too dirty for the 911 crowd.
    Round them up. Take them to Leavenworth. Give them public defenders.


  32. DM says:

    Impeachment is a simple majority vote in the House.

    Then it goes to the Senate for removal.

    Congress has the votes to impeach, but not to remove.


  33. Can-O-Whoop-Ass says:

    But Clinton weighed getting 26 blowjobs!!!!


  34. Kate Henry says:

    You know, I am more worried about the US Attorneys who were not considered for sacking. What have they done or are doing to keep their jobs. I would like to see Congress interview them and ask them about who they are prosecuting and investigating. It would be interesting to see what they are doing. I would also like to see Congress investigate what happened to the cases the US Attorneys were pursuing that brought about their firing. As an example, what happened to Carol Lamb’s investigations?

    For the trolls, do you really think it is a good idea to make the Justice Department into an arm of a political party. Would you think it was OK if it was the Democrats who were doing this? I know you won’t answer, you never answer any question directed to you, but if you were honest, you would say “hell no it’s not ok”.


  35. Briseadh na Faire says:

    Impeachment is a simple majority vote in the House.

    Then it goes to the Senate for removal.

    Congress has the votes to impeach, but not to remove.

    Comment by DM — May 17, 2007 @ 9:04 am

    Good. Let’s impeach Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, Rice, then get the testimony out to the public during the Senate Trial.

    Let the American People see the evidence of High Crimes and Misdemeanors. Then, let the Republicans fall in lock-step to keep their leader in power. That might be just what it takes to wake up the American People to the fact that we live under One-Party Rule, in a de facto dictatorship.


  36. Kate Henry says:

    “If you start slippin’ up at your job, your gonna get fired.”

    You’re right Mr. President. If you can’t get with the program you should be fired. The problem is that the program for the justice department should be serving the people of the United States not a political party.


  37. Kate Henry says:

    I see that Jake is wearing his Mr. President persona today.


  38. veritas says:

    I guess another 18 purged might attract just a bit more attention than they preferred. That’s probably the ONLY reason it wasn’t done. Guess they don’t care much for the new attention to the NSA illegal wiretapping of Americans either – with Comey’s damning testimony yesterday, do they? The cat’s out of the bag now about how critical it was to reauthorize this act – as critical as “breaking the law themselves” to see it through, apparently.

    Out with the thugs in this administration! There’s enough clear evidence that these individuals DO NOT deserve the positions they hold and have betrayed the american people. It’s appallingly DISGUSTING!


  39. veritas says:

    #23 Your’re absolutely correcomundo! Congress now has an IMPERATIVE and OBLIGATION to censure and begin impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney. When evidence of “high crimes & misdemeanors” is present (multiple lies and obstruction of justice), it is no longer a “choice” for Congress but, more accurately, a mandate that they proceed toward impeachment.

    I’d say that Gonzo will be gone by the end of next week; Rove and Rice will be indicted for their lies and complicity in multiple violations of the law; and Bush & cheney will be impeached.

    Besides, reinstating a sense of pride and respect in our highest of offices, it is imperative that we send a strong message to the international community that this country is not a land of hypocrites and we can “police our own” in upholding this constitution.

    Otherwise, the handwriting is on the wall and the US will slip into obscurity as a third world country or worse…..wholly owned by Communist China to whom we owe a burgeoning national debt.

    Which way will it go??? It’s up the american people to press Congress to fulfill their “obligation to the people” and begin censuring proceedings and impeachment.


  40. RS Olive says:

    Take a look at the WP link where you will see that one listed was BOP contributor, Christopher J. Christie, while he was in the middle of investigating a democrat.

    In avoiding age discrimination litigation, one of the favorite tactics is to create layoff plans that actually include a few people who are nearing retirement…”See? We don’t discriminate on age, we kept good ol’ Charley and fine ol’ Hank.” If you want to get rid of the guys who a) won’t help purge democratic voters or b) investigate corrupt republicans, include a couple of sacrificial lambs like Christie. Keep the list quiet for a while (please don’t throw me in that br’ar patch) and then use it to refute the concept of political targeting.


  41. Mr. President says:

    In other words: trolling. Go read some more Mr President posts on other threads. Guy’s a classic (and no, mr.p. that isn’t a compliment; the behavior is not an indication of good mental health).

    Comment by gummitch — May 17, 2007 @ 8:59 am

    Thanks, gummo, your too kind.


  42. Mr. President says:

    For the trolls, do you really think it is a good idea to make the Justice Department into an arm of a political party. Would you think it was OK if it was the Democrats who were doing this? I know you won’t answer, you never answer any question directed to you, but if you were honest, you would say “hell no it’s not ok”.

    Comment by Kate Henry — May 17, 2007 @ 9:20 am

    Actually, when ever I see a question directed at me I always try to answer.

    I can only speak for myself, but the way I see it, it’s not a problem if JD is constituted of like minded people, so long as the shared beliefs represent the shared beliefs of the majority of Americans.

    This applies to either party, so if I Democrat were doing the same thing, again, it would be fine so long as it promoted the shared beliefs of the majority of Americans.



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