BREAKING: Top White House Officials Subpoenaed Over Attorney Scandal
BREAKING: Top White House Officials Subpoenaed Over Attorney Scandal
Former White House counsel Harriet Miers and former top Karl Rove aide Sara Taylor, who served as White House political director before resigning last month, have been issued subpoenas over their connections to the U.S. attorney scandal.
UPDATE: These are the first subpoenas delivered to the White House regarding the attorney firings. The House Judiciary Committee issued the subpoena to Miers, and the Senate Judiciary Committee issued the subpoena to Taylor. Emails showing Taylor and Miers deeply involved in the Justice Department’s response to the scandal were released last night.
UPDATE II: The AP reports, “The Senate Judiciary Committee’s subpoena for Taylor compels her to testify on July 11, while the House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena for Miers compels her testimony the next day.”
UPDATE III: CNN’s legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin reports, “The White House has made clear it will cite executive privilege for conversations that took place within the White House on the U.S. attorney matter, and if the people with those conversations happen to have subsequently left the White House, that doesn’t matter. They’re still going to cite executive privilege, and these people are not going to be allowed to testify anytime soon, it appears, if the White House remains as it has been. … Even if they want to testify.”
UPDATE IV: Statement from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI):
Let me be clear: this subpoena is not a request, it is a demand on behalf of the American people for the White House to make available the documents and individuals we are requesting to help us answer the questions that remain. The breadcrumbs in this investigation have always led to 1600 Pennsylvania.
Statement from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT):
The White House cannot have it both ways — it cannot stonewall congressional investigations by refusing to provide documents and witnesses, while claiming nothing improper occurred. … Some at the White House may hope to thwart our constitutional oversight efforts by locking the doors and closing the curtains, but we will keep asking until we get to the truth.
UPDATE V: In Leahy’s letter to Fielding today subpoenaing White House documents, he expresses his frustration that the White House continued to offer only “off-the-record interviews” related to the U.S. attorney investigation. ThinkProgress has obtained a copy of White House counsel Fred Fielding’s June 7 letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, reiterating the White House’s narrow offer HERE.
UPDATE VI: Subpoena for Harriet Miers is HERE.
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Finally - now it’s time to get tough.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:31 amGo figure. I just finished readibng all the emails on the other thread, hit the refresh button and wham!! Subpoenas issued.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:31 amnice. next step?
June 13th, 2007 at 10:31 am“I don’t recall”
June 13th, 2007 at 10:32 am**Breaking News**
Reddenbacher stock soars!
June 13th, 2007 at 10:32 amwhy not Rovey himself? they seem to be intentionally pussyfooting here…
June 13th, 2007 at 10:33 amAnd Rove hasn’t been subpoenaed because?
June 13th, 2007 at 10:33 amHarriet Miers is soon to occupy her proper place in a courtroom.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:33 amSo, what happened to the Bob Barr “Let’s get the gays back into the military so our straight sons and daughters won’t have to carry the load” story that was just posted, then pulled down.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:36 amThat’s great but…
Here comes the obvious Executive Privelege obstruction technique. It will end up in the courts, where it will stay until January ‘09.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:37 amOne slug at a time….justice rolls on.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:37 amSo does a subpoena mean they can just write a letter, or do they have to actually show up? When they don’t show up, will anything actually be done about that? What if they show up and say “I don’t recall” a million times?
June 13th, 2007 at 10:38 amRemember how this work’s poster’s..Don’t get to excited that some good may come of this, they are still picking our pocket’s while keeping our head’s busy with little tidbit’s that often don’t pan out..Untill arrest warrent’s are issued or impeachment passed we still are in one hell of a mess…Blessings
June 13th, 2007 at 10:38 amit’s okay, the white house just hired 9 more lawyers.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:40 amWhen the walls come tumblin’ down
June 13th, 2007 at 10:40 amWhen the walls come crumblin’ crumblin’
When the walls come tumblin’ down
In need of a reminder… have these two refused to appear voluntarily?
June 13th, 2007 at 10:40 amwhy not rove? you cant …
so you work your way up through the underlings, unturning stones until you reach a point of critical mass and the whole thing just topples over. back in his prosecutor days, this is how Guiliani busted Michael Milliken and his junk bond scheme.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:40 amSUB-POE-NAED
SUBWAY-POE-NAED
SUB-PEE-NUD
SUB-WITHPICKLES-NAED
June 13th, 2007 at 10:40 am“Sorry Senator Leahy, but I don’t recall that e-mail, or that meeting, or my first name.”
June 13th, 2007 at 10:41 amMy prediction. They will punish some small fishes, maybe some middle one. People will feel happy. Big fishes will keep laughing.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:42 amYeah and Chimpy will just invoke Executive Priveledge AGAIN. The game of cat & mouse continues adnauseum. Only impeachment hearings will get these stonewalling scumbags to testify. As far as I know and hopefully a lawyer could confirm this for me, Executive Priveledge is “off the table” in the event of impeachment hearings. ALL subpoenas for testimony and documents would legally HAVE to be forthcoming.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:43 amWhat happened to the Subpoena that was sent to Condi. Rice two months ago by Congressman H. Waxman?!!
June 13th, 2007 at 10:45 amNow we all know the reason why Harriet Miers resigned her position as counsel to the President. She knew that she was caught with her feet deep in the scandal. Yeah.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:46 amMy prediction. They will punish some small fishes, maybe some middle one. People will feel happy. Big fishes will keep laughing.
Comment by Juan C
Buzzkill…
:-)
June 13th, 2007 at 10:46 amI live for Thinkprogress.org, for their Subpoenaes.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:47 amMaybe they’re waiting until Bush is out of office - and unable to pardon the criminals who did their dirty deeds in his name - to unravel the whole stinkin’ enterprise known, jokingly, as The Bush Administration.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:47 amWhat amazes me is that the media spends more time worrying about whether or not Paris Hilton is getting preferential treatment rather than investigating this administration.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:47 amBuild the case against Rover one brick at a time.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:48 amWhen the case is build, you’ll have a brick shithouse to house his criminal ass for the next 20 years.
I do know that Clade Allen was poe-poed by the poeleece.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:48 amThis is actually being reported on the MSM! Amazing!
I can’t wait to see the stunning ensemble Harriet will choose for her Judiciary Committee debut.
Or, in the alternative, I can’t wait for the shitstorm of whining by the WH regarding Harriet’s non-existent alleged “Executive Privilege.”
June 13th, 2007 at 10:49 amIt is time for Bush to fire Rove (not happening) and Cheney (not giving up his seat at the table). But first we have to get have Rove and Cheney gone and then Bush. We don’t want Bush to leave first to get Cheney as president. No way!!!!!
June 13th, 2007 at 10:50 am#13 ….. Good view Sharon,
I’m remembering Bush’s words in the aftermath of last Novembers elections, when he stated he was “going to sprint to the finish line”, and followed up by pressing all administrative agencies to push quickly their disruptive goals.
Alberto Gonzales used precisely the same “sprint to the finish line” statement on the heels of the failure of his no-confidence vote.
We are seeing on a daily basis this mis-administrations efforts to present corrupt and unqualified candidates for government positions.
Even as these insidious characters fail to pass confirmation hearings, they still waste the time, energy and resources of the Legislature, while the Bush administration continues to dismantle our Republic.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:50 amRecent examples: Holsinger and Von Spakovsky
At least another miserably poor candidate for public service (Miers) is finally going to have her day in court!
And it will be from the other side of the bench!
At the very least, these hearings and investigations keep a lot of politicians busy enough that they can’t put into action any more hurtful ideas. They also continue to shine the spotlight on what has previously been in total darkness. Let the cockroaches scurry, even if we can’t or don’t squish any big ones.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:51 amBuzzkill…
:-)
Comment by Zooey
??? Whats that, Zoo? I dont understand :(
BTW, do anyone know anything about Bluedog?
June 13th, 2007 at 10:52 amIn the middle of the most recent doc dump (OAG000001795) at the very bottom there is an email from Harriet Miers to William Kelley that reads:
“I am quite surprised that we would engage on whether a personnel action on a Presidential appointment is justified for the reasons I have stated earlier. We can see what the Chief thinks.”
Who exactly is “the Chief” she’s referring to?
June 13th, 2007 at 10:52 amWait, is the WH required to immediately follow the subpeanas? Can they fight it in the courts?
June 13th, 2007 at 10:52 amStart the “I don’t recall”-O-Meter…
June 13th, 2007 at 10:53 amSo, it must be true, those thingys in Men In Black, they flash the red light, and no one remembers anything. The White House must have shitloads of them.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:56 amCNN’s legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin reports, “The White House has made clear it will cite executive privilege
June 13th, 2007 at 10:56 am_________________________
Could this be considered obstruction of justice? Further, its executive “privelege”, not executive “right” SO who or what can deny it?
The noose continues to tighten around the necks of these incompetents but I doubt that anything will come of it.
It is unfortunate that our constitution contains an “impeachment” clause. It would be much more effective if it were entitled “firing for cause”. I think the very word “impeachment” is an obstacle to doing the right thing because it seems so extreme. On the other hand — when confronted with the abortion that is the GDumbya administration — there could be no hesitation at all in firing him, Cheney, Rove and the rest of the Keystone Kops for cause.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:59 am..
June 13th, 2007 at 10:59 amI thought the military was building a gay bomb because gays are supposedly more interested in sex than doing their duty. LOL!
Gays have been in the military since the Spartans and they have fought heroically in the service of the United States.
Bob Barr should be asking Repukes to volunteer for Iraq. If they want this fiasco so badly, they should go fight it.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:00 amIn the event that the White House chooses to extend Executive Privilege to cover the investigation of criminal activity ~ which this may be, given facts already disclosed ~ it is an abuse of Executive authority that must be weighed for its impeachable quality.
Nothing in the testimony requested even remotely approaches a subject with National Security concerns, unless the activity in itself was illegal.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:01 am“I don’t remember,
I don’t recall…
I have no memory…
Of anything at all!”
- Peter Gabriel
June 13th, 2007 at 11:02 amI would love to get excited but this is going to drag on because of Bush’s executive privilege. They have the proof in the emails and other documents. Why don’t they just indict and impeach? No one will be paying attention in July, it’s summer vacation. IMPEACH THEM ALREADY! I can’t take this anymore!
June 13th, 2007 at 11:04 am??? Whats that, Zoo? I dont understand :(
Buzzkill = You’re bringing down my high, or my good mood. :)
BTW, do anyone know anything about Bluedog?
Comment by Juan C
I haven’t seen him around for several days. Don’t know anything. Sorry.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:05 amRove has not yet been called because he appears to be the central figure in the whole mess. They can call the others, get all their evidennce and then call Rove and see how his story matchhes the story already built in circles around him.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:05 am**Breaking News**
Reddenbacher stock soars!
Comment by Maalox
Heh. That finally sunk in…..
June 13th, 2007 at 11:06 amExecutive priveleges are applicable only to conversations and correspondence with and between the president. MSM should cite that fact. E.P. doe NOT apply.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:06 amImmunity coming I suspect.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:06 amI love America.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:11 amThis is just more of the same..”I can’t recall”, “I can’t recall”.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:11 amWait, is the WH required to immediately follow the subpeanas? Can they fight it in the courts?
Comment by CompTROLLER V-1
See UPDATE III, above, CT. They be fightin’ it.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:13 amSubpoenas are the Friedman Units of congressional oversight. Six months from now, when nothing’s changed, the Democrats will contemplate their next step.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:13 amI’m downloading Firefox, right now!
June 13th, 2007 at 11:13 amE.P. shouldn’t apply since the correspondence went through RNC servers (in violation of the Presidential Records Act, I might add).
Also, not sure how the holy hell this would fall under EP anyway since the only way it could be applied is if these individuals spoke about the matter with the President. If that’s what they’re saying, then impeachment HAS to be the next step.
Also, I’m pretty sure talks between Rove, his aides, and the AG don’t count under EP, although I could be wrong.
.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:20 amI’m downloading Firefox, right now!
Comment by CompTROLLER V-1
Good! So look at the update later!
June 13th, 2007 at 11:28 amThis is it, folks!
The Smoking Guns we’ve been waiting for!
June 13th, 2007 at 11:30 amHow come Karl Rove has not been subpoenaed by the Congress?
June 13th, 2007 at 11:32 amEP is just what CJ John Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, Alito & perhaps Kennedy say it means.
The result of the earlier death of the US Constitution visited upon this once great nation as a result of the sElection of GWB in 2000 by CJ Rehnquist, et al.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:32 amAmazing!
June 13th, 2007 at 11:36 amBoth CBS and CNN web news have this as their top story!
Gaining traction, it seems.
Chimpy’s “sprint to the finish line” is going to finish our nation.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:37 am“They’re still going to cite executive privilege, and these people are not going to be allowed to testify anytime soon, it appears, if the White House remains as it has been. … Even if they want to testify.â€
Now that is telling.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:37 amHow come Karl Rove has not been subpoenaed by the Congress?
Comment by Jay Randal
If I were on the Judiciary Committee, Jay, I’d want to build the foundation before I constructed the prison — around Rove.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:39 amAmazing!
Both CBS and CNN web news have this as their top story!
Gaining traction, it seems.
Comment by heyzeus
Rove is going to have to arrange for a white girl to disappear….
June 13th, 2007 at 11:41 amthese people are not going to be allowed to testify anytime soon, it appears, if the White House remains as it has been. … Even if they want to testify
Watch your back witnesses, look out for your children . . . The Mob’s gettin’ serious.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:41 am#19 Crump’s Brother:
“Sorry Senator Leahy, but I don’t recall that e-mail, or that meeting, or my first name.â€
The graphics for this is here.
Cheers,
June 13th, 2007 at 11:42 am#58 Jay Randal
How come Karl Rove has not been subpoenaed by the Congress?
He’ll just plead the fifth. It’s better to get everyone else pointing the finger in his direction. Then they won’t need his testimony.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:43 amAt some point, they won’t be able to cover up, or obfuscate anymore. There is a tipping point, where the weight of the scandal will drag everything, and everyone down.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:48 amTP - Nice of Nancy and Gang to send you Harriet’s subpeona. I’m surprised they didn’t send you over proof of service, too! Psssst…..Harriet Miers’ subpeona from the DemHouse is expected - not “we interrupt this podcast….***BREAKING NEWS***”
June 13th, 2007 at 11:51 amPay no attention to the Lurita Done hearing.
Baba Wawa has an exclusive jailhouse interview with Paris Hilton!
Jeez, we have become a nation of sheeple.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:52 amKrazny - Is Speakette Pelosi getting ready to assume the mantle of leadership??
June 13th, 2007 at 11:52 amGet the scaffolds and rope ready. It’s time to hang some crooks.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:57 amWhen I am losing faith in my government, I remember the wise words of Sunny Davis, played by Goldie Hawn, in Protocol (1984):
“You want to know something? Before I worked for the government, I’d never read the Constitution. I didn’t even begin to know how things worked. I didn’t read the newspaper, except to look up my horoscope. And I never read the Declaration of Independence. But I knew they had, the ones were talking about, the experts, they read it. They just forgot what it was about. That its about We, the People. And that’s ME. I’m We, the People. And you’re We, the People. And we’re all We, the People, all of us.
“So when they sell me that ten cent diamond ring or down the river or to some guy who wears a lot of medals, then that means they’re selling ALL of us, all of we the people. And when YOU guys spend another pile of money and when you give away or sell all those guns and tanks, and every time you invite another foreign big shot to the White House and hug and kiss him and give him presents, it has a direct effect on We the People’s lives.
“So if we don’t, I mean if I don’t know what you’re up to, and if I don’t holler and scream when I think you’re doing it wrong, and if I just mind my own business and don’t vote or care, then I just get what I deserve. So now that I’m a private citizen again, you’re going to have to watch out for me. ‘Cause I’m going to be watching all of you. Like a hawk.”
June 13th, 2007 at 11:59 amInteresting! But what will become of this. I think nothing the repugs will still get their caging and not one person will get anything more than a slap on the wrist. All of this is a waste of time since they will do nothing to stop this illegal activity. Everyone knows that they politicized the AG office and are going to cage and disenfranchise as many Dems as possible. Will all of these hearings stop the process. NO the dems lack the will to stand up to the repugs and this administration.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:00 pmExecutive Privilege is the ability to refuse searches from the Legislative and Judicial Branches. It is valid when used selectively, it is invalid when used broadly. The White House cannot refuse a search based on it simply originating within Executive authority - it must provide a functional need for confidentiality. Nixon tried this too… and the Supreme Court unanimously made him turn over the tapes.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:07 pmthe problem DM, is this supreme court is very much in the pocket of this administration. I don’t think they will rule the same, now as they did in 77. I could be wrong however.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:18 pmComment by valiant venus — June 13, 2007 @ 11:51 am
It happened a week ago, ding bat. Making it public doesn’t mean shit. I got served in a divorce and it was public records. What is your point? There is something sick about female troglodytes.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:25 pmYes, this approach is achieving all kinds of success.
This is all happening while the blood of our soldiers and Iraqis flows like a river in the middle east, and torture and human rights abuses are being perpetrated by the US government upon foreigners and its own citizenry.
Corruption is an important issue to address by our congress. As is our energy fiasco. And the global climate crisis. And the atrocious state of our health care system. And the genocide in Africa. And the left-behind education system. And the welfare of our own citizens.
But shouldn’t the cessation of the murder, oppression, and torture that WE, the nation of peoples known as the United States of America, are openly perpetrating in the Middle East be OUR FIRST PRIORITY?
Instead we sit here and cheer like petulant children over the show hearings of various bimbos and the conviction of the evil, dastardly, and globally feared political terrorist known mostly by his uber feared knickname – “Scooterâ€.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:26 pmUPDATE IV: Statement from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI):
Heh. Now that’s what I’m talking about. :-)
June 13th, 2007 at 12:34 pmThe thing that Congress is unable to recognize is this: the time for treating the Executive branch with respect is over. The Bush administration’s lack of good faith in dealing with Congress should be clear to anyone but the most hard-core Bush apologist.
Leahy and Conyers should accept the fact that BushCo will stall and delay and obfuscate as long as practical.
What Leahy and Conyers have to do is make it impractical. Push the pace. No “reasonable time for response” should be allowed, because the administration isn’t using that time to actually prepare a response; they’re just using it to run out the clock.
So when someone’s looking to run out the clock, what do you do when you get the ball? You push it up the floor.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:37 pmBut But Clinton!
June 13th, 2007 at 12:37 pmThese are the first subpoenas delivered to the White House regarding the attorney firings.
My god, at this breakneck pace Chelsea Clinton might have to decide whether to appoint a special prosecutor in 2025.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:38 pmnow, also BREAKING, and
very likely related to
the subpoenas issuing
this morning:
john conyers has decided
to play a game of “what’s
my line†(ref. 1960s-era
television show!) — holding
a hearing tomorrow at one p.m. on. . .
wait for it. . .
“XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXâ€
i am crappin’ you negative!
take a look!
[updated — while the site still
shows an anoymous guest, the
above-published reports confirm
ti will be harriet miers. . .
i do love the way rep. john conyers,
June 13th, 2007 at 12:43 pmand senator patrick leahy are taking
the upper-hand, tactically, here — using
both stealth, and surprise. . . better than
“shlock and awe[-ful]“, by far. . .]
My god, at this breakneck pace Chelsea Clinton might have to decide whether to appoint a special prosecutor in 2025.
Comment by Kilo
Maybe you’d like to deliver the blowjob that will get this whole thing moving much faster?
June 13th, 2007 at 12:43 pmI love the picture of the White House : it looks so sinister, kind of a hazy aura of Crime hangs over the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue…
the next occupant will need to Exorcise the entire place…
June 13th, 2007 at 12:45 pmOne of our resident collaborators, Fed…Up!” notes,
“But shouldn’t the cessation of the murder, oppression, and torture that WE, the nation of peoples known as the United States of America, are openly perpetrating in the Middle East be OUR FIRST PRIORITY?”
Thank you for NOT mentioning ANY Koranimal terror attacks on the US or our allies in the last 30 years. I certainly wouldn’t want practitioners of Progressive dogma to be under the impression that we were fighting an insidious ENEMY that wants us dead….or converted.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:45 pmThanks, nolo, for that link, looking forward to tomorrows hearing…. do you think Harriet (if that’s who it is) is going to do her patriotic duty and squeel like a pit bull in the pound?
June 13th, 2007 at 12:51 pmI don’t see any of the usual men in black manning the machine gun nest on the roof of the White House, think they’ve been re-deployed?
June 13th, 2007 at 12:53 pmHey Valiant,
when are you enlisting?
June 13th, 2007 at 12:58 pmI’ll believe this means something when justice is served. Everything I’ve seen so far is Congress blowing smoke up our asses.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:59 pmhey erh, heyzeus(!) –
she has already indicated (via fred fielding’s
june 7 letter to conyers and leahy) that she
will claim broad executive privilege. . .
and that will make for one ugly hearing.
she will become the new face of white-house
obstructionism, at one p.m. tomorrow.
so — yes — she is confirmed as the witness
before the house judiciary committee tomorrow.
as to any squealing — i think we’ll have to wait
for the contempt of congress, or perjury charges,
to hear that — at least from her. . .
note that there is no discussion of immunity
[or fifth amendment] — yet — as to her testimony.
but she might consider it — given the e-mails
dumped just last night. . . of course, they were
dumped to dis-credit anything she or sara taylor
might say — that might remotely resemble the
actual truth about all these matters. . .
so — i’ll take it all with about a pound of salt. . .
June 13th, 2007 at 1:00 pmHarriet Miers looks just like the
“Before 6 Beers After 6 Beersâ€
Upside Down Faces Cartoon Drawing
You Know, This One:
http://members.lycos.nl/AmazingArt/images/6beers.gif
(Harriet is the Before 6 Beers One)
June 13th, 2007 at 1:01 pmNotice how V V comes in, when called, to hijack the thread?
Yes, their’s something really weird about female troglodykes.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:03 pmNotice how V V comes in, when called, to hijack the thread?
Yes, their’s something really weird about female troglodykes.
Comment by Zimzone
The poor dear seems a shadow of her former self, actually. I think there are probably family issues…….
Shhhh….
June 13th, 2007 at 1:06 pmEr, how can the Whitehouse claim executive priviledge if the emails were sent from an RNC a/c? Am I missing something?
June 13th, 2007 at 1:18 pm-refresh-
June 13th, 2007 at 1:26 pmAt the very least, these hearings and investigations keep a lot of politicians busy enough that they can’t put into action any more hurtful ideas. They also continue to shine the spotlight on what has previously been in total darkness. Let the cockroaches scurry, even if we can’t or don’t squish any big ones.
Comment by PatrioticLiberalChristian(PLC)
PLC - I must agree with you on this. This past Republican controlled Congress was a failure and did great harm to our nation. And a Senate that has only 49 Senators voting with the Democratics is not enough to impeach Cheney. There were not enough votes to stop a threatened filiabuster by Senators that are traitors to our Constitution in the “vote of no confidence” in Gonzales. We will probably have to wait until 2008 for these investigations to really heat up. As someone else pointed out, we don’t want to send these criminals off to jail only to be pardoned by the boy Bush. All convictions and sentencing should take place on or after January 21, 2009. It took 18 months of investigations until beginning impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon and then he resigned prior to being impeached. There are approximately 16 months until the November 2008 elections. It will not serve the Republicans well if they are viewed as obstructionists. Let’s keep these investigations front and center.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:34 pm.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:30 pmI don’t think the FIRST SKANK is bobbing his knob, so I would also Subpoena their wardrobes, maybe we will get lucky and find CHIMP SPERM, then he can be IMPEACHED>>>>>>>>
June 13th, 2007 at 2:35 pm#62 - yeah, and the freakin’ “finish line” is Armageddon. God help us.
June 13th, 2007 at 3:16 pmThis administration is about to come crashing down.
June 13th, 2007 at 3:30 pmFaster! Do it faster! Don’t allow those criminals to run out the clock!
June 13th, 2007 at 3:58 pmLET ME MAKE THIS PERFECTLY CLEAR….. so what. nothing will come from this, just more stonewalling….. yawn, move along people nothing here to see.
June 13th, 2007 at 4:01 pm#87 Comment by valiant venus — June 13, 2007 @ 12:45 pm
…we were fighting an insidious ENEMY that wants us dead….or converted.
Like the right wingnut christian evangelicals who want the bible to replace the Constitution.
June 13th, 2007 at 4:35 pmI hope they beat Harriet Miers like a borrowed mule and make her cry.
June 13th, 2007 at 6:05 pmBush, being stubborn…like Nixon, is responsible for this landing on his doorstep. Who elses doorstep should it have landed on? Yes, this will do it…one way or the other. RB.
June 13th, 2007 at 7:34 pmPlease read!!! Thank you
Harriett Miers is a big part of my case which is still in litigation. If my case goes to Federal court so does she. AP interviewed me last week and the story will be published soon.
White House employee fired for trying to protect president’s life
By Bill Conroy,
Posted on Sun May 6th, 2007 at 04:48:59 PM EST
Sometimes, the truth is right in front of us, even if it comes in the form of a seemingly misspoken sentence.
During the political storm that erupted in early 2006 over the Bush administration’s plans to turn over port security to a United Arab Emirates-based company, the president was quoted on Fox News saying the following on March 12 of that year:
“People don’t need to worry about security. This deal wouldn’t go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America.”
Apparently, if we are willing to heed the story of a former West Wing lead mailroom assistant, Laura C. Jones, the president’s gaff underscores another truth: that his staff isn’t concerned about White House security either.
Rather, the Bush inner circle seems more concerned with silencing individuals who threaten to expose politically embarrassing (and job-threatening) security breaches, even if those lapses pose a threat to the life of the president.
With friends like those, you have to wonder why Bush remains so focused on frightening the American people about foreign boogiemen. Based on Jones’ documented experiences inside the White House, it seems the president should be more focused on protecting himself from security threats brought about by the dysfunction of his own staff.
Jones began working at the White House mailroom in 1995 as part the Office of Administration, which is under the Executive Office of the President. In 2003, after receiving a number of awards for her dedicated service over the years, she was promoted to lead mail assistant to the West Wing, and was among a very few people within the Office of Administration who had top security clearance that allowed her access to the president and his staff.
Jones told Narco News that the West Wing mailroom is very close to the Oval Office. In fact, Jones recalled that one day someone from the president’s staff complained that the odor of burned micro-waved popcorn in the mailroom was disrupting a meeting in the Oval Office.
The mailroom’s proximity to the office where the president conducts business is a key fact to keep in mind given what happened in the West Wing mailroom on March 24, 2004.
Less than two months prior to that date, three U.S. Senate office buildings were closed temporarily after highly poisonous ricin powder was discovered in the mailroom of the office of then U.S. Sen. Bill Frist. As a result of the ricin incident, on March 24, 2004, Jones and her co-workers in the West Wing were still taking the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin as a precaution.
It was in that context, then, that Shane Chambers, special assistant to then White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, brought a package to the West Wing mailroom. Chambers had been handling appointments at the White House that day and Jones says it is likely the package was given to Chambers by someone who had come to visit the president.
However, Jones stresses, to this day she isn’t certain where the package came from originally, only that it was clear at the time that the package had not gone through the rigorous off-site security clearance required for all mail delivered to the White House.
“I told him (Chambers) that the package had to be sent to another location to be X-rayed, opened and checked for powder before it comes to us,†Jones says. “… I told him that I could give the package to a driver who could take it to the location where it would be checked.â€
But that’s not what happened. Instead, Jones says, her supervisor in the mailroom that day overruled her and allowed the package through, “and [despite the ricin threat] they opened it up right there in the mailroom of the West Wing,†Jones says.
Inside the package, Jones says, were a series of smaller packages, each with a label bearing a name. The names on those labels included President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Chief of Staff Andy Card, according to Jones.
“I do not know what was inside the little packages,†Jones says. But she adds that the packages were sent forward to the president and his staff, despite the reckless disregard for their security in this case.
In the wake of the incident, Jones contacted a higher-level manager in her department to express her concern about how the package had been handled due to the threat it posed to the president and his staff.
After that act of internal whistleblowing, however, Jones’ life would never be the same, she claims.
Jones alleges her managers ignored her warning about the security breach and began to retaliated against her by increasing her workload, writing her up on bogus charges related to her workplace behavior, and eventually transferring her out of the White House, stripping her of her high-level security clearance and subjecting her to harassment by the Secret Service.
Jones filed an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) discrimination complaint as result of her treatment. That case is still in the appeal process. She also filed a whistleblower complaint with the government watchdog agency the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which declined to act on her complaint.
(The OSC itself is mired in controversy because its director, Scott Bloch, in 2005 allegedly improperly dismissed hundreds of whistleblower cases and re-assigned a dozen OSC personnel without warning to other offices around the country. Bloch is now himself the subject of a retaliation complaint filed by a group that includes current and former OSC employees. For more information, read the recent expose on Bloch in Mother Jones, which also references the House of Death case that has been the subject of extensive coverage by Narco News.)
Calling Card
Jones’ story has even more twists that expose the dysfunction within the White House. After Jones was informed by her manager in mid-July 2004 that she was being transferred from the White House to another mailroom located several blocks from the White House — which included a change in work hours and a reassignment of her parking spot — she put a call into Andy Card’s office.
From Jones’ EEO pleadings:
Mr. Card specifically directed [Jones] and three other co-workers during a personal lunch outing shortly after 9/11 that he had an open door policy and expected [Jones] to come directly to him if there were ever any issues that were un-resolvable. He stated that if he could, he would help them.
When [Jones] called Mr. Card, Ms. Harriet Miers … the deputy chief staff to Mr. Card [and later Counsel to the President] answered the phone. Ms. Miers immediately recognized [Jones’] voice and inquired of [Jones] if she could assist her with any issues. [Jones] then proceeded to explain to Ms. Miers specifically her EEO concerns and that she had gone through her chain of command but retaliation was only becoming progressively worse and that no one was talking to her about her career demise and severe changes in her work environment.
Ms. Miers told [Jones] that she would advise Mr. Card and further see what she could do to find out about [Jones’] EEO situation. Both parties then ended the phone conversation.
About an hour after her conversation with Miers, Jones received a phone call from the director of Human Resources for the Office of Administration – Executive Office of the President (OA-EOP).
From Jones EEO pleadings:
[The Human Resources director) told the [Jones] that she had “stepped on toes†and that [Jones] had “put employees jobs on the line.†[The director] told [Jones] that not only was she being transferred on Monday, July 19, 2004, [to the mailroom at 1800 G St.] but they were taking away her navy blue badge (allows top security West Wing access) and giving [Jones] a green badge (lesser access and nowhere near the White House). [The director] also stated that [Jones’ manager] could sue [her] for slander for stating that a box came into the West Wing that was not radiated and properly secured.
Jones contends the retaliation continued while she was at the 1800 G St. mailroom. Her desk was put in a corner, she claims, to humiliate her. While at the G Street mailroom, Jones was suspended from work twice, once in August 2004 and again in January 2005, allegedly for “insolent†behavior toward management and for using “insolent language toward … co-workers,†according to a July 8, 2005, OA-EOP memo outlining the rational for her termination from federal employment.
That’s right, Jones was fired after some 16 years of recognized outstanding performance as a federal employee.
Jones’ EEO representative, Matthew Fogg, who is an executive director with the Federally Employed Women’s Legal and Education Fund, claims the suspensions that led to Jones’ firing were based on bogus charges and were part of the pattern of retaliation against her.
Fogg puts it this way:
She tried to protect the president’s life, and yet she has been relegated to a zero. She is a hero who has been relegated to a zero.
Jones’ EEO pleadings allege that her whistleblowing and eventual firing are directly related:
From the time [Jones] reported the March 24, 2004 [package] incident to the Equal Employment Opportunity director on April 6, 2004, and through July 19, 2004, [when she was reassigned to the G Street mailroom] and beyond, [Jones] experienced a documented career first litany of extreme harassment and hostile working conditions, which included heavy workloads in work assignments, change of work location, change in parking location, loss of computer privileges, loss of high-level security clearance, change of work hours, being prevented from returning to the Old Executive Office Building to gather personal belongings, placed under surveillance by United States Secret Service (USSS) Officers who displayed her photograph in “roll call†and around to other USSS officers….
Fogg also points out that Jones’ version of events is given credibility by the fact that an administrative judge with the Office of Administrative Hearings upheld her claim for unemployment compensation in the wake of her termination from the OA-EOP.
“It validates her story and says there is culpability on the part of the government in her case,†Fogg adds.
More of the same
The March 24, 2004, security breach reported by Jones is not an isolated incident. While Jones was working at the G Street mailroom, she again had to deal with another security breach that she reported to her managers — which, Fogg says, also resulted in no action to correct the problem other than retaliation against Jones.
The following is from a Sept. 3, 2004, email Jones sent to her supervisors in the wake of the G Street incident:
… When I started unloading the car in the mailroom, the phone rang and Paul was telling me that the Pelican case was outside sitting on the sidewalk, and that I had better get it. I asked him what he was talking about and he said that he wasn’t kidding. I went outside and there were at least seven guys standing there and said that Paul had just taken it off the truck and set it on the sidewalk and left it there.â€
Jones told Narco News that the “Pelican†was one of eight or so highly secured briefcases (with combination locks) that come to the White House each day. They contain highly sensitive documents and it is a priority that the briefcases are handled securely and delivered to the appropriate person.
“In this case, someone just set the Pelican by the mailroom door, outside, on the curb,†Jones says.
Fogg says the handling of the Pelican briefcase, as well as the March 24, 2004, package incident, go the heart of concerns raised recently by U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Waxman sent a letter to former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card on April 23 of this year outlining those concerns.
From that letter:
Since I first wrote you on March 30, 2007, I have received new information that suggests there may have been a systemic failure to safeguard classified information at the White House during and after your tenure [Card resigned in March 2006] as White House Chief of Staff. Multiple current and former White House security personnel have informed my staff that White House practices have been dangerously inadequate with respect to investigating security violations, taking corrective action following breaches, and physically securing classified information.
… On March 16, 2007, the Oversight Committee held a hearing to examine the disclosure by White House officials of the covert status of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson. At this hearing, the current Chief Security Officer at the White House, James Knodell, testified that the White House Security Office (1) did not conduct any internal investigation to identify the source of the leak (2) did not initiate corrective actions to prevent further security breaches, and (3) did not consider administrative sanctions or reprimands for the officials involved.
… Following the hearing, my staff heard from multiple current and former security officials who work or worked at the White House Security Office. These security officials described a systemic breakdown in security procedures at the White House. The statements of these officials, if true, indicate that the security lapses that characterized the White House response to the leak of Ms. Wilson’s identity were not an isolated occurrence, but part of a pattern of disregard for the basic requirements for protecting our national security secrets.
… According to the security officers who spoke with my staff, they were prohibited from investigating multiple White House security breaches that were reported to the White House Security Office by concerned officials, such as Secret Service agents. In fact, they said that the practice within the White House Security Office was not to document or investigate violations or take corrective action.
It would seem that ignoring security procedures for mail to be delivered to the president is a national security threat given that such a practice could place the president’s life in danger. Jones’ efforts to report the incident on March 24, 2004, and the alleged retaliation brought against her as a result, fits the pattern outlined in Waxman’s letter — as does the Pelican briefcase incident.
Narco News contacted Waxman’s office for a comment on Jones’ case. Karen Auchman, a press spokeswoman for Waxman, said she was not familiar with Jones’ case, but promised “to pass it along to the people in the Congressman’s office who are handling [the White House security] matter … to see if they can provide a comment.â€
Waxman’s office never got back to Narco News.
Narco News also contacted the White House press office for a comment on the Jones case. An individual named “Andy†(who refused to provide his last name) promised to pass along Narco News’ question to someone who could respond. No one from the White House press office has yet called Narco News back to provide a comment.
Jones, to date, is still trying to find another job. She said this whole affair has turned her life upside down.
“I almost lost my house [due to the expense],†she says.
Jones also alleges that one of her co-workers who provided a favorable affidavit in her EEO case has since been fired — after being suspended and followed around by the Secret Service.
Jones’ EEO case might well make its way into federal court in the near future, Fogg says, if the EEO Commission declines to reverse a recent ruling against her. Jones’ appeal to the EEOC is still pending — as is Jones’ future.
“I remember telling one federal agent that the package incident put the president’s life on the line,†Jones says. â€He said, ’What about your life?’ â€
Stay tuned …
June 16th, 2007 at 8:46 pmHey wake up, this all goes away soon, since the office of President has the right to fire and hire whoever they want. This idiot of a President should have fired all residing attorneys like the crock of all time did in 82. No more be said! Conservative executive branches need to wake up and realize that Washington DC is populated with the scum of the Earth! And they can’t wait to leaks this and leak that. Clean house and run on a skeleton crew is their only hope of survival. You can say what you’re saying since DC bureaucrats do not turn on there own. Good Luck!!!
July 1st, 2007 at 8:14 pm