NYT: White House Is Reported to Be Linked to a Dismissal

[deminks]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/washington/16attorneys.html

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 — A United States attorney in Arkansas who was dismissed from his job last year by the Justice Department was ousted after Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, intervened on behalf of the man who replaced him, according to Congressional aides briefed on the matter.

Ms. Miers, the aides said, phoned an aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales suggesting the appointment of J. Timothy Griffin, a former military and civilian prosecutor who was a political director for the Republican National Committee and a deputy to Karl Rove, the White House political adviser.

Later, the incumbent United States attorney, H. E. Cummins III, was removed without explanation and replaced on an interim basis by Mr. Griffin. Officials at the White House and Justice Department declined to comment on Ms. Miers’s role in the matter.

Paul J. McNulty, the deputy attorney general, said at a hearing last week that Mr. Cummins had done nothing wrong but was removed to make room for Mr. Griffin. It was not known at the time Mr. McNulty testified that Ms. Miers had intervened on Mr. Griffin’s behalf.

(end snip)

ruh, roh.

[partylessinOhio]

1. Stupid woman, so in love with the Chimp!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

22. Maureen Dowd wrote SUCH a great column on Harriet

back when she was in the runnin' for USSC, MoDo made up some funny stuff:

...Since there is no breathtaking Miers judicial record to pore over, I was eager to read more breathless Miers missives to a president she describes as the most brilliant man she has ever met. How could I get the notes from the White House, given how opposed Mr. Bush is to leaks? I called Scooter and Karl and they sent the secret documents right over.

August 2001 "Thank you so much for letting me bundle up and drag away the brush that you cut down today. And if I might add, Sir, I've never seen a man wield the nippers so judiciously. It was awesome! You are the best brush cutter ever!!" ....

October 2002 "I'm not sure Condi has made the time to thank you herself, so I just wanted to say how much we appreciated the tickets to 'Madame Butterfly' on Saturday night. I wore my long black robe - I mean, opera cape. I just wish it had had that song from 'The Sound of Music' - I know you love it, too - 'Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels. ...' You're one of my favorite things, sir!"

January 2003 "Just a quick note to say how cool it is that you picked Brownie to head FEMA. There's nothing like having someone you know and trust in a top job. Your gut is the best judge ever!!"

April 2004 "There is no other president who would have had the courage to allow torture, dude! (It's only too bad that Abu Ghraib rules out Alberto's chances of getting on the Supreme Court.) You are the best torturer ever!! xo, H."...

http://cyphering.blogspot.com/2005/10/maureen-dowds-latest_11.html

[Fridays Child]

2. That sweet, lovely Christian woman...

...engaged in ruining the life of a stranger, for the purpose of repaying a political favor? I guess that's what passes for a Supreme Court justice job qualification, in Bushworld™.

[ocd liberal]

4. Love that circle sticker you have there!

I've not seen that before!

[Fridays Child]

15. Thank you.

:)

[rodeodance]

3. I wonder if anything can be done about this.

[IndianaGreen]

6. We need to put a Democrat in the White House

All US Attorneys are political appointees, and a new President can replace them at will.

What we have here is Republican US Attorneys being replaced by Bush's political hacks. The same stuff we saw when Bush put Brownie over FEMA and Chertoff over Homeland Security. Incompetence is the highest calling in the Bush government.

[ninkasi]

8. I agree, IG

If anybody needs a definition of cronyism, they only need to look at the Bush administration. I believe his to be the most egregious example of cronyism and corruption we've ever been inflicted with. What I find galling is that while some Dems debate the pros and cons of impeachment, he and Cheney should, by all rights, be now facing trials for war crimes in the Hague.

[journalist3072]

7. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans are blocking a bill

That would curb the DOJ's ability to do what they've been doing in summarily firing these attorneys.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2732923

[Springster]

12. Wasn't the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson based on his

violation of the Tenure of office Act - passed to prevent him from replacing Abe Lincoln's appointees who required Senate Advice and Consent? As I recall, the Senate trial acquitted Johnson by one vote and the USSC, several decades later, overturned that law as unconstitutional.

US Attorneys are patronage positions who serve at the pleasure of a President. I fully expect the next President to replace all sitting US Attorneys to make room for his/her own people.

If Congress wants to remove their patronage status and make them defined-term positions (like the FBI Director and FED Chairman for examples), and lock in the current batch, they can pass a law making it so and it very likely would be upheld.

You can make a good case that, given that intelligence is supposed to be fact-based rather than having any political overtones, the heads of the intelligence agencies - Directors of National Intelligence, CIA, NSA, DIA, NRO and DIA should be fixed-term appointments that don't change with administrations. Of course, you can also make a case that holding over George Tenant from the Clinton to the Bush administrations did not serve the nation well.

Why fixed terms for US Attorneys? Is their function essentially political or should they follow the law and treat all cases with strict adherence to the law - without political bias. Makes sense to me. They don't make policy but merely enforce it. Leave the policy to the Justice Department AG, Deputy and Assistant AGs. Same for US Marshals - just how much policy is required to track down & transport fugitives and secure the US Courts.

1st priority on the Congressional "to do list" these days? Clearly not, but worth a look.

[Divernan]

13. Excellent, intelligent post - Welcome to DU! We need more like you around here.

That kind of well-thought out, interesting, historically-linked post used to be much more common around here (in the early years).

[quiet.american]

16. I wouldn't think we'd want to lock in the current batch, though --

-- as Gonzales is successfully stacking the deck with toadies and sycophants. However, I certainly agree with your proposal for fixed terms, AFTER this current infestation can be cleaned out.

[librechik]

18. the point here is that those "patronage" positions were subject to senate approval

the gadget Specter's guy inserted in the PATRIOT Act removes the check and balance, and makes the (previously limited) terms indefinite. He's not installing friends. He's securing an eternal empire!

[renate]

21. welcome to DU!

:applause:

[Old and In the Way]

5. Miers is a sockpuppet on this.

Her name is on the paperwork, but you can bet that this was done on orders from someone who has a motivation to get political hacks to cover some serious crimes. I hope this gets a really big spotlight shown on it.

[alfredo]

9. I think this is all about opening investigations of Hillary.

Maybe they will reopen Whitewater.

[formercia]

17. Whitewater II

The other dismissals were smoke to take the focus off this one.

[alfredo]

19. It is a friend of Rove that is taking over the job.

[formercia]

20. They just want their ducks in order

in case Hillary gets the nomination so they can put on a circus without a pesky US Attorney that might question their investigation goals.

[alfredo]

23. Don't confuse ducks with quacks.

[grasswire]

10. I knew McNulty was involved in this putsch

He's a Bush FIXER. Smarmy slimy FIXER.

[Doondoo]

11. This White House is just dirty at every turn

[highnooner]

14. Agree with alfredo

[Zambero]

24. Two more dismissals to go

And those two are not Ms. Miers' subordinates.

[kestrel91316]

25. This is news? I thought this sort of thing was a GIVEN with this admin.