Rove didn't seek Fitzgerald ouster: Att'y

[maddezmom]

"Karl has known Kjellander for many years,'' Luskin said, "but does not recall him or anyone else arguing for Fitzgerald's removal. And he (Rove) is very certain that he didn't take any steps to do that, or have any conversations with anyone in the White House -- or in the Justice Department -- about doing anything like that.''

There were stirrings at the Justice Department, however, and Kjellander's possible involvement is consistent with earlier revelations.


Former Illinois Sen. Peter Fitzgerald told the Tribune that Rove, at the behest of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and unnamed GOP insiders, had tried to persuade him to limit his recommendation for U.S. attorney to someone from inside the state. Fitzgerald Rove.doc

Peter Fitzgerald would not say who the insiders were, but Kjellander and Rove are decades-long friends and political collaborators. Fitzgerald was adamant about bringing in an outsider, the better to resist the blandishments of Illinois' entrenched political machinery. As a result, he recommended Patrick Fitzgerald (no relation), who is from New York.

Last year, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, told a Senate committee that in a 2006 meeting with White House counsel Harriet Miers, he briefly proposed putting Patrick Fitzgerald on a list of prosecutors slated for dismissal.
sampson fitzgerald.doc


more:http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/_andrew_zajac_this_mornings.html


Sen. Fitzgerald(R) recalls pressure over appointment (of Patrick Fitzgerald from Rove)
Edited on Wed Mar-14-07 03:07 AM by maddezmom
Former Sen. Fitzgerald recalls pressure over appointment

By Andrew Zajac
Washington Bureau
Published March 14, 2007


WASHINGTON -- In an illustration of the political sensitivities involved in the appointment of a federal prosecutor, former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) said Tuesday that White House political advisor Karl Rove told him in the spring of 2001 that he should limit his choice for U.S. attorney in Chicago to someone from Illinois.

According to Fitzgerald, who was determined to bring in a prosecutor from outside the state, Rove "just said we don't want you going outside the state. We don't want to be moving U.S. attorneys around."


Fitzgerald said he believes Rove was trying to influence the selection in reaction to pressure from Dennis Hastert, who was then speaker of the House, and allies of then-Gov. George Ryan, who knew that Fitzgerald was seeking someone from outside Illinois to attack political corruption.

Fitzgerald said he announced his choice, Patrick Fitzgerald (no relation), a New Yorker, on May 13, a Mother's Day Sunday to pre-empt any opposition.

A year or so later, according to Peter Fitzgerald, Rove "said to me that Fitzgerald appointment got great headlines for you, but it ticked off the base."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2766670


Sampson: I suggested firing Patrick Fitzgerald
Testifying under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee, former Alberto Gonzales chief of staff Kyle Sampson says he once recommended that the White House consider canning Illinois U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald -- the same Patrick Fitzgerald who was serving as the special counsel in the Plamegate investigation.

From the transcript:

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin: Were you ever party to any conversation about the removal of Patrick Fitzgerald from his position as Northern District U.S. attorney?

Sampson: I remember on one occasion, in 2006, in discussing the removal of U.S. attorneys, or the process of considering some U.S. attorneys that might be asked to resign, that I was speaking with Harriet Miers and Bill Kelley, and I raised Pat Fitzgerald. And immediately after I did it, I regretted it. I thought -- I knew that it was the wrong thing to do. I knew that it was inappropriate. And I remember at the time that Ms. Miers and Bill Kelley said nothing. They just looked at me. And I immediately regretted it, and I withdrew it at the time, and I regret it now.

Why did Sampson recommend firing Fitzgerald? "I'm not sure," he told Durbin. "I think -- I don't remember. I think it was, maybe, to get a reaction from them. I don't think that I ever -- I know that I never seriously considered putting Pat Fitzgerald on a list. And he never did appear on a list."

more:http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/03/29/fitz/

[angstlessk]

1. hell, if you believe rove, he did nothing for 7 years..just sat and twaddled??

he denies EVERYTHING and refuses to testify that he did not do it!!! LIAR!!!

[hwmnbn]

2. Again with the "does not recall" bullshit....

No denial yet no accountability.

Weasel bastards. :grr:

[tanyev]

5. It's uncanny how the man can remember what Dubya was wearing

the first time he met him many years ago but he has all these unfortunate lapses about things that happened in the last few years. Un-fricking-canny.

[DemocratInSoCal]

3. And It Worked Out Wonderfully For Him

I remember fondly the fun times at DU, deciding which day would be the one Fitz indicted Rover.

Does anybody recall the day that actually happened? Of course not, since it Never did.

[Missy Vixen]

4. Are you implying that Patrick Fitzgerald did not indict Rove as a political favor to Rove?

You're joking, aren't you?

Julie

[DemocratInSoCal]

7. I'm Saying Fitzgerald Was All Bluster

Following that whole case was a giant waste of time.

What exactly was accomplished? Libby's feelings got hurt?

I'd bet if any of us were called in front of a grand jury, and lied, we wouldn't be given 4 More Chances to change our testimony.

Much like the justice system in this country, that trial was a JOKE.

[madrchsod]

9. no--- the joke was the house and senate has`t done enough

to have the grand jury testimony made available to them...opps that is shumer and finestien`s pick for attorney general who is blocking the request...take your complaint with them

fitzgerald told them it was up to them to start the investigation....

[Missy Vixen]

10. When's the last time you tried a case that would impact your career

for the next twenty years? Ever heard of "graymail"? Look it up. Even getting that case to trial was a miracle, let alone gaining a conviction.

If you think you could do so much better, please: Go to law school. Hire on in the US Attorney's office. Spend twenty years trying cases in an atmosphere so dangerous that you can't even receive mail at your home, for instance, and getting paid much less than market rate. Be the first person to try and win a conviction of the highest ranking member of any administration for 133 years, only to watch that sentence commuted not even 12 hours after it was handed down.

This was a no-win. Period.
Julie

[DemocratInSoCal]

13. You Are Correct, It Was A No-Win Situation

I'm just saying that following the case, and hoping there would be ANY justice, was a complete waste of time.

I've learned that under our so-called system of "justice," there is seldom any actual "justice" for those in power. Hoping that there will be, seems foolhardy.

[maddezmom]

6. Fitz v. Rove, Part VI from emptywheel

The suggestion that Bob Kjellander was working with Rove to have Fitz fired is not new.

In a hearing before court began, prosecutors said they hoped to call Ali Ata, the former Blagojevich administration official who pleaded guilty to corruption yesterday, to the stand.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Carrie Hamilton said she believed Ata would testify to conversations Ata had with his political patron, Rezko, about working to pull strings to kill the criminal investigation into Rezko and others when it was in its early stages in 2004.

" had conversations with Mr. Rezko about the fact that Mr. Kjellander was working with Karl Rove to have Mr. Fitzgerald removed," Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

Back in the days when there was question whether Fitzgerald would be ousted in 2006 (before the USA purge broke), Chicago commentators regularly noted how badly Chicago pols--and Kjellander in particular--wanted to see Fitzgerald gone.

And there's good reason to think he might be , aside from the president's non-assurance. One of the chief practitioners of Illinois establishment politics is Republican operative Bob Kjellander, who brags (whether true or not) about his friendship with Bush chief political strategist, Karl Rove. Despite Kjellander's engineering Bush defeats in Illinois and other Midwest states, the White House (Rove?) thought he was pretty hot stuff and brought him to the Beltway where he is engineering who knows what political disaster.

much more: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/04/23/rove-v-fitz-part-vi/

[hwmnbn]

11. No matter where you turn....

the politicization of the DOJ has undermined everything. The Rove stink is everywhere.

[madrchsod]

8. everyone in the state of illinios ,

that believes in ethical government,prosecution of major drug organizations,and street gangs are very happy to have
fitzgerald here in northern illinois.

if obama gets the nomination fitzgerald would be the best choice as the ag we have had in years....

[Supersedeas]

12. since when does Rove have ANY say, ANY SAY in how a prosecution is conducted!!!!!!!!

[L. Coyote]

14. E-Mail Shows Rove’s Role in Fate of Prosecutors = "signs off on every nomination"

E-Mail Shows Rove’s Role in Fate of Prosecutors = "signs off on every nomination"

Cryptic thank-you note may link Rove to US Attorney scandal
March 28, 2007 - http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Cryptic_thankyou_note_may_link_Rove_0328.html


A previously overlooked e-mail from the Department of Justice document dump may turn out to be a smoking gun, of sorts, that links White House Adviser Karl Rove to the US Attorney firing scandal, reports Newsweek.

"New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici's chief of staff sent a cryptic thank-you note to Karl Rove just as the senator was recommending replacements for David Iglesias, the fired U.S. attorney in New Mexico, according to internal White House and Justice Department documents," writes Michael Isikoff.

"Thanks for everything," read the e-mail, dated January 8th, 2007, which included the name of a replacement candidate for Iglesias' position.

The email, which was sent to Rove and two other White House officials, may have been initially overlooked because it was sent to a more obscure e-mail account of Rove's.

......

====================
E-Mail Shows Rove’s Role in Fate of Prosecutors
DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and JIM RUTENBERG - March 29, 2007 - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/washington/29rove.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

WASHINGTON, March 28 — Almost every Wednesday afternoon, advisers to President Bush gather to strategize about putting his stamp on the federal courts and the United States attorneys’ offices.

The group meets in the Roosevelt Room and includes aides to the White House counsel, the chief of staff, the attorney general and Karl Rove, who also sometimes attends himself. Each of them signs off on every nomination.

Mr. Rove, a top adviser to the president, takes charge of the politics. As caretaker to the administration’s conservative allies, Mr. Rove relays their concerns, according to several participants in the Wednesday meetings. And especially for appointments of United States attorneys, he manages the horse trading.

“What Karl would say is, ‘Look, if this senator who has been working with the president on the following things really wants this person .......

==============
FROM: Some Reflections on "Rove in State of Panic." Are things what they seem?
Apr-20-08 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3183926