“‘We will take the evidence where it leads us. We will not leave any stone unturned.’” Well, Sheryl Crow’s the least of his worries now. Based on the fact that several different current investigations seem to point his way, the White House’s Office of Special Counsel opens an inquiry into Karl Rove, to ascertain if (and how often) he’s violated the Hatch Act. “‘This is a big deal,’ Paul C. Light, a New York University expert on the executive branch, said of [Special Counsel] Bloch’s plan. ‘It is a significant moment for the administration and Karl Rove. It speaks to the growing sense that there is a nexus at the White House that explains what’s going on in these disparate investigations.’” And, in related news, John Edwards calls for Rove’s firing, based on his refusal to testify about the persecuted prosecutors.
Category: GOP Culture of Corruption
Back in the Mire.
“It’s all a stark reminder to voters about why they don’t want to turn power back to a Republican Congress that betrayed the public and used their majority for personal financial gain and to reward special interests.” The WP speculates on the ramifications of GOP congressional corruption returning to the headlines, as indicated by the recent committee resignations of Reps. Doolittle and Renzi. “‘Everybody’s kind of a little bit numb,’ said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.). ‘There’s this, “What else can happen now?” feeling going around here.'”
If you’ll be my bodyguard, I’ll be your long lost pal.
“‘Everybody at the White House…all think he needs to go, but the president doesn’t,’ said a Republican who consulted the Bush team yesterday. Another White House ally said Bush and Gonzales are ignoring reality: ‘They’re the only two people on the planet Earth who don’t see it.’” True to form, Dubya responds to Alberto Gonzales’ flameout on Thursday by declaring he has “full confidence” in the Attorney General and calling his service “fantastic.” (Fantastic? Really? Do you mean that in the “fanciful” sense, perhaps?) In light of this bizarre news, Dahlia Lithwick reevaluates Gonzales’ testimony, arguing that what came across to us in the reality-based community as evasive, misleading, or just plain stammering seemed to Dubya a solid defense of the unitary executive theory. The really scary thing is, she’s probably right.
Far Away, His Well-Lit Door.
“It was handled incompetently. The communication was atrocious. You ought to suffer the consequences that these others have suffered, and I believe that the best way to put this behind us is your resignation.” Despite having had weeks to prepare, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has a terrible, no-good, very bad day on the Hill, one that results in even ultraconservative Tom Coburn (R-OK) demanding his dismissal. [Transcript: I, II, III.] I only got to hear twenty minutes or so of the hearings today (Feingold-Sessions-Schumer) while in a cab heading downtown, and Gonzales sounded absolutely terrible: He was at turns combative, befuddled, and amnesic. And when even a White House shill like Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) is giving you a hard time and telling you “your ability to lead the Department of Justice is in question,” it seems pretty clear the jig is just about up.
Doctored Doolittle | Renzi Frenzied
In the midst of the persecuted prosecutors case, Casino Jack keeps on rollin’: Six days after the FBI searched his home in connection with the Abramoff investigation, California Republican John Doolittle steps down from the House Appropriations Committee. “Since 2005, a Justice Department task force has been looking into payments made by Abramoff and other lobbyists to Doolittle’s wife and the spouses of other lawmakers…Doolittle also helped steer millions of dollars in military funding to one of the defense contractors tied to the bribery case of former congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.).” Update: And another, although this time not Abramoff related: Arizona Republican Rick Renzi leaves the House Intelligence Committee as the result of an ongoing investigation into a 2005 land deal. I’m sensing a pattern.
Oops, We Did It Again.
“‘You can’t erase e-mails, not today,’ Leahy said in an angry speech on the Senate floor. “They’ve gone through too many servers. Those e-mails are there — they just don’t want to produce them. It’s like the infamous 18-minute gap in the Nixon White House tapes.‘” Breaking last Friday: Just as the persecuted prosecutors case boils to a head, four years of Karl Rove’s e-mail go conveniently missing from the RNC archives. And, also developing on the prosecutorial front, another subpoenaed Justice official, Michael Battle, has contradicted Gonzales’ earlier professions of ignorance on the subject, setting up the Attorney General for a raucous time during his hearings tomorrow: “Gonzales…has been preparing for a pivotal appearance on Tuesday before the committee, including mock testimony sessions lasting up to five hours a day, officials said. Better get that story straight, Al.
Bring me the head of Alberto Gonzales.
As Dubya bequeaths another “heck of a job” upon his embattled attorney general, it comes to light that Alberto Gonzales apparently lied about his conducting meetings concerning the firing of federal prosecutors. Said Sen. Chuck Schumer of the revelations: “If the facts bear out that Attorney General Gonzales knew much more about the plan than he has previously admitted, then he can no longer serve as attorney general.” Update: “He has said some things that just don’t add up.” Republican Senators start to pile on, among them Hagel, Graham, and Specter.
The Ghost of Albert Fall.
Exposed as a target in January, former Dubya Interior official J. Stephen Griles pleads guilty to lying to Congress about his connections with “Casino” Jack Abramoff’s influence-peddling operation. “‘Today’s guilty plea clearly establishes that former deputy secretary J. Steven Griles was ready and willing to serve as Jack Abramoff’s “man inside Interior,” ‘ said Inspector General Earl E. Devaney, whose criminal investigators worked with the Justice Department and the FBI on the case.”
Nuclear Subpoenas?
The plot thickens: A battle over executive privilege looms as the Senate handily rejects Dubya’s attempt to evade subpoenas for Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and other administration officials in the persecuted prosecutors dispute. “‘The only thing they would accept is if the Senate did exactly what they told them to, which would be closed-door, limited number of people, limited agenda, no oath and no transcript, so nobody knows exactly what happened,’ Leahy said. ‘So there’s really nothing to look for for a compromise, because that is not acceptable to me.’” For their part, Spineless Specter advocated a capitulation to Dubya, as per the norm, while Republican Charles Grassley supported the Senate’s use of the subpoena power.
Gone-zales?
Fitz’s revenge? Broiling considerably while I was on my annual March Madness vacation, the case of the persecuted prosecutors now looks, at the very least, like it may result in Alberto Gonzales’ downfall (despite Dubya’s continued huzzahs), what with new e-mail trails coming to light, more congressional subpoenas on the way, and Dubya consigliere Karl Rove tied ever closer to the scandal. Congressional oversight is a beast, eh, guys?