1 Boring Old Man

In Step 1, Sampson talked about what to say to the Senators and "Political leads." It included, "We will look to you, Senator/Political lead, to recommend candidates that we should consider for appointment as the new U.S. Attorney." This implies that appointments would be made and passed on to the Senate for confirmation [and that the Congressmen didn’t really know that the procedure had been quietly changed in the renewed Patriot Act to allow AG appointed Interims to serve indefinitely].

In Step 2, he talks about what to say when firing the U.S. Attorneys which includes, "The Administration … has determined to give someone else the opportunity to serve as U.S. Attorney in your District for the final two years of the Administration." He goes further, "We … intend to have a new Acting or Interim U.S. Attorney in place by January 31, 2007." Sounds to me like that "someone else" is the Interim who will serve from January 31, 2007 until Bush is out of office.

Then come Step 3 [above] which clearly says, "(granting ‘extensions’ will hinder the process of getting a new U.S. Attorney in place and giving that person the opportunity to serve for a full two years)." Here, it is simple stated that the Interim person put in place is going to be there for the duration.

What they’re saying in the hearings is a patent lie. They were clearly going to appoint Interims to serve for the duration, but were asking for nominations in hopes that the Senators didn’t know a change had been made in the Patriot Act without their knowledge. And why? To have AG appointed U.S. Attorneys in place in Karl Rove’s targeted States – "Swing States" – conscious and willful manipulation of Congess for partisan gain – pure and simple. Thus, stick to our  alibi  planned story, "Recipients of such ‘appeals’ must repond identically."