{"id":1171,"date":"2007-04-22T17:22:23","date_gmt":"2007-04-22T22:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/2007\/04\/22\/doj-the-plan\/"},"modified":"2007-04-23T17:09:02","modified_gmt":"2007-04-23T22:09:02","slug":"doj-the-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/2007\/04\/22\/doj-the-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"1. doj: The Plan…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’m still obsessing on the process that lead to the firing of the U.S. Attorneys in light of Sampson’s and Gonzales’ testimony. Since there are no emails or documents from Gonzales, everything has to be by inference. <\/p>\n

In his testimony, Kyle Sampson said that the idea of firing Attorneys dated from 2005, though we pick up the story on January 9, 2006<\/strong> from his email to Harriet Miers<\/strong><\/a> [written as if it’s a response to something from her]. In that email, he argues against a wholesale firing of everyone, and talks about firing just certain U.S. Attorneys. He points out the difficulties of directly firing U.S. Attorneys [e.g. getting Senate Confirmation] and suggests some quiet ways to let them know they are targets so they can resign and "save face." While no one will admit that this kind of pressure was exerted, there’s good presumptive evidence that it did happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
State<\/strong><\/td>\nDistrict<\/strong><\/td>\nOld<\/strong><\/td>\nNew<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arizona<\/strong><\/td>\n <\/td>\nPaul K. Charlton<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/td>\nDaniel G. Knauss<\/strong><\/font>
[interim appointment]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arkansas<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\nEastern <\/td>\nH. E. (Bud) Cummins, III<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/td>\nTim Griffin<\/strong><\/font>
[interim ippointment]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
California<\/strong><\/td>\nCentral<\/td>\n<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Deborah Wong Yang<\/a> <\/strong>
[resigned 11\/2006]<\/td>\n		George S. Cardona<\/strong><\/font>
[interim appointment]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Northern<\/td>\nKevin V. Ryan<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/td>\nScott N. Schools<\/strong><\/font>
[interim appointment]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Southern<\/td>\nCarol Lam<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/td>\nKaren P. Hewitt<\/strong><\/font>
[interim appointment]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Colorado<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\n <\/td>\nJohn Suthers<\/strong>
[elected State Attorney]<\/td>\n		Troy Eid<\/strong>
[confirmed by Senate]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Florida<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\nSouthern<\/td>\nMarcos D. Jiminez<\/strong>
[resigned 04\/21\/2005]<\/td>\n		R. Alexander Acosta<\/strong>
[confirmed by Senate]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iowa<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\nNorthern<\/td>\nCharles W. Larson, Sr<\/strong><\/a>
[retired 12\/31\/2006]<\/td>\n		Matt M. Dummermuth<\/strong><\/font>
[interim appointment]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michigan<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\nWestern<\/td>\nMargaret Chiara<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/td>\n<\/a>Charles R. Gross<\/strong><\/font>
[interim appointment]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Minnesota <\/strong><\/font><\/td>\n <\/td>\n Tom Heffelfinger<\/strong>
[resigned 02\/2006]<\/td>\n		Rachel K. Paulose<\/font><\/strong><\/a>
[confirmed? by Senate<\/a>]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nevada<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\n <\/td>\nDaniel Bogden<\/span><\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/td>\nSteven Myhre<\/strong><\/font>
[interim appointment]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New Mexico<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\n <\/td>\nDavid Iglesias<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/td>\nLarry Gomez<\/strong><\/font>
[interim appointment]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wisconsin<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\nEastern<\/td>\nSteven M. Biskupic<\/strong><\/a>
[confirmed by Senate]<\/td>\n		· <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Western<\/td>\nJ.B. Van Hollen<\/strong>
[elected State Attorney]<\/td>\n		Erik C. Peterson<\/strong>
[confirmed by Senate]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Washington<\/strong><\/td>\nWestern<\/td>\nJohn McKay<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/td>\nJeffrey C. Sullivan<\/strong><\/font>
[interim appointment]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Marked  by  Karl Rove<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nFired  last  December<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\nNot Senate Reviewed<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

In the January 9, 2006 email, he suggests several Attorneys, but everyone except those ultimately fired was redacted, so we don’t know who they were [somewhere along the line Patrick Fitzgerald was on the list, but we don’t know when]. Interestingly, the reason for the firings is never mentioned – never.<\/p>\n

In March 2006, when the Patriot Act was reauthorized, there was a change<\/strong><\/a> slipped in [apparently by the DOJ, though no one will say for sure], which gets around many of the obstacles Sampson mentions: <\/div>\n
\n
SEC. 502. INTERIM APPOINTMENT OF UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS. <\/div>\n