NEWS ON INDIVIDUAL ATTORNEYS

(as far as I can tell, no news)

1. Fired San Diego USA Carol Lam: From May 11, emptywheel has been closely following the Wilkes prosecution (Lam's baby), and the feces that Wilkes' lawyer Mark Geragos has been throwing everywhere.  Today, she walks us through the timeline of those DoJ leaks that Geragos has been bitching about, and convincingly shows that the DoJ was purposefully interfering with this prosecution.  Carol Lam's firing is important, and Main Justice's activities WRT Carol Lam and Wilkes are important.  The DoJ's apparent interference with this prosecution (because of leaks that served Wilkes' defense) deserves more attention.
2. Fired New Mexico USA David Iglesias: From May 11, David Iglesias thinks "all roads lead to Rove."  I agree.  But read the whole article, because it does good job giving the "human interest" side of the David Iglesias story.  I was especially wowed by the fact that Iglesias' involvement as a Navy JAG at Guantanamo was the basis for "A Few Good Men."  Huh!  Also, MyLeftWing had an exclusive interview with Mr. Iglesias.  I haven't read it yet, but enjoy.
3. Former Los Angeles USA Debra Wong Yang:  From May 10, Gonzales speculates in testimony that Yang would have made more money if the DoJ fired her, and maybe that's why former White House Counsel Harriet Miers wanted her gone.  Ummm, yeah...do you ever get the feeling that Gonzales has just stopped trying?
4. Fired Seattle USA John McKay: From May 10, Gonzales admits in testimony that he's not sure why McKay was fired, based on the admission that the time when McKay was added to the list preceded the time when McKay started having "problems" with Main Justice.  Also, note towards the end of the video (about 40 sec left) that Gonzales slips a little- he starts to say "when I made the decis...when I accepted the recommendations."  It's a little thing, and it's by no means evidence, but this little slipup tells us that Gonzales, in his own mind, did have some role in deciding on the firings.  But we already knew that, didn't we?
5. Fired Arizona USA Paul Charlton: From April 25, two bits of news, to which both answer my previous question- Charlton's investigation of Republican Congressman Rick Renzi was related to his firing.

• Muckraker has good piece here, but I'll quickly sum up.  When the Renzi probe began to go public, Renzi's top aide contacted Charlton's office, which (as we saw with Pete Domenici, R-NM, and Doc Hastings, R-WA) is a big no-no.  Unlike Iglesias and McKay, however, Charlton's office notified the DoJ of the improper contact. But, and this is the really interesting thing, in all the document dumps, testimony, public statements, etc., the DoJ never mentioned this improper contact, and never included Charlton's office's emails dealing with that improper contact.  The DoJ concealed this.  Huh.
  
  
• The Wall Street Journal is reporting here (h/t to Muckraker for their piece here) that Charlton's office had great difficulty in getting DoJ approval to move forward on the Renzi investigation.  Coincidentally, that difficulty was right during midterm election season.  Double huh.

6. Fired Nevada USA Daniel Bogden: From May 15, we learned yesterday that Bogden was fired because of lack of performance on "voter fraud" prosecutions.  But were there "voter fraud" (or voter fraud) problems in Nevada?  Well, no.
7. Fired Arkansas USA Bud Cummins: From May 10, whoa, what the hell is this?  Hat tip to pidge not midge for pointing me to this story yesterday, and hat tip to madhaus for clarifying who the original author of this post is.  Although this piece is mostly just wondering aloud, we do have a new character in the Cummins firing:  Mark F. "Thor" Hearne, who was apparently charged with "fixing" the mess created by Cummins' investigation into Missouri Republican Governor Matt Blunt.
8. Reassigned Guam USA Frederick Black: From April 18, James Risser looks into this in an extensive diary.  Set aside some time if you want to read this.
9. Fired Western Missouri USA Todd Graves:  From May 15, House Judiciary Dems want more answers from Gonzales on Graves' firing and The Schloz' hiring.
10. Former Interim Western Missouri USA Bradley Schlozman:  From May 15, House Judiciary Dems want more answers from Gonzales on Graves' firing and The Schloz' hiring.
11. Minnesota USA Rachel Paulose: From May 11, Gonzales indicated that Paulose might not actually remain the Minnesota USA for very long.  I missed Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison's questioning of Alberto but hat tip to eartha for pointing me to the summary in the link.  Ignore the editorializing by the reporter towards the end, though- that was annoying.
12. Fired Western Michigan USA Margaret Chiara:  From May 14, this NYT article has Chiara as a source for and a witness of Lady Monica's hyperpartisanship.
13. Milwaukee USA Steven Biskupic: From May 7, from Comey's testimony, Biskupic is apparently a straight shooter and, in his opinion, is not the type of US Attorney to 'play ball' with the Bush Administration.  Josh Marshall chews on this here.
14. District of Columbia USA Jeffrey Taylor:  From May 8, this article here mostly focuses on Jay Apperson's history, but keep in mind that it was Taylor who ultimately hired him.  In a vacuum, this odd hire (and its odd process) might mean nothing.  But we're not in a vacuum.  Taylor was a close aide to Gonzales before getting this USA job, he interacted with Main Justice frequently WRT hiring Apperson, and any hire he makes that is outside the normal screening process (as was the case with Apperson) deserves close scrutiny.
15. Western Pennsylvania USA Mary Beth Buchanan:  From April 18, we have our answer as to why Conyers wants to speak with her.  She was consulted on the firing decisions (h/t TPM).
16. Alaska USA Nelson Cohen:  From April 23, the DoJ picked this guy to be the Alaska USA over the recommendations of both Republican home state Senators Stevens and Murkowski (h/t TPM).  What was so special about Cohen that the home state Republicans had to be overruled?  The article hints that Cohen had a desire to return to Alaska, but that's not how these things are supposed to work.  Home state Senators are supposed to have significant, if not complete, influence on who gets nominated to be a US Attorney.  It looks like the DoJ in DC rode roughshod over the Senators' recommendations- why?
17.  Central Pennsylvania USA Thomas Marino: From May 11, there appears to be confusion over whether Marino was on a purge list or not.  This TPM piece here discusses the efforts to investigate "voter fraud" right before the midterms, but take a look at the bottom of the piece- Paul Kiel mentions Philadelphia USA Patrick Meehan as a vulnerable USA, not Marino.  But the McClatchy article that specifically named Marino here is what caused me to put Marino on my list to begin with (and many of you will recall that I hastily put Meehan on the list before I realized the mistake).  So I'm a little confused, and I'm hoping to get more info on this.
18. Northern Texas USA Richard Roper:  From April 17, hat tip to James Risser for tipping me off to this story in his diary.  Quite simply, what the hell's been going on in this office?  They open an investigation into Novation LLC, a subsidiary of health care giant Tenet HealthCare, and two of the Assistant US Attorney's (AUSAs) working the case suddenly die.  Two months later, three other AUSA's in the Dallas office resigned, two to go into private practice, and one to retire.  You'll note in James Risser's diary that he discusses the Western Missouri US Attorney's office, because there is a lawsuit against Novation by a company in that area (I think?), Medical Supply Chain.  But I separate that out, because that's a whole other ball of wax.  If strange things happen after a US Attorney's office opens an investigation into Republican targets, however, then I get interested.  And with the Dallas USA office opening a (according to the NYT link) "broad investigation" into Novation/Tenet and other health care and pharma giants, I'm interested to see where that investigation headed, and if/why it was suppressed.
19. New Jersey USA Chris Christie: From May 11, the Fort Dix Six are looking a little stupid...didn't we just leave this party with the idiots in Miami?  Josh Marshall has more here.
20. Middle North Carolina USA Anna Mills Wagoner: From March 29, from Sampson's testimony, this USA was on an early list, but was taken off on advice from Monica Goodling. Why was she on an early list?
21. Connecticut USA Kevin O'Connor: From April 10, does this mean Mr. O'Connor is a "loyal Bushie?" And why must we insist on absentee US Attorneys?
22. New Hampshire USA Tom Colantuono:
23. Former Western North Carolina USA Robert J. Conrad, Jr.:
24. Kentucky USA David Huber:
25. Southern Mississippi USA Dunn Lampton:
26. Southern West Virginia USA Karl "Kasey" Warner:  From May 14, well, this technically puts him on the list, since Mr. Warner is just outright saying he was fired in order to interfere with a corruption investigation.  But TPM is skeptical (because of what former Deputy AG Comey said here), and until I hear more details, this guy is tentative.  He hasn't elaborated on his accusations yet, and he hasn't provided any documentation, so we'll just have to wait and see.

CONGRESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Dear Alberto:  Umm, about those subpoenas, do you think could get us some information by Friday?  Please don't hurt us, Senate Judiciary.  Text of the letter here.

• Dear Decider:  We really, really want to talk to Karl.  Soon we're going to issue subpoenas.  Sincerely, Senate Judiciary.  Text of the letter here.

• Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has now called for Gonzales to resign, and "resign now."

WHITE HOUSE AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ACTIVITIES

• UPDATE:  Dear Senate Judiciary:  we found one email that relates to your subpoena, but we're going to say it's two emails.  There, we complied- now f--k off.  Cordially, Department of Justice. (h/t standingup at ePM).

• Former DoJ employee Teresa Lynn, who had sparked a mini-controversy in a departing email about the Civil Rights Division's lack of diversity, spoke to NPR last night (h/t standingup at ePM).

• Kyle Sampson again contradicts testimony by Alberto Gonzales.  The Muckraker piece is a bit complicated, so let me set the scene before you follow the link.  Remember the heated exchange (video here) between Schumer and Gonzales, regarding what Alberto Gonzales had told Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor about Cummins' replacement?  Where Alberto kept insisting "I never liked the plan, I didn't go along with the plan, I thought it was a bad idea, etc."?  Ok, now that you have that scene in your head, go to the Muckraker link.  Disgusting- lying is like breathing to these people.

PERSPECTIVE

• Harold Meyerson at the Washington Post joins the "voter fraud" is bulls--t bandwagon.

• Josh Marshall also thinks McNulty is a rat who doesn't deserve any sympathy for getting shivved by Alberto.

• Josh Marshall again, but this time on Comey's testimony yesterday, which is technically not about the USA story but about NSA surveillance.  Paul Kiel also has some good thoughts here.  I highlight Josh and Paul's pieces because what a lot of members in the MSM have missed (looking at you Joke Line) is the fact that the President has knowingly engaged in willfully criminal conduct, and was willing to stoop to conning a sick man doped on painkillers to try and avoid having to adjust (i.e. reduce) his criminal conduct.  Given what happened here (and I would urge you to read both pieces), do we really honestly believe the Bush Administration will comply with the USA investigation and its subpoenas?

• From me, speaking of which, I am trying very, very hard not to be disappointed in Senator Leahy's granting of an "extension" on Alberto's subpoena homework.  I'm a big fan of Senator Leahy, but I fail to see the point in delaying this Constitutional conflict anymore- it's here, and pushing the war over subpoenas to Friday won't end the war.  I also don't see any grand political strategy here, either- these guys are thugs, and they do not honor subpoenas, and anyone that hasn't realized that yet isn't going to suddenly wake up "enlightened" on Saturday morning.
  
  
  I'm reminded of the standoff between President Eisenhower and Governor Wallace.  Yes, I'm sure if I checked my history books, I'd see there was some hemming and hawing and efforts to buy time, but inevitably, those (African-American) kids had to go to school, and thus inevitably, Governor Wallace had to be forcibly removed.  I know it's a melodramatic analogy, but I think it still holds.  We (Dems, WH, Repubs, Americans) are inevitably running out of maneuvering room on this Constitutional Crisis, and we are inevitably running out of options to end this struggle peacefully.

  President Bush and Alberto Gonzales have the guns of the FBI and the Armed Forces.  Senator Leahy and the Dems have the moral high ground, and maybe the guns of the Sergeant At Arms.  So, if it comes to a matter of force (and I think it will), how does Senator Leahy plan to force compliance with the subpoena?