Attorney Firings Coverup: Justice Department Thugs Caught in the Act
May 3, 2007
John McKay is one of the eight U.S. attorneys whose firings are being subjected to intense Congressional scrutiny. According to a written account that McKay provided to the House Judiciary Committee ahead of his testimony today, he received a phone call from a senior official by the name of Michael Elston:
From the Seattle PI:
According to McKay, Elston, who was chief of staff to the deputy attorney general, advised him in a “sinister” voice to simply repeat public statements from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales when asked about his firing or face serious consequences.
The evidence in this case points to an alarmingly thuggish Justice Department attempting to cover up an embarrassing series of politically motivated human resources decisions. I don’t understand how Alberto Gonzales is still Attorney General. It’s almost as ludicrous as when President Bush declined Don Rumsfeld’s resignation over and over again.
This administration’s cronyism, sense of entitlement and disrespect for the law and the Constitution has fostered a truly thuggish culture in Washington, and it scares me deeply. I think Tori Amos said it best in her letter to George W. Bush “Yo George” (iTunes):
Where have we gone wrong America?
Mr. Lincoln we can’t seem
To find you anywhere out of the millions
“Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”
A. Lincoln
Robert: Many thanks for that. Feel like staging a revolution next week?
i’ve only heard bits and pieces of this whole ordeal. is there anywhere that has a timeline /summary of all this so i can catch up?
Timeline/Summary:
2000 : Bush is elected.
2001-Present : Bush fucks up world.
Deb:
1. 8 federal prosecutors are fired from their offices between September and December 2006. In some cases, these prosecutors had been highly praised for their service and the only seeming reason to fire them was their political leanings.
2. Fired prosecutors make stink
3. Congress holds hearing to learn what happened
4. Bush asserts confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (of “Habeas Corpus doesn’t exist” fame)
5. Gonzales says he had nothing to do with firings
6. Emails and documents come out proving Gonzales was deeply involved in firings
7. Bush AGAIN asserts confidence in Gonzales
8. When asked for more information, Gonzales’ staff has apparently “lost” some 5000 emails relating to the issue. Oh, and they were conveniently all emails between himself and the White House.
9. Bush AGAIN asserts confidence in Gonzales.
10. Congress hauls Gonzales before a special investigative session of Congress to ask him what happened. He answers 70 questions with “I don’t recall.” Nearly every senator in the room tells him they’ve lost confidence in him, several Democrats and no less than 3 Republicans tell him he should quit.
11. Bush AGAIN asserts confidence in Gonzales, against all human reason.
Teresa is right. Bush and Co. only seem to stand for cronyism and a sense of entitlement to rule. They actually believe the image of the government that Hollywood has cultivated over the past 30 years, you know, that invincible, ruthlessly efficient, “President’s got ALL the power” sort of Washington.
Too bad it’s a fiction, unfortunately, Bush and Co. don’t seem to realize it. Just the other day Condoleeza Rice stated she flatly refuses to comply with a Congressional subpoena - which, by the way, is a federal crime punishable by 3 years in prison. ‘Course nobody is going to prosecute her for it, that would be the President’s job.