Prosecuting Criminals

By criminals:

Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Tuesday said former Justice Department officials will not face prosecution for letting improper political considerations drive hirings of prosecutors, immigration judges and other career government lawyers.

Mukasey used his sharpest words yet to criticize the senior leaders who took part in or failed to stop illegal hiring practices during the tenure of his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales.

But, he told delegates to the American Bar Association annual meeting, "not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime. In this instance, the two joint reports found only violations of the civil service laws."

Nothing like a good old-fashioned independent AG.

If I Did It

Alberto Gonzales has announced that he has resigned in order to pursue the real culprits in the fired prosecutors and FISA scandals, as well as the numerous lies he told while under oath. Sources say there will be indictments forthcoming for prominent Democrats.

Bedtime for Gonzo

At last:

Bush administration officials say Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will announce his resignation today.

The embattled attorney general has been under increasing pressure by lawmakers in both parties, amid accusations that the Justice Department has been used for political purposes.

Seems like Fredo needs to spend more time with the family.

Oh Please

Please please please please.

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) is introducing legislation that would require the House
Judiciary Committee and the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment
investigation into Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in the wake of his
damaging testimony last week.

We have to kill the Republican zombies or they will keep coming back.

Subpoena Me, Again! Again!

First up, Gonzo is a goner:

A group of Senate Democrats called Wednesday for a special counsel to investigate whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales perjured himself regarding the firings of U.S. attorneys and administration dissent over President Bush's domestic-surveillance program.

"We ask that you immediately appoint an independent special counsel from outside the Department of Justice to determine whether Attorney General Gonzales may have misled Congress or perjured himself in testimony before Congress," four Democratic senators wrote in a letter Wednesday, according to a draft obtained by the Associated Press.

Guess that little TSP thing did not work out so well, huh? But even better,

Senator Leahy has just issued subpeonas [for Rove and Jennings] on the floor of the Senate.

Please tune into C-Span 2 for live speech, he is laying it all out for the entire country to hear how the Bush Administration has exceeded the boundaries of law and ignored the Constitution.

Oversight is one hell of a thing.

Gonzo for Gonzo

No reasonable person watching Gonzales' tragically comedic performance Tuesday's on Capitol Hill-- especially his miserable exchange with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in late morning-- can any longer defend his appalling lack of competence, courage and credibility. And no one who hears him say that he is what's best for the Department right now should forget that on the eve of his testimony (and a few days after he urged his subordinates to work diligently to regain their morale) the nation's top law enforcement official reportedly left work early to go for a bike ride Monday afternoon-- at about 3:50 p.m.

I am running out of words to describe how inept this public servant is and how awful
is the message our government sends to the nation and to the world by allowing him to continue to represent us.

Sounds about right.

Profiles in "Wait, What in the World Could That Be?!"

Alberto Gonzales.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, under congressional pressure to quit over the firing of nine U.S. prosecutors, vowed on Monday to stay and fix problems with the Justice Department.

In testimony prepared for a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Gonzales acknowledged the Justice Department has been shaken by accusations that partisan politics played a role in hiring practices and the administration of justice.

"There are two options available in light of these allegations," Gonzales said. "I could walk away or I could devote my time, effort and energy to fix the problems."

"Since I have never been one to quit, I decided that the best course of action was to remain here and fix the problems."

Abu is going to fix the problems - the leakers and dissenters.

I promise this is not an Onion article.

If You Can't Beat Them...

Activist judiciary-style.

Bad Management, Bad Judgment

Alberto G.

Corruption

From TPM:

I've read TPM for years, and appreciate your work. I email you because I read something today about the firing of John McKay that finally put me over the edge.

Apparently during Comey's testimony today he said that one of the reasons McKay got himself in hot water with the DOJ heavyweights was because he was pushing for additional resources to investigate the murder of Tom Wales, who was an Assistant US Attorney in Seattle. Tom Wales was shot and killed in 2001. What nobody has talked about, and what you may not be aware of, is the fact that Tom Wales was extremely active in attempting to get tighter gun control laws passed here in Washington.

Think about that for a second. A pro-gun control federal prosecutor was shot and killed. John McKay was agitating for more resources to bring his killer to justice. That pissed off DOJ, who apparently thought that McKay should spend his time going after bogus voter fraud prosecutions rather than solve the murder of a guy who was in favor of gun control. If you don't think the fact that Tom Wales' political views weren't taken into consideration by the higher ups at DOJ when they decided to punish McKay for fighting to find his killer, you haven't been paying attention to the way these guys have operated for the last 6 years. Every single thing they do is
about politics, and the political views of those they help or hurt.

The bottom line of this whole McKay firing could be summed up in this way: try to catch killers, you get fired. File BS charges of voter fraud, you keep your job.

It's a slap in the face to every prosecutor in the country. It's our job to seek justice for those that aren't able to seek it for themselves. None of us should give a damn what the political views are of the victims we try to protect. It's beyond reprehensible for them to punish McKay for doing this. But for this administration, it's par for the course.

Follow-up from McJoan at Kos:

Wales's killer still hasn't been apprehended. The Seattle U.S. Attorneys office was recused from the case, and the Seattle FBI office put in charge. However, in June 2006, the case was transferred to the Portland FBI office. Guess why the matter was transferred:

"High-level officials at the Department of Justice expressed displeasure to the FBI about Laura Laughlin's resource allocation decisions," said a
Justice Department source familiar with the case.

I am sad.

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Stool pigeon.

Stool pigeon who?

Monica Goodling.

The House Judiciary Committee voted moments ago to grant immunity to Monica Goodling — former counsel to Alberto Gonzales and the Justice Department’s liaison to the White House — and issue a subpoena compelling her to testify. Yesterday, fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias said he believes that Goodling holds the “keys to the kingdom” in terms of uncovering the roots of the U.S. Attorney purge

Even with Bush's support, Gonzales cannot last much longer.

Bush's Brain

Glenn Greenwald nails it:

In Bush's mind, the greatest sin is admitting error, or capitulating in any way to the Enemy. Firing Gonzales because Chuck Schumer demands it or because editorialists insist that there was wrongdoing here is exactly the opposite of how Bush behaves.

Same goes for Iraq, global warming or anything else Bush touches.

We are ruled by children.

Lying Liars

The Bush administration and their cronies:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S.
attorneys in an hourlong meeting last fall, according to documents released
Friday that indicate he was more involved in the dismissals than he has
claimed.

Last week, Gonzales said he ''was not involved in any discussions about
what was going on'' in the firings of eight prosecutors that has since led to a
political firestorm and calls for his ouster.

Bush will not let Gonzales go down because Abu is another piece of chaff protecting Bush. The sooner those go away the sooner people will start focusing their attention on Bush, who bears real responsibility for most of these scandals.

Be Thankful for Small Miracles

T'was a merry Fitzmas indeed.

While Patrick Fitzgerald was prosecuting the CIA leak case, his name appeared on
a Justice Department chart that was the first step in an effort to identify U.S.
attorneys who should be removed, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The Justice Department ranking of Fitzgerald, which was sent to the
White House in March 2005, listed him among prosecutors who had "not
distinguished themselves" and put him below "strong U.S. attorneys . . . who
exhibited loyalty" to the administration, but above "weak U.S. attorneys who ...
chafed against administration initiatives, etc.," the Post said, citing Justice
documents.

I think we all got very lucky that they did not fire Fitzgerald. I certainly would not put it past the Bush administration to toss aside anyone who got in their way - just look at Carol Lam. The idea that Fitzgerald had not distinguished himself, after prosecuting corruption and organized crime in Chicago up to the highest levels, is flat-out wrong. Then again this is the same Justice Department that issued the following statement.

In a statement accompanying the release of documents to Congress, Scolinos said,
"The department did not remove the U.S. attorneys for improper reasons, such as
to prevent or retaliate for a particular prosecution in a public corruption matter."

Sure, whatever you say.

Gonzo Gone Gonzo

Otherwise this exchange makes no sense.

A reader transcribed this exchange concerning habeas corpus from today's Senate
Judiciary Committee hearings (no official transcript yet):

Specter: Now wait a minute, wait a minute. The Constitution says you can't take it away except in the case of invasion or rebellion. Doesn't that mean you have the right of habeas corpus?
Gonzales: I meant by that comment that the Constitution doesn't say that every individual in the United States or every citizen has or is assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn't say that. It simply says that the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended.

Article I, Section 9: The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

Alberto Gonzales should not only be impeached for his willfully obtuse
interpretations of the Constitution, he should be disbarred.

Here here. This is one thing the Bush administration cannot spin