TPMMuckraker
September 28, 2008 - October 4, 2008

House Dems Question Prosecutor's Independence in U.S. Attorney Probe

Zachary Roth | October 3, 2008, 3:28PM

Democrats are already expressing concern about the independence of the prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Michael Mukasey to look into whether DOJ or White House officials broke the law in firing a group of U.S. attorneys in 2006.

Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) said that the fact that the prosecutor -- Nora Dannehy, the acting U.S. attorney in Connecticut -- is a DOJ employee, could allow the department to interfere with her probe.

Sanchez was speaking at a hearing where DOJ's Inspector General, Glenn Fine testified. It was Fine's report into the firings, released Monday, that prompted Mukasey to appoint Dannehy.

Fine did not offer a ringing endorsement of Dannehy's independence. When Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) asked Fine whether the attorney general could over-rule her, Fine replied: "I will have to leave that for another day."

Sanchez also expressed the fear that Dannehy's findings could remain secret, since she is not formally required to issue a public report.

In addition, lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee, which has been conducting its own investigation into the matter, yesterday wrote to Mukasey and White House counsel Fred Fielding, asking whether they would cooperate with Dannehy's investigation. The Inspector General's report made clear that it was prevented from drawing firmer conclusions by a lack of cooperation from the White House, and, to a lesser extent, the Justice Department.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (13) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (16)
Topics: Glenn Fine, Michael Mukasey, U.S. Attorneys

Voting

Who's Paying the Lawyer for the Michigan GOP Official?

Kate Klonick | October 3, 2008, 12:56PM

Matt Davis, the attorney for the plaintiff in the defamation suit filed against the Michigan Messenger was quite talkative about the particulars of the suit when TPMmuckraker called him this morning, but declined to say who was paying his legal fees.

"I don't comment on my clients," Davis said in answer to inquiries about who was employing him, but directed us to the spokesman for the Michigan Republican party for further questions.

Davis said his client's suit claims both negligent and malicious defamation and criticized the Messenger for possibly violating their non-profit status by engaging in political speech.

"They call themselves a non-profit," Davis said, citing a letter he received from an attorney who at the time, claimed to represent the Messenger and its parent company the Center for Independent Media.

"You can't go out and engage in political speech as a non-profit," Davis continued. "They risk heavily their 501c3 status. . . I'm in the midst of asking them for their 1033 1090 and also their certification letter from the IRS."

A call to the GOP spokesman for Michigan was not immediately returned.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (11) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)
Topics: Voting

Voting

MI GOP Official Sues News Website Over 'Lose Your Home Lose Your Vote' Story

Kate Klonick | October 3, 2008, 11:18AM

A Republican official in Michigan has filed a defamation suit against an independent news site, over a story in which he is quoted as stating his party plans to challenge voters whose names and addresses appear on foreclosure lists.

"We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren't voting from those addresses," James Carabelli, the chairman of the Macomb County Republican Party is quoted as saying in the Michigan Messenger in an article published September 10.

Just a few days after the article was published, Carabelli back-tracked on his statement, telling the Macomb Daily that the party has "no plans to do anything." Later, he issued a full-throated denial, calling the original article "not true."

The Michigan Messenger is an independent news site that is part of the Center for Independent Media (CIM).

CIM president and CEO David Bennahum told TPMmuckraker this morning that they had not yet received a copy of the suit, but said that CIM stands by the story and the reporter.

"We've stood by this story since day one and we continue to stand by it," he said. "I think this is a use of defamation to stifle free speech, and it ain't gonna work. . . Just because the truth is inconvenient you can't sue it away."

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (22) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (38)
Topics: Voting

The Daily Muck

Natalie Sherman | October 3, 2008, 10:16AM

A case once heralded by the Bush admistration as a blow against terrorism, was overturned yesterday when a federal panel ruled that the two men convicted of conspiracy to support Al Qaeda had been denied the right to a fair trial. The judge said that some of the evidence introduced by prosecutors, such as testimony about bombings unrelated to the two defendants, had unfairly influenced the jury. A new judge will hear the retrial. (New York Times)

The Bush administration must share White House logs that could shed light on visits by Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist convicted on corruption charges in September. The Secret Service had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying that knowing what prompts background checks could promote criminal activity. A federal judge ruled this week that the records must be released within 20 days. (AP)

A watchdog group filed a complaint with the IRS yesterday against seven churches whose pastors had used the pulpit to promote particular presidential candidates. The move gets the ball rolling on a case meant to examine the separation of church and state. Last Sunday's endorsements were a deliberate attempt by the pastors to challenge a 1954 rule that forbids tax-exempt non-profit groups from campaigning. (LA Times)

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)
Topics: The Daily Muck

Alaska

GOP Suit To Halt Trooper-Gate Probe Dismissed

Zachary Roth | October 2, 2008, 9:12PM

An Alaska judge dismissed a suit brought by state GOP legislators that aimed to stop the Trooper-Gate investigation.

Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski wrote in his decision that "it is legitimately within the scope of the legislature's investigatory power to inquire into the circumstances of surrounding the termination of a public officer the legislature had previously confirmed."

The Republican lawmakers had argued that the probe had been inappropriately politicized by the Democrats overseeing it, and that the legislature did not have the authority to pursue the investigation.

According to Peter Maassen, an attorney representing the Democratic lawmakers who were named as defendants in the case, lawyers for the plaintiffs appeared to be creating a transcript of the proceedings, suggesting an intention to be appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.

But for now at least, the probe can continue. Independent investigator Steve Branchflower is scheduled to deliver a report on his findings around October 11.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (25) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (23)
Topics: Alaska, Sarah Palin, Trooper-Gate

Voting

Flyers Aim To Keep Black Philadelphians From Polls

Zachary Roth | October 2, 2008, 7:32PM

Another election year, another apparent example of shady, under-handed efforts to discourage black people from voting.

The Philadelphia Daily News reported today that flyers have been making the rounds in some of the city's African-American neighborhoods, falsely claiming that voters who face outstanding arrest warrants and even unpaid parking tickets may be arrested at the polls.

The flyers could prove particularly effective at scaring people away from voting, because they attribute the falsehood to "an Obama supporter." They begin:

Recently, at school, an Obama supporter approached me during a rock the vote assembly. He informed me that on the day of the election there will be undercover officers to execute warrants on those who come to vote based on the anticipated turnout. He advised me if I had any outstanding warrants or traffic offenses I should clear them up prior to voting.

It is unclear who's behind the flyers, which are signed "anonymous". The mayor's office became aware of them last week, and has passed them on to the offices of the District Attorney and the U.S. Attorney. It also plans to record a public-service announcement for broadcast, to help get out the word that the flyers are bogus.

"We're watching, we're being very vigilant," Everett Gillison, the city's deputy mayor for public safety, told TPMmuckraker. "We're not gonna let anybody intimidate anybody into not voting."

Democrats, of course, are counting on a large African-American turnout in Philadelphia this November to help Barack Obama carry Pennsylvania, a key swing state.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (6) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (14)
Topics: Voting

Alaska

Stevens' Trial Still On, Judge Says

Kate Klonick | October 2, 2008, 6:34PM

Following up on the small debacle in the Stevens' trial earlier today, the judge has rejected the defense's motion for a mistrial. The show must go on!

From the AP:

After hearing heated arguments from lawyers Thursday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan turned down motions from Stevens' lawyers to dismiss charges against the senator or to declare a mistrial.
The judge had sent the jury home for the day after the defense accused prosecutors of suppressing evidence that could help the veteran lawmaker prove he was innocent.

Stevens is charged with lying about more than $250,000 in home improvements and other gifts from a wealthy Alaska businessman.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (2) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Alaska, Ted Stevens

Voting

Montana GOP Challenges Thousands of Voters in Blue Counties

Zachary Roth | October 2, 2008, 4:22PM

Montana Republicans appear to be pulling one of the oldest tricks in the book to keep Democrats away from the polls this November.

The state party is challenging the eligibility of 6000 registered voters -- or almost one percent of registered voters in the state -- claiming that these voters are registered under incorrect addresses, reports the Missoulian. And many of the counties in which the challenges are occurring represent pockets of Democratic strength in the largely red state.

The state GOP appears to have gone to some lengths to actively identify these voters. It obtained a commercial software system used by direct marketers that contains a nationwide list of people who have changed their addresses. Then it compared that list to a new statewide voter database, in order to find people who are living somewhere other than where they're registered to vote. It says it then issued challenges with election officials against these people.

But the challenges were made in only seven counties, most of which turned out to be Democratic-leaning. In 2004, only six of Montana's 56 counties voted for John Kerry over George Bush. Four of those counties are among the seven in which the GOP is challenging voters.

As a pretext for the move, Jacob Eaton, the state party's executive director, cited recent comments by Democratic governor Brian Schweitzer. In July, Schweitzer told a meeting of trial lawyers that he helped "turn some dials" to get fellow Democrat Jon Tester elected to the Senate in 2006, saying that he helped remove GOP poll-watchers from Indian reservations, and pressed the Associated Press to call the race for Tester. Schweitzer has since said his comments were intended to be humorous. But Eaton told the Missoulian that the remarks "brought everyone in the state to a new level of suspicion and awareness of the integrity of our elections."

The stakes could be high. Polls over the summer showed Barack Obama running close with John McCain in the presidential race -- though recently McCain appears to have widened his lead.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (10) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)
Topics: Voting

House Oversight

House Oversight Committee Will Hold Additional Hearings on Wall Street's Breakdown

Kate Klonick | October 2, 2008, 1:46PM

Henry Waxman, House Oversight Committee Chairman, added three more hearings on the financial crisis to the Committee's schedule in October.

Oversight had already planned to hold hearings on AIG's bailout and Lehman Brother's bankruptcy.

The new hearings will cover hedge fund regulation, the breakdown of credit rating agencies and the role of federal regulators.

"This financial crisis has shaken the global economy," Waxman said. "Congress cannot wait until a new administration arrives in January to examine what went wrong and who should be held accountable."

Waxman wrote letters requesting testimony from Treasury Secretary John Paulson, philanthropist George Soros, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, SEC chairman Christopher Cox and the heads of a number of hedge funds.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)
Topics: Bailout, Henry Waxman, House Oversight

Cindy McCain

Part of Cindy McCain's "Personal" Trip to Asia, Paid for on McCain Campaign's Dime

Kate Klonick | October 2, 2008, 1:01PM

Early last week, a reader flagged a report in the online newspaper Narco News which noted an interesting FEC expense filing from the McCain campaign from June. The filing listed expenses for hotels and airline tickets in Singapore and Vietnam -- that seemed to correlate with a trip that Cindy McCain took in June to Southeast Asia. The campaign charges seemed at odds with statements made both by Cindy and the campaign at the time, which said that the trip was for "non-campaign" and "humanitarian" reasons.

The filings list $12,316 in air travel on Thai Airways International, British Airways and Air Singapore, as well as $4,886 in hotel stays for the Raffles Hotel in Singapore and the Caravelle Hotel and "Vinpers Resort" in Vietnam.

But the filings didn't specify who the expenses were for, so TPMmuckraker called the McCain camp, and like NarcoNews, received no response to inquiries on the expense filings or the trip.

Stonewalled by the campaign, we started calling hotels listed to see if Cindy or Meghan had stayed there on their trip which had been part of Cindy's ongoing work with poor children in Southeast Asia -- primarily with the charity Operation Smile.

We found that "Vinpers Resort Spa," is the Vinpearl Resort Spa. Vinpearl Hotel administrators confirmed to TPMmuckraker that both Cindy and Meghan McCain were guests there on the night of June 18th, which was also mentioned in local news reports at the time.

So the campaign expenses were in fact tied to Cindy and Meghan's trip, which seemed sharply at odds with what the campaign and Cindy herself described as a solely "humanitarian" mission:

"This is what I do, and this is what revitalizes me, personally," Cindy McCain is quoted as saying in an AP article from June 10th. "The campaign is extremely important, of course, but this is also important to me, and so you try to balance everything."

The personal, non-campaign nature of the trip was stressed by McCain's own staff who said that the excursion was "private and not related to the political campaign," according to a June 19 report from the French news service the AFP.

Our initial calls to the camp still unreturned, we called again -- but this time asking for a comment on the Cindy's stay at the Vinpearl. We got a response within an hour.

In a conversation with TPMmuckraker, Cindy McCain's press aide confirmed that two campaign aides accompanied Meghan and Cindy on their trip.

"There was a press aide and another press advance person who went along and that the campaign paid for," Cindy McCain's spokesperson Laurye Blackford told us, adding that Cindy and Meghan paid their own way and the way of their guests.

Blackford also confirmed that following her trip to Southeast Asia, Cindy McCain did participate in a campaign function -- she and Megan attended a fundraiser for the campaign in London on June 26.

It is unclear whether this would qualify the whole of the McCain's trip to Asia as a travel expense under FEC guidelines.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (10) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (16)
Topics: Cindy McCain, John McCain

Alaska

Stevens' Trial Suspended As Judge Considers Mistrial

Kate Klonick | October 2, 2008, 11:01AM

A judge suspended the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens today, while he considers the request of the defense for a mistrial.

The defense's motion stems from the prosecutions' failure to turn over FBI reports of interviews with their star witness, former VECO CEO Bill Allen, until late Wednesday night. Stevens' attorneys claimed the prosecutors were withholding evidence that would help the defense.

From the AP:

Judge Emmet Sullivan lashed out at prosecutors, asking them, "Why shouldn't I dismiss the indictment?" He then ordered a recess.
Prosecutors said it was an honest mistake when they waited until late Wednesday night to turn over FBI reports about interviews with the government's star witness, oil pipeline contractor Bill Allen.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (45) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)
Topics: Alaska, Ted Stevens

The Daily Muck

Natalie Sherman | October 2, 2008, 10:25AM

Close ties between American International Group and D.C. politicians may have been a factor in the company's bailout reports The Washington Post. Since 1998, AIG has spent more than $72 million on lobbying and contributed more than $25 million to campaigns. The insurance company received $85 billion from the federal government last month. Federal intervention to save AIG, but not other firms like Lehman Brothers, has raised some eyebrows. (Washington Post)

The FBI has forbidden two counterterrorism agents from participating in a PBS documentary that planned to examine allegations that the CIA pressured the FBI to hide information during the 2004 Justice Department's investigation of the FBI's handling of 9/11 information gathering. The documentary, which will discuss intelligence agency rivalries in the pre-9/11 period, is scheduled to air in January. (CQ)

More than 15,000 pages of documents related to the scientist suspected of masterminding 2001 anthrax attacks are still secret, held by the FBI because the investigation is ongoing. In August, federal prosecutors began their case against Bruce Ivins, who had worked at a U.S. Army biological research center. The case has faced criticism for failing to present conclusive evidence. (McClatchy)

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)
Topics: The Daily Muck

Alaska

Ruling Expected Today on GOP Bid to Halt Trooper-Gate Probe

Zachary Roth | October 2, 2008, 9:21AM

A judge may rule today on the effort by five Alaska Republican lawmakers to stop the Trooper-Gate investigation, reports the Anchorage Daily News.

The lawmakers, who are being aided by a conservative law firm affiliated with James Dobson's Focus on the Family, filed suit in mid September, arguing that the probe has been "tainted" by partisan politics. In a court filing, reports the ADN, a lawyer for the legislators overseeing the investigation asserted that the GOP lawmakers are "engaged in one of the most bizarre challenges to Alaska's separation of powers doctrine in the history of the state."

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski may also rule on the effort by state Attorney General Talis Colberg, a Palin appointee, to have subpoenas issued to witnesses by the investigative committee thrown out. Several top Palin aides, as well as Todd Palin, have refused to comply with the subpoenas and face possible jail time.

Steve Branchflower, the independent investigator hired by the legislature, is still expected to release his report -- which will center on allegations that Palin fired Walt Monegan, the state's former public safety commissioner, because he was unwilling to fire a trooper with whom the Palin family was embroiled in a bitter dispute -- around October 11th. Palin had initially welcomed the investigation, saying she had nothing to hide. But since being picked as John McCain's running mate, she has refused to cooperate.

We'll keep you posted on word from Alaska...

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)
Topics: Alaska, Sarah Palin, Todd Palin, Trooper-Gate

Ted Stevens

Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure Bogus Journey

Kate Klonick | October 1, 2008, 5:58PM

The 26 year friendship of indicted Sen. Ted Stevens and former VECO CEO Bill Allen has been on display while Allen testifies as the prosecution's key witness in the sitting senator's trial.

Allen described his annual fishing trips (pictured at left) and visits with the senator, where they would walk and smoke cigars and drink wine "now and then."

"We really liked each other, you know?" Allen reminisced, yesterday. "Ted really worked hard. Ted loved Alaska and I loved Alaska."

Besides recounting his history with Stevens in his testimony Tuesday, Allen spent much of the afternoon detailing a transaction where he traded a new Land Rover for Stevens' 1964 Mustang convertible. The Land Rover was worth approximately $44,000 while Stevens' Mustang -- including a $5000 payment to Allen -- was worth a little over $32,000.

In their decades of friendship, Allen gave Stevens over $250,000 worth of gifts -- everything from grills to home renovations -- gifts that Stevens failed to include on his Senate disclosure forms. Stevens claims that he was unaware of all of the work that Allen was doing on his home, and that he never asked Allen for free work or favors.

This morning, the prosecution submitted thank-you notes from Stevens to Allen, in an attempt to prove that Stevens knew that he was receiving favors from Allen.

"You continue to amaze me, the way you can keep so many balls in the air at one time," Stevens wrote in an August 2000 note, the AP reports. "It was great to see you at the Bogart movie and I thank you for all that you are doing on the house."

Allen's testimony was cut short this afternoon when the judge recessed early to accommodate a juror's schedule. The trial will resume tomorrow with the prosecution expected to wrap up its case before Friday.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (5) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)
Topics: Alaska, Bill Allen, Ted Stevens, Veco

Harriet Miers

Report Shows White House Engineered U.S. Attorney Firings

Zachary Roth | October 1, 2008, 4:28PM

Now that the dust has settled on the U.S. attorney firings report, released Monday morning by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General, we thought it was worth taking some time to lay out what it tells us.

Almost since the scandal broke early last year, there have been clear signs that the plan to fire U.S. attorneys as a means of advancing the Bush administration's political goals was being driven by the White House. That impression has been strengthened as top current and former White House officials, including Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, have consistently stonewalled efforts to look into the matter.

The OIG investigation was no exception. As the report notes, Miers, Rove and several other Whte House officials refused to talk to investigators, and the White House wouldn't provide internal emails or documents relating to the firings. Perhaps the most crucial of the documents denied to OIG was a memo, written in March 2007, which contained the results of an internal White House investigation into the firings, conducted by associate White House counsel Michael Scudder. Scudder had interviewed top DOJ and White House officials, including Rove, and had compiled a timeline that "appeared to contain information we had not obtained elsewhere in our investigation," according to the OIG report.

Still, a close examination of the report makes clear that, although on a day-to-day basis the plan was put into effect by mid-level DOJ political appointees -- enabled by a shocking lack of oversight from top department officials, principally former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales -- the impetus for the move came straight from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Many of the individual pieces of information have been previously reported, as DOJ provided emails and internal documents to Congress for its 2007 investigation. But the OIG report provides a far clearer sense of the longer-term trajectory of the plan, and the consistent interest in it from Miers and Rove, than we've yet been offered.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (23) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (25)
Topics: Bud Cummins, DOJ Office Of The Inspector General, David Iglesias, Harriet Miers, Karl Rove, U.S. Attorneys

Alberto Gonzales

The OIG Report: Tying Up Loose Ends

Kate Klonick | October 1, 2008, 3:00PM

In the almost two years that TPMmuckraker has been covering the scandal over the removal of the U.S. attorneys, there have been many questions raised over the reasons behind the firings. On Monday, the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General's report answered some of those, but raised others. While it concluded that only three of the firings were carried out for political reasons or to interfere with active prosecutions, it could not gather sufficient evidence to conclude the rest of the firings were politically based. Regardless, the report strongly condemned the DOJs overall mishandling of the firings, calling the process "fundamentally flawed . . unsystematic and arbitrary."

As we wrote earlier this week, the report reveals that Todd Graves, David Iglesias and Bud Cummins were fired for reasons of politics, not performance.

The report lays out the investigations into each of the remaining U.S. attorney firings, but repeatedly states that its analysis and investigation were "hindered" due to many witnesses' "lack of recall"; the refusal of many witnesses to cooperate with the investigation or give testimony; and the administration's stonewalling in disclosing documents. Citing these obstacles, the report hedges its findings, requesting a prosecutor to continue the investigation with the power to compel testimony.

In the case of Margaret Chiara, the former Western Michigan U.S. attorney, the report could find no evidence that the rumors that Chiara was in a lesbian relationship with one of her subordinates were behind her removal.

Chiara has stated publicly that she believes the rumors -- which she called "false and malicious" in a statement yesterday from her attorney -- were the reason for the loss of her position.

Carol Lam, the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of California, was believed to have been asked to resign over her prosecution of former Executive Director of the CIA, Dusty Foggo and Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor who bribed former Republican Rep. Duke Cunningham and Foggo. But the report "found no evidence" to support those claims, stating that "the investigation and prosecution of Cunningham and Foggo were aggressively pursued by career prosecutors in Lam's office, both during and after her tenure."

Instead, the report supports the Department's previous claims that Lam was removed because of her poor statistics on gun and immigration prosecution statistics -- but blames the DOJ for poor handling of her removal.

In the case of Daniel Bogden of Nevada, little was known about his removal, except that he had not been diligent in prosecution of obscenity cases. The report found the claim to be behind Bogden's removal, but added some color to the removal. Interestingly, the report found that the complaints of Bodgen's dalliance in obscenity prosecutions were made by Brent Ward, the head of the DOJ Obscenity Prosecution Task Force -- who was friends with Attorney General Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson's brother and had direct conversations with Sampson regularly.

When questioned by the DOJ, Sampson stated he "did not recall whether those complaints played a role in the decision to remove Bogden," a response the report found "particularly suspect, given his role in the removal process."

In Arizona, Paul Charlton's termination was believed to be connected to his investigation of Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, but the report states that it could find no evidence to support that claim. Charlton had previously clashed with Main Justice on a decision he made to not seek the death penalty on a case involving a murder that transpired during a drug deal. Charlton believed it was this death penalty case as well as his policy of tape recording interrogations that led to his removal -- theories the IG report confirmed as the primary reasons for his dismissal.

Lastly, there is Seattle's John McKay who was believed to have been fired over his failure to prosecute voter fraud related to the 2004 Washington governor's election.

McKay famously received a call from Ed Cassidy, chief of staff to Washington Rep. Richard Hastings (R) asking about his prosecution, to which McKay responded, "Ed, I'm sure you're not about to start talking to me about the future direction of this case," after which Cassidy quickly ended the call.

Hastings claimed ignorance and told investigators that "he could not remember telling Cassidy to call McKay. . . or whether Cassidy had told him he had done so."

The report also mentions a meeting in Washington between McKay and White House Counsel Harriet Miers in which Miers reportedly asked McKay "why Republicans in the state of Washington were angry with him."

The report concludes that the "evidence suggests" that the primary reason for McKay's removal was an argument with Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty over an information sharing program -- not because of failure to prosecute voter fraud as McKay conjectured.

The OIG report, though nearly 400 pages long, is far from comprehensive. The investigation lacked the power to compel testimony or documents outside of the Justice Department and were consequently limited in their investigation. As a result, the report is forced to reserve judgment on whether many of the firings were inappropriately political, though it recommends that a prosecutor be appointed to look into whether crimes were committed.

Nora Dannehy, appointed on Monday by Attorney General Michael Mukasey will take up that mantle. It remains to be seen if that will be enough to ferret the truth out of unwilling witnesses and departments.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (9) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)
Topics: Alberto Gonzales, Brent Wilkes, Bud Cummins, Carol Lam, DOJ Office Of The Inspector General, DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility, David Iglesias, Duke Cunningham, Dusty Foggo, Harriet Miers, John McKay, Justice Department, Kyle Sampson, Michael Elston, Michael Mukasey, Rick Renzi, Todd Graves, U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorneys

MO Senator and White House Played Role in Firing of U.S. Attorney

Kate Klonick | September 30, 2008, 3:53PM

New details provided by the IG report released yesterday, gives definition to former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves' termination and paints a clear case for a politicized firing orchestrated by the office of Missouri Sen. Kit Bond (R).

Graves was the last U.S. attorney to be counted among those fired through the work of Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to Alberto Gonzales and Michael Battle, director of the Executive Office of the United States Attorney. His case differed from the others in many ways -- he was fired in January 2006, almost 11 months earlier than the other removed attorneys, and the circumstances around his dismissal were unclear.

But according to the report, Graves' removal was a result of multiple calls and emails from Bonds' legal counsel Jack Bartling, to members of White House Counsel -- who "kicked over" the complaints to the Justice Department.

Bond's problems with Graves' began in late fall of 2004. Bond's office had been having problems with another Missouri Congressman -- Rep. Sam Graves (R), U.S. Attorney Graves' brother. Between October and December 2004, a staffer from Bond's office reportedly called former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves to ask for his help in convincing his brother to fire his chief of staff. When Graves refused to intervene, the staffer told him "they could no longer protect [his] job," and hung up, according to the report.

Shortly after, in February 2005, Bartling began placing calls to the White House Counsel's office about Graves, pushing for a replacement. By the fall of 2005, the complaints had been passed to the Justice Department. In December, Bartling reached out again to Michael Elston, chief of staff to the deputy attorney general, who had interviewed Bartling when he had been applying for a position in that department.

In a call shortly before Graves' firing, Bartling asked Elston to, "'keep his ear to the
ground' to ensure that the Senator's role in requesting White House action on
Graves was not being disseminated within the Department," and make sure that Bonds name was never linked to Graves' ouster, the report states.

A little over a month later, Battle called Graves on January 24, 2006 to ask Graves for his resignation, acting on instructions from White House Liason Monica Goodling and using a speech similar to the one he would use with the other fired U.S. attorneys less than 11 months later.

While the IG report states that its investigation was significantly hindered by a number of witnesses refusal to cooperate and/or recall events, including that of Sampson, Goodling, members of the White House Counsel staff and Sen. Bond, it clearly states that they found Graves' firing to be directly a result of Bond's requests.

Acting on the report's findings, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed an ethics complaint this afternoon against Bond, stating that Sen. Bond and his staff violated Senate rules prohibiting "improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate."

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (11) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (22)
Topics: DOJ Office Of The Inspector General, DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility, Justice Department, Kyle Sampson, Michael Elston, Monica Goodling, Todd Graves, U.S. Attorneys

Bill Allen

State's Key Witness Set to Testify This Afternoon at Stevens' Trial

Kate Klonick | September 30, 2008, 11:23AM

Former VECO CEO Bill Allen, whose work on Ted Stevens' home is at the center of the senator's ongoing trial, is set to testify for the prosecution this afternoon.

Allen, who pleaded guilty to bribing Alaska state lawmakers, has been the jewel in the FBIs crown, providing testimony in trials against many of the legislators he once paid for votes.

Stevens' attorneys have worked hard to try to disqualify Allen's testimony, demanding medical records for Allen and accusing him of receiving $40 million for his cooperation with the government.

Allen is expected to testify to the $250,000 worth of gifts and services he and VECO provided to Stevens, which included home renovations, a car, a new grill and interior furnishings.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (0) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)
Topics: Alaska, Bill Allen, Ted Stevens, Veco

The Daily Muck

Natalie Sherman | September 30, 2008, 10:30AM

A judge has combined two suits which question the Alaska State legislature's"Troopergate" investigation. The new suit compiles that of five Republican lawmakers, who claim the independent investigation oversteps the Legislature's jurisdiction with a similar filing by the Attorney General. Vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is charged with abuse of powers in her firing of Walt Monegan, a former public safety commissioner who is said to have resisted pressure to lay off a state trooper, formerly married to Palin's sister. The first hearing is scheduled for Thursday. (Anchorage Daily News)

ProPublica publishes the affadavit of Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, the military prosecutor who resigned from his post in Guantanamo last week. In the document, Vandeveld, the fourth prosecutor to resign from Guantanamo, presents evidence that would support the defense's claim that their client was a child soldier. The trial concerns a teenager charged with throwing a grenade that injured two Americans and their translator. (ProPublica)

The judge trying Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) for corruption scolded the prosecution yesterday, threatening sanctions after the government sent home a key witness. Stevens, who is charged with concealing $250,000 in gifts, had asked the judge to declare a mistrial over the weekend. (New York Times)

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Topics: The Daily Muck

Alberto Gonzales

Gonzales Responds to Report: I "Look Forward to Moving on to New Challenges"

Kate Klonick | September 30, 2008, 10:17AM

The fact that a prosecutor has been named to continue the investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys doesn't seem to faze former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who issued a statement yesterday expressing relief that the process was over.

"My family and I are glad to have the investigation of my conduct in this matter behind us, and we look forward to moving on to new challenges," Gonzales said in a statement yesterday.

But the investigation, led by the Department of Justice's Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility might be far from "behind" Gonzales. Yesterday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey named Nora Dannehy, a Connecticut interim U.S. attorney, as a prosecutor in the firings. At the IG report's behest, Dannehy will continue the investigation and work of the OIG and OPR offices, but with the power to compel testimony.

Nevertheless, Gonzales and his attorney, George J. Terwilliger III seem to be operating in a cloud of denial.

The investigation "is clearly over as to him," Terwilliger is quoted as saying in the New York Times. "The inspector general after 18 months of investigation has basically concluded that the facts and circumstances regarding Judge Gonzales's activity do not include any unlawful conduct."

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Topics: Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorneys

Rove Emails Spotlight White House Role in U.S. Attorney Firing

Kate Klonick | September 29, 2008, 6:35PM

The IG report released today provides new details on the White House's involvement in the firings of U.S. attorneys, especially the administration's involvement in the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias.

Prior to Iglesias' removal on Dec. 7, 2006, New Mexico GOP Sen. Pete Domenici had already made multiple complaints to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about Iglesias. In addition, Mickey Barnett, a former GOP New Mexico state senator and a prominent lawyer, had met in Washington with DOJ White House Liason Monica Goodling to discuss his problems with Iglesias' handling of voter fraud cases.

But emails disclosed in the recently released IG report between Barnett, Domenici and White House political operative Karl Rove reveal that the complaints against Iglesias went beyond talks with the Justice Department, and that the White House was aware and involved in the removal of Iglesias from his post as U.S. attorney.

According to today's report, on October 2, 2006, Barnett e-mailed Karl Rove an article from a local paper expressing frustrations with the apparently stalled investigation into bribery of Democratic state Sen. Manny Aragon (NM).

In the email, Barnett blamed Iglesias' office for delaying the case against the Democratic lawmaker, something he had spoken to Goodling, Rove and Domenici about before, according to conversations detailed in the report. Specifically, Barnett and Rove had previously discussed "kick[ing Iglesias]. . . upstairs" as a way to get rid of him.

The October 2 email from Barnett to Rove again mentions the possibility of a "promotion" for Iglesias, and their face to face discussion of it the weekend before at a Republican fundraiser in New Mexico.

From page 173 of the report:

Karl,
This article confirms what I mentioned Saturday. An FBI agent told me more than six months ago that their investigation was done and been turned over to the US Attorney a long time ago. He said agents were totally frustrated with some even trying to get out
of New Mexico. I can put you or anyone you designate with lawyers knowledgeable about the US Atty office - including lawyers in the office - that will show how poorly it is being run.
Scott Jennings was kind enough to set up an appointment at the Justice Department several months ago where Pat Rogers and I laid all this out. I hope Justice can now be persuaded to send out some cracker jack prosecutor and perhaps promote Iglesias to a Justice department position.
We still await the results of the task force Iglesias convened about this time two years ago on the clear Acorn fraudulent voter registrations. We were told it would look to [sic] "political" to indict anyone that close to the election. Then we never heard anything else

Just a few weeks after Barnett's email, Domenici's chief of staff Steve Bell emailed Rove on Nov. 7, 2006, the day of mid-term Congressional elections complaining about ballot problems in a New Mexico precinct. Bell closed the email with the statement, "We worry about the USA here."

Rove responded just 32 minutes later stating, "I'd have the Senator call the Attorney General about this."

Exactly one month later, Iglesias was fired.

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Topics: Alberto Gonzales, David Iglesias, Karl Rove, U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorneys

Senators React to Report on U.S. Attorney Firings

Zachary Roth | September 29, 2008, 6:01PM

While the House is consumed by the failure to pass the bailout bill, several senators on the Judiciary Committee have had a chance to respond to the DOJ report on the U.S. attorney firings, released this morning. Here's a rundown on what some of them have said:

Judiciary chair Pat Leahy (D-VT) said in a statement: "This report might have told us even more if the investigation had not been impeded by the Bush administration's refusal to cooperate and provide documents and witnesses, just as they remain in contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with the Judiciary Committee's investigation," Leahy said. "In this debacle as in others, the Bush administration's self-serving secrecy has shrouded many of their most controversial policies -- from torture, to investigating the causes of 9/11, to wiretapping."

Leahy also said he intended to look into former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' testimony to Congress about the firings, for evidence of possible perjury. And he warned that if President Bush chose to pardon anyone ultimately convicted of a crime in connection with the firings, such a move would be seen by the nation as an admission of wrongdoing.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking minority member on the committee told reporters that there's no indication that the White House is planning such pardons, but said he'd be quick to push back if it did.

At a press conference, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a former U.S. attorney himself, questioned the effectiveness of the investigation to be led by federal prosecutor Nora Dannehy. He said that it's unclear whether Dannehy will have the power to subpoena White House officials, and whether her probe would focus narrowly on the question of whether a crime was committed by Gonzales and his deputies, rather than being able to look at a possible cover-up by the administration. Whitehouse asserted: "There is a cover-up, and it continues."

Whitehouse also singled out Mukasey for blame, noting that the DOJ's own Office of Legal Counsel has not cooperated with the report. "If he's willing to accept a White House cover-up, if he's willing to accept the inspector general being hindered, then we, I think, should have further questions of the attorney general," Whitehouse said.

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) , who received an anonymous tip in January 2007 that led to the investigation, wrote in a press release: "The Inspector General report released today confirms our worst fears, and makes it clear that this was a scandal that went to the highest levels of the Department of the Justice, and that the role of the White House was in fact prominent."

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Topics: DOJ Office Of The Inspector General, Office Of Special Counsel, U.S. Attorneys

David Iglesias

Iglesias: Information on My Firing "Is Going To Have To Be Forced Out Of The Administration."

Zachary Roth | September 29, 2008, 2:16PM

David Iglesias, the former US attorney whose dismissal was deemed the "most troubling" in today's IG report, says he still wants to see the full range of evidence about the White House's possible role in the firing. That includes all relevant emails and notes from meetings -- information the White House held back from the IG's investigators.

"That's the critical bit of information that we don't have right now," Iglesias told TPMmuckraker. He added: "I suspect that the information is going to have to be forced out of the administration."

Still, the former U.S. attorney said he feels vindicated by the report's conclusion that he was removed not because of managerial deficiencies but thanks to political pressure from the office of GOP senator Pete Domenici and New Mexico Republican activists. That conclusion "is consistent with what I've been saying all along," he said.

Iglesias stressed that he was heartened by the Justice Department's appointment of a prosecutor, Nora Dannehy, in the case. "I"m glad that DOJ is taking this seriously," he said.

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Topics: David Iglesias, Justice Department, U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorneys

Rove and White House Helped Shape Information Release on U.S. Attorney Firings

Kate Klonick | September 29, 2008, 1:56PM

Karl Rove's involvement in the U.S. attorney firings has always been questioned, but additional information on a March 2007 meeting mentioned in the Inspector General's report today suggests that at the very least, Rove and other White House officials played an active role in crafting the release of information on the firings to the public.

Shortly after the U.S. attorney removals, when the DOJ was grappling to explain the justification behind the firings, communications between Alberto Gonzales' former chief-of-staff, Kyle Sampson and White House officials increased.

With former Assistant Attorney General William Moschella's testimony before Congress fast approaching, a group of DOJ and White House officials convened on March 5, to discuss "what Moschella should say in his testimony about the removals," as well as whether to testify to the specific reasons for the removals of the U.S. attorneys.

The meeting was called by Deputy White House Counsel William Kelley and was attended by Sampson; Paul McNulty, the deputy Attorney General; Moschella; Michael Elston, McNulty's chief of staff; White House Counsel Fred Fielding; Michael Battle, director of EOUSA; Associate White House Counsel Michael Scudder, and perhaps most importantly -- Karl Rove.

From page 84 of the report:

According to several witnesses, Rove came in to the meeting for only a few minutes and then left. Battle said Rove spoke at the meeting but he could not recall what he said. McNulty said that he could not specifically recall either, but thought Rove said something to the effect that Moschella's testimony should explain why the U.S. Attorneys were removed. None of the witnesses said they could recall specifically what Rove said at the meeting, although all agree that the discussion generally centered on what Moschella should say about the reasons for each U.S. Attorney's removal.

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Topics: Karl Rove, U.S. Attorneys

Dusty Foggo

Foggo Pleads Guilty in CIA Bribery Case

Zachary Roth | September 29, 2008, 12:43PM

The Duke Cunningham case continues to bear fruit.

Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, formerly third from the top at the CIA, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud, admitting that he helped his old friend Brent Wilkes obtain CIA contracts at inflated prices.

Cunningham, the now-jailed former California GOP Congressman, had also admitted to taking bribes from Wilkes.

Though Foggo faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, prosecutors agreed that they will seek no more than three.

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Topics: Brent Wilkes, CIA, Duke Cunningham, Dusty Foggo

U.S. Attorneys

Conyers Calls for Special Counsel in Continued Investigation of U.S. Attorney Firings

Kate Klonick | September 29, 2008, 11:50AM

John Conyers (D-MI), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, released a statement today calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor from outside the Justice Department, to continue to investigate the U.S. attorney firings.

"We assume that Attorney General Mukasey will heed the report's call for further investigation, including determining whether criminal offenses were committed, and urge him to appoint a special counsel from outside the Justice Department to work with the Inspector General so the investigation will have the credibility and independence that it needs," Conyers said in a statement this morning.

In addition, because of Congress' impending adjournment, Conyers called an HJC hearing for this coming Friday to discuss the issues raised in the recently released IG report.

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Topics: Alberto Gonzales, House Judiciary, John Conyers, U.S. Attorneys

David Iglesias

White House, DOJ, Domenici Stonewalled IG On Iglesias Firing

Zachary Roth | September 29, 2008, 11:43AM

The just-released IG report on the US attorney firings lists the removal of David Iglesias as the "most troubling" of the eight. But it notes that thanks to stonewalling by the White House, DOJ officials, and the office of Sen. Pete Domenici, investigators didn't have access to the complete range of information on the reasons for the firing.

The report concludes that Iglesias was removed as a result of complaints brought to DOJ by New Mexico GOP members of Congress and party activists, and shows that Karl Rove knew in advance of the decision. It reveals that at a meeting on November 15, 2006, Rep. Heather Wilson told Rove: "Mr. Rove, for what it's worth, the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico is a waste of breath." Rove's response: ""That decision has already been made. He's gone."

But it states that IG investigators were unable to determine how Rove knew this (Iglesias wasn't notifed until December 7), and what his possible role in the decision was, because Rove and White House counsel Harriet Miers refused to cooperate with the investigation.

Similarly, it notes that Kyle Sampson, who as chief of staff to Alberto Gonzales took the lead in bringing about the firings, gave "misleading after-the-fact explanations for why Iglesias was placed on the list." The report concludes: "[W]e question whether Sampson provided us the full story about Iglesias's placement on the list, as well as the reasons for other U.S. Attorney removals."

And: "Our investigation was also hindered by the refusal of Senator Domenici and his Chief of Staff to agree to an interview by us." (In April, Domenici, who is retiring this year, received a "qualified admonition" from the Senate ethics committee for his role in the firing.)

Looks like the across-the-board effort to withhold information from the IG investigators was perhaps at its most intense in regard to the Iglesias firing.

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Topics: DOJ Office Of The Inspector General, David Iglesias, Harriet Miers, Karl Rove, U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorneys

Leahy on OIG Report Findings: "Another Disturbing Report Card" on the Gonzales' DOJ

Kate Klonick | September 29, 2008, 11:38AM

In a scathing statement released this morning, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) heralded the assignment of a prosecutor to the investigation into the removal of the U.S. attorneys stating "[p]erhaps a prosecutor can break down walls others cannot."

Leahy, who also chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, is holding a press conference at noon to discuss the findings of the IG report released this morning.

"This report verifies what our oversight efforts this Congress showed, that partisan, political interests in the prosecution of voter fraud and public corruption by the White House and some at the Department played a role in many of these firings," Leahy said in a statement.

"These abuses are corrosive to the very foundations of our system of justice."

Read all of Leahy's statement after the jump.

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Topics: Alberto Gonzales, DOJ Office Of The Inspector General, DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility, Justice Department, Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorneys

Prosecutor Named In U.S. Attorney Firing Probe

Kate Klonick | September 29, 2008, 11:09AM

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has appointed Nora Dannehy, a federal prosecutor from Connecticut as prosecutor in the continued investigation of the removal of nine U.S. attorneys.

The appointment comes at the request of a report released today by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility.

According to her biography on the Justice Department webpage, Dannehy became an acting U.S. attorney in April of this year. Prior to her appointment, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Connecticut District for 17 years and served as a Professional Responsibility Officer.

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Topics: Justice Department, Michael Mukasey, U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorneys

Report Recommends Appointment of Special Prosecutor

Kate Klonick | September 29, 2008, 10:30AM

The IG report released today requests a special prosecutor to continue the work of the investigation into whether the nine U.S. attorneys removed in 2006 were fired for partisan political reasons.

From page 357 and 358 of the IG report:

The most serious allegation that we were not able to fully investigate related to the removal of David Iglesias, the U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, and the allegation that he was removed to influence voter fraud and public corruption prosecutions. We recommend that a counsel specially appointed by the Attorney General assess the facts we have uncovered, work with us to conduct further investigation, and ultimately determine whether the evidence demonstrates that any criminal offense was committed with regard to the removal of Iglesias or any other U.S. Attorney, or the testimony of any witness related to the U.S. Attorney removals.

Late update: The report also describes the stonewalling the investigation received in trying to gather information on the removals. Specifically, it mentions a "fact memo" created for Alberto Gonzales by the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel, which outlined the events chronologically, using a draft written by Michael Scudder, associate White House Counsel. Investigators were refused the timeline by the OLC who claimed they were ordered not to release it by the White House Counsel's office.

From page 94 of the report:

We asked OLC for a copy of the memorandum and all the drafts, but OLC declined, stating that the White House Counsel's Office had directed OLC not to provide them to us. We thereafter engaged in discussions with the White House Counsel's Office during this investigation in an attempt to obtain the Scudder memorandum. The White House Counsel's Office agreed to read one paragraph of the memorandum to us, and provided us with two paragraphs of information concerning Rove that had already been reported publicly, but declined to provide any further information from the memorandum.
Eventually, the White House Counsel's Office provided us with a heavily redacted version of the document. We believe the refusal to provide us with an unredacted copy of this document hampered our investigation.

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Topics: Alberto Gonzales, David Iglesias, U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorneys

OIG Report Released

Kate Klonick | September 29, 2008, 10:09AM

The Justice Department Office of the Inspector General has released its 392 page tome on its findings in the investigation into the removal of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006.

The report can be found here (pdf). We'll be digging through it all day, but since it's a monster of a report, we welcome you to sift through it and let us know in the comments section what you find.

We'll be bringing you updates throughout the day so stay tuned.

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Topics: Alberto Gonzales, DOJ Office Of The Inspector General, DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility, Michael Mukasey, U.S. Attorneys

The Daily Muck

Natalie Sherman | September 29, 2008, 9:47AM

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), who faces corruption charges, yesterday asked that the trial be dismissed or retried, saying that new evidence has appeared that will exonerate him and accusing the prosecution of withholding evidence from defense lawyers. Stevens is on trial for taking and concealing $250,000 worth of gifts from VECO, an Alaska oil company. Former VECO CEO Bill Allen, the prosecution's star witness, is scheduled to take the stand tomorrow. (Politico)

Chair of the House Oversight Committee Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) pressed Lehman Brothers Friday to hand over internal documents and e-mails, part of the government's investigation of the company's failure. The documents were due last Thursday, but Lehman said they cannot comply because the papers were discarded. Lehman CEO Richard Fuld goes before the committee Oct. 6. (Committee Press Release)

The U.S. continues to hold a Chinese man in Guantanamo, despite a June ruling saying he was illegally detained. Lawyers have asked that their client, a Muslim from a region that has sought independence from China, be taken to the U.S. to testify and then released, as he faces possible dangers at home. The request will go before a federal judge Oct. 7. (Chicago Tribune)

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Topics: The Daily Muck

Alberto Gonzales

Report: IG Not Ready To Refer Gonzales to Grand Jury

Kate Klonick | September 29, 2008, 9:11AM

Alberto Gonzales, the former attorney general who oversaw the Justice Department during the firings of nine U.S. attorneys, won't be presently referred to a grand jury for his role in the affair, but a prosecuter will be appointed to continue investigating the involvement of the Bush administration and other law makers in the firings, according to Washington Post sources familiar with a report expect to be released today.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey is preparing to name a prosecutor from within the DOJ to continue the work of the Offices of Professional Responsibly and the Inspector General, the same sources told the Post.

The report, the product of more than a years worth of investigations into the attorneys' firings is expected out this morning. It is co-written by the DOJ Inspector General Glenn Fine and the OPR Director H. Marshall Jarrett.

We'll be bringing you more from the OIG report as soon as it's released today so check back for updates