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In Arkansas, Search on for Griffin Replacement
Last month, Tim Griffin, the former aide to Karl Rove who was installed as the United States Attorney for Arkansas' Eastern District in December, announced that he would not be seeking Senate confirmation for the job. Submitting his name to the Senate, he said, would " be like volunteering to stand in front of a firing squad in the middle of a three-ring circus.”
But as a number of sharp-eyed readers pointed out, Griffin doesn't need Senate confirmation to remain in his position until the end of President Bush's term -- thanks to a change in the law slipped into the PATRIOT Act reauthorization bill last year.
Nevertheless, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Rep. John Boozman (R-AR), who's in charge of nominating Griffin's replacement, is working on it -- although it doesn't sound like there's much urgency:
Boozman’s press secretary, Ryan James, said Thursday that the congressman and his staff “are having conversations, and they’re going through names now. They’re just looking at possibilities. They haven’t come up with a list they would give to the White House, but the process is under way.” James described the discussion sessions as “a series of mini-meetings.” He said Boozman “hasn’t indicated, as such, a certain time line,” for developing an initial or final list, but noted that Boozman has a good relationship with both Pryor and Lincoln, and talks with each of them regularly.
Comments (15)
Arkansan wrote on March 5, 2007 12:35 PM:Pryor, who is generally not good for much, has been on top of this. It looks to me like it was an ego thing; Gonzales didn’t consult Pryor before selecting the Rove crony and political hack, Tim Griffin.
Griffin was interviewed on NPR locally last week. It was perfectly clear that he isn’t going anywhere. He was bitter about Pryor’s turning his nomination into a “circus” but was confident when discussing the initiatives he’ll administer (they’re going to prosecute century old hate crimes, I think), pending confirmation of his successor (wink). He said he wants to be judged by the job he does as "Interim" US Attorney. He said that just like someone who plans to be around a while.
Likely, if Gonzales had just pretended Pryor mattered this whole mess could have been avoided, but Gonzales is getting sloppy. Gonzales knows senate really doesn’t matter in the least, shoot he says it publicly, to them; but Gonzales forgets he still has to stroke them. Because of his laziness, Gonzales is going to have to jump through some hoops, but the outcome will be no different. Griffin will stay on until the administration ends; this whole thing is only sound and fury.
As an interesting aside, Rove will be in Arkansas this week.
How does one make paragraphs here? html didn't work.
Arkansan wrote on March 5, 2007 12:36 PM:Well, html did't work in preview mode.
Robin Boerner wrote on March 5, 2007 1:47 PM:This is easy to cure. Schedule ALL the Patriot Act US Attorney's confirmation hearings right now.
It's the vetting that would be even more fun to watch then the vote itself. Finding out exactly who has connections to who in a public Senate hearing would be enough for Bush to start removing his hacks pronto.
Alaska's Nelson Cohen and the whole story of how he was appointed under the guise of the Patriot Act as the FBI was tearing apart Sen. Ted Stevens' sons office would make for some amazing revelations, I'm sure.
mark wrote on March 5, 2007 1:53 PM:I suspect he is Boozman (R-AR), and is not from Alaska (AK).
Arkansan wrote on March 5, 2007 2:51 PM:"This is easy to cure. Schedule ALL the Patriot Act US Attorney's confirmation hearings right now. "
Robin Boerner wrote on March 5, 2007 2:56 PM:That’s the joke. Griffin, the Interim hack in Arkansas, has taken his name from consideration for a permanent position, which means there will never be senate confirmation of him. That means he can remain on in a technically temporary status for the next two years. There is no one nominated for the spot to be confirmed. The reason there is no permanent nominee is because there is no reason to go through confirmation process now, since there is now no limit on how long someone can hold the job temporarily.
That’s the joke. Griffin, the Interim hack in Arkansas, has taken his name from consideration for a permanent position, which means there will never be senate confirmation of him. That means he can remain on in a technically temporary status for the next two years. There is no one nominated for the spot to be confirmed. The reason there is no permanent nominee is because there is no reason to go through confirmation process now, since there is now no limit on how long someone can hold the job temporarily.
Posted by: Arkansan
Date: March 5, 2007 02:51 PM
Exactly why the Senate needs to start the vetting process with Griffin's name in. If he is in the USA seat then he's the one they start the process on. Once investigators start digging deep into his past and present....his future won't include loitering as a US Attorney. There is a reason he took his name out.
Robin Boerner wrote on March 5, 2007 3:06 PM:I suspect he is Boozman (R-AR), and is not from Alaska (AK).
Posted by: mark
Date: March 5, 2007 01:53 PM
I was talking about another Patriot Act US Attorney, this guy:
CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER
Senator Stevens Feuds with Main Justice in DC as FBI Raids Son's Office in Alaska
20 Corporate Crime Reporter 35(1), September 6, 2006
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is feuding with the Justice Department.
On August 22, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appointed Nelson Cohen, head of the white collar crime unit at the U.S. Attorney's office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – to be the interim U.S. Attorney in Alaska – over the objections of Senator Stevens.
Senator Stevens said at the time that he was “furious at the way the Attorney General handled the matter.”
According to a transcript provided by Senator Stevens' office to Corporate Crime Reporter, at a press conference on August 28 in Anchorage, Alaska, Senator Stevens was asked by a reporter – “Who do you think should be U.S. Attorney?”
“Well not someone who comes from Pennsylvania, and that's a little problem I have right now, finding out what to do about that,” Stevens said. “Because very clearly, I was called three weeks ago now, and told they had someone who they'd like to nominate from outside Alaska. And we said, ‘No, no. You're not going to do that. You can't do that. You don't do that in any other state. You're not going to do it in this one.'”
But Gonzales overrode Stevens' objection and put in Cohen to be U.S. Attorney in Alaska on a temporary basis. As such, the Cohen appointment does not require Senate confirmation.
In a press release , the Justice Department says that prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's office in Pittsburgh, Cohen practiced law for ten years in Alaska.
“We submitted some names, but Justice had one reason or another that they figured the person had a conflict, but they never really came with anything other than that we should find someone else,” Stevens said at the press conference. “We did give them some additional names, but in the meantime they had already taken action on this person. We have to arm wrestle on this one. It is not the thing to do. It has only happened one other time that I can remember. I can remember it happened in Illinois and it caused such an uproar. As a matter of fact, it became a real cause celeb with the Illinois Bar Association.”
On August 31 – just three days after Senator Stevens' press conference denouncing the Department of Justice – the FBI raided the offices of a number of state legislators in Juneau including that of Senator Stevens son – Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens.
FBI agents reportedly left Ben Stevens Capitol offices with 12 boxes of documents labeled “evidence.”
Federal officials are reportedly investigating payments from oil service giant VECO to a number of public officials in exchange for their support for a new production tax law and the construction of a natural gas pipeline in Alaska.
The Anchorage Daily News reported last week that “in disclosures he was required to file as a legislator, [Ben] Stevens said he was paid $243,000 over the last five years as a ‘consultant' to VECO. Whenever he was asked to describe what he did for the money, Stevens refused to answer. The company also refused to say.”
In addition to computer hard drives and hard paper records linking the legislators to VECO, FBI agents were reportedly seeking hats emblazoned with the logo – “Corrupt Bastards Club” or “Corrupt Bastards Caucus.”
In March, in an op-ed piece run in the state's major papers, Lori Backes, executive director of the All Alaska Alliance – a group that has supported an alternative gas pipeline route – had charged eleven lawmakers – including Senator Ben Stevens – with taking money from VECO.
The lawmakers reportedly started referring to themselves as the “Corrupt Bastards Club” or the “Corrupt Bastards Caucus” – and had hats printed with the CBC logo.
Aaron Saunders, a spokesman for Senator Ted Stevens, would not discuss anything having to do with the FBI raid in Alaska.
Nor would he say why Senator Stevens was “furious” with Attorney General Gonzales.
Could it be that the Justice Department was not going to give Senator Stevens his choice of a U.S. Attorney when the Stevens family was caught in the middle of a public corruption probe?
No comment, Saunders said.
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Arkansan wrote on March 5, 2007 3:07 PM:http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/stevens090706.htm
The senate has no authority to start the process where the President has not submitted the nominee for confirmation. They can’t act, there is no authorization, there is no law empowering them to begin the process. That is the very reason why the name will not be submitted, to run out the clock without that nasty vetting process.
Robin Boerner wrote on March 5, 2007 3:44 PM:The senate has no authority to start the process where the President has not submitted the nominee for confirmation. They can’t act, there is no authorization, there is no law empowering them to begin the process. That is the very reason why the name will not be submitted, to run out the clock without that nasty vetting process.
Posted by: Arkansan
Date: March 5, 2007 03:07 PM
At least one senator's office on the Judicial Committee I talked to has said that they do have the power to start the vetting process. An actual vote probably not under the Patriot Act as it is written. It's a matter of how much the Democrats want to push it.
Arkansan wrote on March 5, 2007 3:48 PM:Huh. How do they vet when there isn't a nominee? If they can, I agree, they should.
Robin Boerner wrote on March 5, 2007 8:25 PM:I don't know what justification or rule they are planning to use but I can tell you that at least one Democrat is looking at it. I was discussing my fiancee's case with them at the time:
Case No. 3:05-cv-00264-JWS
John R. Mitchell vs United States, et al
Anchorage, Alaska
MakeTheArmyHonest.Com
Without giving up the office what I can say is that they were looking for proof that John had notified the US Attorney's office of Civil Rights violations on him by the US Army Alaska (USARAK) and that it involved uniform military.
I provided proof that we had:
1) a return receipt USPS that it was sent to the US Attorney
2) that the evidence was stamped by the US Attorney's office as received
3) a letter on US Attorney letterhead, signed by an assistant USA stating that they were not interested and returning the evidence
4) that I contacted USA Nelson Cohen by phone (and chronicled right here on TPM) and that he is in fact aware personally, not just the Assistant USA in his office. I bet he isn't taking unscreened calls personally anymore.....LOL.
and,
proof that TWO full bird US Army Colonels met and/or had plans to meet (can't get too specific) to conspire to deprive John of his Civil Rights.
They were also interested in the fact that one of the US Army Command Center employees assaulted John and I in a public store two weeks ago in order to try and disrupt a federal lawsuit.
Think about it folks, you need a clearance to work in a military command center and one of them is out in public in Alaska playing "Bob Gates greatest hits". Evidently with Bush's Patriot Act US Attorney's tacit approval.
Hopefully, a Patriot Act US Attorney in Alaska will soon be answering why to some interesting questions. I don't think this week's hearings are the end to the inquiries.
kriss@gmail.com wrote on April 30, 2007 11:42 PM:hello
brtney@gmail.com wrote on May 1, 2007 11:59 AM:hello
brtney@gmail.com wrote on May 1, 2007 12:00 PM:hello
jessica@gmail.com wrote on May 6, 2007 11:11 AM:hello