Comments (51)

David in NY wrote on March 28, 2007 5:10 PM:

Isn't the real question, "What exactly was Karl Rove's role?" Answered under oath.

sy wrote on March 28, 2007 5:13 PM:

"New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici’s chief of staff sent a cryptic thank-you note to Karl Rove just as the senator was recommending replacements for David Iglesias, the fired U.S. attorney in New Mexico, according to internal White House and Justice Department documents.

'Thanks for everything,' Domenici chief of staff Steve Bell wrote Rove and two other White House officials, including Rove’s political deputy, Scott Jennings, in a Jan. 8, 2007 e-mail that forwarded the name of a candidate to replace Iglesias.

Buried in Justice Department documents released two weeks ago, the Bell e-mail was not initially noticed by congressional investigators because it was sent to Rove’s political e-mail account—not his more clearly recognizable White House e-mail address."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17837826/site/newsweek/

Uncle Don wrote on March 28, 2007 5:18 PM:

Digby reports that a group calling itself "New Mexicans for Honest Courts" is running radio ads swiftboating David Iglesias.

And Republicans in the Texas House are trying to push through bills imposing strict measures to prevent "voter ID fraud."

They just won't stop trying to implement Rove's plan to install a permanent Republican majority.

Code: "screw"

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on March 28, 2007 5:20 PM:

The SJC should ask Kyle Sampson if he knows why Monica Goodling was prosecuted three low-level criminal cases out of the USA-EDVA's office in the fall of 2004. I posted some of the details of the cases along with a 2005 appeals case with her name on it at the TPM Cafe (link below).

If Goodling was prosecuting cases to pad her resume, presumably it was done to justify an appointment to another position. I'm thinking USA or something similar.

We know that Kyle Sampson was considering replacing USAS around the same time and on 2/2/405, he prepared a summary evaluation of the all of the USAs.

The Attorney General's new Chief of Staff, Chuck Rosenberg, would know why Goodling was prosecuting low-level criminal cases out of the USA-EDVA's office in the fall of 2004 because Rosenberg was an AUSA in that office. He subsequently became USA in June 2006.

I think tomorrow I will phone the two federal public defenders involved in two of the cases prosecuted by Goodling and ask about the outcome of the cases. I can't see why they couldn't confirm that Goodling herself showed up in the courtroom.

I simply do not understand why the press is refusing to publish information about Monica Goodling's background. By not publishing the information, everyone thinks Goodling has skeletons in her closet.

If Monica is a relative of former 13-term congressman, William "Bill" Goodling, we should know about it. We would also like to know if Monica Goodling passed the bar.

Typical Beltway Media Whore wrote on March 28, 2007 5:23 PM:

This is stoopid and boreing. How come you keep wrightening about it?

-

jdw wrote on March 28, 2007 5:24 PM:

Mr. Sampson, meet Mr. Bus.

One wonders how quickly Sampson is going to see that he's being Scootered, and whether he's willing to take the bullet or roll over.

John

BroD wrote on March 28, 2007 5:24 PM:

Perfectly possible that Sampson's "important to Harriet, Karl, etc." was B.S. He looks the type who might indulge in such puffery.

obsessed wrote on March 28, 2007 5:28 PM:

Maybe McNutty is trying to throw Sampson under the bus with this latest document dump. Here's hoping Sampson changes his announced strategy and decides to take part in the circular firing squad ceremony.

Steve H. wrote on March 28, 2007 5:28 PM:

Mrs. Panstreppon, I have read your speculation that Monica Goodling may not have passed the bar because she was referenced as a "Special" Assistant AG, or something like that. As far as I know, the use of the term "Special" would not signify a failure to be admitted to a court's bar. Instead, I think it's just a formal title.

Unless I am mistaken, she could not have been listed on the pleadings as an attorney if she was not admitted to the bar. (Sometimes third-year law students are allowed to appear under a special practice rule, but those have to be expressly identified, IIRC.)

Cowboy wrote on March 28, 2007 5:29 PM:

Why the slow trickle of information?

If the political appointees have "nothing to hide" why weren't these documents included in the original dump, and what documents relevant to this congressional inquiry are they still withholding?

Mooser wrote on March 28, 2007 5:30 PM:

You go, Mrs. Panstreppon!

Perhaps this Monica will wear the blue "dress"

Vulture Breath wrote on March 28, 2007 5:36 PM:

There's somebody using Google mail.....

EH wrote on March 28, 2007 5:37 PM:

This does look to be more strategy to kill this problem at the DOJ before it gets to the WH or Congress.

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on March 28, 2007 5:37 PM:

Steve H.@March 28, 2007 05:28 PM

Thanks. I really only brought it up because we know so little about Monica Goodling's background. The press seems hellbent on keeping it under wraps so, of course, people are going to speculate why.

No one seems to have any idea how she got her job at the DOJ in the first place. Some have suggested that she is a relative of 13-term congressman William "Bill" Goodling (R-19th PA)who retired in 2001. If she is, what's the big secret?

What I really want to know is why Goolding was prosecuting low-level criminal cases out of the USA-EDVA's office in the fall of 2004 in the middle of a presidential election.

David in NY wrote on March 28, 2007 5:39 PM:

The appointment of these folk as "Special" AUSA's bears looking into. Those who get that designation around here are often state prosecutors who are sort of "visiting." Griffin went to Arkansas as a "special" in preparation for his appointment over Cummins, and Monica too.

FatKat wrote on March 28, 2007 5:39 PM:

Is it normal for this staff to send off letters that are addressed to the committee chairman that is not part of the administrations party to those who are minority in this committee?

I state this because a copy was sent over to Spector and McCollally. Are they not telling the truth as members of the senate and on this important committee?

ignoreland wrote on March 28, 2007 5:42 PM:

Patience, David, patience. Waiting is.

NCProsecutor wrote on March 28, 2007 5:43 PM:

Based on the new documents, it appears that Sampson actually wrote the original draft of Hertling's letter to the Senators concerning Tim Griffin's appointment as USA EDAR. That's the letter which claims that DOJ was not aware that Karl Rove any role in the decision to appoint Griffin.

Remember that this is Sampson who wrote the infamous e-mail which said that Griffin's appointment was "important to Harriet, Karl, etc."

So Sampson wrote a letter for the Senators which he directed Hertling to sign that contained a complete and total falsehood of which Sampson was clearly aware.

oldtree wrote on March 28, 2007 5:44 PM:

Sampson v. bus, good one. see:

Sampson v. Delilah, Sampson v. Congress

now a self admitted felon. should be interesting if it doesn't take the 5th

Ben wrote on March 28, 2007 5:45 PM:

What's the deal with the gmail accounts? I'm looking at a Feb 8, 4:31 p.m. email from Sampson...
It looks like "Michael Beck" from OAG (Office of the Attorney General?) has a gmail account that Sampson was corresponding with -- were DOJ folks working around the document retention system as well?

Gonzales has been rumored to "not use email" -- is that in fact correct? Who is Michael Beck, why is he giving documents to the AG, and why is he not using a DOJ email?

eCAHNomics wrote on March 28, 2007 5:46 PM:

Where do we stand on emails in the 18 days? Last I caught up with it, there were 2 or 3.

And the GWB43 accounts? How many from there?

RS wrote on March 28, 2007 5:48 PM:

Check out the google mail document OAG00001014. The advertisement at the top of the page is for a book or game or something about ABSCAM.

Advertisements on google mail are a function of the content of the emails, right? So, the account holder (Sampson?) is discussing ABSCAM in his personal emails.

Anonymous wrote on March 28, 2007 5:50 PM:

1. Didn't see anything new in the documents, particularly anything to cause Hertling to retract his original position. Rove was obviously involved, but the "new" documents don't prove that fact any more extensively than the previous ones.
2. Anyone who would sign their name to a letter describing Mr. Griffin's military or federal prosecution experience as "extensive" is lying or has been mislead.
3. The previous doc dump includes an email from Cummins declining to write a letter on Mr. Griffin's behalf. Where is the original email to which he is responding? Who asked him to write a letter and why? Why wasn't Cummins asked during his testimony about what he knows about Griffin's appointment and who orchestrated it?

jdw wrote on March 28, 2007 5:52 PM:

Per wiki:

William "Bill" Goodling (born December 5, 1927)
Monica M. Goodling (born July 6, 1973)

Strikes me as too big of a gap in age to be Bill's kid. Messiah College is in PA, so I see where you're heading with the link to Bill Goodling. If related, I suspect she would be the child of someone else in the family.

ahem wrote on March 28, 2007 5:54 PM:

Well, that's obviously designed to force Sampson into taking the 5th tomorrow.

And Google Mail? Again, a way to route around the executive branch mail servers. That security audit needs to happen yesterday.

Vulture Breath wrote on March 28, 2007 6:04 PM:

You know who else is a graduate (along with Monica Goodling) of Regent U. Law School? Republican Bob McDonnell, who was elected Virginia's Attorney General in 2005 by a margin of less than 400 votes. McDonnell is anticipated to be a candidate for Governor of Virginia in 2009.

Anybody smell Rove?

NCProsecutor wrote on March 28, 2007 6:07 PM:

From my examination of the Google Mail page, it looks to me as though it's Michael Beck's Gmail account. See, the message we're seeing is a mail forward, and it's from Michael Beck at OAG. My guess is that Beck is either Sampson's administrative assistant or one of Gonzales' admins, since the request is for Beck to print out the two documents for Gonzales.

The interesting question is this: Why would Beck have forwarded this message to his Gmail account in the first place? If he's just supposed to print the stuff out for Gonzales, why does his Gmail account come into it?

Of course, this begs a second question: What else does he have squirreled away over there?

Ebbet wrote on March 28, 2007 6:07 PM:

It looks like some of the pages (e.g. DAG0002278) were printed a couple of weeks ago -- before the last doc dump -- judging by the date appearing on the bottom of the printouts.

So, why weren't these pages included in the last dump? (Or maybe the date isn't the date of printing?)

Bob wrote on March 28, 2007 6:08 PM:

Isn't this all an innocent mistake? After all, Sampson told Hertling to say that Hertling didn't know about Rove's involvement. That was a true statement. Hertling innocently transcribed that suggestion to read that the Department didn't know. That was a false statement, but he didn't know that it was. Sampson didn't direct him to make it. Case closed.

Everything was above board. Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.

RicK wrote on March 28, 2007 6:11 PM:

Today's docu-dump is interesting. Mr. Sampson's cell phone number is not redacted. (set 3, at least) I called the number. It is (was?) still active. I left him a message to the effect of:

'I got your cell phone number from today's document dump. If they're not redacting your phone numbers, it seems that maybe you are being hung out to dry. Time to ask for immunity? At least tell the truth. The truth shall set you free."

Geoff Potter wrote on March 28, 2007 6:12 PM:

So now the document dumps are political?

Drewbert wrote on March 28, 2007 6:15 PM:

Not sure if anyone's picked up on this yet, but is the "Catalina Cabral" of the DoJ Office of Legislative affair the daughter of the "Treasurer of the United States" Anna Escobedo Cabral?

http://treasury.gov/organization/bios/cabral-e.html doesn't mention George Mason University, but http://media.www.docketonline.com/media/storage/paper744/news/2005/02/08/News/Mason.Law.Student.Confirmed.As.U.s.Treasurer-855069.shtml states "she finished her 2nd year at Mason".

Catalina Cabral also went to Mason and was a senior there in 2004?

Vulture Breath wrote on March 28, 2007 6:15 PM:

Also of interest: Kyle Sampson got his intro to the Bush admin via friend Liz Cheney....

Ben wrote on March 28, 2007 6:18 PM:

Upon second review, you are 100% correct about the gmail account. Beck forwarded Sampson's message to a DOJ email. There are several odd things about this:
1) Why didn't DOJ produce the DOJ copy of the email? (They did this with everything else. Did I miss it?)
2) Why is he forwarding this message outside DOJ? Aren't there rules governing confidential information that are supposed to prevent this?
3) Why is he forwarding a message meant for the attorney general outside DOJ? Are e-mails to Gonzales being filtered through an outside mail server and then printed for his review?

wwm wrote on March 28, 2007 6:19 PM:

Look at that Gmail page for the early February mail referenced above. Hilarious and intruiging. The text ad across the top, which typically references news stories but is definitely targeted based on content of the user's email, is a book about the ABSCAM "scandal." And look at the targeted ads partially cut off to the right....most of them are about the brewing AG scandal. Heh. Guess that targeting software really works!

Why only these few gmail emails? What about all the ones with the word scandal or corruption in them? Can Congress get hold of them? If they are cached pages in some DOJ proxy server, where are the others?

bobh wrote on March 28, 2007 6:19 PM:

Monica Goodling worked in the DOJ's public affairs office in 2002 or thereabouts. As she is often called Ms. goodling I must assume she is still single.

"The Department of Justice stated in a September 19 press release that much of the problem in prosecuting adult obscenity cases is that the department had to "virtually start from scratch" in the endeavor. Monica Goodling from the DOJ's public affairs office noted in the press release that the DOJ recently expanded the role of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section by hiring more staff members and investigators."

from here:
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/afa/272002a.asp

Anyone know whom she is dating? This might be telling.

codeword 'foot'

NCProsecutor wrote on March 28, 2007 6:22 PM:

It really is too bad that congressional committees can't issue their own NSLs. I'd love to see what other forwarded e-mail is in that Gmail account.

Ben wrote on March 28, 2007 6:25 PM:

If I worked on the Senate or House Judiciary Committees, I would be writing the subpoena to Google right now... I'm an attorney (commercial litigation, so this is not my area of expertise) and I'm not aware of anything that would preclude them from obtaining these documents.

Are there other lawyers out there who could comment on this?

drational wrote on March 28, 2007 6:28 PM:

Mrs P.
Congressman William (b1927) according to 1930 census had 3 sisters and 2 brothers, Robert M. and Richard A. all older. William's Kids are Todd and Jennifer. On ancestry.com I can't find any kids for Richard A., but Robert M. had 3 daughters whose names I can't get. Monica's mother appears to be Cindy K. (b1950) but I cannot figure her maiden name nor Monica's Father. There are a lot of Goodlings in Pennsylvania, but it seems William and Monica are not directly related.

mamalove wrote on March 28, 2007 6:34 PM:

I know that google and gmail keep every copy of every email sent - FOREVER.

Peter Principle wrote on March 28, 2007 6:56 PM:

Sampson wrote that Hertling should say, "I am not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the Attorney General's decision to appoint Griffin."

LOL. Now isn't THAT clever -- I may have known about it but you didn't, so here's what you should tell the shitheads.

Bad enough, but then Hertling changed the "I" to "the Department," which made it not only erroneous but potentially felonious. Just one word.

You'd think they would have learned something from that "definition of 'is'" business.

Ben wrote on March 28, 2007 7:07 PM:

Actually, if you look at Rove's later edits, he changed the word "a" to "any" -- making it "I am not aware of Karl Rove playing ANY role..."

kis wrote on March 28, 2007 7:17 PM:

The timing of this release would seem to be an attempt to intimidate Sampson. Doesn't that start to border on obstruction of justice? Doesn't it also indicate that there are likely other emails they are holding back?

Worse than Nixon? Hell, worse than the mob...

The Fool wrote on March 28, 2007 7:46 PM:

I've seen the same letter in 3 of the 4 document set. It starts out:

"The full quotation (not the selective quote) of the AG's testimony more fairly represents his views about not asking U.S. Attorney to resign for so-called "political reasons," to wit: "I think I would never, ever make a change in a United States attorney for political reasons or if it would in any way jeopardize an ongoing serious investigation. I just would not do it."

Its almost like they're trying to get a message out...

The Fool wrote on March 28, 2007 7:51 PM:

Disregard last post - there are many versions.

Books Alive wrote on March 28, 2007 8:01 PM:

These 202 pages are 1) cover letter with today's date and 2), 3) and 4) repeats of Schumer's Feb 8 letter to Justice Dept., repeats of the reply as various people checked it out, and finally faxed on Feb 23. Essentially 200 pages of the same two letters!

Just a few new names, eg Michelle Barnes.

Muschella suggested that the final letter be cc'd to Sens Spector and McConnell.

daCascadian wrote on March 28, 2007 9:03 PM:

MUCH MUCH worse than Watergate.

Get comfortable with that.

"As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities." - Voltaire

Drewbert wrote on March 29, 2007 2:25 AM:

More on "Catalina Cabral" of the DoJ Office of Legislative Affairs.

Did her Daddy get her the job?

http://www.sonnenschein.com/docs/rc_102703_00_00_011_.pdf

"NBC Names Senior Counsel for Tele-mundo. NBC’s government affairs shop has tapped former Verizon official Victor Cabral to be senior counsel for the D.C. government affairs office of its Telemundo television unit. Cabral, who worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Justice Department, was vice president for government and Hispanic relations."

"former Verizon official" = Verizon lobbyist, BTW.

meep! wrote on March 29, 2007 4:07 AM:

eCAHNomics:

Re: the 18 days: I don't know where we stand on documents from those days. My suspicion is that, since this was after the election (which most folks would've been stressing over and then taking a breather immediately after) and then over Thanksgiving, that most of those emails are sitting on non-WH servers and haven't been turned over yet.

PKDu wrote on March 29, 2007 4:28 AM:

As someone upthread alluded to - the pages were apparently printed on March 12th , 13th and 14th (from the dates at bottom of pages) for the most part - why were they withheld?...and what else is being withheld?

Jack wrote on March 29, 2007 7:12 AM:

The Sampson-drafted Hertling-signed letter to the Senators [OAG000000099] says:

"Although the decision to have Mr. Griffin replace Mr. Cummins was first contemplated in the spring or summer of 2006, the final decision to appoint Mr. Griffin to be interim U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Arkansas was made on or about December 15, 2006, after the Attomey General had spoken with Senator Pryor."

December 15? Behind the scenes on November 16, Goodling is emailing wiht Griffin [OAG000000123-124] about when Griffin wants to start his new post. Griffin talks about his trip to St. Johns and declaring that he wants Cummins to leave on Dec 22. This is one audacious little putz! He finishes with "What do you in your infinite wisdom suggest I/we do?"

Here's a weird one from the same email [titled "hey"]. Griffin writes to Goodling "Bud is going to prepare a draft resignation letter that I would get to you."

According to Sampson/Hertling, the decision to appoint Griffin isn't made until December 15, but a month earlier Griffin is actually gathering up a resignation letter from the guy he is going to replace?!@?