Comments (51)

vox clamantis in red state wrote on May 9, 2007 10:46 PM:

OKI doki. Poor plight of an attorney who tried to play ball with a chickenshit administration who won't even value party loyalty
I don't really feel his pain, but understand how loyal party member feel a tad disregarded.

TheraP wrote on May 9, 2007 10:50 PM:

PBS has a series on the Inquisition.

Is it deja vu "all over again?"

What a "waste!"

Florida Democrat wrote on May 9, 2007 10:51 PM:

Nothing to see here, move along now...

Well, well, the man obviously didn't understand that the Party sets the prosecution agendas.

We all know that the corruption is pervasive and probably drove every action within the DOJ.
It's time to stop following all of the fall out from this corruption and instead start climbing up the tentacles that lead to the White House.

Continuing to accumulate all of these individual results just overwhelms the real purpose which is to tie this back to the WH. Let's stay focused on what is important.

regular lurker wrote on May 9, 2007 10:57 PM:

Scary, isn't it? Seemingly intelligent US Attorneys...and yet, they all voted for Bush and Cheney.

That's the part I have trouble getting around.

Dennis wrote on May 9, 2007 11:11 PM:

WHY? do we hear NOTHING else about Sen. Spector's roll in all of this. It was HIS OFFICE that PROVIDED the law which ALLOWED this mess in the first place.

You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

Hoppy wrote on May 9, 2007 11:17 PM:

I think the question is, is it more important to uphold the Constitution by using the impeachment process to remove a totally corrupt administration, or is it better to keep them in office constantly on the defensive for two years? The former is certainly the best move if you want to maintain the ability to use the impeachment procedure for anything but political hard ball. But, doing that gives the new President, most likely a Republican, a big lead for the 2008 election. (If both Bush and Cheney are impeached, one resigns, the other appoints a replacemtne, who becomes president.) I don't have an answer yet.

mo2 wrote on May 9, 2007 11:20 PM:

Regarding Specter: At the very least the public must inquire how often "aides" stick stuff into US Law without oversight.

phil james wrote on May 9, 2007 11:21 PM:

Specter is the dog that didn't bark now isn't he. When is the last time you heard him say anything at all close to defending the AG or the administration? He now knows how thoroughly rotten the whole deal is and he also knows he himself may be in the cross-hairs on the Patriot Act treachery.

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 9, 2007 11:32 PM:

According to PACER, the DOJ complaint against Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan was filed on 11/22/05. Within two months, Todd Graves was fired.

I linked to the DOJ complaint below. Bradley Shlozman's name is not on it but I don't know if that is unusual.

Former USA-WDMO Bradley Schlozman's 11/1/06 press release announcing the indictment of the ACORN Four has been deleted from the USA-WDMO's archive of 2006 press releases:

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/pr/news2006.html

I think it would be worthwhile to ask Schlozman about how much contact he and his office had with the American Center For Voting Rights, founded in March 2005 by Mark "Thor" Hearne and other GOP operatives.

Hearne's bio:

"Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, II is a member and principal of the Lathrop & Gage law firm [St. Louis]and serves on the firm's government relations committee. Hearne is General Counsel to the American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR) and serves as a member of the organization's Board of Directors.

Prior to joining ACVR, Hearne served as National Election Counsel to Bush-Cheney ?04 and Missouri counsel to Bush-Cheney '00. Hearne has also served as General Counsel to Missouri Governor Blunt, and was appointed by then Secretary of State Blunt as an advisor for the implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Hearne testified before the Missouri commission established by Blunt to investigate the 2000 Missouri general election and voter fraud in the city of St. Louis..."

From the now-defunct American Center For Voting Rights website:

"March 21, 2005

ACVR Refers Voter Fraud Investigation To Department of Justice, Congressional Oversight Panel

Report Shows Third Party Effort to Circumvent Law and Register Illegal Voters

Contact: Jim Dyke, 843/722-9670

COLUMBUS, OHIO - Today the American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR) referred a compendium of preliminary findings of registration fraud, intimidation, vote fraud and litigation to the U.S. Department of Justice. The report was previously made available to the House Administration Committee who will hold a field hearing on election fraud in Columbus today..."

Rich wrote on May 9, 2007 11:51 PM:

Congrats om the scoop, Ms. McGann.

psyopswatcher wrote on May 9, 2007 11:53 PM:

Here's another possible reason to get rid of Graves. From a link in today's Muckraker Delay story, three dead AUSA's in Texas concerning:

"...the Justice Department's (DOJ) inquiry into healthcare industry purchasing, antitrust issues and other Medicare abuses.

..

"...and three fired Texas assistant U.S attorneys and fired U.S. attorneys Carol Lam of San Diego and Todd Graves of Kansas City, all of whom were probing Novation LLC and its members.

...

"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was a partner in Vinson & Elkins, LLP which represents defendant Novation"

http://tomflocco.com/fs/DeathsFoulPlayQuestions.htm

On the Clock wrote on May 10, 2007 12:06 AM:

Ms. McGann, way to fight! You write 'em, I'll read 'em. That is to say, I'll read 'em here first.

annb wrote on May 10, 2007 12:25 AM:

FRONT page ... Washington Post tomorrow.

Number of Fired US Attorneys Grows ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/09/AR2007050902718.html

Way to GO, Muckracker!

Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 12:27 AM:

These Republican politicians are what get me. They still vote lock step with what the president wants- even after the White House repeatedly lied to them and Bush's approval ratings are dragging them down as well.
Code Word: crush
As in crush the GOP from here on out.

Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 12:48 AM:

Gonzales and the other DOJ officials who said only 8 were fired- well now that we know there were at least 9 then they committed perjury right?

Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 12:57 AM:

Holy shit. I sure hope the Dems are livid because the DOJ has repeatedly given them a big FUCK YOU! Check this out from the Washington Post article linked above:
"The same month he was asked to step down, Graves's name was included in a Jan. 9, 2006, list assembled by Gonzales's then-chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, of seven U.S. attorneys the administration was considering forcing from their jobs. That April, Sampson sent another e-mail noting that two of the prosecutors on that list had already left. Three names, including Graves's, were redacted when Justice officials released the January list."

PJ White wrote on May 10, 2007 1:03 AM:

Hoppy,if Bush and Cheney are both gone, the Speaker of the House becomes acting president! That's right: Nancy Pelosi! And that really has Repugnicans soiling their khakis.

sc: keep. Keep it up, TPM. The snowball is starting to roll down the hill and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger . . .

Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 1:05 AM:

More from the Washington Post:
"Now a lawyer for the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Schlozman was tentatively scheduled to testify next Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Justice and legislative aides said yesterday that Schlozman has requested more time to prepare his testimony."
HELL NO! No more time- stop playing the White house stall game Dems! I'm sick of the pussyfooting around. Pick up the pace! We've still got the Interior Department, EPA, FDA and other agencies to expose. Trace this shit back to Rove in the next two months and let's move on to the other crooked bastards. And don't think we've forgot about you Lurita Doan, you crooked Rovian Hatch Act violator. You're not gonna get a free pass. So many crooks, so little time.
Code word: step
As in step up the pace!

Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 1:29 AM:

When Gonzo got the call about this this evening he sat up in bed and shouted "Aye Caramba!!!!!!!!!"

Englischlehrer wrote on May 10, 2007 2:54 AM:

good job!
If it is now impartially being called 9 USAs, some people have committed perjury, no?

David Martin Price wrote on May 10, 2007 3:10 AM:

Judicial Watchdog Demands Commission On AG Alberto Gonzales Promotion Of Bradley Schlozman After Schlozman’s Voting Rights Act Violations:

http://www.1888pressrelease.com/judicial-watchdog-demands-commission-on-ag-alberto-gonzales-pr-9ueg517q5.html

Al in Austex wrote on May 10, 2007 5:08 AM:

First one Big Attaway To Go Ms.McGann !Second sure wish we could get the MSM to give TPM more credit for these ""gets" that keep coming from your site. Heck Racheal Maddeaux was on Olbermann the other night-and might as well been channeling TPM without nary an acknowlegement.
And I have been saying loudly ,a good long while , that the TurdBlossom Grand Plan had pissed off way to many good, law abiding ,career federal employees for the BushCo not to be ratted out to the Democratically controlled Congress,
And yes the Impeachment train has left the Station - President Pelosi does have a nice ring to it- does it not !! (Remember kids it wasn't Watergate that got Nixon -it was the endless War in Vietnam- history does repeat itself - Watergate was just the vehicle for Tricky Dick's removal )

Ben Franklin wrote on May 10, 2007 6:29 AM:

I second what Al in Austex just said. Where the hell is the credit to TPM in the MSM reporting? WTF.

J Durr wrote on May 10, 2007 7:21 AM:

According to a source with detailed knowledge of the conversation, Graves was told that his removal was not based on his performance as a prosecutor, but that it was simply time to let someone else have a chance at the job.

Interesting to learn that the one who deserved to be given a chance to gain experience at this type of job was Bradley Schlozman, who, among all those who deserved to be given such a chance, was then an assistant attorney general in charge of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division!

Interesting also is to learn that once he got a stab at this new job (read mission accomplished), he was right back in Washington……

Does one even consider moving there for such a short time, if it were not to execute a mission? Did he intend to spend some time there, or was his return to Washington arranged in advance?

These are some of the questions that should be asked… Did the DOJ really reserve this position as a training post for career employees? If so, then did Schlozman really need to gain this type of experience?

paul lukasiak wrote on May 10, 2007 7:27 AM:

This may have a parallel with what happened in the Northern District of Iowa. When the incumbent US attorney (Charles Larson Sr) retired, he was replaced by his FAUSA (Judith Whetstine) who received an "Acting" appointment.
27 days later, Whetstine (who is married to a former Democratic candidate for congress) had retired, and replaced by "loyal Bushie" Matt Dummermuth.

In a phone conversation I had last week with Whetstine, she indicated that neither her nor Larson's retirement was "political" -- she stayed on after Larson left only because an "interim" USA was not ready to be appointed. However, Whetstine also indicated that she had offered to stay on for a short period to ease the transition in that office -- and her offer was turned down. (Ordinarily, one would assume that a new USA would jump at the chance to keep the FAUSA around for a couple of months to maintain continuity in the office.)

Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 7:43 AM:

Two comments.

1) Did the call to Graves precede the 'secret order' document? If DOJ did call to kick him out before the 1st secret order memo was written, what are the implication's? Was a law broken?

2) There is a parallel timeline with all of these fired USA's for 'voter fraud'. The polling numbers of the Incumbent vs. Democratic challengers should be considered. Does anyone know if McCaskill (sp?) was really doing well in Missouri senate race back in Dec of '05 to early Jan '06 timeframe? That would have been about the time Rove would have decided to remove the USA to help the incumbent.

giark65 wrote on May 10, 2007 8:33 AM:

Who gave Graves the infamous phone call?

From the Seattle Times yesterday
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003700902_attorneys10.html

Graves said he got a phone call shortly after Jan. 1, 2006, from Michael Battle, then director of the department's Executive Office for United States Attorneys. Graves said Battle told him that department officials wanted to change leadership in the Kansas City office, emphasizing "there are no performance issues."

giark65 wrote on May 10, 2007 8:46 AM:

Remember what Battle said under sworn testimony?
http://mediamatters.org/items/200704160005

The article noted that Gonzales "is certain to be asked on Tuesday about his own recollection of events" and that "Michael A. Battle, the former director of the department's United States attorney liaison office," has apparently contradicted Gonzales' claim that he "was not involved in seeing any memos," and "was not involved in any discussions about" the dismissals. However, according to Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Battle -- the official who informed the U.S. attorneys that they were to be fired -- told the committee that shortly before the firings, he was unaware of "performance problems" with all but one of the fired U.S. attorneys, even though Gonzales has claimed that the prosecutors were dismissed for performance reasons. By contrast, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Associated Press all reported Schumer's statements about Battle.

....

Battle told investigators that he was "not aware of performance problems with respect to several" of the prosecutors, until just days before he called to fire them, Schumer said in a conference call with reporters yesterday. Aides later said that Battle, whose job was to supervise the department's 93 U.S. attorneys, was aware of performance-related issues only with Kevin Ryan, the U.S. attorney for San Francisco.

Schumer said Battle also contradicted Gonzales's assertion at a March 13 news conference that he had not seen any documents or participated in any discussions about the firings. A memo related to the dismissals was passed out at a Nov. 27 meeting attended by Gonzales and others, Battle told investigators.

"Mike Battle remembers a memo was distributed," Schumer said.

Similarly, an April 16 Los Angeles Times article noted, "Schumer told reporters that Michael Battle, former head of the Justice Department office that oversees U.S. attorneys, knew nothing about any performance problems of several of those who were fired until shortly before he was directed to call them Dec. 7 and tell them they were being removed." An April 16 Associated Press report also stated that "Battle also said he 'was not aware of performance problems with respect to several of the U.S. attorneys' when he called to fire them, according to Schumer."

Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 8:54 AM:

30 minutes till Gonzo is in the hotseat. Can't wait (rubbing hands greedily).

yellojkt wrote on May 10, 2007 9:12 AM:

Civil rights prosecutions seems to be a common thread in these firings. Ironic that a conspiracy to deny people voting rights is being orchestrated out of the Department of Justice. And I use the word "conspiracy" in the legally prosecutable way.

Sholom wrote on May 10, 2007 9:12 AM:

One other follow up.

On the lawsuit that Graves didn't want to file, but Schlozman did eventually get filed -- in April 2007, a federal judge dismissed the case.

fuzz wrote on May 10, 2007 9:17 AM:

There is no need to prepare to tell the truth. We saw what happened when Gonzales had a month to prepare his truth. If Schlozman doesn't want to testify next week, subpoena his ass for tomorrow. He can come back later with more information if that turns out to be necessary.

Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 9:23 AM:

There is no need to prepare to tell the truth. We saw what happened when Gonzales had a month to prepare his truth. If Schlozman doesn't want to testify next week, subpoena his ass for tomorrow. He can come back later with more information if that turns out to be necessary.
Posted by: fuzz
Amen! Enough of going along with the Republican delays. That is their strategy. Delay, delay, delay in the hopes that the Dems won't take a look at all their other crimes. At this point the Dems have to be aware of this gameplan- so stop playing along with it!

bordersmuggler wrote on May 10, 2007 9:24 AM:

Question for Gonzales today:

The firing of Missouri U.S. Attorney Todd Graves within days after the passage of the Patriot Act, which included a provision that allowed the President to appoint U.S. Attorney without congressional approval. Mr. Graves was immediately replaced by Barry Schlozman, the first U.S. Attorney to be appointed under the new provision. The close timing of these events seem to be more than just coincidental.

Mr. Gonzales, what do you know about the circumstances surrounding the insertion of that special provision into the Patriot Act under the name of Senator Arlen Specter? Who was the source of the provision that worked it's way into the Senate's bill?

Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 9:36 AM:

Let's get it started! Let's get it started in here! It'd be nice if some folks showed up wearing orange jumpsuits.

Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 9:38 AM:

Gonzales is looking shakey- very uncertain of himself. I think he realizes he is in deep shit after the reports released last night about a ninth attorney- can you say "perjurer". So long Gonzo!

Steve5117 wrote on May 10, 2007 9:43 AM:

Patience please, let's take the time necessary to follow the thread of evil that this administration has woven through "our" government.

I was 10 years old in 1954 when the Army-McCarthy Hearings were broadcast gavel to gavel by ABC.

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/army-mccarthy/army-mccarthy.htm

I'll be enjoying today's history lesson also, and so will the rest of the world.

The credibility of the U.S. is at stake. If we can't cure this infection that the Bush administration has brought to our former way of life, others will join with our current "enemies" to stop the infection before it spreads.

bordersmuggler wrote on May 10, 2007 9:54 AM:

Recall how Rove smugly stated that he "had the math." The math included the Missouri Senate seat in 2006 (read the antics of goon Schlozman). But, unlike Florida in '00 and Ohio in '04, things didn't work as planned. Oops!

trank wrote on May 10, 2007 10:07 AM:

if some of the Rove appointed prosecutors who went after exaggerated or bogus Dem voter fraud cases trying to divert attention from real GOP election fraud in time for the elections it would be a relatively useless move unless Rove could get a lot of PR points.

since Rove's most unnacountable propaganda medium is talk radio it may be of interest to investigators to interview talk radio hosts who were given Dem voter fraud talking points before the elections to find patterns in terms of timing and sources.

as was the case in Florida and then somewhat in NM for the Wilson/Madrid recount, the GOP makes sure to get the public riled to intimidate election workers. there is no better medium for doing that than talk radio. in NM 770 KKOB did the job, but the Dems seemed to be ready this time.

and in this caase it may have backfired with the locall KKOB dittoheads putting pressure on Domenici to make a big boo boo.

Glenn wrote on May 10, 2007 10:36 AM:

Ugh...did you see this paragraph from Eric Lipton's story in the Times today? I nearly spit my cereal at the paper.

"The administration saw such lawsuits as a way to combat voter fraud. But Democrats have said the lawsuits were politically motivated because poor and elderly voters were more likely to be taken off registration rolls."

Oh, did the administration really see them as a way to combat voter fraud? Yes, that's what they say, but isn't the truth of that statement rather highly contested, isn't that, in fact, the heart of this whole fucking matter? To report that as if it were a fact (particularly juxtaposed against the "Democrats say" construction of the following sentence) just floors me.

bushyinsanity wrote on May 10, 2007 10:53 AM:

Here's the thing... The January "firing" does not fit the Rove timeline for influencing the election outcome so Grave's conjecture that this was about a clash over prosectution of votre fraud. No, this is more likely about a pending corruption case in which Jeb Bush sits on the board of the defense. When will the main stream media focus in on the Grave's caseload and corruption prosecutions - the voter purge makes no sense in this timeline.

Marko wrote on May 10, 2007 11:07 AM:

Shame on Specter for "letting his aids" modify the law without his oversight.

And shame on the democrats for not reading what they were voting for/against. Any casual reading of the infamous blurb (by anyone) would have set off alarm bells.

realstory wrote on May 10, 2007 12:19 PM:

psyopswatcher has revealed the real story, and if someone read their e-mails, they would have known about the 10 (ten) purged attorney's on April 23, 2007.

See pressrelease365.com May 10, 2007 where they cover the story from 4/9/07 about Medical Supply Chain (in a huge lawsuit) receiving in discovery documents,

"The e-mail dated January 9th, 2006 from Kyle Sampson, chief of staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, to Harriet Miers and William Kelley at the White House, shows the ten U.S. Attorneys that were first selected to voluntarily resign or face termination. Attorneys that resigned were redacted. Todd P. Graves of Missouri resigned March 24, 2006."

reddherring wrote on May 10, 2007 2:18 PM:

The voter registration purge in the case of Graves is a RED HERRING. The real story is which public-corruption cases were dropped when Graves was replaced by Shlozman, who had never prosecuted a case before.

realstory wrote on May 10, 2007 7:25 PM:

Bush's brother is on the board that is being investigated in Texas via Missouri!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous wrote on May 11, 2007 5:29 AM:

Has no one yet connected the dots? The Rovian aide who replaced Cummins in AR has as expertise "oppo". Hillary is running for president. Recall all the false scandals which originated in AR, and which were slung at Clinton? And Ted Olson being head of the "AR Project"? And that Olson is "Federalist Society"?

It's part of the setup for '08: expect Hillary to be the lead candidate on the Democratic side, and endeavor to destroy her, exactly as they -- Cummins' replacement -- targetted both Gore and Kerry.

I don't know where these people are from (Rove, et al.), but they are clearly not Americans.

Chewbacca wrote on May 11, 2007 6:08 AM:

What has been overlooked was the purging of career DOJ attorneys at the same time (Dec 06)such as AUSA Mike Jones, head of the Springfield MO office. No doubt Schlozman was directly responsible.

Another spin on the Graves matter is that Mr. Cummins was investigating the patronage received by Graves' family of lucrative Motor vehicle fee offices in Missouri from Missouri's joke governor, Matt Blunt. I believe three of these cash cows went to Grave family members, including his wife. Blunt's campaign hired counsel to attempt to deflect this investigation, which disappeared when Mr. Cummins was fired.

lepajdhgq uqhdo wrote on May 29, 2007 5:11 PM:

bziu iaztmpdus heajskwx lzdabg juki riube uvzlwhopc

lepajdhgq uqhdo wrote on May 29, 2007 5:13 PM:

bziu iaztmpdus heajskwx lzdabg juki riube uvzlwhopc

Bill wrote on June 12, 2007 5:07 PM:

MSN I NIIPET
MSN

Bill wrote on June 12, 2007 5:08 PM:

MSN I NIIPET
MSN