Comments (44)

tofubo wrote on May 14, 2007 6:28 PM:

and the r.i.c.o. lawsuit against the g.o.p. for massive voter fraud and oppression starts when ??

suborning the vote in a democracy, how patriotic

bobh wrote on May 14, 2007 6:34 PM:

when a special prosecutor is named.....

no USA is capable or trustworthy enough to prosecute or investigate the gop now.

sigh

perhaps the dems are simply using their time to make the case for a SP and then will roll the dice.

Ducky wrote on May 14, 2007 6:47 PM:

McNulty's been around the block. He was active during the Reagan administration, so he knows when to cut and run. The scope of the violations made my Bushies is so large that is almost beyond comprehension. Like a domino they keep falling, each exposing the next. Each successive one more horrific than the previous.

Anonymous wrote on May 14, 2007 6:52 PM:

The proof will be in the pudding.

If McNulty refuses to give us the truth, we will know that this is just another trained seal in the circus.

It will be interesting to watch how the DoJ treats him now.

obsessed wrote on May 14, 2007 6:57 PM:

Does McNutty's successor have to be confirmed?

obsessed wrote on May 14, 2007 7:12 PM:

In answer to myself, the answer is yes, and apparently Bush may try to use a recess appointment to do so.

Richard L. Adlof wrote on May 14, 2007 7:17 PM:

C-H-I-C-K-E-N-S-H-I-T . . .

It looks a lot like McNutly is hoping the train to prison-town will pass-by if he is sipping drinks with umbrellas in them in Dubai . . .

I hope he and the rest of these pukes are buried under unmarked busy intersections so they can support thousands of Americans unheralded for the rest of their after-lives.

jolie wrote on May 14, 2007 7:19 PM:

tell me, someone, where mcnulty's law degree comes from?

checking his bio in various spots (wiki, DOJ, undergrad) I only find he graduated from grove city college (and hey folks, please - check out this institution of "higher education" because if you thought regents college was the only source of right wing christian nutcase hirings, here's another source).

no mention of the law degree, and yet he was "counsel" to house judiciary in the 90s.

where did mcnulty get his law degree?

and, btw - I'm stunned. mcnulty would have been first year the year I graduated from GCC (I remain, to this day, more than chagrined that I ever went to that school, given what it turned into while I was there. fundamentalist christian theology doesn't BEGIN to describe it. it predates regents, the infamous source of so many DOJ hires. regents wasn't even around until 1978, a year after I graduated, and two years before mcnulty). which means he shows up in my yearbook and maybe I knew him. uch!

code word: moon, as in shoot the .... how apt.

Herb wrote on May 14, 2007 7:20 PM:

It's a SHAMEFUL BLOODY DISGRACE what they've done to the U.S. Justice Department, under Gonzales:

They've been FEMA-ing the place and installing their stooge, crony-friends... at all levels, top-to-bottom! Pedro-the-AG--to--Federal-Prosecutors--to--entry-level-(atty.)interns.

'Would've NEVER believed somebody (Al!) could be worse, as Attorney General, than John Ashcroft. The depths of Alberto Gonzales's laziness, dereliction, and incompetence is almost unbelievable... [Then, he appeared before the Judiciary Committee(s).]
Staggering, Herb.

paul lukasiak wrote on May 14, 2007 7:31 PM:

somehow, I don't think that the "two kids of college age" story washes...

McNulty is in Pay Grade II
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/2004/p94-104_doj.pdf

which means in the vicinity of $168,000/yr

http://www.opm.gov/oca/07tables/html/ex.asp

if McNulty can't put two kids through college on that salary.... well, maybe the kids should get a job or go to a state school or something...

observor wrote on May 14, 2007 7:51 PM:

McNulty read about Deb Yang's $1.5 million signing bonus with Gibson, Dunn!

"Dont worry, kids. You won't have to go to community college after all."

paul wrote on May 14, 2007 7:53 PM:

paul lukasiak:

Although the "two kids of college age" story is no doubt a cover, that doesn't mean it's far-fetched. Two kids in an ivy or equivalent private college would be $80K-90K a year. And it says something really terrible about the structure ofthe US economy and of higher education that someone in McNulty's position might well not be able to send his kids to a topflight college without putting himself or them into serious debt.

(Back of the envelope: $168K a year is probably about $125K a year take-home, so about $100K a year after mortgage, about $15K a year for car/food/etc after the college bills. Obviously he's had 15 years to save up for this, and he could still swing it if he wanted, and obviously pretty much everyone else in the country is doing far worse. But it's scary to think that someone in that kind of position might even imagine having trouble paying for college.)

sue g wrote on May 14, 2007 7:58 PM:

mc nulty went to capital u. law school in columbus ohio-an evangelical lutheran institution and is a thoroughly partisan repug

observor wrote on May 14, 2007 7:59 PM:

Paul: The kids could get college loans. Of course, that department is also corrupt.

jolie wrote on May 14, 2007 8:04 PM:

sue g - thanks for the update.

anybody ever hear of capital university in ohio?

why doesn't he list it in his bio material?

jolie wrote on May 14, 2007 8:12 PM:

OK - never mind.

who really gives a f&*k about paul mcnulty at this point?

Jeezus wrote on May 14, 2007 8:25 PM:

I do! I do!

Just kidding. ;-) Let 'im burn!

G4AM wrote on May 14, 2007 8:41 PM:

Take his damn passport before he goes to an extradition resistant country. This f***er is one step ahead of the law.

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 14, 2007 8:43 PM:

Capital U. is a tier four law school, according to US News & World Report. McNulty is just another GOP hack who got lucky for awhile.

Anyone think Goodling wasn't working on the Bush campaign when she was supposedly prosecuting b.s. plea bargains out of USA-EDVA McNulty's office in the fall of 2004?

glib grouse wrote on May 14, 2007 8:45 PM:

It's nice to know that although the DoJ won't be much help on issues of civil rights, voter suppression or general legal competency, the people we have put in place will be awesome at utilizing the power of the DoJ once the rapture begins and the war between believers and the infidels is on.

sydhra wrote on May 14, 2007 8:48 PM:

In answer to myself, the answer is yes, and apparently Bush may try to use a recess appointment to do so.

Hows about no recesses until Bush is brought to heel?

G4AM wrote on May 14, 2007 8:50 PM:

How about no recess until Jan 20 2009

Buck wrote on May 14, 2007 9:15 PM:

How convenient that the Washington Post comments section on their version of this story seems to be disabled.

fat albert wrote on May 14, 2007 9:35 PM:

mcnulty did a damned smart thing -- last man on the lifeboat.

meanwhile, his successor will have to be confirmed -- more fun and games for judiciary.

Richard L. Adlof wrote on May 14, 2007 9:38 PM:

Herb @ May 14, 2007 07:20 PM,

The bad news for you is Alberto Gonzales is NOT imcompetent. He is providing the exact service the Administration desires of him.

It has shit to do with the job description of the postition he gets pais for though . . .

uncle vester wrote on May 14, 2007 9:51 PM:

Shorter Paul McNulty:

"I can't put my kids through college without quitting my job with the federal government."

So he's got some plum private-sector position lined up already, a la Deborah Yang?

tofubo wrote on May 14, 2007 10:13 PM:

re the first comment

election fraud, not voter fraud, sorry

Sara wrote on May 14, 2007 10:21 PM:

Capitol University (don't know about the Law School) was not, back in my Ohio Days, a particularly bad or good place -- somewhere in the middle as a private college. Don't be fooled by the use of the term "evangelical" -- the ELCA, or Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the name of the evolved and well merged ethnic wings of the Lutheran World in the US, a merger it took nearly half a century to accomplish. If I remember rightly, that particular branch of Ohio Lutheran tradition was German in Origin, established through migration from Germany pre-civil war, but in the 1840's or thereabouts. At one time the school had a very significant reputation in music.

Mark Richards wrote on May 14, 2007 10:26 PM:

Notice he's not leaving immediately.

All in good time. There's still work to be done, such as getting our stories straight and purging any leavings that might land us in the pokey later on.

Lube the paper shredder! Stand by the waste bins! Let the evidence destruction continue, and all for the cause of "Righteousness".

Anonymous wrote on May 14, 2007 10:40 PM:

remember tomorrow is James B. Comey at the Senate hearing at 10am!

http://judiciary.senate.gov/schedule.cfm

another good watch!

KYJurisDoctor wrote on May 15, 2007 12:09 AM:

Is the AG next?

http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2007/05/top-justice-official-resigns-begging.html#links

KYJurisDoctor wrote on May 15, 2007 12:09 AM:

Is the AG next?

http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2007/05/top-justice-official-resigns-begging.html#links

Lady Godiva wrote on May 15, 2007 12:40 AM:

Maybe he can take out a loan from Pat Fitzgerald. No kids, and I bet he's frugal.

Vulture Breath wrote on May 15, 2007 12:52 AM:

"McNulty, a Pittsburgh native, has worked for 22 of the past 24 years on Capitol Hill or in the executive branch, getting his start in 1983 as a Democrat and counsel to the House ethics committee. McNulty eventually became a Republican and served as chief counsel and communications director for House impeachment proceedings of President Bill Clinton.

He helped shepherd John D. Ashcroft through a contentious confirmation as attorney general in 2001 and was appointed the U.S. attorney in Alexandria three days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. McNulty, who had no trial experience, [where have we heart THAT before??] presided over a dramatic expansion of that office over the next four years before taking over as Gonzales's second-in-command."

Dr. Wu wrote on May 15, 2007 12:57 AM:

After whoring for the Bush administration for this long, it's surprising to see McNulty suddenly grow a pair. Bailing out before Jesus Camper Goodling hangs him out to dry?

Anonymous wrote on May 15, 2007 4:08 AM:

Has anybody read the story about Greg Palast receiving 500 of Karl Rove's e-mails, that were accidently sent to GeorgeWBush.ORG instead of GeorgeWBush.COM?

http://www.gregpalast.com/amy-goodman-and-greg-palast-moms-day-broadcast/

PMS wrote on May 15, 2007 9:08 AM:

Looks like a nice place (NOT a Regent clone). The ELCA is one of the more liberal denominations.

About Capital
General Facts

* Main campus located in Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus
* The oldest university in Central Ohio
* Founded in 1830 by the Lutheran Church
* Currently affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
* One of the oldest and largest Lutheran-affiliated universities in North America
* Educational mission based on Lutheran values of:
o Free inquiry
o Critical thinking
o Leadership

Student Enrollment for 2006

* 3825 undergraduate and graduate students

Faculty

* 201 full-time and 198 part-time faculty

Student/Faculty Ratios

* 9:1 in Arts and Sciences
* 9:1 in School of Management
* 8:1 in School of Nursing
* 4:1 in Conservatory of Music

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 15, 2007 9:33 AM:

PMS@May 15, 2007 09:08 AM

Capital U. may be nice place to go to school as is Grove City College but the DOJ never mentioned where McNulty went to school. Capital U Law School is a US News & World Report tier four school.

McNulty was appointed USA-EDVA without any trial experience whatsoever. His main qualification for the job appears to have been his experience with the Clinton impeachment.

Have you noticed how many characters in this scandal were associated with either the investigation of Bill Clinton or Henry Cisneros?

These guys fit the GOP's definition of "hero".

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 15, 2007 9:33 AM:

PMS@May 15, 2007 09:08 AM

Capital U. may be nice place to go to school as is Grove City College but the DOJ never mentioned where McNulty went to school. Capital U Law School is a US News & World Report tier four school.

McNulty was appointed USA-EDVA without any trial experience whatsoever. His main qualification for the job appears to have been his experience with the Clinton impeachment.

Have you noticed how many characters in this scandal were associated with either the investigation of Bill Clinton or Henry Cisneros?

These guys fit the GOP's definition of "hero".

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 15, 2007 9:34 AM:

PMS@May 15, 2007 09:08 AM

Capital U. may be nice place to go to school as is Grove City College but the DOJ never mentioned where McNulty went to school. Capital U Law School is a US News & World Report tier four school.

McNulty was appointed USA-EDVA without any trial experience whatsoever. His main qualification for the job appears to have been his experience with the Clinton impeachment.

Have you noticed how many characters in this scandal were associated with either the investigation of Bill Clinton or Henry Cisneros?

These guys fit the GOP's definition of "hero".

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 15, 2007 9:35 AM:

Dunno how the triple post happened.

Sholom wrote on May 15, 2007 9:52 AM:

Hey, um, before we keep trashing on McNulty, let's note that of the folks that are talking to Congress, he and Comey seem to be the only ones attempting to tell the truth.

I suspect McNulty's the straight guy here, who is on the opposite side of the table from Gonzo, Sampson, and Goodling. (After all, we already know that: (a) McNulty testified that at least one USA got fired for political reasons (which pissed Gonzo off); and (b) that he testified that Sampson and Goodling misled him as to WH involvement (which pissed Sampson and Goodling off, and led the latter to demand the 5th); and (c) is the only one that seemed to have a bit of a conscience about firing the USA's.

I can't help but think that he's one of the few conservative straight shooters who feels he got sandbagged into inappropriate politics by Gonzo and his crew of 30-something idealogues.

Let's go a bit easy on him and save our ire for the guys we _know_ are lying and/or committing illegal acts.

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 15, 2007 10:16 AM:

Sholom - Get lost. You have no proof that McNulty is nothing other than a self-serving opportunist trying to save own skin. There were enough rumours swirling around early on that McNulty was happy to see Gonzales go so he could have a shot at the AG's job to justify my comment.

S. Lyons wrote on May 15, 2007 10:52 AM:

Besides investigating why thes prosecutors were fired, congress should investigate Paul McNulty's promotion to DAG. Prior to that promotion, McNulty was in charge of three important investigations:

* Larry Franklin, a high-ranking employee in the defense department, working for Douglas Feith’s office, was caught passing secrets to Israeli lobbyists. He pled guilty and agreed to cooperate. The investigation was supposed to determine whether others in the DOD were involved.
* McNulty was involved in the investigation into who in the DOD leaked to Ahmed Chalabi (who then told Iran) that the US had cracked Iran's secret communications code--information that only a handful of top people at the DOD knew.
* McNulty was also investigating who created the Niger documents, how they got to the US, and why the CIA did not detect that they were forgeries. During the Plame investigation, Fitzgerald requested from the Italian government the results of their investigation--which presumably named names, but which the US had never requested--and he passed it on to McNulty.

Has anyone heard anything about these three investigations since McNulty was promoted to DAG? Is there a way to find out? Was he promoted for wrapping them up quietly with no collateral damage, or was he promoted because he was connecting the dots too well and they had to be reassigned to someone even more compliant?