Comments (20)

Jake D. wrote on July 24, 2007 10:35 AM:

Does TPM not think that any Clinton U.S. Attorney touted their hard work for the campaign as a credential when they applied for those jobs? Again, if the new standard is going to be non-political, how about Congress makes that change for all futute Presidents, instead of some sort of ex post facto gotcha situation?

Jake D. wrote on July 24, 2007 10:40 AM:

futute = future

davis13 wrote on July 24, 2007 10:50 AM:

Jesus Jake. You don't give up do you bud? To you, virtually nothing this administration or any Republican does ever crosses the line. On the flip-side, everything a Democrat does is held to the highest scrutiny. Comparing the current DOJ situation to what Clinton did is ridiculous.

I wonder if you'll be as enthusiastic about executive power when there is a Democratic president?

Republicans and your ethical/logic acrobatics surpass any circus.

Jake D. wrote on July 24, 2007 11:01 AM:

davis13:

I simply want a consistent "clear line" standard. Clinton was never investigated like this for all the U.S. Attorneys HE replaced mid-term. Perhaps you missed on the other thread where I proposed legislation to prevent ANY President from replacing U.S. Attorneys based on politics, especially if they are investigating someone of the President's own party, except for good cause?

Anonymous wrote on July 24, 2007 11:24 AM:

How many U.S. Attorneys did Clinton replace mid-term?

twc wrote on July 24, 2007 11:24 AM:

How many U.S. Attorneys did Clinton replace mid-term?

kenga wrote on July 24, 2007 11:31 AM:

Jake you ignorant slut!
Your proposed legislation would have had no effect on the US Attorneys that were removed by Clinton, mid-term.(Which number, by the by, is in single digits.) They were removed for cause, dingbat.
Not "failure to promote the administration's policies" with sufficient verve.

Mind you, it would have been pretty funny to see Denny Hastert on Meet the Press, exclaiming that "it's wrong to remove a sitting US Attorney, or any public official for that matter, for biting a stripper whilst drunk! Why just last week I was ... uh, anyway, it's wrong!"

Really.

Jake D. wrote on July 24, 2007 11:33 AM:

twc:

At least 26 -- see names on the "Maybe Clinton Did It too" thread http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003655.php

Carter also CLEARLY replaced U.S. Attorney David Marston in 1978 at the request of the TARGET of a federal corruption investigation:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945941,00.html

Jake D. wrote on July 24, 2007 11:40 AM:

kenga:

Take a look at those links -- I've named more than "single digit" replacements under Clinton -- then we can talk.

anonymous wrote on July 24, 2007 12:00 PM:

JakeD: Does TPM not think that any Clinton U.S. Attorney touted their hard work for the campaign as a credential when they applied for those jobs?

If you have proof, then show it.

If you don't, then shut your trap.

"I simply want a consistent 'clear line' standard."

No, you don't; you want a double-standard in favor of Bush and other GOP presidents.

"Clinton was never investigated like this for all the U.S. Attorneys HE replaced mid-term."

Bush isn't being investigated for replacing USAs, but for firing them.

You continue to lie about this.

Anonymous wrote on July 24, 2007 12:27 PM:

"Bush isn't being investigated for replacing USAs, but for firing them."

more than that: it's for placing underqualified political operatives as attorneys to do things like throw out legitimate civil/voter rights complaints or announce indictments against democrats shortly before election day. to get around congressional oversight/confirmation, a loophole was snuck into the Patriot Act at the last minute (by someone from Specter's office), specifically for this purpose. and that is something that Carter, Reagan, Bush1, and Clinton did not do.

hope4usa wrote on July 24, 2007 12:27 PM:

Don't feed the troll. It wastes everyone's time.

anonymous wrote on July 24, 2007 1:03 PM:

JakeD: "At least 26"

Only in your own little fantasy world.

Richard wrote on July 24, 2007 1:04 PM:

Jake D.
"instead of some sort of ex post facto gotcha situation?"
So, you saying that you want clearly defined standards that apply to everyone, and are not tailored to fit one specific person or group, or even tailored against one specific person or group? Please reread Gore V Bush. In case you didn’t know it, the Supreme Court did not rule that Bush won the election. They ruled that continuing to count the votes would do irreparable harm to Bush PERSONALLY, so therefore the votes of thousands of people had to be left uncounted. At the same time, they also said, “By the way, even though in all of US history, when the Supreme Court makes a decision, it is precedent for all other courts, for just this one time, the ruling only applies to one individual US citizen.” Then there is the Schiavo incident. So is it really one sided or double standard rules you don’t like, or having Republicans live by the same rules as the rest of us you don’t like?

anonymous wrote on July 24, 2007 1:07 PM:

JakeD: "I've named more than 'single digit' replacements under Clinton."

Sorry, even if you had done what you claim to have done, the operative word is "fired," not "replaced."

You are such a mentiroso.

anonymous wrote on July 24, 2007 1:25 PM:

JakeD: " . . . instead of some sort of ex post facto gotcha situation . . ."

Since Bush's actions were unprecedented, in scope, method, and justifications (to the extent the administration's reasons can be dignified as "justifications"), this isn't an ex post facto gotcha.

No administration previously fired a large number of USAs, much less for reasons unrelated to their legal and professional performance and without an opportunity to address any alleged deficiencies.

There is so much more, but the above is sufficient.

And everybody knew that this was below the expected standards for managing the USAs.

Which is why the administration tried to hide it.

modmom wrote on July 24, 2007 1:54 PM:

USA Greg White further showed his efforts for the Bush Campaign by suppressing the Noe/Coingate story prior to the '04 Election:

Seems like Rep John Conyers and Rep Marcy Kaptur had concerns about Ohio US Attorney Gregory White. In a letter in August of 2005 (letter @ link ) to AG Gonzales, they write this regarding the Noe investigation:

OF SPECIAL INTEREST NOTE THESE PARAGRAPHS:

"As a matter of fact, the numerous delays in the investigation have already raised the specter of political favoritism. From documents that have been made public, we know that the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, Gregory White, who is leading the federal investigation, had prior knowledge of the losses before the 2004 presidential election, as did the Governor of Ohio and other officials.16 At the same time, no investigation was initiated on these matters until spring of this year.17

The fact pattern present in this case, particularly with the new disclosure that the lead federal prosecutor may well have gotten his job as a result of a political appeal by Governor Taft's office to Karl Rove, make it abundantly clear that a special counsel is necessitated. We urge you to make such a designation immediately to help restore public trust in this very important investigation. "

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1400

From an early July 2005 letter from Rep Conyers to OH US Attorney Gregory White:

"It is my understanding that on October 13, 2004, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio was provided evidence from Lucas County grand jury proceedings suggesting extensive federal campaign finance violations took place involving Tom Noe, the leading Bush-Cheney campaign official in the region for the 2004 campaign. On the same day, it was reported that your office shared this information with the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, and that later that day, the Section e-mailed to the U.S. Attorney's Office authorization to investigate the matter. Two days later, on October 15, it was reported that the local prosecutor's office gave their evidence to the FBI.

It has been further reported by the Toledo Blade that you began your investigation into the case around early March 2005. Subsequent news reports stated that federal grand jury proceedings occurred on June 1, 2005, well after the presidential election and approximately seven-and-one half months after the Department was notified of the potential violations."

-snip
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/govt_docs/2005/3228conyers_ohio_ltr.html

modmom wrote on July 24, 2007 2:02 PM:

Why possibly would public attention to the Noe/Coingate matter effect the '04 election for the Bush Campaign?

The fact that Tom Noe's wife Bernadette Noe was Chair of the Lucas County BOE, (Lucas County is a Democratic stronghold) a county that incurred so many issues that OH SOS was forced to issue this report on the county after the '04 election:

OH SOS Investigation of the Lucas County BOE after 2004 Election

includes the fact that REPUBLICAN VOLUNTEERS were allowed UNSUPERVISED ACCESS to UNSECURED BALLOTS prior to the election, as well as this list:

*failure to maintain ballot security
*Inability to implement and maintain a trackable system for voter ballot reconciliation .
*failure to prepare and develop a plan for the processing of the voluminous amount of voter registration forms received.
*issuance and acceptance of incorrect absentee ballot forms.
*manipulation of the process involving the 3% recount.
*disjointed implementation of the Directive regarding the removal of Nader and Camejo from the ballot .
*failure to properly issue hospital ballots in accordance with statutory requirements.
*failure to maintain the security of poll books during the official canvass
*failure to examine campaign finance reports in a timely manner.
*failure to guard and protect public documents ....etc.

-One-half of the ballots printed and used in the 2004 general election in Lucas county were stored in an open space on the fhird floor of the county warehouse with no security measures in place.
SOURCE: SOS Investigation on Lucas County BOE page 4

-Live ballots were delivered to polling locations a week in advance of the election. Although the ballots were retrieved, one board employee who was assigned to the warehouse informed the SOS staff that he did not believe all the ballots were successfully retrieved.
SOURCE; SOS Investigation, page 5

-Lucas County BOE failed to record or retrieve ballot stub numbers of absentee voters’ ballots as required by statute OH Revised Code 3505.23. It was reported by an elector that her mother had received not one, but three absentee voter ballots. there was no way to determine if similar incidents occurred and if so how many.
SOURCE: SOS Investigation, page 7

-October 4, 2004 was filing deadline for new voter registrations. At that point there were approximately 20,000 unprocessed voter registration applications with less than a month before the election. One mail tray containing 4,500-7,000 (estimates vary) unprocessed “Project Voter” registrations were discovered on or about October 18,2004.
SOURCE: SOS Investigation pg 10

***Of interest here is information obtained from the SOS website entitled ElectionsVoter/results 2003 and 2004 which show the # of registered voters number change from ‘03-’04 was 11,947 in Lucas County: reg voters 2003 in Lucas=288,190 ; registered voter in 2004=300,137.

-In late September or early October an employee of the Ohio Republican Party contacted Sam Thurber (*involved with politician wife Maggie Thurber in Noe scandal.) wanting to inspect and have copies made of all recently returned voter registrations, Ohio Republican Party offered to furnish volunteers to assist with copying postcards. No one at the Lucas County BOE can confirm that anyone was assigned to supervise Republican volunteers. On their second day of copying, a BOE employee, Jennifer Bernath, Democratic Booth Official) saw republican party volunteers peeling off the yellow return stickers applied by the post office. (Violation of RC 149.43 (B) (I) , and agruably a violation of 149.351.
SOURCE: SOS Investigation, pgs 18-19

-The Swanton 3 poll book turned up missing and has never been recovered.
SOURCE: SOS Investigation pg 16

THEY NEEDED ALL THE VOTES THEY COULD EITHER GET OR SUPPRESS.

ohiomeister wrote on July 24, 2007 2:51 PM:

How many times did GOP Rep. Sweeney, his campaign and the higher-ups in the GOP lie or cover up his domestic violence and spousal abuse?

They were constantly denying it and attacking reporters and others over it.

This is a serious scandal and something that will truly reverberate with the American people, given that it happened immediately in the wake of the GOP's Mark Foley page scandal cover-up. You guys should look into both who coerced his wife to change her story for the sake of Sweeney's political campaign, which is unimaginably disgusting behavior, and who knew about it.

johnnydoughey wrote on July 25, 2007 1:58 AM:

RE: Iraq war veterans are suing the Department of Veterans Affairs

Don't know if you folks are aware yet, but this country is continually talking about supporting our troops. Meanwhile, the Veterans Administration has decided that, because we now have an ALL VOLUNTEER army, it is perfectly ethical to send troops who have been declared MENTALL ILL, back into combat with medication. The VA believes it is an excellent opportunity to examine the effects of the various drugs, something that was previously considered unethical when we still had the draft.

It is now perfectly okay to send our mentally ill into combat... and we say our enemies are evil....
This, folks, is how we support our troops....