U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorney Fired Under Bush To Get Old Job Back

Zachary Roth | July 31, 2009, 4:27PM

What better way to demonstrate a change from the bad old days of the politicized Justice Department than to appoint as US attorney one of the people who was fired from that job as part of the Bushies' purge?

The White House has announced that Daniel Bogden, who in late 2006 was fired by the Bush administration as U.S. attorney for the district of Nevada, has been re-nominated for that position.

"I'm extremely honored that President Obama has nominated me," Bogden told TPMmuckraker in a brief phone interview. "I appreciate the opportunity and I'm looking forward to my return to public service. and I certainly appreciate Senate Majority Leader Reid's recommending me for the position."

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Karl Rove

Emails Show Rove's Role In U.S. Attorney Firings

Zachary Roth | July 30, 2009, 3:14PM

Karl Rove did his second and final day of testimony before Congress about his role in the U.S. attorney firings today. And we're getting more confirmation that that role was more extensive than he's yet let on.

The Washington Post and New York Times have obtained emails that offer glimpses into Rove's role in the firing of certain of the U.S. attorneys. They jibe closely with many similar emails that were released last year as part of a Justice Department inspector general report which essentially found that the firings were engineered by Rove and other White House officials.

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Barack Obama

Yet More Obama Secrecy: Won't Release Info On Visits From Health-Care Execs

Zachary Roth | July 22, 2009, 10:06AM

And the beat goes on....

Here's the latest example of the Obama White House mimicking its predecessor's reflexive preference for secrecy over openness: the administration has turned down a request from a good-government group to release the names of the health-industry execs who have gone to the White House to discuss health-care reform, reports the Los Angeles Times.

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George Bush

Bush Personally Sent Card And Gonzo To Ashcroft's Hospital Bed

Zachary Roth | July 10, 2009, 5:47PM

This great catch by Marcy Wheeler might be the most shocking nugget of all from the IGs report on surveillance.

The report goes into some detail about that famous visit made by Andy Card and Alberto Gonzales to then-AG John Ashcroft, when Ashcroft was in the hospital, and essentially incapacitated, after gall bladder surgery. The White House needed the Attorney General's sign-off to continue its warrantless wiretapping program.

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Alberto Gonzales

WH Counsel Gonzo To DOJ: When We Said We Cared About Your Legal Opinions On Surveillance, We Didn't Really Mean It

Zachary Roth | July 10, 2009, 5:17PM

Another great nugget from that just-released inspector generals' report on surveillance...

Check out the amazing 2004 letter from Alberto Gonzales, at the time the White House counsel, to then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who had raised "serious issues" about the legal basis of the surveillance program, and particularly the lack of congressional notification.

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George Bush

Was Bush Kept In The Dark On DOJ Concerns About Surveillance?

Zachary Roth | July 10, 2009, 4:49PM

One passage on the IGs report on surveillance suggests something that perhaps shouldn't come as a surprise -- that President Bush was kept in the dark by members of the White House staff about about serious objections to the surveillance program raised by others in the administration.

To wit:

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