Karl Rove

Get Fitzgerald! (Round Two)

Paul Kiel | April 28, 2008, 3:47PM

Last week, prosecutors in the trial of Tony Rezko revealed that a government witness would testify that Rezko had said he was plotting to get U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald canned. His buddy and Republican bigwig Robert Kjellander was in talks with Karl Rove, the story goes.

Both Rove and Kjellander denied ever speaking of canning Fitzgerald, and the plot did seem to fall somewhat short. The alleged plotting happened back in 2004, right when Fitzgerald was in the thick of the Valerie Plame leak investigation. As I said last week, it would have been an unbelievably bold move even for Rove. Nevertheless, it does appear that Kjellander would have been looking for any opening to get rid of Fitzgerald.

Today the Rezko trial brought another aspect of the somewhat hapless plot:

Tony Rezko associate Elie Maloof just testified that when he received a grand jury subpoena, Rezko told him not to talk to the feds. Why?

"The federal prosecutor will no longer be the same federal prosecutor," Maloof just testified that Rezko told him. What did Rezko mean, prosecutor Chris Niewoehner asked.

"That Patrick Fitzgerald would be terminated and Dennis Hastert will name his replacement. The investigation will be over."

Maloof said Rezko told him of Fitzgerald's replacement: "That they will order the prosecutor to stop the investigation."

Unfortunately for Rezko, four years later Fitzgerald is still plugging away.

Karl Rove

Rove Attorney: Sure, People Wanted Fitzgerald Canned, But Rove Never Followed Up

Paul Kiel | April 23, 2008, 3:44PM

I noted as an update to my earlier post that Karl Rove's attorney Robert Luskin had told The Chicago Tribune that Rove did not recall Republican bigwig Bob Kjellander or "anyone else arguing for Fitzgerald's removal."

I spoke to Luskin just now, and he said that his statement ought to be qualified a bit: his statement on Kgellander stands as is, he said, but during the independent counsel investigation, he said, Rove was "frequently" approached about canning Fitzgerald: "a number of people approached Karl and suggested that Fitzgerald be removed because of the alleged politicization of the investigation, but he never took any follow-up steps except to say that I can't talk about that. He didn't want to do anything seen as compromising Fitzgerald's independence." Those approaches, Luskin said, came during fundraisers or other political events "in an unsolicited way.... Karl simply never responded and did not take any action."

U.S. Attorneys

Get Fitzgerald!

Paul Kiel | April 23, 2008, 12:18PM

Call it a missed opportunity. The Chicago Tribune reports this morning that Ali Ata, a former official from Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) administration who's pleaded guilty to corruption charges, will testify that Tony Rezko told him that he had an inside track to getting U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald canned.

This all apparently happened back in 2004, when the Rezko investigation was just getting off the ground. Now Rezko is on trial for rigging state boards for contracts. And Ata will apparently testify that Rezko told him that Bob Kjellander, a connected Republican who's currently vice chairman of the Republican National Convention, "was working with Karl Rove to have Mr. Fitzgerald removed."

Now, at the time, Rove would have had his own reasons to see Fitzgerald canned -- he'd just been tapped in December, 2003 as the special counsel to investigate CIA agent Valerie Plame's outing. But that would sure have been a bold move even for Rove. We've put in a call to Rove's lawyer Robert Luskin and we'll let you know if he responds.

This was not the last time that an administration official might have mulled firing Fitzgerald. Former chief of staff to Alberto Gonzales Kyle Sampson testified last year that he'd suggested canning the U.S. attorney in a conversation in the White House with Harriet Miers and her deputy in 2006. The two of them "just looked" at him, he said. When asked why he'd suggested it, Sampson testified that maybe it was just to "get a reaction out of them."

Update: Luskin responds to Tribune:

"Karl has known Kjellander for many years, but does not recall him or anyone else arguing for Fitzgerald's removal. And he (Rove) is very certain that he didn't take any steps to do that, or have any conversations with anyone in the White House -- or in the Justice Department -- about doing anything like that.''

Karl Rove

Rove's Lawyer: SIKE!!!

Paul Kiel | April 18, 2008, 12:35PM

Oh, man, the House Judiciary Committee must be feeling pretty stupid right now.

Yesterday, the committee followed up on a comment that Karl Rove's lawyer had made to MSNBC, that Rove would welcome the chance to testify to Congress about his role (or lack of one, he says) in siccing Justice Department prosecutors on Don Siegelman.

But it turns out, not so much (sub. req.):

[I]n an interview with Roll Call, [Rove's lawyer Robert Luskin] said that his MSNBC comments were taken out of context.

"Whether, when and about what a former White House official will testify ... is not for me or my client to decide," but is part of an ongoing negotiation between the White House and Congress over executive privilege issues, Luskin said.

That ongoing negotiation, you might remember, is not going so well, since the House has gone to court in an attempt to enforce subpoenas issued last year as part of the U.S. attorney firings probe.

Note: For readers objecting to our spelling of sike, I refer you to the discussion in the comments section to an earlier post.

Don Siegelman

House Panel Calls Rove's Bluff

Paul Kiel | April 17, 2008, 3:00PM

Sure, Karl Rove would looooove to testify to Congress about his role in the Don Siegelman prosecution, his lawyer told MSNBC. So the House Judiciary Committee is following up. From the AP:

The House Judiciary Committee is taking Karl Rove up on an offer to testify about claims that he influenced a federal corruption case against former Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama.

The committee on Thursday asked former White House adviser Rove to appear under oath soon. The panel also wants the Justice Department's inspector general to investigate allegations that political motivations drove the Siegelman case and several other federal prosecutions during the Bush administration.

Rove has denied any involvement in the Siegelman prosecution. His attorney told MSNBC earlier this month that Rove would testify on the matter.

Must Read

Today's Must Read

Paul Kiel | April 7, 2008, 9:56AM

After spending almost a year in prison, ex-Gov. Don Siegelman (D-AL), released while his appeal to his conviction progresses, appeared on 60 Minutes last night to give his account of the key facts of his case and issue a challenge to Karl Rove. He also admitted, when asked if the prosecution had managed to destroy his political ambitions, "oh, they've accomplished that, I think."

In February, 60 Minutes reported on what has become known as the textbook example of a political prosecution by the Bush administration's Justice Department.

Nick Bailey, the prosecution's star witness in the case, 60 Minutes reported, had been coached to the point where he had to write his carefully recollected testimony over and over again to make sure he got it right. Bailey, a former Siegelman aide, testified at trial that Siegelman had told him that businessman Richard Scrushy had given him a $250,000 contribution to his state lottery campaign, and that all he wanted for it was an appointment on a state health board.

Last night, Siegelman gave his side -- that Scrushy, who had supported Siegelman's opponent, had given the money at Siegelman's request, that there had been no strings attached, and that Scrushy had not even wanted the spot on the board.

Seigelman also challenged Rove to testify to Congress. Rove has given blanket denials to playing any role in the Siegelman case and lately has taken to bashing 60 Minutes for reporting allegations by Dana Jill Simpson, a Republican Alabama lawyer who's testified to being involved in conversations where Rove's role in the prosecution was discussed. In his latest interview with GQ, Rove called CBS "a shoddy operation."

And there was also this memorable quote from the interview, where Siegelman describes watching February's broadcast of the 60 Minutes segment with his fellow inmates:

"Well immediately people were standing up, sayin', 'You got screwed.' And I'd say, 'Well, you know, I think there were a lot of ya'll that got screwed.' And then, one guy stood up and said, 'No, I was guilty. You got screwed.'"

Siegelman will also be appearing on Dan Abrams' show tonight on MSNBC.