Don Siegelman

In Testimony, Rove Hedged On Role In Siegelman Prosecution

Zachary Roth | August 13, 2009, 4:50PM

Hat tip to Roger Shuler at the Legal Schnauzer blog for this one...

It didn't get much attention, but the testimony from Karl Rove that was released this week concerned not just the U.S. attorney firings, but also another alleged instance of politicization of the Justice Department: the Don Siegelman prosecution.

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David Iglesias

Iglesias: "I Feel One Hundred Percent Vindicated"

Zachary Roth | August 13, 2009, 10:05AM

David Iglesias has reacted with a combination of satisfaction and indignation to this week's release of documents on the U.S. attorney firings.

"I feel 100 percent vindicated," Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney for New Mexico, whose dismissal was the most controversial of the bunch, told TPMmuckraker in an interview.

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U.S. Attorneys

Did Christie Play Politics With Probe? U.S. Attorney Docs Add To Questions

Zachary Roth | August 12, 2009, 4:28PM

Those newly released documents from the U.S. attorney firings raise a few questions about the Republican who may be his party's highest profile electoral contender this year.

That's Chris Christie, the former U.S. attorney from New Jersey, who's also leading incumbent Jon Corzine in that state's race for governor.

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David Iglesias

Rove Aide Longed to Replace Iglesias With GOP Lawyer Who Helped Get Him Fired

Zachary Roth | August 12, 2009, 11:25AM

After firing David Iglesias as U.S. attorney for New Mexico, Karl Rove's top aide longed to replace him with a Republican party activist who had helped agitate for the firing in the first place, newly released documents reveal.

In early January 2007, several weeks after the firings had been carried out, the Albuquerque Journal reported, based on a press release from New Mexico senator Pete Domenici, that there were four leading candidates for the newly vacant post.

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Media

John Solomon's Sycophantic Email To Justice On Attorney Firings

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 6:17PM

It's fair to say the U.S. attorney firings scandal turned out to be a pretty big deal. It contributed to Alberto Gonzales' resignation as Attorney General, and triggered an ongoing criminal investigation.

But based on those newly released documents, John Solomon's take was pretty much: what's the big deal?

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Karl Rove

Griffin to Rove: We're Thinking Of Calling Our Baby "Karl"

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 5:43PM

How big of a suckup is Tim Griffin, the Rove protege who the White House was trying to muscle into a U.S. attorney post after firing the previous occupant?

In a January 2007 email, Griffin wrote to Rove:

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Dana Perino

Dana Perino On US Attorney Firings Scheme: 'I Can't Breathe'

Justin Elliott | August 11, 2009, 4:58PM

This is fun. In the trove of Bush White House documents released by the House Judiciary Committee is an email chain from November 2006 in which Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino first learns of the plan to purge U.S. Attorneys.

Perino's reaction after getting the heads-up email and the attached "USA replacement plan.doc"?

"Someone get me an oxygen can!!"

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U.S. Attorneys

Email: Rich Lowry Offered To Help White House Spin Firings

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 4:09PM

Here's a fun nugget from the U.S. attorney documents (h/t reader B.M.):

It looks like Rich Lowry of National Review offered the White House his services in doing some positive P.R. on behalf of Rove protege Tim Griffin, who the administration had sought to muscle into the U.S. attorney job in Arkansas as a replacement for the fired Bud Cummins.

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Karl Rove

Rove: Remembering E-mails Is Like Remembering 'Raindrop In A Thunderstorm'

Justin Elliott | August 11, 2009, 3:47PM

The Washington Post does us the favor of tallying the "I don't recall"-s that saturate the hundreds of pages of Miers and Rove interview transcripts.

In 10 hours, Harriet Miers said she couldn't remember events almost 150 times.

Asked if Miers ever responded to an October 2006 email from Rove with the subject line "Domenici is calling me about the USA for New Mexico", Rove offered investigators this gem:

"I don't recall. I generally receive hundreds of e-mails a day, and asking me to remember replies is like asking me to remember a raindrop in a thunderstorm."

Read that section of the interview right here.

David Iglesias

Docs Belie Rove's Claim That His Aide Was "Freelancing" In Pushing For Iglesias Firing

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 3:35PM

This won't come as a shock ... but the just released documents on the U.S. attorney firings make it clear that Karl Rove was far from straight with the House committee that interviewed him last month.

According to the transcript of the interview, Rove said that his top aide, Scott Jennings, was "freelancing" in trying to get David Iglesias fired in the summer of 2005. Rove told his interviewers that Jennings "had strong feelings about Iglesias" after having done political work in New Mexico.

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U.S. Attorneys

Rep Who Led Miers/Rove Questioning: Iglesias Case Was Most 'Pernicious Case Of Partisan Interference'

Justin Elliott | August 11, 2009, 3:30PM

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the House Judiciary Committee member who led questioning of Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, released a statement today skewering the Bush White House for considering "partisan and political considerations" in firing US Attorneys.

He concludes that "a weak and pliant leadership" of the Justice Department "largely refused to stand up to the pressure."

Schiff's office says the committee's findings will be forwarded, as expected, to prosecutor Nora Dannehy, who is investigating possible criminal wrongdoing in the firings.

Schiff's full statement:

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Karl Rove

Docs Show Rove Pushed For Iglesias Firing

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 3:20PM

Perhaps the key takeaway from the just released documents on the U.S. attorney firings is this:

Karl Rove claimed recently that he and his staff acted merely as a conduit for passing on concerns about David Iglesias. But it's now clear that Rove's office pushed from 2005 for Iglesias to be canned, and was intimately involved in the decision.

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Karl Rove

'Very Agitated' Rove Called Miers From New Mexico To Complain About Iglesias

Justin Elliott | August 11, 2009, 3:12PM

We're digging through the trove of documents released today by the House Judiciary Committee on the US attorney firings and the politicization of the Justice Department under George W. Bush.

In a June 15 interview with House investigators, former White House Counsel Harriet Miers detailed a remarkable 2006 contact with Karl Rove, then on the road in New Mexico, regarding US Attorney David Iglesias.

Rove, Miers recalled, was "very agitated" about Iglesias, who was later ousted in the Bush Administration's purge of US Attorneys. Rove was getting "barraged" with complains by "political people that were active in New Mexico."

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David Iglesias

Rove Aide: "I Would Really Like To Move Forward With Getting Rid Of" Iglesias

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 2:58PM

Here are two quick juicy parts from the just-released documents on the U.S. attorney firings, about the decision to fire David Igleisas of New Mexico -- as flagged in a House Judiciary committee press release:

• 2005 White House "Decision" to fire David Iglesias - It has previously been known that New Mexico Republicans pressed for Iglesias to be removed because they did not like his decisions on vote fraud cases. New White House documents show that Rove and his office were involved in this effort no later than May 2005 (months earlier than previously known) - for example, in May and June 2005, Rove aide Scott Jennings sent emails to Tim Griffin (also in Rove's office) asking "what else I can do to move this process forward" and stressing that "I would really like to move forward with getting rid of NM US ATTY." In June 2005, Harriet Miers emailed that a "decision" had been made to replace Iglesias. At this time, DOJ gave Iglesias top rankings, so this decision was clearly not just the result of the White House following the Department's lead as Rove and Miers have maintained.

• Iglesias criticized by Rove aide for not "doing his job on" Democratic Congressional Candidate Patricia Madrid - An October 2006 email chain begun by Representative Heather Wilson criticized David Iglesias for not bringing politically useful public corruption prosecutions in the run up to the 2006 elections. Scott Jennings forwarded Wilson's email to Karl Rove and complained that Iglesias had been "shy about doing his job on Madrid," Wilson's opponent in the 2006 Congressional race. Just weeks after this email, Iglesias' name was placed on the final firing list.

U.S. Attorneys

U.S. Attorney Firings: White House And RNC Docs Released

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 2:46PM

On the U.S. attorney firings, Congress has also released thousands of pages of White House and RNC emails and other documents pertaining to the firings.

Here are the White House documents. Here are the RNC documents.

U.S. Attorneys

House Judiciary Breaks Down 'Key Facts' In New White House Docs

Justin Elliott | August 11, 2009, 2:34PM

Below is a press release from the House Judiciary Committee on new facts about DOJ politicization brought to light by interviews with Karl Rove and Harriet Miers along with 5,400 pages of White House and RNC e-mails.

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Harriet Miers

Congress Releases Rove And Miers Interviews On U.S. Attorney Firings

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 2:30PM

The House Judiciary committee has posted the transcripts of its interviews with Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, about the U.S. attorney firings.

The Rove transcripts are here. The Miers transcripts are here.

Have at it.

Allen Stanford

Rove's Lawyer Insists: I Won't Work for Stanford Without Getting Paid

Zachary Roth | August 5, 2009, 12:20PM

Looks like our old friend Allen Stanford is having some trouble finding a lawyer.

Two high-profile white-collar crime attorneys, including the man who represents Karl Rove, are trying to make sure they don't get roped into defending the cricket-loving billionaire -- who's accused of orchestrating an $8 billion fraud -- without a guarantee of payment.

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