AP: White House bows on attorney reforms

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070309/ap_on_go_co/congress_prosecutors

White House bows on attorney reforms

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer 52 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Slapped even by GOP allies, the Bush administration is beating an abrupt retreat on eight federal prosecutors it fired and then publicly pilloried.

Just hours after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales dismissed the hubbub as an "overblown personnel matter," a Republican senator Thursday mused into a microphone that Gonzales might soon suffer the same fate as the canned U.S. attorneys.

"One day there will be a new attorney general, maybe sooner rather than later," Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., said during a Judiciary Committee meeting.

A short time later, Gonzales and his security detail shuttled to the Capitol for a private meeting on Democratic turf, bearing two offerings:

_President Bush would not stand in the way of a Democratic-sponsored bill that would cancel the attorney general's power to appoint federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation. Gonzales' Justice Department had previously dismissed the legislation as unreasonable.........

[rodeodance]

1. also see this discussion DU thread:

???? what the heck is actually going on???????

Fri Mar-09-07 09:11 AM
Original message
White House bows on attorney reforms
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject White House bows on attorney reforms
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x375934#375934

LINK
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070309/ap_on_go_co/congress_prosecutors

Slapped even by GOP allies, the Bush administration is beating an abrupt retreat on eight federal prosecutors it fired and then publicly pilloried.

Just hours after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales dismissed the hubbub as an "overblown personnel matter," a Republican senator Thursday mused into a microphone that Gonzales might soon suffer the same fate as the canned U.S. attorneys. "One day there will be a new attorney general, maybe sooner rather than later," Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., said during a Judiciary Committee meeting.

A short time later, Gonzales and his security detail shuttled to the Capitol for a private meeting on Democratic turf, bearing two offerings: 1. President Bush would not stand in the way of a Democratic-sponsored bill that would cancel the attorney general's power to appoint federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation. Gonzales' Justice Department had previously dismissed the legislation as unreasonable. 2. There would be no need for subpoenas to compel testimony by five of Gonzales' aides involved in the firings, as the Democrats had threatened. Cloistered in the stately hideaway of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy, D-Vt., the attorney general assured those present that he would permit the aides to tell their stories.

The Justice Department is shifting from offense to accommodation.

"In hindsight, we should have provided the U.S. attorneys with specific reasons that led to their dismissal that would have helped to avoid the rampant misinformation and wild speculation that currently exits," Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Friday. "We will continue to work with Congress to reach an accommodation on providing additional information."

It was a striking reversal for an administration noted for standing its ground even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Gone were the department's biting assertions that the prosecutors were a bunch of "disgruntled employees grandstanding before Congress." And the department no longer tried to shrug off the uproar as "an overblown personnel matter," as Gonzales had written in an opinion piece published Thursday in USA Today.

............

[rocktivity]

19. But do the lawyers get their jobs back?

If not, they testify.

What's the point of changing the rule AFTER he's done his damage?

:headbang:
rocknation

[rodeodance]

25. I have not head anything about that issue.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Well done, Congress. It is the right thing for the White House to do.

Finally, they show some signs of conscience.

[solara]

7. Conscience? I think it is more probably fear

If Gonzales gets impeached it would undermine much of the 'unitary executive power' crap this criminal has helped BushCo put in place. Worse still for BushCo, Gonzales would be questioned under oath...

This administration is insane, they have no conscience.


INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT INCARCERATE

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Yes, I believe you may be right.

But I didn't think it was wise to tempt the fates.

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. My thought exactly.

As noted:

" 2. There would be no need for subpoenas to compel testimony by five of Gonzales' aides involved in the firings,..."

They are taking pre-emptive action to prevent a full investigation, hoping to get away with a "Oops, my bad".

A full investigation would reveal, of course, that the attorneys were fired for political reasons and replaced with attorneys politically acceptable to the administration.

They already have the supreme court - now they are trying to consolidate their power in the rest of the judicial system. If you have the courts and the prosecuters, you have the whole ball of wax. It makes you untouchable.

Organized crime syndicates have known this for decades.

[solara]

22. Yep. And, I would say an attempt to control the Judiciary qualifies as a RW conspiracy

but it's not gonna fly this time. This could get pretty nasty for certain Senators and Reps too.. In spite of Gonzales' sudden "cooperation", I hope this judicial scandal is investigated FULLY.

We need to remove the thugs and criminals from our government..

The DOJ thought they could intimidate the prosecuters they sandbagged.. and that might have worked a year ago.. but each person who steps forward now, makes it easier for the next and the next. Speak Truth to Power!


INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT INCARCERATE

[atreides1]

3. Let Us Not Forget

Bush's Signing Statements!!!!!

[gristy]

4. Do the eight get their jobs back? If they want them?

I sure hope so.

[spotbird]

5. WAAAY to Little

Why do Democrats accept crumbs when they can get a fresh loaf?

The fired attorneys should get their jobs back, and where that isn't possible those holding the offices now should be subject to immediate confirmation.


Then there should be a prosecution of the abuse of power.

[Buzz Clik]

6. Arlen Specter -- Mr. Schizo

This statement was peach:

"One day there will be a new attorney general, maybe sooner rather than later," Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., said during a Judiciary Committee meeting.

But, it was preceded by Specter telling his Democratic colleagues to, essentially, shut the hell up and dispense with the political rhetoric. What could be more logical than following that up with threatening the US Attorney General?

[loudsue]

8. So, what did the AG's office give to the newspapers that ruined

the (dismissed) attorneys' reputations? I haven't seen what the "scoop" was that the AG's office had on these fired attorneys! It sure seems like blackmail to me, and I think Waxman should prosecute it as such.

:kick::kick::kick:

[cyberpj]

10. I thought Specter was the one who sneakily slipped permission to do so into the bill!?!? nt

[kirby]

12. CSPAN

Where has CSPAN been on all these hearings? For the past few days I've been checking their website but dont see hearings for
several 'hot' issues. Wasnt there a banking hearing about Credit Card abuse and fraud practices too? They need to do better with their
website.

[SemperEadem]

17. the banking hearing was on on either Monday or Tuesday

[kirby]

27. Cant find it

on the CSPAN site. And right now their 'search' feature has crashed. They must be running their site on some Microsoft Access database. The thing is always crashing.

[wryter2000]

29. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[rodeodance]

26. He sponcered the Bill-but WHO slipped it in is a mystery at the moment.

[kay1864]

11. BIG EFFING DEAL

I read through the entire AP article, and not one word about reversing this travesty. No legislation that would be retroactive, no hints from the DOJ, NOTHING that would restore the fired prosecutors to their former rightful place.

But we did get some backpedaling from Gonazles.

BFD.

[spotbird]

13. Damn good thing we have a majority

because now there is oversight.

The Democrats are making it impossible for life long Democrats to support them (read: me). At this point if a sensible third party candidate came along I'd jump at the opportunity for change.

[Senator]

15. This Is No "Bow" -- Rather a Smokescreen, For Election Theft in '08

They are "offering" nothing in their 2 "accomodations."

It's just a attempt to make the issue go away before it explodes.

First, is how many other US Atty's "got calls" and did the illegal bidding of the election theives in 2006? Christie in NJ's failed hit job on Menendez?

Second, is why this new crop of political hacks seem ideally placed to protect election theft efforts in 2008? Have bulls-eyes been slapped on the backs of more Native American voters?

This is the first move in "HAVA Unitary Executive-ly Stolen" White House in '08. All the Election Reform in the world won't help if the federal laws are not enforced and the state laws are overruled by the JustUs Dept.

Only Impeachment ... can stop another outright theft.

--

[donkeyotay]

16. It's as if, having robbed a store, the thief is caught in the parking lot

hands back the loot, says "never mind," and is let go.

I'm particularly suspicious of the San Diego firing, but I've wondered what the overall pattern might point to. I've heard the early warm up on the meme that "the dems haven't done anything" - ie, they're responsible for the mess the country will find itself in fall, 2008. You need a plausible story to go with the election fraud.

[kay1864]

18. But this thief didn't even hand back the loot!

It's more like this thief stopped criticizing the store for complaining about the theft, and said, "Okay, I won't rag you for pointing out that I stole the loot. Friends?"

Their GOP-friendly cronies are still in the DOJ!

[donkeyotay]

20. Good point. Thief keeps money. Security says, "Don't do it again." nt

[Senator]

24. A pattern is probably not likely to be found or helpful really

You have 2 cases, Lam and Cummins/Griffin that have their own reasons. Ratchet down the Cunningham fallout and ratchet up the Hillary persecution. Plus, they're only weeding out the honest people. They've already got a good number of hacks in place.

All the others seem to be in "stealable" states to me. And even the San Diego one could be for that reason.

Keep in mind that they're stealing in the millions now. Their backstop position is even trying to override an electoral college victory with a faux popular vote claim. They have the campaign to do so "in the can," leftover from 2000.

This means doing heavy manipulation with totals in Republican areas, where they have little chance of getting caught.

But with neofascist thugs for US Attys, even getting caught doesn't matter.

--

[Festivito]

31. Ding! Ding! Ding! Yes it is a smokescreen for '08, or even WORSE.

How to STEAL EVEN MORE, for years and years.

Caught in parking lot, theif hands back what remains of the loot after spending and investing most of it anyway ... bowing out saying how he was wrong and how right you are. Ending with "see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya."

[DainBramaged]

21. They got what they wanted, they got their sleepers in

to do the bidding of Rove and Heartbeat and quash any potential investigations of Republican cronies and accelerate Dem investigations.

We gained nothing changing the law back.:wtf:

[yellowcanine]

23. I would love to see that little weasel forced out. He is a political hack with no respect for the

Constitution of the rule of law and thus has no business being AG let alone on the SCOTUS, as some have suggested.

[wryter2000]

30. As someone once said here

"I can't believe Gonzalez makes Ashcroft look good." Mind-boggling, huh?

[wryter2000]

28. Attorney reforms?

Firing them is "reforms"? Does the AP really need to repeat the double-speak?

[jwirr]

32. What is up with Specter? Wasn't he the one who hid the claus in

some bill that allows the firings?

[Honeycombe8]

33. The GOP isn't giving anything up, really.

They've got the courts stacked in their favor now. They were down to firing even conservative GOP prosecutors because they didn't do as they were told in a timely fashion.

It is to the GOP's benefit now to make it harder to replace them, no? If a replacement can't be named w/o Senate confirmation, it'll be heck trying to replace all those GOP soldier prosecutors in the future. I think it's safe to say that they will continue to do as they are told by the GOP, regardless of who is in the W.H. or Congress. The better to go after Democrats aggressively in the future, at the behest of the GOP.

No? Yes?