NYT: ‘Loyalty’ to Bush and Gonzales Was Factor in Prosecutors’ Firings, E-Mail Shows

[DeepModem Mom]

‘Loyalty’ to Bush and Gonzales Was Factor in Prosecutors’ Firings, E-Mail Shows
By DAVID JOHNSTON and ERIC LIPTON
Published: March 14, 2007

....While the target list of prosecutors was shaped and shifted, officials at the Justice Department and the White House, members of Congress and even an important Republican lawyer and lobbyist in New Mexico were raising various concerns.

In rating the prosecutors, (D. Kyle Sampson, the chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales) factored in whether they “exhibited loyalty to the president and attorney general,” according to documents released by the Justice Department. In one e-mail message, Mr. Sampson questioned a colleague about the record of the federal prosecutor in San Diego, Carol C. Lam. Referring to the office of the deputy attorney general, Mr. Sampson wrote: “Has ODAG ever called Carol Lam and woodshedded her re immigration enforcement? Has anyone?” Ms. Lam was one of the seven fired prosecutors....

***

The extensive consultations between the Justice Department and White House over which United States attorneys should be ousted started as early as March 2005, the e-mail messages show.

That is when Mr. Sampson, Mr. Gonzales’s aide, sent a document to Ms. Miers ranking the nation’s federal prosecutors.

“Bold=Recommend retaining; strong U.S. Attorneys who have produced, managed well, and exhibited loyalty to the president and attorney general,” the e-mail message from Mr. Sampson said. “Strikeout=Recommend removing; weak U.S. Attorneys who had been ineffectual managers and prosecutors, chafed against administration initiatives, etc.”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/washington/14justice.html

[aquart]

1. Nowhere does it say "loyalty to the constitution."

Oh, well.

[prolesunited]

2. Too bad Bush hasn't gotten a blow job

He would be out of office by now.

[Kikosexy2]

5. I'm sure Jeffy..

Gannon provided enough "lip-suction service" on the down-low...it's all hush-hush..on the QT....

[rodeodance]

3. loyality in itself is not the problem--but the Bush type is dangerous.

[JerseygirlCT]

9. Their loyalty should be to the LAW, not to the president

or a political party.

The expectations were obviously different here.

[leQ]

4. isn't party loyalty a job requirement in dictatorships? (eom)

[maddezmom]

6. McClatchy: E-mail excerpts show interest in preserving new powers

McClatchy: E-mail excerpts show interest in preserving new powers
E-mail excerpts show interest in preserving new powers
By Margaret Talev
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - In a remarkably candid series of emails, Justice Department officials said its new powers to appoint interim U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation offered the administration the chance to efficiently "get our preferred persons appointed" to the top prosecutors jobs.


Using the authority it quietly inserted into the USA Patriot Act that passed in March 2006, the officials discussed the prospected for a former operative for political adviser Karl Rove was appointed to the U.S. attorney's job in Arkansas, replacing one of eight suddenly fired by the administration.


"Our guy is in there so the status quo is good for us . . . note that he is qualified whenever asked, pledge to desire a Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney and otherwise hunker down," Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, wrote in an e-mail in Dec. 19, 2006.


At the same time, Sampson wondered whether Rove aide Tim Griffin was "the guy on which to test drive this authority, but I know that getting him appointed was important to Harriet, Karl, etc.," Sampson wrote, referring to Harriet Miers, former White House Counsel and Karl Rove.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16897238.htm

I think this may be the root of all.....preserving power!

[confludemocrat]

7. So for Bush Admin, "loyalty" equates with accomplice or accessory, like

any other band of thugs

[19jet54]

8. I'm am confused...

The Oath of Office and the Constitution

Oath
I, (your name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

5 U.S.C. §3331
http://www.opm.gov/constitution_initiative/oath.asp

So now, "‘Loyalty’ to Bush and Gonzales Was Factor in Prosecutors’ Firings" overides this Federal Law????

I'm am confused... :patriot:

[sutz12]

11. I think you leave off the "So help me God" part, but .......yeah.

That's the one I took when I enlisted in the MC.

[LiberalFighter]

10. Direct Links to Emails released

3 different sources

From House Judiciary Committee
Committee on the Judiciary 1
Committee on the Judiciary 2
Committee on the Judiciary 3
Committee on the Judiciary 4

From NY Times
NY Times 1
NY Times 2
NY Times 3
NY Times 4

From International Herald Tribune Americas
Herald Tribune 1
Herald Tribune 2
Herald Tribune 3
Herald Tribune 4