Sampson denies he misled on firings, He says he quit because he had let down boss

[maddezmom]

Source: Deseret Morning News

WASHINGTON — Utah native Kyle Sampson resigned as chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales because he had let his boss down and not because he had misled anyone in the firing of eight federal prosecutors, Sampson's attorney said Thursday.

Kyle Sampson In a statement e-mailed to the Deseret Morning News, attorney Brad Berenson said his client let down Gonzales by "failing to appreciate the need for and organize a more effective response to the unfounded accusations that the replacements were improper."

"Kyle did not resign because he had misled anyone at the Justice Department or withheld information concerning the replacement of the U.S. attorneys," Berenson said.

But Democrats in Congress contend they were misled about the involvement of the White House in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys earlier this year and have launched an investigation into the matter.


Read more: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660205646,00.html

[Erika]

1. Underlings taken the bullet once again

OK, that's what the W administration does.

[napi21]

2. Sampson's testimpny will be interesting. I don't know this guy

very well, butI'll be surprised he'll be able to deal with the questioning of Leahy, Schumer, Kennedy, Feinstein and the others on the Judicial Committee very well. I've lestened to these guys over the last few weeks(and much longer than that in the past). It's very obvious they aare all attorneys, and very good at interrogatingtheir witnesses. We'll see what really happens next week, but if this guyis trying to do a coverup, it's going to be a very difficult day for him.

[radfringe]

3. Sampson testifying

On yesterday show - Thom Hartman mentioned Sampson would be VOLUNTARIALLY testifying and speculated that it suggests perhaps Sampson is unwilling to take a bullet for his boss like Libby did...

Stay tuned

[LizW]

12. Yes - this is a good thing

It does sound like he is unwilling to take a bullet for his bosses. If he's saying he did not lie, that means he's indicating that his bosses knew the truth. They can't now blame him as a "bad apple" who acted without authority. If all the underlings refuse to take the bullet, then ultimate responsilibity keeps moving up the food chain.

If they're going to survive, Bush and Cheney have to throw someone over the side so this thing never gets to them. That is why Tony Snow started saying Bush had no recollection of the firing plan ever being raised with him. He's building the firewall.

Sampson is making sure he's not the only guy on the other side.

[xchrom]

4. i guess i've been getting mixed signals --

i've been hearing that this guy testifying might threatening to the admin -- and now this.

oh well -- the worm turns.

[sofa king]

5. I suspect the fellow is in a tight spot.

Most law firms have a political leaning one way or the other. No left-wing law firm is ever going to hire the guy, period. He brings with him too much baggage.

If he gets blacklisted by the right-wingers, too, he'll be doing customer service for Westlaw for the rest of his life.

So I have a feeling the guy is going to roll over for the Dark Side; same with the rest of them, unless there happens to be one or two who are independently wealthy.

[xchrom]

6. that's possible -- the proverbial rock

and hard spot in real play here.

[maddezmom]

7. from TPMuckraker; Docs Show DoJ Brainstorm on Firing Justifications

Docs Show DoJ Brainstorm on Firing Justifications
By Paul Kiel - March 20, 2007, 12:17 PM
Among the documents last night are some showing that the "performance related" reasons for firing eight prosecutors were the result of an ongoing collobaration at Justice. In other words, the officials appear to have brainstormed on the reasons they had fired the eight.

This document (the date's unclear, but it was clearly done after the firings), for instance, shows a list of the fired prosecutors with a "Leadership Assessment" column laying out the supposed problems with the prosecutors' performance. A Justice Department official made handwritten notes on the document, for instance adding to U.S. Attorney David Iglesias' deficiencies (a scant two bullet points) two items: "under-performing generally" and "lackluster manager." The official also added "use of time management" to San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam's performance woes.

more:http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002814.php

[maddezmom]

8. LAT: Justice Department memos show performance issues were being detailed after the fact in order to

WASHINGTON — Senior Justice Department officials began drafting memos this month listing specific reasons why they had fired eight U.S. attorneys, intending to cite performance problems such as insubordination, leadership failures and other missteps if needed to convince angry congressional Democrats that the terminations were justified.

The memos, organized as charts with entries for each of the federal prosecutors and labeled "for internal DOJ use only," offer new details about disputes over policy, priorities and management styles between the department and several of its U.S. attorneys.

The prosecutors' shortcomings also were listed in a talking-points memo, indicating the willingness of the Justice Department to make public what are normally confidential personnel matters in order to counter its critics.

Justice Department officials hoped that documenting specific reasons for terminating the prosecutors would satisfy demands for more information after Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales and his deputy, Paul J. McNulty, described the dismissals as vaguely "performance-related."

According to the charts, as well as e-mails and other documents made public Monday and Tuesday, Carol C. Lam in San Diego was dismissed for not prosecuting more firearms and border smuggling cases, and for repeatedly missing deadlines.

more:http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-performance21mar21,1,4539610.story?coll=la-news-a_section

[truthisfreedom]

10. WOW! TRACTION!

We're going to pull the whole house of cards down.

They never expected we'd gain control. They had no idea how many Americans are still active Americans.

[truthisfreedom]

9. bushco does but one thing when confronted with the truth... create confusion.

rove believes that confusion-creation is the answer to every complex (read unsolvable) problem. rove has be obviated by his own actions... he's about to discover that he really has no balls. He's left holding the bag.

[JNelson6563]

11. He's decided he wants to live

;-)

[PassingFair]

15. Check out the article I linked below, Julie, I found it on Buzzflash....n/t

[tanyev]

13. I guess seppuku is right out.

[PassingFair]

14. Look at this little piece of *rap!

A face I want to SLAP!!!!




And a story that JUST WON'T QUIT!


http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/21/attorneys.email.gap/index.html

[JNelson6563]

16. Wow, he looks like

he'd be a natural in a nazi officer uniform.

Ugh.

Julie

[Javaman]

17. *cough* * cough* BULLSHIT *cough* *cough* nt

[ThoughtCriminal]

18. It that's true - Where's his Medal of Freedom?

How big do you have to screw up in this Administration to get one of those with your resignation?

[superconnected]

19. How pathetic of him to take the fall like that. What a spineless jelly fish.

[On the Road]

20. Unfortunately,

that does not sound like a statement from the Bush administration's John Dean.