EXCLUSIVE: DOJ Official Ignored White House Guidance

[cal04]

Testimony Contradicted Gonzales in U.S. Attorney Matter, Sparked Controversy
The firestorm over the fired U.S. attorneys was sparked last month when a top Justice Department official ignored guidance from the White House and rejected advice from senior administration lawyers over his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee

The official, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, ignored White House Counsel Harriet Miers and senior lawyers in the Justice Department when he told the committee last month of specific reasons why the administration fired seven U.S. attorneys — and appeared to acknowledge for the first time that politics was behind one dismissal. McNulty's testimony directly conflicted with the approach Miers advised, according to an unreleased internal White House e-mail described to ABC News. According to that e-mail, sources said, Miers said the administration should take the firm position that it would not comment on personnel issues.

Until McNulty's testimony, administration officials had consistently refused to publicly say why specific attorneys were dismissed and insisted that the White House had complete authority to replace them. That was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' approach when he testified before the committee in January.

But McNulty, who worked on Capitol Hill 12 years, believed he had little choice but to more fully discuss the circumstances of the attorneys' firings, according to a a senior Justice Department official familiar the circumstances. McNulty believed the senators would demand additional information, and he was confident he could draw on a long relationship with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, in explaining in more detail, sources told ABC News.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2983066&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[Halliburton]

1. but Chris matthews and company say this story is not important

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZuulS3xfKs

:shrug:

[Sydnie]

2. I think McNulty was the source of the latest dump too

This was at the bottom of few of the pages in the latest dump.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

24. Well, that indicates that his PC (or a PC he used) was the source...

...for that document. I don't know much about how this process works. Perhaps it is reasonable to assume that documents would be gathered from various individuals' PCs.

I'm curious as to exactly which documents contained this, since it came from Temporary Internet Files. Do you have links to those?

[Sydnie]

26. Here are two originals

--



--

Here are two of the original docs that listed his files as a source. They are from the 3/19 or 3/20 dump. You can locate them in the dump files by the number on the far right bottom.

[grasswire]

3. McNulty had a long relationship with Schumer??

What's that about?

[cal04]

6. from TPM

SCHUMER: Well that's a good question. I've known Deputy Attorney General McNulty for a very long time. I dealt with him when he was the chief Republican staff member in the House Judiciary Committee, and have found him to be an honorable person. I've talked to him regularly during this situation.

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:EcGCDFBwo3YJ:www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002740.php+McNulty,+schumer&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=13&gl=us

[rodeodance]

13. McNulty left the hearing believing he'd accomplished his mission of pacifying Schumer,

.....Instead of accepting those explanations, however, Schumer aggressively challenged McNulty during the hearing over perceived inconsistencies in his testimony and that of Gonzales. "This is the first we've heard of this," Schumer said incredulously, moments after McNulty revealed that Cummins was fired so Griffin could step in.

Schumer then pressed McNulty repeatedly about why Cummins and other U.S. attorneys were fired, and he quoted directly from Gonzales's testimony, when the attorney general told the committee "we would never, ever make a change in the U.S. attorney position for political reasons."

"Then we have now, for the first time, we learn that Bud Cummins was asked to leave for no reason and we're putting in someone who has all kinds of political connections," Schumer told McNulty. "Do you believe that firing a well-performing U.S. attorney to make way for a political operative is not a political reason?" "Yes," McNulty responded, "I believe it is not a political reason." "OK," Schumer said. "Could you try to explain yourself there?" McNulty began listing Griffin's qualifications and his experience serving in Iraq, when Schumer interrupted him to ask whether Griffin was "the best person possible." "I didn't say the best person possible," McNulty said. "I said well-qualified." Schumer immediately hit back, referring to McNulty's opening statement. "I don't want to pick here, with my friend Paul McNulty," Schumer said. "Quote, from your testimony: 'For these reasons, the department is committed to having the best person possible discharging the responsibilities of that office at all times, in every district.'" "I find it hard to believe that Tim Griffin was the best person possible," Schumer told McNulty. Still, McNulty left the hearing believing he'd accomplished his mission of pacifying Schumer, as Sampson reported the next morning. "Paul reports this morning that: He's hearing good reports from the committee," Sampson wrote. "In particular, Sen. Schumer's counsel told him that the issue has basically run its course; that they needed to get a little more information from us (i.e., the closed-door briefing that Paul promised them re the reasons for the resignations), but that will be it."

Continued
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[rodeodance]

4. "unreleased internal WH email" say Harriet is the good gal. getting real

interesting!

McNulty's testimony directly conflicted with the approach Miers advised, according to an unreleased internal White House e-mail described to ABC News. According to that e-mail, sources said, Miers said the administration should take the firm position that it would not comment on personnel issues.

[hang a left]

5. Not knowing a lot about McNulty...

It almost appears if he is our mole??

Can anyone bring me up to speed?

[grasswire]

18. not a chance

He is a Bush FIXER.

[Fridays Child]

7. The WH approved McNulty's written testimony? How is that different from witness tampering?

"...McNulty went well beyond the scope of what the White House cleared him to say when it approved his written testimony the week before the hearing, according to administration sources closely involved in the matter."

[spindrifter]

8. There is something interesting here because

Wikipedia comes up with this gem:

Senator Charles Schumer said he was told by Justice Department officials that Carol Lam and others were terminated because of "performance-related," but Schumer said, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty later "called me on the phone and said, 'I am sorry that I didn't tell you the truth."'<1>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McNulty

++++
Maybe people knowledgeable about Sen. Schumer will recognize whether the committees and other assignments McNulty had resulted in McNulty believing he had a special relationship with the Senator.

[rodeodance]

12. ..."The initial plan had simply been to deny the existence of improper motives.

..."The initial plan had simply been to deny the existence of improper motives. People thought that should be enough," said another source familiar with the discussions that day. "McNulty argued vigorously the other way. He said DOJ had to give these guys on the Hill an explanation."

[EVDebs]

17. Lam was ousted for 'performance'...she dared investigate CIA/GOP moneylaundry

machinations involving Foggo, Wilkes, Cunningham, which if investigated far enough back would expose the entire GOP/Intell/fundraising scheme. Who knows how far into Congress this cancer extends ? CIA pulling this USAttny scandal out of the hat and removing their tormentors merely makes the blowback that much worse, IMHO.

Bring it on ! The continuing obstruction of justice is merely the means the GOP uses to raise tons of cash while Dems have to hold bake sales.

[fooj]

20. 700 Million!!! Why Carol Lam was the real problem...

WHY CAROL LAM WAS THE "REAL PROBLEM": CORRUPT GOP FUNDED PHONY DEFENSE COMPANIES! $700 MIL!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=408673#409428

[EVDebs]

22. Be careful. The Octopus is what got Webb and Casolaro whacked

So make sure you investigate en masse.

The San Diego connection is no coincidence; the Wackenhut/Cabazon tribe's initial WMD demonstrations during Iran Contra days etc. ?

The Arkansas connection is no coincidence; think Mena without the Clintons...what was happening there ANYWAY ?

Read Tim Weiner's Blank Check and also Alfred McCoy's The Politics of Heroin.

[rodeodance]

9. "McNulty had tried to blame her (Monica) for deficiencies in his testimony."

......The controversy over the firings has prompted calls for Gonzales' resignation and led to the resignation of one senior Justice Department official. Another Department official, Monica Goodling, announced Monday she would refuse to testify in front of Congress. Sources said Goodling was informed that McNulty had tried to blame her for deficiencies in his testimony. Reached for comment Monday night, McNulty said he is not considering resigning.

"I have no plans to step down," McNulty said. "I intend to cooperate with the Committee in anyway they choose."

Senators now are focusing on the part of McNulty's testimony that appeared to directly contradict the earlier testimony by Gonzales. A source close to McNulty said he had believed he was not contradicting Gonzales's testimony and was, in fact, conveying the same message as his boss. But Senators immediately pounced on how McNulty characterized the firings and homed in on what they saw as inconsistencies.

"That's what lit the fuse," said Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, a senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee. "They should've expected pushback — not only from the U.S. attorneys but from their supporters once they characterized the reason as negative performance, inadequate performance."

[rodeodance]

11. McNulty says he would smooth things over with the senior Dem (Schumer)

......."The initial plan had simply been to deny the existence of improper motives. People thought that should be enough," said another source familiar with the discussions that day. "McNulty argued vigorously the other way. He said DOJ had to give these guys on the Hill an explanation."

In the prep session, which occurred in the Justice Department the afternoon before he testified, McNulty emphasized that he had a longstanding friendship with Schumer and that he could smooth things over with the senior Democrat.

The two met when Schumer was a New York representative and McNulty was counsel to the House Subcommittee on Crime, and later chief counsel to the House majority leader. McNulty became deputy attorney general in March 2006, after serving as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Others in the room for the Feb. 5 prep session, including senior lawyer David Margolis, believed McNulty should merely assure Congress the administration had a "reasoned basis" for the decision but not specify what it was. McNulty strongly disagreed, the source said.

Continued
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[cal04]

10. White House Throws McNulty Under the Bus

The Bush White House is in full meltdown, and is desperately trying to throw underling after underling under the bus as Gonzo-gate metastasizes. First, they tried to place the blame on Kyle Sampson. Now that that hasn't worked, they're going after Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty:

The firestorm over the fired U.S. attorneys was sparked last month when a top Justice Department official ignored guidance from the White House and rejected advice from senior administration lawyers over his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The official, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, ignored White House Counsel Harriet Miers and senior lawyers in the Justice Department when he told the committee last month of specific reasons why the administration fired seven U.S. attorneys — and appeared to acknowledge for the first time that politics was behind one dismissal. McNulty's testimony directly conflicted with the approach Miers advised, according to an unreleased internal White House e-mail described to ABC News. According to that e-mail, sources said, Miers said the administration should take the firm position that it would not comment on personnel issues.

Pathetic. The White House is selectively sharing an internal email in order to slime an underling. Of course, this internal White House email is part of a category of emails which the White House is expressly refusing to produce to Congress. Fielding and the White House have only produced to Congress emails between the White House and Justice Department, or between the White House and Congress. They have not produced internal White House emails, citing a dubious claim of executive privilege.

Given this selective release of a single internal White House email (which only could have come from a White House source), it's clear that the White House has waived its claim of executive privilege. You can't claim that a category of documents is protected by a privilege, and then release a cherry-picked few from that category in order to help yourself. If you release some, you have to release all. Congress should not stand for this subterfuge, and should demand the release of the leaked email, as well as all other internal White House emails relating to Gonzo-gate.

And if I were Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, I'd be demanding the same thing.

pontificator
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/26/214918/493

[rodeodance]

14. ....Gonzales 'Extremely Upset' by McNulty Testimony.........

...(Page 4 of 4)

Justice Spokesman: Gonzales 'Extremely Upset' by McNulty Testimony

But Gonzales, who was in South America that day, was furious when he read news stories about McNulty's testimony. "The attorney general is extremely upset with the stories on the US attys this morning," wrote Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman, in an e-mail to Sampson and Tasia Scolinos, the chief spokeswoman for the department. "He also thought some of the DAG's statements were inaccurate." Scolinos responded to the e-mail that she, too, "didn't think the hearing had gone all that well." Roehrkasse suggested in his e-mail that the department offer a "clearly worded op-ed" and reach out "to boards who will write in coming days" to help straighten out the situation. Gonzales then wrote an editorial that ran in USA Today in which he tried to reconcile McNulty's testimony with his own and to make clear that McNulty's "performance-related" phrase should not be interpreted to mean a negative or inadequate performance by the attorneys. "To be clear, it was for reasons related to policy, priorities and management — what have been referred to broadly as "performance-related" reasons — that seven U.S. attorneys were asked to resign last December," Gonzales wrote. But it was too late. The U.S. attorneys who had initially told the administration they would quietly resign began to speak out publicly and defend themselves. "He had to defend his reputation," Kyl said of Charlton. "So did the rest of them."

At Schumer's insistence, McNulty went back to Capitol Hill Feb. 14, to meet privately with the Judiciary Committee and provide more information on each firing. But his carefully crafted responses — trying to give minimal information without disclosing much, left senators on both sides of the aisle either angry or frustrated, and according to those with knowledge of the meeting, only fanned the flames of the growing firestorm. A source close to McNulty said the deputy attorney general believes has Gonzales' full confidence. McNulty is "upset" with Sampson's preparation and believed he was not fully briefed on the creation of plan to fire the U.S. attorneys, the source. McNulty believes Sampson will have to explain that directly to senators when Sampson testifies Thursday, the source said.

[robinlynne]

15. and we're glad he did.

[grytpype]

16. Wow, this is getting unbelievable.

According to the article the original WH plan was to say that the president can fire any USA he wants and deny there was any improper purpose in the firings, and that would be that.

This McNulty guy decides he can't do that, so he goes off the reservation and starts blabbing about specific reasons why they were fired, that's where the "performance related" phrase turns up first, also how we found out Cummins was fired to create a vacancy for Rove's protege.

[EVDebs]

23. There's more to this story than that. See Post #22

Also, look into Monica Goodling's attorney's background. He specializes in money laundering cases and the firm's website bio on him shows this

John M. Dowd, Akin Gump attny
http://www.akingump.com/attorney.cfm?attorney_id=58

""Written Works
"U.S. Laundering, Forfeiture Laws Now Reach All Points on Globe," September 2002

"When Agents Serve Search Warrant, Businesses Must Know Rules of Game (Part 2 of 2),," Money Laundering Alert, June 2001

"When Laundering Charges Surface, Battles Commence on Many Fronts (Part 1 of 2)," Money Laundering Alert, May 2001 ""

Why would Monica hire a moneylaundering specialist ?

And Sampson's attorney Berenson is a former WH Counsel in the * administration who also knows what the funding for GOP operations wouold be all about but his background is in the Patriot Act which was the vehicle that set this charade up in the first place...seems to me that Congress should be asking questions to these two attorneys besides just little 'ole Monica and Kyle, eh ?

[Wilber_Stool]

19. Has anyone noticed the irony here?

How do you think they feel when we look at THEIR emails. HA!. This is great

[HCE SuiGeneris]

21. Okay. Well that settles it then.

Both Paul and Kyle get a thank you card AND some Easter chocolate from me.
:evilgrin:

[DemReadingDU]

25. bump

good stuff!