Following his call for Attorney General Gonzales to resign Senator Chuck Schumer has called for White House Advisor Karl Rove to testify and explain his involvement in the purging of 8 U.S. Attorneys from the Justice Dept.
"The more we learn, the more it seems that people at high levels in the White House have been involved in the U.S. Attorney purge," Schumer said. ... "There’s an emerging pattern that is extremely disturbing and everyday the sanctity of U.S. Attorneys as neutral enforcers of law without fear or favor is diminished," Schumer said. "We will get to bottom of this."
In response to Schumer's statements yesterday - Sen. Lindsey (the Torture Apologist) Graham aka "Huckleberry" claimed that the very fact that Schumer has called for Gonzales to resign means that he won't.
I think the fact that Senator Schumer asked for him to step down means he won’t," claiming that Schumer’s statement "does interject a little politics here."
Graham played down the administration’s purge of U.S. Attorneys, calling it perfectly within President Bush’s authority and merely "poorly handled" and "unseemly." He also repeated Karl Rove’s lie that President Clinton also purged attorneys. "Clinton let them all go when he took over,"
So did Bush, the difference is that he didn't force them out in the middle of his term for political reasons.
Echoing ole' Huckleberry the White House stated ...
"A White House spokesman said yesterday that President Bush dismissed the call for Mr. Gonzales’s resignation. ‘The president...has confidence in the attorney general,’ the spokesman, R. Alexander Conant, said.
Sure, the President has confidence in him to cover his ass like a pair of bike shorts - but should the American people?
And Schumer isn't the only one talking about Gonzales leaving a wee it sooner than '09.
"One day there will be a new attorney general, maybe sooner rather than later," said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), in a "scathing criticism" of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s "handling of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys."
Although some Republicans have began talking about Bush's Impeachment with cameras and microphones nearby including Chuck Hagel, with Nancy Pelosi's current blocking of any such move in the House - that issue remains a Non-Starter.
At least for the moment.
Which is all the more reason why the first person who should be Imeached is Alberto Gonzales, and Rove just might be the pathway to get there. From Paul Krugram at the NYT Select
Sources told Newsweek that the list of prosecutors to be fired was drawn up by Mr. Gonzales’s chief of staff, "with input from the White House." And Allen Weh, the chairman of the New Mexico Republican Party, told McClatchy News that he twice sought Karl Rove’s help — the first time via a liaison, the second time in person — in getting David Iglesias, the state’s U.S. attorney, fired for failing to indict Democrats. "He’s gone," he claims Mr. Rove said.
After that story hit the wires, Mr. Weh claimed that his conversation with Mr. Rove took place after the decision to fire Mr. Iglesias had already been taken. Even if that’s true, Mr. Rove should have told Mr. Weh that political interference in matters of justice is out of bounds; Mr. Weh’s account of what he said sounds instead like the swaggering of a two-bit thug.
So did the White House deny any of this? Nope.
"The White House acknowledged on Sunday that presidential adviser Karl Rove served as a conduit for complaints about federal prosecutors as House investigators declared their intention to question him about any role he may have played in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys."
Schumer and Specter aren't the only ones looking for answers - Reps John Conyers (D-MI) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA) have some intent questions for Rove about the DOJ firings as well.
And should Gonzales himself be subpoena'd by either the House and Senate and decline to appear as Novakula has hinted.
"I think that the American people lose if I spend all my time worrying about congressional requests for information, if I spend all my time responding to subpoenas."
This would place him in jeopardy of being held in Contempt of Congress, where they'll have no choice but to Impeach Him - if so we'll be off to the races with hour after hour testimony of just how incompetant and mendacious Gonzales (and Bush) have been for the last six years smack dab on tee vee for Joe and Janine Six-pack to absorb into their Fux News adled brains.
I'm bringing popcorn.
Vyan
No comments:
Post a Comment