Justice Dept. distances White House from firings of U.S. attorneys

[babylonsister]

Pin the blame on the underling. They'd let a mid-level dept. lawyer make revisions to the Patriot Act? Gross negligence on their part, at the very least!

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/usattorneys/16904559.htm

Justice Dept. distances White House from firings of U.S. attorneys
By Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department said Wednesday that revisions in the USA Patriot Act that gave the administration unprecedented powers to replace ousted U.S. attorneys were designed by a mid-level department lawyer without the knowledge of his superiors or anyone at the White House.

The provision allows the attorney general to appoint interim U.S. attorneys for the remainder of President Bush's term without Senate confirmation.

Over the last several days, the administration has been forced to explain a strategy that removed eight U.S. attorneys who had fallen out of favor with the administration and replaced them with loyalists. Critics contend the effort was inspired by election year politics and was retaliation against the more independent prosecutors.

Wednesday's explanation of the Patriot Act changes, along with the release of new e-mail correspondence, was meant to stave off mounting accusations by Democrats as their investigation into the administration's firing of the prosecutors widens. Democrats say they now are suspicious that the changes were part of an attempt to grab executive powers and play politics with prosecutorial appointments. They also accused the Justice Department of misleading Congress about the intent of the new law.

In e-mails released earlier this week, Justice Department officials discussed relying on the new powers to get "our preferred person appointed" with "far less deference to home state senators," according to an e-mail by Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

In an interview Wednesday, William Moschella, principal associate deputy attorney general, said that he pursued the changes on his own, without the knowledge or coordination of his superiors at the Justice Department or anyone at the White House.

more...

[maddezmom]

1. and read TPM from last night

March 14, 2007 -- 11:44 PM EST // link)
It's hard to match this hilarity.

In the evolving story of the US Attorney Purge, you know that a principal part is played by this little known provision of the USA Patriot Act which allows the Attorney General to appoint US attorneys without senate confirmation (TPMmuckraker played the central role uncovering how the provision ended up in the bill). Up until -- what? days ago? -- the White House was promising to veto any attempts to overturn this critical bit of legislation packed with constitutional import and critical to the prosecution of the war on terror. Now, says the Justice Department, in the words of McClatchy News Service, the provision was "designed by a mid-level department lawyer without the knowledge of his superiors or anyone at the White House."

It's like some pulsing gyre of Anglomania -- George Orwell meets Monty Python, with Benny Hill along for the ride.

The separation of powers issue is just down the memory hole. Now it was just some Justice Department lawyer freelancing.

So not withstanding the fact that we now have emails of the Attorney General's Chief of Staff discussing the importance of using the AG's new power to avoid senate confirmation, apparently this is how the whole thing came about ...

more:http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Of course I am innocent. As usual. Smirk, smirk, smirk." - Commander AWOL

"I am not a Connecticut preppy cheerleader. I did not desert my National Guard Unit. I did not sit on my ass reading My Pet Goat after having been told twice that America was under attack on 9/11. I did not fly off to eat cake with John McCain ignoring the Gulf Coast during Katrina. And I did not have a thing to do with purging the justice department. Smirk, smirk, smirk."

- Commander AWOL

[gratuitous]

3. "Yeah Dad, I took the Porsche while you were away on business"

"But you shouldn't have left the keys lying around."

We're being governed by Ferris Bueller, only without the brains and charm.

[tanyev]

4. *cough*(bullshit)*cough*