Michael Chertoff as Attorney General? Over My Dead Body

[cal04]

by Jesselyn Radack

Even though Paul Clement is Acting Attorney General, I've been informed that current Director of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff is on the short-list for permanent replacements. I'm off to Capitol Hill to make sure that doesn't happen. Meanwhile, you can hear me later on Democracy Now discussing Chertoff and his lies (in block quotes below) in my situation of being the whistleblower in the case of "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh.

I'm tired of being the stumbling-block to other people's promotions, especially Michael Chertoff--first promoted to be a federal judge, and now our current Director of the Department of Homeland Secutiry.

He has perjured himself to Congress as much as Alberto Gonzales. I'll just speak about my personal experience as the whistleblower in the case of "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh.

When questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee to become a federal judge, Chertoff, incredibly, denied that my former office, the Justice Department's ethics unit, ever took a position on the Lindh interrogation (advising against it), despite the fact that the public record contradicted his denial.

(snip)
Chertoff becoming Attorney General would be the icing on the cake of my Kafkaesque experience. Then again, it would be fully consistent with the Bush credo: screw up, cover up, lie and get promoted.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/28/62334/0389

[soothsayer]

1. chertoff looks like a dead body! the mummy, I think

[soothsayer]

2. Why was he the only AG Clinton did not replace?

[spinbaby]

3. Over your dead body?

He can arrange that.

[mod mom]

4. Good @ Overview of Criticism at Think Progress:

-snip

The media are reporting that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is the frontrunner to replace Gonzales. Yet it’s not clear that Chertoff will be any more independent or competent.

Most recently, Chertoff was criticized for claiming that he had a “gut feeling” the nation faced a heightened chance of a terrorist attack this summer. As head of the agency overseeing FEMA, he managed the administration’s bungled response to Hurricane Katrina. He also faced bipartisan criticism for his agency’s misallocation of terrorism funding.

This morning, CNN’s legal analyst Jeff Toobin speculated that there are already “very good sign” for Chertoff’s nomination. But in the past, Chertoff’s incompetence as DHS head has prompted bipartisan calls for his resignation:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called for the resignation of Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff on Wednesday, one day after the government dropped Las Vegas from a list of cities considered potential high-risk targets eligible for special anti-terrorism grants.

Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY): Rep. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, warned that if the funding isn’t fixed, “Chertoff should consider resigning.”

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown: Asked whether Chertoff should be dismissed, Brown said, “Well, I think so.” He said FEMA had been “marginalized” by Chertoff and his predecessor, Tom Ridge, and that he had expected the agency’s performance to suffer.

New York Times: “On Wednesday, an 11-member, all-Republican Congressional panel released a scathing report on the leadership failures before, during and after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. While there is no shortage of incompetent public officials involved in this tragedy, one stands out above the rest. That person is Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. … It would be nice for the administration to finally send a message that if important people do a bad job, they go away.” <2/17/06>

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX): “Do you believe you should be fired because I believe you should.”

Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) and Charlie Melancon (D-LA): “What the majority report does not do, however, is draw the logical conclusion to its own findings and recommend Secretary Chertoff’s removal from office. Our judgment, based on a careful review of the record, is that the Department of Homeland Security needs new and more experienced leadership.”

-snip

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/27/chertoff-incompetence/