BLOG by Joshua Micah Marshall

« April 8, 2007 - April 14, 2007 | Talking Points Memo Home | April 22, 2007 - April 28, 2007 »

04.21.07 -- 11:52PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

A look at what the Supreme Court's abortion decision portends for other important cases in the new Alito era.

--David Kurtz

04.21.07 -- 6:06PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

The GOP's "bitch slap" theory of electoral politics, as advanced by your liberal media--in this case, by the queen bee herself.

--David Kurtz

04.21.07 -- 1:57PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

CNN's Kyra Phillips informs us that Reid's "war is lost" comment is "discouraging" to the troops.

--Greg Sargent

04.21.07 -- 9:04AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

The Wall Street Journal goes front page with the tangled web of Rep. Rick Renzi's business dealings.

--David Kurtz

04.20.07 -- 10:43PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

You've undoubtedly heard the story of the scandal surrounding World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and the generous salaries and favors he provided to his girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza, in his capacity as president of the Bank. But look what Sid Blumenthal has dug up. The strings Wolfowitz pulled for Riza, the plums and sinecures go back into his time in the US government -- unexplained security clearances provided to a foreign national, special contracts apparently cooked up especially for her with US tax dollars. I had a hard time keeping all the intricacies and details straight in my head. But there definitely seems to be a story there. Oh, and Dick Cheney's daughter Liz -- MidEast democracy czar installed at the State Department to keep the neocons flame burning -- she's in the mix too.

--Josh Marshall

04.20.07 -- 5:36PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Doolittle: Like the Duke Lacrosse guys, I'm falsely accused.

--Josh Marshall

04.20.07 -- 5:08PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Here's a Friday afternoon quiz for you. Guess who said these remarks about Iraq -- Lieberman or the White House?

--Greg Sargent

04.20.07 -- 3:22PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Yet another lesson in positive thinking from the administration.

This time, it's White House spokeswoman Dana Perino emphasizing the number of figures in the administration who haven't received public pressure to resign.

--Paul Kiel

04.20.07 -- 2:55PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

More on U.S. Attorney for Milwaukee Steve Biskupic.

Today, the appeals court released its written opinion of the case he brought against Georgia Thompson, a state bureaucrat, in a case that implicated Wisconsin's Dem governor. The verdict? "Preposterous."

--Paul Kiel

04.20.07 -- 1:51PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Guess who agrees with Harry Reid that the Iraq war is "lost"? Tony McPeak, who was a member of the Joint Chiefs during the Gulf War.

--Greg Sargent

04.20.07 -- 1:19PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

CNN reported this morning that "the White House is waiting to see how this plays out with the public and members of Congress over the next couple of days."

Well, with respect to Congress, the signs are bad.

--Paul Kiel

04.20.07 -- 1:08PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Reminder: today is the last day to apply for the prestigious TPM Summer Internship.

--Andrew Golis

04.20.07 -- 12:36PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

The verdict on Alberto Gonzales is in. And here's our updated rundown of Republican calls for his resignation -- by our count four senators have done so outright and two more have stopped just short.

And his supporters? Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) floated an odd reason for keeping Gonzales on.

--Paul Kiel

04.20.07 -- 12:04PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Here's something that's been oddly missing from all the media discussion of Harry Reid's assertion that the "war is lost": Much of the American public agrees with Reid.

--Greg Sargent

04.20.07 -- 11:39AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Want to do some sleuthing? Help the Sunlight Foundation snoop out the anti-transparency senator who put a hold on the electronic disclosure filing bill.

--Josh Marshall

04.20.07 -- 10:00AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

New TV ad slams McCain for his "bomb Iran" song. We've got the video.

--Greg Sargent

04.20.07 -- 8:54AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Today's Must Read: Alberto Gonzales' supporters at the Justice Department provide a lesson in positive thinking.

--Paul Kiel

04.19.07 -- 11:11PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

A lot's been said so far about Attorney General Gonzales's testimony today. I've said plenty myself. The key though was the response from the committee's Republicans. You know that Sen. Coburn (R-OK), an extremely conservative but not necessarily party-regular senator, told Gonzales he should resign. There was more though. Two other Republican senators, I think, basically told Gonzales that they weren't going to tell him to resign but that he should. That's my interpretation of Sens. Specter and Graham's statements, certainly. And you don't have to agree. But I think it's a fair one. And even Sen. Sessions (R-AL), who normally I'd expect to be signing the administration line, was pretty damning.

I think it's fair to say that Gonzales has lost the confidence of at least half the Republican senators on the committee. He's given people too many causes of termination to choose from. You can want him to go for subverting the federal justice system. Or if that's too much for you to handle you can say he should go for running Main Justice like some ungainly combination of a Young Republicans summer camp and Michael Brown's FEMA. And if even that creates too much collateral damage for you to deal with you can just say he should go for lying about everything that happened.

Plenty of reasons to go around.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 11:09PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Droppin' like flies (from Roll Call ...)

In a second blow to House Republicans this week, the FBI raided a business tied to the family of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) Thursday afternoon as part of an ongoing investigation into the three-term lawmaker.

Details of the raid on Patriot Insurance Agency in Sonoita, Ariz., were not immediately available. Renzi’s most recent financial disclosure form lists the business as an asset belonging to his wife, Roberta, and valued at $1 million to $5 million.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 6:18PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Statement from Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino ...

President Bush was pleased with the Attorney General’s testimony today. After hours of testimony in which he answered all of the Senators’ questions and provided thousands of pages of documents, he again showed that nothing improper occurred. He admitted the matter could have been handled much better, and he apologized for the disruption to the lives of the U.S. Attorneys involved, as well as for the lack of clarity in his initial responses. The Attorney General has the full confidence of the President, and he appreciates the work he is doing at the Department of Justice to help keep our citizens safe from terrorists, our children safe from predators, our government safe from corruption, and our streets free from gang violence.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 5:43PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Don't miss Alberto Gonzales' heartfelt ode to the importance of protecting the right to vote for minorities. This from a man who has gutted the department's Civil Rights Division.

There was a lot that's simply laughable in his performance today, but I think this takes the cake.

--Paul Kiel

04.19.07 -- 5:13PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

We've opened up a reader discussion at TPMCafe: is this the end for the AG?

--Andrew Golis

04.19.07 -- 4:03PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

From the buzz I'm hearing today, if Alberto Gonzales were a stock, we'd be at that point when those automatic trading halts kicked in because so many people are trying to sell. But let's not get distracted by Alberto Gonzales. He's just a cog. In almost every case, what we're talking about here is Gonzales's willingness to take orders from the White House -- most importantly from Karl Rove and President Bush -- on firing US Attorneys for corrupt purposes and using the Justice Department to suppress Democratic turnout in swing states. Mr. Gonzales is a secondary issue. The real players are in the White House.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 3:13PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Howard Dean guru Joe Trippi signs up with the Edwards campaign.

--Greg Sargent

04.19.07 -- 3:08PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Earlier I mentioned the exchange between AG Gonzales and Sen. Schumer (D-NY) in which the senator clearly caught the AG in a ridiculously transparent falsehood -- claiming that the DOJ had told Carol Lam of their concerns with her immigration enforcement policies. That was a telling moment both in terms of the factual record and Gonzales's fitness for any public office. This was a particularly silly fib because we have sworn testimony both from Lam herself and Kyle Sampson that it is simply not true. Indeed, the publicly-released documents also show no evidence that this is true. So even if you come at this hearing from the perspective of wanting Gonzales to brazen it out, to successfully lie his way through the questioning -- even then, you'd have to wonder what he was thinking trying to pull this one off. Remember he's been actively preparing for this testimony for more than a month.

But, as I've said earlier here at TPM, we should not let the impact of the exposure of the AG's falsehoods and attempted coverups to deflect our attention from what these facts mean. A wealth of circumstantial evidence points to the conclusion that Carol Lam was fired because her corruption investigation endangered Republican members of Congress and key administration officials. The DOJ and White House has sought to refute these claims with the suggestion that she was dismissed because of weak immigration enforcement. The fact that no one at the Department ever raised the issue with Lam points strongly to the conclusion that the 'immigration enforcement' line was developed as a cover to fire Lam for other reasons -- namely to disrupt her investigation.

Indeed, the fact that Gonzales felt the need to fib on this point testifies to how central such a fact would be to making his story credible.

This is the central issue in the Lam firing. It's central to the corruption Alberto Gonzales has brought to the Department of Justice.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 3:01PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Sen. Coburn (R-OK) to Gonzales: You should resign.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 2:59PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

A new poll suggests that John McCain's "electability" problem may be as bad as Hillary's. What will the pundits say?

--Greg Sargent

04.19.07 -- 2:46PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

NRO's Byron York: "It has been a disastrous morning for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales..."

It's really true. Quite apart from the substance of what we've learned since mid-January and Gonzales' past false statements, Gonzales has been surprisingly unable even to keep his made-up stories straight. As near as I can tell, only two Republican members of the committee have been even remotely sympathetic to his testimony. At least two Republican senators called him a liar. One gently -- Graham, and another not so gently, Specter.

Sens. Hatch (R) and Cornyn (R) have been pretty embarrassing in their effort to clean up Gonzales's mess on his behalf. But what's been most telling is how much they're the exceptions to the rule. None of the others are making much of any effort to cover for him.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 2:30PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Department of good timing. President Bush gives speech on the War on Terror during Gonzales testimony.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 2:10PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Breaking: Rep. Doolittle (R-CA) resigning from Approps committee in the wake of FBI raid.

TPMmuckraker has more details from the AP and Roll Call. The upshot seems to be that the House Minority Leader forced him off the committee.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 1:58PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Gonzales to Durbin: "When there are attacks against the department, you're attacking the career professionals."

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 1:30PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

In case you haven't seen it yet, here's some video of McCain singing about bombing Iran.

--Greg Sargent

04.19.07 -- 1:24PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

TPM Reader TA gets meta ...

I defy you to take the performance of the Attorney General and put it up against any boardroom segment on the Donald Trump reality show The Apprentice and tell me if you see any difference in the plaintive, cloying arguments of Gonzales and the plaintive, cloying arguments of any of the contestants on that reality show when they are begging not to be fired. I defy you--defy you--to show me a difference in tone or substance.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 1:19PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

In one of the more humorous exchanges of the day, Mr. Gonzales called David Iglesias's failure to report the Wilson and Domenici calls to DOJ a "serious transgression." It is true that violated departmental guidelines. And Iglesias has rightly apologized. But let's not forget that Sen. Domenici appears to have reported the calls directly to Gonzales and the President of the United States. Or didn't he raise that when he contacted both men after Iglesias refused to budge in response to Domenici's threatening call?

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 12:46PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

What a sorry, pathetic figure. Now AG Gonzales is claiming that the criticism of his behavior is damaging the DOJ and making it harder for DOJ employees to do their job.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 12:42PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Here's some more behind-the-scenes color from yesterday's meeting between Bush and Congressional Dem leaders over Iraq.

--Greg Sargent

04.19.07 -- 12:29PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Sen. Graham to Gonzales: "Most of this [reasons for the firings] is a stretch."

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 12:15PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Sen. Feingold (D-WI) had one of the clearest and most damning exchanges with AG Gonzales earlier this morning. He made a clear and devastating point. The AG says he's not really aware of what input, advice and views went into compiling the list of fired US Attorneys. He fired the US Attorneys based on that list. But he's certain that no improper motives went into the compilation of the list, even though he's not aware of how the list was assembled or why different people's names were put on it. That's a logical contradiction.

Late Update: Here's the video ...

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 12:08PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Sen. Schumer (D-NY) catches Mr. Gonzales in one of several lies. Gonzales says Carol Lam was well aware of the DOJ's concerns about her immigration policy. Lam says that's false. Kyle Sampson says that's false. The documents say that's false.

First he claims the 'documents' show she was told. Not true. He gives up on that. Now he's saying that members of Congress told her, which is of course a non-sequitur since the question is whether the DOJ told her that they were concerned.

This is a telling moment for Gonzales since not only is he lying but he doesn't even seem to be even marginally prepped with what's in the public record.

Late Update: Now Sen. Schumer is confronting Gonzales with his lies to Sen. Pryor (D-AR).

Later Update: See the video here ...

Even Late Update: Gonzales backtracks on Lam fib.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 12:08PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Senator Schumer is grilling Alberto Gonzales.

Since the beginning, he's been out in front in asking questions and demanding answers of the DoJ. Many conservatives have attributed this to his obviously significant partisan zeal.

But Jim Sleeper traces Schumer's sensitivity to the politicization of the DoJ back to the early 80s when he himself was the target of a dubious investigation by a Republican U.S. Attorney.

Sleeper's is a history of compromising relationships and vindictive power struggles amidst a messy urban politics. It includes Schumer, a young deputy U.S. Attorney named Rudolph Giuliani, a powerful muckraking journalist named Jack Newfield, a young reporter named Joe Conason, and Sleeper himself.

And it's not to be missed.

--Andrew Golis

04.19.07 -- 10:08AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

One of the questions I've most wanted an answer to recently is 'What's the Democrats' endgame?' in their confrontation with President Bush over the Iraq funding bill. The president, almost certainly, will veto the funding bill. So what happens then? How far are they willing to take this? That's the question I asked Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) in part two of our interview ...

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 10:05AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

McClatchy starts looking at the big picture on 'vote fraud' and the US Attorney Purge story ...

For six years, the Bush administration, aided by Justice Department political appointees, has pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates.

The administration intensified its efforts last year as President Bush's popularity and Republican support eroded heading into a midterm battle for control of Congress, which the Democrats won.

--Josh Marshall

04.19.07 -- 9:32AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

The Gonzales hearing is about to start. We'll be posting running updates at TPMmuckraker.

--Paul Kiel

04.19.07 -- 9:23AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Today's Must Read: where you can expect senators to focus their questioning of Alberto Gonzales.

--Paul Kiel

04.19.07 -- 8:28AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

David Broder channels liberal bloggers, finally sees the light about the mainstream media.

--Greg Sargent

04.18.07 -- 7:55PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Aide to Rep. Jefferson (D-LA) subpoenaed.

--Josh Marshall

04.18.07 -- 7:25PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Lost his senate seat, but not his legal troubles: ex-Sen. Burns (R-MT) near $300k and counting in Abramoff-related legal bills.

--Josh Marshall

04.18.07 -- 6:10PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Bush and Harry Reid square off...

Here's some behind-the-scenes color from the White House meeting today between the President and Congressional Dem leaders about Iraq.

--Greg Sargent

04.18.07 -- 4:27PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Roll Call: FBI raids Rep. Doolittle's (R-CA) home in Northern Va. More soon.

Backstory on the Doolittle investigation here.

Sounds like former staffer Kevin Ring may have sold Doolittle down the river.

Update: More here.

--Josh Marshall

04.18.07 -- 4:26PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Abramoff, Part II?

News coming.

--Josh Marshall

04.18.07 -- 3:51PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Ed Kilgore sees a silver lining in the dark cloud of today's SCOTUS decision.

--Andrew Golis

04.18.07 -- 3:48PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

WaPo's John Solomon pushes the White House line on Rove, Miers testimony.

--Greg Sargent

04.18.07 -- 3:15PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Get the run-down on Sen. Coleman's (R-MN) evolving story on US Attorney Rachel Paulose.

--Josh Marshall

04.18.07 -- 3:06PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Harriet Miers signs on again with old law firm, Locke Liddell & Sapp. She'll be based in DC.

--Josh Marshall

04.18.07 -- 2:25PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Me: large federal department specializing in prosecutions and law and order.

You: GOP activist lawyer looking to secure permanent Republican hegemony.

Interested? See more details here.

--Josh Marshall

04.18.07 -- 2:24PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

The Presidential candidates are all starting to weigh in on today's Supreme Court decision on late-term abortion.

We've got statements from Edwards, Obama, McCain, and (best of all) Rudy right here at Election Central. And more coming.

--Greg Sargent

04.18.07 -- 9:15AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

A lot of TPM Readers are big fans of the Colbert Report. So many of you probably saw Sen. Kerry's (D-MA) appearance on the show on Monday. It so happens we got to do a walkaround with him before he went on the show. On his way over to the studio, I talked to the senator about Iraq and his new book, This Moment on Earth. And then we got to video some backstage footage of Kerry and Colbert cracking some jokes just before the show.

This is part one of our afternoon with Kerry and Colbert. We'll bring you part two tomorrow when I ask Sen. Kerry what the Democrats' end-game is in their stand-off with the president over the Iraq funding bill.

--Josh Marshall

04.18.07 -- 8:53AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Today's Must Read: the Justice Department's 90 second review process for U.S. attorneys. Now that's efficiency!

--Paul Kiel

04.17.07 -- 11:27PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

From MSNBC, pictures of the VT dead, and notes from their lives. Helps put the whole thing in perspective.

--Josh Marshall

04.17.07 -- 9:10PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Bresnahan: Domenici ethics inquiry opens in the senate.

--Josh Marshall

04.17.07 -- 8:51PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) on Virginia Tech.

--Josh Marshall

04.17.07 -- 8:05PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Sounds like this is why John Conyers wants to talk to Pittsburgh US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan (from WTAE in Pittsburgh) ...

The Justice Department consulted with U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan in Pittsburgh when it was drawing up a list of prosecutors to be fired, a former top aide to the attorney general told investigators, and now a House committee wants to interview her.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, told Senate investigators Sunday that Buchanan was one of the senior officials he consulted about which U.S. attorneys should be asked to resign, according to a Senate Judiciary Committee aide who read a transcript of the interview. The aide requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

--Josh Marshall

04.17.07 -- 7:38PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

White House to RNC: Don't give those emails to the Dem Congress!

--Josh Marshall

04.17.07 -- 6:27PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Associated Press channels Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, writes a story about the price of John Edwards' haircut and labels him "pretty."

--Greg Sargent

04.17.07 -- 4:23PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Over at TPMCafe, we've been discussing Jon Cohn's new book, Sick, a study and indictment of the US health care insurance system. Last week we got a few moments to talk to Jon about the book before a book event at the Strand Bookstore here in lower Manhattan.

Coming up tomorrow ... You may have seen Sen. Kerry's (D-MA) interview on the Colbert Report last night. We got to interview Sen. Kerry before he went on the show. We talked about his new book, This Moment on Earth, and Iraq. There's even some fun backstage footage at the Colbert Report.

--Josh Marshall

04.17.07 -- 3:46PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Not just the US Attorneys, Gonzales and Co. have been purging the DOJ's Civil Rights Division too.

Go read Paul Kiel's report above. But I could not help excerpting this one passage. A good bit of the story turns on a Georgia voter ID bill (passed on the evidence contained in a book by John Fund) that the Bush Justice Department insisted on approving against the recommendation of all but one of the career attorneys in the voting section.

Here's one thing that the Bush political appointees insisted didn't raise any red flags. The sponsor of the bill, Georgia state Rep. Sue Burmeister told voting section staff that "if there are fewer black voters because of this bill, it will only be because there is less opportunity for fraud," and that "when black voters in her black precincts are not paid to vote, they do not go to the polls."

Can't imagine there was any bad motivations behind this bill.

--Josh Marshall

04.17.07 -- 12:44PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Debunking Conservative Myths, the Tax Day Edition.

--Andrew Golis

04.17.07 -- 12:11PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

National House Dem strategists are predicting gains in what they see as a key 2008 battleground: The suburbs. Comes complete with a list of the DCCC's top 10 targeted GOP-held suburban districts.

--Greg Sargent

04.17.07 -- 11:29AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Finally, an answer to why so many different and conflicting accounts of why the U.S. attorneys were fired are coming out of the Justice Department.

It's complicated.

--Paul Kiel

04.17.07 -- 11:22AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

It looks like Congress will likely be offering Monica Goodling immunity in order to secure her testimony. The House Judiciary Committee will vote on it tomorrow.

--Paul Kiel

04.17.07 -- 10:40AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Check out this key finding in the new WaPo/ABC poll: It very clearly demonstrates that the number of Americans who are buying the White House's central message is dropping precipitously.

--Greg Sargent

04.17.07 -- 9:00AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Today's Must Read: Kyle Sampson's private testimony to congressional investigators is bad news for the White House and Alberto Gonzales.

--Paul Kiel

04.16.07 -- 11:59PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

There's a lot of talk this evening about ABC News' exclusive showing a June 6th 2006 email that contradicts the testimony Alberto Gonzales plans to give before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Gonzales says he was not involved in identifying the particular US Attorneys to be fired. But the email from Kyle Sampson portrays him as intimately involved in discussions about the firing of Carol Lam.

Now, first it's important to say that the email isn't new. We discussed the letter in late March at TPMmuckraker. And you can see the actual letter here. But kudos to ABC for noticing that the June 6th email contradicts Gonzales' soon-to-be-given testimony.

As ABC describes it ...

In the e-mail to other top Justice Department officials, Sampson outlined several steps that Gonzales suggested, culminating in Lam's replacement if she failed to bolster immigration enforcement.

"AG [Attorney General] has given additional thought to the San Diego situation and now believes that we should adopt a plan" that would lead to her removal if she "balks" at immigration reform, Sampson wrote.

The e-mail laid out other possible ways to deal with Lam short of dismissal. Gonzales supported the idea of first having "a heart to heart with Lam about the urgent need to improve immigration enforcement" and of working with her "to develop a plan for addressing the problem." Sampson said another alternative would be to "put her on a very short leash.

"If she balks on any of the foregoing or otherwise does not perform in a measurable way … remove her," Sampson wrote of Gonzales' suggested plan. "AG then appoints new U.S. [attorney] from outside the office."

The Lam situation gets to the heart of the U.S. attorney controversy and the focus of the upcoming Gonzales hearing. Senators want to know why the eight prosecutors were fired. Were they fired for cause? Was their performance at issue? Or were their political motives?

But here's the problem, here's what gets left unsaid. Should the AG have a 'heart to heart' or 'put her on a short leash' or what if she resists, etc. etc. etc. But do you remember that they never spoke to Lam? No leash or heart to heart. They never even mentioned any of it to her.

This is the part of the equation that just won't add up no matter how hard they try to push the numbers together.

Consider the scene. May 2006. Lam has already sent one congressman to prison. News has just broken that her investigation now threatens to bring down the House Appropriations Committee Chairman. And she'd just brought her probe to the heart of the Bush CIA.

While this is going on top Justice Department officials are having an entirely separate conversation about how to deal with Lam's record on immigration enforcement. Talk it out with her? Give her one last chance? Keep her on a short leash?

All these possibilities. But no one ever gets around to telling Lam anything about it.

Does that sound right to you?

What were these discussions really about?

Kyle Sampson went up to the Senate again over the weekend. And according to Sen. Schumer (D-NY), Sampson said that "on June 6, senior Justice officials including Sampson; the department's No. 3 official, William Mercer; Gonzales' former counselor Jeffrey Taylor, now the now U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., and others discussed the potential ouster of Lam." But DOJ spokesman Brian Roehrkasse says the meeting wasn't about Lam's ouster at all. It was about "congressional complaints about inadequate immigration enforcement in Lam's district."

The fact that the immigration issue was never raised with Lam by the Department of Justice points strongly to the conclusion that it was not the reason for her firing but the pretext for it.

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 11:11PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

That is a very impressive number. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is at 53% approval in the WaPo/ABC poll. That's even a decent number for a president. But the Speakership is an inherently partisan position -- a post far easier to villify than to mobilize around. By way of contrast, Newt Gingrich maxed out at 41% approval and spent most of his time in the thirties.

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 11:07PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

ABC: Someone else involved in VTech shootings?

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 8:30PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Rep. Conyers (D-MI) wants to talk to USAs Steven Biskupic (Milwaukee), Rachel Paulose (Minneapolis), Larry Gomez (acting USA in New Mexico, Iglesias's replacement), Mary Beth Buchanan (Western District of Pennsylvania) and others.

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 8:20PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Giuliani at Monica Goodling's alma mater (Regent University) tomorrow!

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 5:47PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Want to join us at TPM World HQ? The deadline for applying for the TPM Summer Internship is Friday.

--Andrew Golis

04.16.07 -- 5:25PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

The Senate Judiciary Committee has postponed Alberto Gonzales' hearing until Thursday due to the Virginia Tech shootings.

--Paul Kiel

04.16.07 -- 4:53PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Tommy Thompson takes a stab at an apology for saying that money-making is "part of the Jewish tradition."

--Greg Sargent

04.16.07 -- 2:56PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

The five big questions we're going to be looking for answers for in tomorrow's Alberto Gonzales testimony. That and why Andrea Koppel thinks there's still no evidence of wrongdoing in the Purge story.

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 2:56PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Now he tells us.

Former CIA director George Tenet apparently is now saying that he never told the Bush administration that the case against Saddam's WMDs was a "slam dunk." One problem, though...

--Greg Sargent

04.16.07 -- 2:22PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

More smoke on DC US Attorney Jeffrey Taylor.

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 2:15PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Bad news for Rep. Doolittle (R-CA).

Former Doolittle staffer and Abramoff associate Kevin Ring abruptly resigns from current law firm gig.

If the pattern holds, don't be surprised if you see Mr. Ring coming to an agreement with the government sometime soon. Last year, Neil Volz resigned from the same firm, Barnes & Thornburg, before coming to a plea agreement with prosecutors and helping bag former boss Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH).

Update: Here's a rundown at TPMmuckraker for why Doolittle's time seems to have finally come.

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 1:59PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Dana Perino doesn't know for sure that Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) didn't have a conversation with President Bush about U.S. attorney David Iglesias because she "hasn't asked."

--Paul Kiel

04.16.07 -- 1:00PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Alberto Gonzales' deputy has got one foot out the door.

--Paul Kiel

04.16.07 -- 12:48PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Remember "Mean Jean" Schmidt, the Ohio GOP Rep. who called John Murtha a "coward" before going on to win reelection by a mere percentage point?

Well, it looks like Mean Jean is now facing a rematch.

--Greg Sargent

04.16.07 -- 11:40AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

In today's speech, Bush baselessly asserts that the troops want to stay in Iraq.

--Greg Sargent

04.16.07 -- 11:16AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

I've written this post several times already. But as long as the president keeps fibbing, I'll keep writing it. The president says the Congress is substituting its judgment for that of the uniformed military. Not true. The uniformed military was against the surge. By most measures, it still is. The president disagreed so he fired the senior military leadership on the ground in Iraq and replaced them with people -- and there aren't that many of them -- who agreed with him.

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 10:47AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Jon Cohn's bottom line on health care politics: we need a practical idealism.

Editorial note: A huge thanks to all who participated in last week's Book Club. It was a privilege to host such a distinguished group on such an essential topic.

--Andrew Golis

04.16.07 -- 10:27AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Today's Must Read: getting Alberto Gonzales' story straight.

--Paul Kiel

04.16.07 -- 10:10AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Perino from this morning's gaggle ...

Reporter: Dana, the Albuquerque Journal reported that Senator Domenici made a personal deal with the White House. Does the president recall talking about Iglesias, does the president recall specifically talking to Domenici, does...

Dana Perino: I'd refer you to what the president said in Mexico when he was asked this specific question, and he said that he had, that it was something, I don't have his exact words, but he said something along the lines of that he had been hearing complaints, and we've told you the general different areas, around the country, and that he remembers the issue of voter fraud being brought up at a meeting with senators. But we have never said --

Reporter: He doesn't remember specifically Domenici?

Dana Perino: Not that I -- I don't believe so.

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 8:31AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

From the WSJ ...

The Justice Department's Public Integrity Section is investigating connections between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House, a probe that may be affected by missing White House emails.

Lawyers involved in the case said that beginning more than a year ago, federal prosecutors and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents interviewed Mr. Abramoff and other cooperating witnesses at length about numerous contacts between Mr. Abramoff and White House officials, including presidential adviser Karl Rove.

One focus of the Justice inquiry has been whether Mr. Abramoff obtained official favors in exchange for giving Bush administration officials expensive meals and tickets to sporting events and concerts. The White House has denied this.

--Josh Marshall

04.16.07 -- 12:29AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

I've hinted at this in a few of Sunday's posts. But another wrinkle in the Albuquerque Journal article is the sourcing. As I suggested earlier and this non-denial denial seems to confirm, the Domenici-Bush conversation does seem to have occurred. But the Journal's story is a bit vague on the sourcing. The article says the paper "confirmed the sequence of events through a variety of sources familiar with the firing of Iglesias, including sources close to Domenici." Close to Domenici looks like the key. These are facts no one else has been able to dig up so far. But proxies for Domenici wouldn't seem to have much interest in putting this story out. So what's up exactly? And what does it suggest about the facts alleged in the article?

--Josh Marshall

04.15.07 -- 11:46PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Pulitzers are announced tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Any guesses?

--Josh Marshall

04.15.07 -- 10:42PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Late word from the White House and DOJ in response to the Albuquerque Journal article, from McClatchy ...

Meanwhile Sunday, the Albuquerque Journal reported that Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., told Gonzales in the spring of 2006 that he wanted New Mexico U.S. attorney David Iglesias dismissed, and that Gonzales refused. The newspaper said that Domenici later made the same case to White House adviser Karl Rove and spoke to President Bush about it after the November election, but before the attorney firings were announced on Dec. 7. Iglesias was among those fired.

The newspaper cited "sources familiar with the firing of Iglesias, including sources close to Domenici," but did not name them.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the president did not tell Gonzales to fire Iglesias. He also said that Gonzales did not recall discussing with Domenici whether or not to replace Iglesias.

A White House spokesman, Trey Bohn, pointed to comments made by President Bush and his adviser Dan Bartlett last month when asked about the conversation with Domenici.

Bush said that in speaking to Gonzales about U.S. attorneys, "I never brought up a specific case nor gave him specific instructions." Bartlett said that "there was no directive given, as far as telling him to fire anybody or anything like that."

Domenici spokesman Chris Gallegos said Domenici would have no comment.

Late Update: As this close reading TPM Reader notes ...

You can drive a Halliburton convoy through that White House denial. The President never brought up “a specific case” -- say, U.S. v. Talking Points Media -- nor “gave [Gonzales] specific instructions.” No “directive” that Gonzales should “fire anybody or anything like that.”

So a call from the President to the Attorney General in which he says, “Pete Domenici called me this morning, says we gotta do something about that U.S. Attorney in New Mexico, Iglesias. Not doing his jobs, not bringing cases fast enough – can you look into that, see what needs to be done?” That would fit within the White House denial.

Perhaps more importantly, remember this: by law , only the President can fire U.S. Attorneys. That’s the only correct way to interpret the statute. Bush got a complaint about Iglesias. Bush fired Iglesias. So how much did Domenici tell Bush? I think we need to know a lot more details…

Yup.

--Josh Marshall

04.15.07 -- 10:32PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Given President Bush's role in the dismissal of David Iglesias--over the reported objection of Attorney General Gonzales--it's worth going back over what the President and those who speak on his behalf have said publicly since this scandal broke. TPM Reader CB gets us started off with some choice quotes.

President Bush, at a press conference in Mexico, March 14, 2007:

I specifically remember one time I went up to the Senate and senators were talking about the U.S. attorneys. I don't remember specific names being mentioned, but I did say to Al last year -- you're right, last fall -- I said, have you heard complaints about AGs, I have -- I mean, U.S. attorneys, excuse me -- and he said, I have. But I never brought up a specific case nor gave him specific instructions.

President Bush, in his weekly radio address, on March 24, 2007:

In recent months, the Justice Department determined that new leadership in several of these positions would better serve the country. I strongly support the Attorney General in this decision.

Dan Bartlett, in a press briefing in Mexico, on March 13, 2007:

Particularly, as you can imagine, at the White House, when it comes to complaints, we receive a lot of complaints, whether it be from members of Congress, state leaders, local leaders. Oftentimes that is the job description of a White House employee, is to field complaints. That is not limited to U.S. attorneys. And over the course of several years we have received complaints about U.S. attorneys, particularly when it comes to election fraud cases -- not just New Mexico, but also Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

That information, it's incumbent upon us to share with the relevant Cabinet officers, incumbent upon the President to do that, as well. The President did that briefly, in a conversation he had with the Attorney General in October of 2006, in which, in a wide-ranging conversation on a lot of different issues, this briefly came up and the President said, I've been hearing about this election fraud matters from members of Congress, want to make sure you're on top of that, as well. There was no directive given, as far as telling him to fire anybody or anything like that. That would be under the prerogative of the Justice Department to take a look at those issues, as they obviously were doing.

So I know a lot of people want to make more out of it than that, but that is exactly what happened.

If you have other gems from the public record, please send them along, including links to the source of the quotes.

Update: And still more:

Dana Perino, on March 13, 2007, according to the AP:

"At no time did any White House officials, including the president, direct the Department of Justice to take specific action against any individual U.S. attorney."

--David Kurtz

04.15.07 -- 9:56PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

TPM Reader PG, on this week's congressional testimony by the attorney general:

[T]here’s one aspect of this story that seems to have attracted no editorial mention or public interest. Implicit in all the coverage is the assumption—by Democrats and Republicans alike—that the Attorney General is going up to Capitol Hill to lie. As far as I can tell, this is a universal assumption. The Republicans are rooting for Mr. Gonzales to be successful in his perjury, to tell a coherent story that his enemies cannot break down. The Democrats are rooting the other way, off course. They’re hoping that their ace interrogators will be able to shoot enough holes in Mr. Gonzales’ story that they can destroy his credibility. But nobody seems to find it shocking or tragic that the Attorney General of the United States is going to lie to congress. . . . I’m sure that if Gonzales makes it through his testimony without being totally discredited, Fred Barnes and Brit Hume will be all over Fox news boasting that the Senators “never laid a glove on him.” But no one seems the least bit concerned about his truthfulness, just his tactics. . . .

--David Kurtz

04.15.07 -- 9:23PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

It appears now that Alberto Gonzales will stand before Congress on Tuesday with all of the Administration's cover stories about the U.S. attorney purge littered around his feet like so many rejected scripts. From the Washington Post:

The former Justice Department official who carried out the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year told Congress that several of the prosecutors had no performance problems and that a memo on the firings was distributed at a Nov. 27 meeting attended by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, a Democratic senator said yesterday.

The statements to House and Senate investigators by Michael A. Battle, former director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, represent another potential challenge to the credibility of Gonzales, who has said that he never saw any documents about the firings and that he had "lost confidence" in the prosecutors because of performance problems.

. . .

The statements by Battle, who left his job last month, are the first details to emerge from more than 20 hours of interviews with four top Gonzales aides over the past two weeks by staff members on the House and Senate Judiciary committees. The last of those interviews was conducted yesterday with Sampson, who testified publicly last month that he was only an "aggregator" of information on the firings and that ultimate responsibility rested with Gonzales.

--David Kurtz

04.15.07 -- 9:00PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Picking up on David's post immediately below, this is the key point. Out of all the issues raised in today's Albuquerque Journal story on the Iglesias firing and any potential sourcing questions, the central fact asserted is that after Sen. Domenici's pressure call to Iglesias and before Iglesias's name appeared on the firing list, Sen. Domenici had a conversation about firing Iglesias with President Bush himself.

That places the president at the center of the story and marks him as the likely 'decider', shall we say, in Iglesias's ouster.

If there were any way for the White House to deny that such a call had occurred, they'd do it. But it's mid-Sunday evening and there hasn't been a peep. So I think we can be pretty certain that that call did take place as claimed. (The article also reports calls to Gonzales and Rove -- so the same inference from silence applies to them too.)

This may also help explain why Karl Rove's deputy Scott Jennings assumed his White House colleagues knew so much about the Iglesias backstory when he sent them this panicked email as the news of Domenici's call was breaking.

--Josh Marshall

04.15.07 -- 8:24PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

This is curious. The day's big story--the Albuquerque Journal article that places President Bush at the center of the firing of New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias--did not contain any reaction from the White House or the Department of Justice. Mike Gallagher's piece this morning noted that Sen. Pete Domenici's office declined to comment, but there was no reference, one way or the other, to any effort to contact the White House or DOJ for comment. That's not necessarily a criticism of Gallagher's work, but it did leave me with questions and the expectation that there would be some serious blowback from the Administration in response to the article. But here we are on Sunday evening, and I'm still not seeing any public reaction from the Administration. McClatchy is reporting that the White House did not respond to its questions about the story out of New Mexico. You might say the silence is deafening.

Late update: The later version of the McClatchy story contains reaction from the White House and DOJ.

--David Kurtz

04.15.07 -- 7:36PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Dick Cheney, today on Face the Nation, when asked about the U.S. Attorney purge:

Well, as vice president, I don't know anything about the particular problem you're talking about. I mean, it took place inside the Justice Department. The one who needs to answer to that and lay out on the record the specifics of what transpired is the attorney general, and he'll do so.

Alberto Gonzales is, as John Ehrlichman said, "twisting slowly, slowly in the wind."

--David Kurtz

04.15.07 -- 1:37PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Can I get your attention for a second?

You're going to hear a lot about Al Gonzales on the Hill, document dumps and timelines and a lot of other stuff. But not much else you're going to see in the Purge story is going to be as important as this story that ran this morning in The Albuquerque Journal. I mentioned it below and Paul Kiel has a detailed analysis of it here.

But here's what it amounts to.

It was Sen. Domenici's (R-NM) call to David Iglesias to get him to game the November election with an election-timed indictment that got this scandal really rolling. And it's always been the key question just how and whether Domenici's failed play to get Iglesias to tamper with the November election led to his firing on December 7th.

Now, we know a much more detailed timeline about just what happened.

As we've known Domenici had been complaining about Iglesias for some time. President Bush and Karl Rove had also been complaining to Gonzales about Iglesias's record prosecuting 'voter fraud'. Domenici told Gonzales he wanted Iglesias out back in the Spring of 2006. But Gonzales said he would only fire Iglesias on the president's orders.

Now, let's fast foward to just before the November election. Iglesias didn't show up on the firing list prepared in October 2006. Then Domenici makes his call sometime a couple weeks or so before the election. He doesn't get satisfaction from Iglesias. And then shortly after the election, Domenici puts in a call to Karl Rove. He tells Rove he wants Iglesias fired. And he asks Rove to take his message directly to the president. That led to a telephone conversation between Domenici and the president himself, presumably arranged by Rove.

Do you think it's possible that Domenici didn't mention his call to Iglesias just before the election and Iglesias's alleged foot-dragging on indicting Democrats?

From the article we don't know the precise date of the Rove and Bush conversations. But we do know that Iglesias's name first shows up on the firing list on November 15th.

No one disputes that Domenici's call to Iglesias was at best inappropriate. But there's been a lack of direct evidence that Iglesias's refusal to bow to political pressure led directly to his firing. Now we have that evidence. And it's not Kyle Sampson or even Alberto Gonzales whom Domenici went to to get sign off for Iglesias's ouster. It was right to the president. And the available evidence now points strongly to the conclusion that the final decision to fire David Iglesias came from the President of the United States.

--Josh Marshall

04.15.07 -- 12:41PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Check out this new poll's key finding: More Americans want Congress -- not the Commander in Chief -- to dictate troop levels in Iraq.

--Greg Sargent

04.15.07 -- 12:33PM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

For those of you who are impatient for the hours of foggy recollections, half-apologies, and promises that are sure to comprise Alberto Gonzales' testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, here's his written statement.

--Paul Kiel

04.15.07 -- 11:22AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Albuquerque Journal: Bush pulled the trigger on Iglesias.

We've always known it must have gone down something like this. But they've got the details. From this morning's paper ...

Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias was fired after Sen. Pete Domenici, who had been unhappy with Iglesias for some time, made a personal appeal to the White House, the Journal has learned.

...

In the spring of 2006, Domenici told Gonzales he wanted Iglesias out.
Gonzales refused. He told Domenici he would fire Iglesias only on orders from the president.
At some point after the election last Nov. 6, Domenici called Bush's senior political adviser, Karl Rove, and told him he wanted Iglesias out and asked Rove to take his request directly to the president.
Domenici and Bush subsequently had a telephone conversation about the issue.
The conversation between Bush and Domenici occurred sometime after the election but before the firings of Iglesias and six other U.S. attorneys were announced on Dec. 7.
Iglesias' name first showed up on a Nov. 15 list of federal prosecutors who would be asked to resign. It was not on a similar list prepared in October.

So it sounds like Domenici had wanted Iglesias gone for a long time. But after Iglesias wouldn't time an indictment of Manny Aragon to coincide with the November election, Domenici had had enough. He called President Bush, demanded Iglesias's firing. And President Bush fired him.

For a detailed analysis of what this means for the larger US Attorney Purge story, see Paul's run-down here.

--Josh Marshall

04.15.07 -- 1:40AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

"Nothing Improper" is the title of the attorney general's Washington Post op-ed previewing his testimony to Congress this week.

--David Kurtz

04.15.07 -- 12:10AM // link | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

The appointment of Rachel Paulose to be the U.S. attorney for Minnesota continues to be a source of puzzlement. Stung by the resignation of four of the top administrators in her office, Paulose agreed to an interview with the Star Tribune and professed to have been completely out of the loop on the U.S. attorney purge:

"These wild conspiracy theories are just that -- totally off base," Paulose said in her first interview on the subject. "No one communicated to me--in any form--about any plan to remove any U.S. attorney."

So how did a 33-year-old Republican lawyer go, in less than two months, from private practice in Minnesota to senior counselor to the deputy attorney general in Washington and then back to Minnesota as an interim U.S. attorney? Here's Paulose's version of what happened, as reported by the Star Tribune:

In January 2006, she was recruited for a job as senior counselor to the deputy attorney general, working primarily on health care policy.

Paulose said she never met Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty until she applied to work for him. Nor was she close to Gonzales, adding that they have never had a one-on-one meeting.

She says Monica Goodling, the Justice Department's former liaison to the White House, is a friend. Goodling invoked the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination and refused to testify before a Senate committee investigating the replacement of U.S. attorneys.

But they didn't meet until January 2006. Neither Goodling nor anyone else ever told her about a plan to replace U.S. attorneys, Paulose said.

Six weeks after starting her job in Washington, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Thomas Heffelfinger resigned, and Paulose was quickly appointed as his interim replacement. A lifelong Republican, she said she was as surprised by the appointment as anyone, noting that she had signed a year's lease for an apartment in Chevy Chase, Md.

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., submitted the names of two candidates to replace Heffelfinger. His staff said Paulose was not one of them. Clayton Robinson, a longtime friend of Coleman's who now oversees criminal cases in Ramsey County, said he interviewed for the U.S. attorney job in March 2006, but was told several weeks later that the administration was looking elsewhere.

Coleman eventually embraced Paulose's nomination, largely based on recommendations from respected lawyers, and the Senate confirmed her in December.

It's quite a remarkable run, especially since Paulose didn't have the support of Coleman, who as the state's sole Republican senator would usually play a pivotal role in selecting his state's U.S. attorney.

There's more to this. There has to be. Paulose has laid down quite a marker though: She was as surprised as anyone when she was appointed interim U.S. attorney. Keep that marker in mind as this story unfolds.

--David Kurtz

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