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HavenWorks.com/people/a-z/m/miers-harriet HARRIET MIERS NEWS |
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Former Supreme Court Nominee Harriet Miers News |
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Harriet
Miers |
Monica
Goodling - 
Tim
Griffin - 
Alberto
Gonzales - 
Paul
McNulty
- 
Karl
Rove
- Harriet
Miers
- Noteworthy
- US
Attorneys - 
Military
- 
Students
- Race
- 
Politics
- 
Law
- 2004
Election - 
Arkansas
- 
Florida
- "Raging
Caging: What the heck is vote caging, and why should
we care?" ... "Last week, in her testimony before the House judiciary committee,
[Republican] Monica Goodling referred several times to "vote caging" possibly
done by Arkansas' soon
to be ex-interim, never-confirmed [Republican] U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin.
Yet Goodling was questioned about this almost not at all, nor did the media
do much more than report the words of the former liaison between the [Republican
President Bush's] White House and [Republican] Alberto Gonzales (why a
"liaison" is required between two institutions with no boundaries between
them is incomprehensible, but perhaps another story). Meanwhile, liberal
talk radio, Robert
F. Kennedy Jr., and the blogosphere went nuts. So, which is it: Is
vote caging the most underreported part of this U.S. attorneys scandal
or the most over-hyped?" ... "One of the reasons the mainstream news reports
(including mine [Dahlia Lithwick])
barely touched the vote-caging story was that nobody had any idea what
Goodling was talking about. "Vote caging, what's that?" we e-mailed each
other at Slate. The confusion seemed to extend to Goodling herself. The
subject came up in her testimony about former Deputy Attorney General Paul
McNulty. In saying he had not been forthright with the House judiciary
committee in his testimony on the firing of the U.S. attorneys, she cited
three areas, one of which was McNulty's failure "to disclose that he had
some knowledge of allegations that Tim Griffin had been involved in 'vote
caging' in the president's 2004 [election] campaign," when he spoke to
Congress." ... "Vote caging is an illegal trick to suppress minority voters
(who tend to vote Democrat) by getting them knocked off the voter rolls
if they fail to answer registered mail sent to homes they aren't living
at (because they are, say, at college or at war). The Republican National
Committee reportedly stopped the practice following a consent
decree in a 1986 case. Google the term and you'll quickly arrive at
the Wizard of Oz of caging, Greg Palast, investigative reporter and author
of the wickedly funny Armed
Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans—Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales
of a White House Gone Wild. Palast started reporting allegations
of Republican vote caging for the BBC's
Newsnight
in 2004. He's been almost alone on the story since then. Palast contends,
both in Armed Madhouse and widely through the liberal
blogosphere, that vote caging, an illegal voter-suppression scheme,
happened in Florida in 2004 this way:"
Karl
Rove
- Timothy
Griffin - D
Kyle Sampson
-
Alberto Gonzales - Harriet
Miers
- US
Attorney - E-Mail
- Law
- Politics
- Arkansas
- "Administration
Withheld E-Mails About Rove." ... "The [Republican
President] Bush administration has withheld a series of e-mails from Congress
showing that senior White House and Justice Department officials worked
together to conceal the role of Karl Rove in installing Timothy
Griffin, a protégé of Rove's, as U.S. attorney for the
Eastern District of Arkansas." ... "The withheld records show that D.
Kyle Sampson, who was then-chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales, consulted with White House officials in drafting two letters
to Congress that appear to have misrepresented the circumstances of Griffin's
appointment as U.S. attorney and of Rove's role in supporting Griffin."
... "In one of the letters that Sampson drafted, dated February 23, 2007,
the Justice Department told four Senate Democrats it was not aware of any
role played by senior White House adviser Rove in attempting to name Griffin
to the U.S. attorney post. A month later, the Justice Department apologized
in writing to the Senate Democrats for the earlier letter, saying it had
been inaccurate in denying that Rove had played a role." ... "Brad Berenson,
an attorney for Sampson, said in an interview that his client did not intend
to mislead Congress. Sampson, he said, signed off on the February 23 letter
based on representations made by the White House that it was accurate."
... "The withheld e-mails show that Sampson's draft was forwarded for review
to
Chris Oprison, an associate White House counsel, who approved
the language saying that Justice was not aware of Rove having played any
role in supporting Griffin. But an earlier e-mail from Sampson to Oprison
that has already been made public indicates that the two men discussed
Rove and then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers as being at the
forefront of Griffin's nomination." ... "Two senior administration officials
told
National Journal they were frustrated with decisions by Gonzales
not to release some of the documents held by the Justice Department. One
of the officials charged that "Gonzales is doing this to save his own neck,"
at the expense of the administration. The same official said that senior
aides to Gonzales have been refusing to turn over many relevant documents
to Congress, and that the attorney general's top aides have been selectively
leaking portions of them to the media to portray themselves in a favorable
light." -By
Murray
Waas -NationalJournal
Cunningham
- 
Renzi
- 
Gibbons
- 
Jerry
Lewis - Miers
- Sampson
- Griffin
- Rove
- Noteworthy
- Secret
- US
Attorneys - Law
- 
Money
- Politics
- Los
Angeles - 
California
- 
Arizona
- 
Nevada
- Arkansas
- "The
U.S. Attorney, the G.O.P. Congressman and the Timely Job Offer."
... "There is yet another United States attorney whose abrupt departure
from office is raising questions: Debra Wong Yang of Los Angeles [California]."
... "Carol Lam, the United States attorney in San Diego [California], was
fired after she put [California Republican Representative] Randy Cunningham,
known as Duke, in prison. Paul Charlton, in Arizona, was dismissed while
he was investigating [Arizona Republican Representative] Rick Renzi. Dan
Bogden, in Nevada, was fired while he was reportedly investigating [Republican]
Jim Gibbons, a congressman who was elected [Nevada] governor last year."
... "Ms. Yang was investigating [California Republican Representative]
Jerry Lewis, who was chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee."
... "Ms. Yang says she left for personal reasons, but there is growing
evidence that the White House was intent on removing her. Kyle Sampson,
the Justice Department staff member in charge of the firings, told investigators
last month in still-secret testimony that Harriet Miers, the White House
counsel at the time, had asked him more than once about Ms. Yang. He testified,
according to Congressional sources, that as late as mid-September, Ms.
Miers wanted to know whether Ms. Yang could be made to resign. Mr. Sampson
reportedly recalled that Ms. Miers was focused on just two United States
attorneys: Ms. Yang and Bud Cummins, the Arkansas prosecutor who was later
fired to make room for Tim Griffin, a Republican political operative and
Karl Rove protégé." ... "Press reports say she [Ms. Yang]
got a $1.5 million signing bonus to become a partner in Gibson, Dunn &
Crutcher, a firm with strong Republican ties." ... "Gibson, Dunn was defending
Mr. Lewis in Ms. Yang’s investigation." -By Adam Cohen
-NYTimes
Renzi
- Gonzales
- Miers
- Kyle
Sampson
- Arizona
- 2006
Election - US
Attorneys - Political
- 
Government
- 
Land
- Business
- 
Enforcement
- "Delays
in Renzi Case Raise More Gonzales Questions." ...
"As midterm [2006] elections approached last November, federal investigators
in Arizona faced unexpected obstacles in getting needed Justice Department
approvals to advance a corruption investigation of [Arizona Representative]
Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, people close to the case said." ... "The delays,
which postponed key approvals in the case until after the election, raise
new questions about whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or other
officials may have weighed political issues in some investigations. The
Arizona U.S. attorney then overseeing the case, Paul Charlton, was told
he was being fired in December, one of eight federal prosecutors dismissed
in the past year. The dismissals have triggered a wave of criticism and
calls from Congress for Mr. Gonzales to resign." ... "Investigators pursuing
the Renzi case had been seeking clearance from senior Justice Department
officials on search warrants, subpoenas and other legal tools for a year
before the [2006] election, people close to the case said." ... "Mr. Renzi
is the subject of a criminal inquiry into land deals, among other things.
The
Wall Street Journal reported last week that federal agents are focusing
on a $200,000 cash payment Mr. Renzi received from a former business partner
in 2005 following a land sale that was to be part of a proposed government
land-exchange bill." ... "In September, [Republican] President Bush hosted
a fund-raiser in Scottsdale [Arizona] on his behalf. About the same time
Mr. Charlton was added to a list of prosecutors "we should now consider
pushing out," wrote Mr. Gonzales's then-chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, in
a Sept. 13, 2006, email to then-White House counsel Harriet Miers." -By
John R. Wilke and Evan Perez -WSJ.com
Gonzales
- Kyle
Sampson
- Miers
- US
Attorneys - Politics
- 
Michigan
- California
- Arkansas
- 
New
York - "Gonzales
Aide Suggested Replacements for Attorneys." ... "A
Justice Department e-mail released today shows that the former chief of
staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales proposed replacement candidates
for seven United States attorneys nearly a year before those prosecutors
were fired, in contrast to testimony last month in which the aide said
that no successors were considered before the firings." ... "The e-mail
written by D. Kyle Sampson, who resigned last month as the top aide to
Mr. Gonzales, provides the first evidence that the Justice Department wanted
to appoint its own candidates, despite the insistence of Justice Department
officials in recent weeks that the eight prosecutors, with one exception,
were removed in December 2006 for performance reasons, without regard to
who might succeed them." ... "The Jan. 9, 2006, e-mail was sent by Mr.
Sampson to Harriet Miers, the former White House Counsel, and William Kelley,
another White House lawyer." ... "The United States Attorneys identified
for removal are four who were ultimately dismissed: Margaret Chiara in
Michigan, Kevin Ryan in San Francisco [California], Carol C. Lam in San
Diego [California] and H. E. Cummins III in Arkansas." ... "“If a decision
is made to remove and replace a limited number of U.S. Attorneys, then
the following might be considered for removal and possible replacement,”
Mr. Sampson’s e-mail said." ... "But Mr. Sampson testified under oath on
March 29 [2007] at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee that he
had no candidates in mind to replace any of the fired prosecutors." ...
"At one point in the hearing, Charles E. Schumer, a Democratic Senator
from New York, asked Mr. Sampson, “Did you or did you not have in mind
specific replacements for the dismissed U.S. Attorneys before they were
asked to resign on December 7th, 2006.”" ... "Mr. Sampson, who was testifying
under oath, replied, “I personally did not. On December 7th, I did not
have in mind any replacements for any of the seven who were asked to resign.”"
(1, 2)
-By David Johnston -NYTimes
Rove
- Miers
- Gonzales
- Political
- Government
- E-Mail
- Communication
- Archive
- US
Attorneys - "Missing
E-Mail May Be Related to Prosecutors." ... "The White
House said Thursday that missing e-mail messages sent on Republican Party
accounts may include some relating to the firing of eight United States
attorneys." ... "The disclosure became a fresh political problem for the
White House, as Democrats stepped up their inquiry into whether Karl Rove
and other top aides to President Bush used the e-mail accounts maintained
by the Republican National Committee to circumvent record-keeping requirements."
... "Mr. Rove uses several e-mail accounts, including one with the Republican
National Committee, one with the White House and a private domain account
that is registered to the political consulting company he once owned. Mr.
Waxman said Mr. Kelner reported that in 2005, the national committee adopted
a new policy, specifically aimed at Mr. Rove, which “removed Mr. Rove’s
ability to personally delete his e-mails from the R.N.C. server.”" ...
"Mr. Waxman also said he now had “serious concerns about the White House’s
compliance with the Presidential Records Act,” a 1978 law that requires
administrations to keep records of deliberations, decisions and policies.
The congressman asked for an inventory of all communications by White House
officials on nongovernment e-mail accounts." ... "The Democrats’ investigation
into the political e-mail accounts grows directly out of the inquiry into
the firing of the United States attorneys. When the Justice Department
turned over documents to Congress, they showed that, contrary to the White
House’s initial assertions, Mr. Rove and Harriet E. Miers, the former White
House counsel, seemed to be involved in planning the dismissals." ... "The
documents also revealed that a deputy to Mr. Rove, Scott Jennings, who
works in the White House Office of Political Affairs, had used his Republican
National Committee e-mail account, ending in gwb43.com, to communicate
about the dismissals with a top aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales."
(1, 2)
-By Sheryl Gay Stolberg with contributions by Scott
Shane and David Johnston -NYTimes
Gonzales
- Kyle
Sampson
- Miers
- 
Cheney
- 
Libby
- US
Attorneys - 
Intelligence
- Politics
- "CIA
leak prosecutor’s job was threatened: Ex-Gonzales
aide says in testimony he suggested removing Fitzgerald." ... "D. Kyle
Sampson, the former top aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, said
in testimony before the
Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday that he suggested removing prosecutor
Patrick Fitzgerald, who oversaw the CIA leak case involving White House
staff, from his post." ... "Sampson's statements on Thursday came amid
controversy over U.S. attorneys who were fired without warning. His testimony
for the first time put Gonzales at the heart of the firings amid ever-changing
Justice Department accounts of how they were planned." ... "He said that
he discussed removing Fitzgerald at a meeting last year with [President
Bush's former counsel Harriet] Miers and her deputy, William Kelley." ...
"Fitzgerald served as special counsel in the trial over who revealed the
identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame, which ended in a perjury and obstruction
conviction for Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis
"Scooter" Libby." -By Joel Seidman
-MSNBC
Gonzales
- Kyle
Sampson
- Rove
- Timothy
Griffin - Harriet
Miers
- US
Attorneys - Law
- Ark
- "Ex-Aide:
Prosecutor Firings Were Political: Gonzales' Former
Chief Of Staff To Testify U.S. Attorneys Were Dismissed For Not Supporting
Bush Agenda." ... "Eight federal prosecutors were fired last year because
they did not sufficiently support President Bush's priorities, Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff [Kyle Sampson] says in
remarks prepared for delivery Thursday to Congress." ... "Separately, the
Justice Department admitted Wednesday it gave senators inaccurate information
about the firings and presidential political adviser Karl Rove's role in
trying to secure a U.S. attorney's post for one of his former aides, Tim
Griffin." ... "In a letter accompanying new documents sent to the House
and Senate Judiciary committees, Justice officials acknowledged that a
Feb. 23 letter to four Democratic senators erred in asserting that the
department was not aware of any role Rove played in the decision to appoint
Griffin to replace U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins in Little Rock, Ark [Arkansas]."
... "The Feb. 23 letter, which was written by Sampson but signed by [Acting
Assistant Attorney General Richard] Hertling, emphatically stated that
"the department is not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the decision
to appoint Mr. Griffin." It also said that "the Department of Justice is
not aware of anyone lobbying, either inside or outside of the administration,
for Mr. Griffin's appointment."" ... "Those assertions are contradicted
by e-mails from Sampson to White House aide Christopher G. Oprison on Dec.
19, 2006, about a strategy to deal with senators' opposition to Griffin's
appointment. In the e-mail, Sampson says there is a risk that senators
might balk and repeal the attorney general's newly won broader authority
to appoint U.S. attorneys." ... ""I'm not 100 percent sure that Tim was
the guy on which to test drive this authority, but know that getting him
appointed was important to Harriet, Karl, etc," Sampson wrote. Former White
House Counsel Harriet Miers was among the first people to suggest Griffin
as a replacement for Cummins." -AP
via -CBSNews
Rove
- Gonzales
- Miers
- US
Attorneys
- Law
- Enforcement
- Politics
- Arkansas
- E-Mails
- "E-Mails
Show Machinations to Replace Prosecutor: Administration
Worked for Months to Make Rove Aide U.S. Attorney in Arkansas." ... "Two
months before Bud Cummins was fired as U.S. attorney in Little Rock [Arkansas],
a protege of presidential adviser Karl Rove was maneuvering with the Justice
Department to take his place." ... "Last April, Tim Griffin, a Rove aide
and longtime GOP operative, sent the attorney general's chief of staff
a flattering letter about himself written by Cummins, the prosecutor he
was trying to replace, internal e-mails released this week show. Rove and
Harriet Miers, then the White House counsel, were keenly interested in
putting him in the position, e-mails reveal." ... "New documents also show
that Justice and White House officials were preparing for President Bush's
approval of the appointment as early as last summer, five months before
Griffin took the job." ... "The e-mails show how D. Kyle Sampson, then
the attorney general's chief of staff, and other Justice officials prepared
to use a change in federal law to bypass input from Arkansas' two Democratic
senators, who had expressed doubts about placing a former Republican National
Committee operative in charge of a U.S. attorney's office. The evidence
runs contrary to assurances from Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales that
no such move had been planned." ... "By June 13, about a week before Cummins
would be told he was losing his job, Sampson wrote to Monica Goodling,
senior counsel to Gonzales, to tell her that a colleague had the necessary
pre-nomination paperwork for Griffin. He said that he would speak the following
morning with Michael A. Battle, chief of the office that oversees U.S.
attorneys, and make sure that Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty's
office "knows that we are now executing this plan."" ... "Sampson's note
suggests the plan was not new: "I did tell them this was likely coming
several months ago."" (1, 2,
3)
-By Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein with contributions
by Michael Abramowitz -WashingtonPost
Rove
- Gonzales
- Miers
- Law
- Enforcement
- Politics
- E-Mails
- "E-Mails
Show Rove's Role in U.S. Attorney Firings: Unreleased
E-Mails Contradict White House Assertions That the Firings Originated With
Harriet Miers." ... "New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials
show that the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised by White
House adviser [Republican] Karl Rove in early January 2005, indicating
Rove was more involved in the plan than the White House previously acknowledged."
... "The e-mails also show that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales discussed
the idea of firing the attorneys en masse while he was still White House
counsel, weeks before he was confirmed as attorney general." ... "The e-mails
directly contradict White House assertions that the notion originated with
recently departed White House counsel Harriet Miers, and was her idea alone."
... "White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters Tuesday that
Miers had suggested firing all 93, and that it was "her idea only." Snow
said Miers' idea was quickly rejected by the Department of Justice." -By
Jan Crawford Greenburg -
