What your momma saw...

Talking Points Memo and TMP Muckraker are leading a grassroots combing of the latest attorneygate docudump. 3000 pages. Go help out if you have a moment. Some of the things people are citing are things we already know, but there's more and more stuff coming to the surface.

BZ, EAR and I were talking over the weekend about the crimes that were committed in Attorneygate. The right has been spinning that there was no crime here in the forceouts of these 8 attorneys, that clinton did this, that poppabush did this, and so forth. Neither of these Presidents did this kind of thing during their second term, no matter what the right says. But I posited to BZ the following crimes: Misleading Congress, Obstruction of Justice (influencing investigations, and also doubles as an ethics violation for at least two members of Congress), and a second Obstruction of Justice (the firing of Carol Lam). Turns out maybe I should've gone for that law degree after all. At least, according to the JM Times' Adam Cohen.

Buried at the bottom of the docudump avalanche? Check out this nugget in the AP wire:

In other trouble for the administration, the Justice Department's inspector general is to testify Tuesday and Wednesday before House and Senate committees on what he says was Justice's misuse of its power to secretly go through people's financial, Internet and other records in terrorism cases.

O RLY?! Color me surprised.

Well, Tony, where would YOU drop it?

Having changed directions with their leak to ABC, the junta has of course sent Tony Snow out for damage control to slow the Sunday headlines. With these winners:

“It has been described as her idea but ... I don’t want to try to vouch for origination,” said White House press secretary Tony Snow, who previously had asserted Miers was the person who came up with the idea. “At this juncture, people have hazy memories.”

snip

We don’t know motivations. ... I don’t think it’s safe to go any further than that.”

snip

Asked if Bush himself might have suggested the firings, Snow said, “Anything’s possible ... but I don’t think so.” He said Bush “certainly has no recollection of any such thing. I can’t speak for the attorney general.

“I want you to be clear here: don’t be dropping it at the president’s door,” Snow said.

Wow, subtle, Tony. Really subtle. First, notice a few things- the party line has constantly shifted. And maybe Tony, knowing full well that this thing is turning into an avalanche, has dropped the staunch denail of Chimpy McFuckface's involvement for a "no recollection" and "memories are hazy" defense. Especially since the emails released last night, clearly show that Gonzales was involved at the beginning and that "loyalty to Bush" was a part of the criteria. Here's where things get messy: what is loyalty to Bush? Is it prosecuting people who take bribes and ferretting out a network of bribers and illegal contributors? Because that's the only thing we can find on Carol Lam. Was it resistance to ethical breaches by lawmakers and staffers? Because that's what we've got on Iglesias and McKay.

A couple other subtleties in Tony's two step:

1) He says he can't speak for AG Gonzales. That, to me, is part of the subtle separation that's happening between Gonzalez and the Junta. It shifts the discussion back to AG Gonzales and gently shoves from the sidewalk towards the oncoming bus.

2) Well, this isn't really that subtle, but the idea that this story shouldn't end up at Chucklenutz's doorstep? That is laughable. This administration has a 6 year track record of shielding and rewarding the folks that are caught with their hands in the cookie jar. This was a sure-fire plan to make sure anyone investigating damaging activity and failing to adhere to administration pushes for questionable indictments was fired- hatched and put forward by his closest advisors. Who else has culpability on this but the President? He believes, even now, that the firings are fine, that he's only upset with how telling people about it was handled. But this was a coverup of politically motivated firings to use a provision "snuck" into the (un)Patriot(ic) act to replace decent lawyers with more loyal syncophants. This was deliberate and came from on high. And since Gonzales doesn't wipe his ass without Chucklenutz's say so, who do YOU think is responsible?

Who does the buck stop with, Tony?

Someone at the White House is singing...

..because ABC is breaking news on our good buddies Karl and Alberto (h/t: talkingpointsmemo):

March 15, 2007 — 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 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 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.

Wow, talk about long knives. Given the Mouse's serious right turn (see: bogus 9/11 movie that has earned someone a beatdown if I ever meet them), there's only one possible reason for the leakers to go to ABC. My guess is someone wants either Karl or Alberto out. But man, this administration is gangsta. Waits for Alberto to go all "mistakes were made", the President has "confidence in Al" and then BAM! the coup de grace'. No wonder he looked like he was about to piss himself the other day. Deliberately misleading Congress, eh? Let's see how far this goes. If Gonzales is smart, he'll resign before candlelighting tomorrow. But as MK was pointing out, resignation is not enough. INDICTMENT!

Tony doesn't know!

For the record, Josh Marshall and the fine folks at Talking Points Memo and their sibling site, tpmmuckraker, have done the yeoman's work behind pushing Attorneygate to the forefront, going into their vast archives to explain how the Republican claims of "voter fraud" is code for republic voter suppression, and garnering apologies from members of the mainstream media who suggested, " in this case some liberals are seeing broad partisan conspiracies where none likely exist." This story is on the radar primarily because of their work. So in it, we see yet another example of bloggers doing a better job finding and presenting the stories than the MSM.

As part of their non-stop coverage, Paul Kiel at tpmmuckraker put up the text from this morning's press gaggle with Tony Snow, who doesn't know anything, doesn't believe loyalty should be the criteria for US Attorneys, and continues the canard that poor reviews and not loyalty to the White House is what is being referred to in the volumes of emails of the docu-dump Monday. If you have a moment and want to see just how many lies, half truths, and weasel words Snow uses, take a gander.

Tony Doesn't Know!

California Senator knows her algebra...

Tell us, Senator Feinstein, is "lawyers who serve at the pleasure of the president" really what this thing is all about? Show us the math:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Wednesday she believes the ouster of San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam was connected to Lam's prosecution of former Republican congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, even though the Bush administration has denied it.

"In my heart of hearts I do, no matter what they say," Feinstein, D-Calif., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"The fact is there are additional investigations that have come from that. The fact is that the day before she left office she filed two additional indictments," Feinstein said, referring to charges Lam filed last month against an ex-CIA official and a defense contractor tied to Cunningham.

"Now they weren't of members of Congress," Feinstein added. "But whether this has had a chilling effect over that investigation I don't know. But I'm concerned about it."

Oh, I get it. They knew they couldn't fire Fitzgerald, so they fired Carol Lam instead. But what about the insistance by the AG that she was too focused on corruption and not on other issues, like immigration?

Feinstein wrote to Gonzales last June questioning border prosecution guidelines in Lam's district, but received a reply from Moschella in which he described Lam's immigration smuggling caseload as rising "favorably" in 2006.

Rising favorably. Does that sound like a negative work review to you?!

Let me get this straight...

Tucker Carlson was bleating yesterday that the attorney firing story wasn't a big deal, that isn't it fair to push attorneys to examine "voter fraud" and political corruption? Well, Attorney General Gonzales doesn't think so:

"We advised Ms. Lam of these other priorities — that she needed to focus on other issues as well. A U.S. attorney can't just focus on one particular problem," Gonzales said. "A U.S. Attorney has to focus on all the needs of the community."

The title of the CBS piece is even better:

Fired U.S. Attorney Led Cunningham Probe
Attorney General Gonzales Says Prosecutor Focused Office's Efforts Too Much On Public Corruption

Rich, ain't it.

Alberto Gonzales Demoted!

... by the Yankees to the minor league complex for the rest of spring training.

But don't worry, I think this headline may be coming again soon.

It always comes down to sports and politics...

because I follow both to near obsession...

first, the US Attorney scandal goes straight to the top. And this is no longer figurative. Josh Marshall at talking points memo puts together the key citations from the new JM Times and Wapo pieces. TPM Muckraker helped expose this story in the first place, and now it seems it really does go all the way to the top. Literally. As in, when I said the USA story was far more important than the Libby verdict, I wasn't kidding.

second, let me get all Colbertian for a second... it seems my beloved Rangers must be reading this blog, or how else could you explain THIS?!?!:

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has signed center Tom Pyatt to a professional contract.

Pyatt, 20, has skated in 56 games with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) this season, registering 42 goals and 38 assists for 80 points, along with a plus-32 rating and 18 penalty minutes. Among league leaders, the OHL Western Conference All-Star is currently tied for first in game-winning goals (nine), tied for third in shorthanded goals (six), tied for sixth in goals (42), and tied for 11th in plus/minus (+32).

See what positive thinking can do, feygele?