By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t Report
Thursday 26 July 2007
From Truthout:
A new wrinkle over the apparent politicization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) emerged on Tuesday during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing when a freshman Democratic lawmaker revealed the contents of a May 2006 memo. The memo, signed by embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, granted Vice President Dick Cheney extraordinary authority to review active federal civil and criminal investigations at the DOJ.
At the time the memo was signed by Gonzales, Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was preparing his defense on obstruction of justice and perjury charges involving the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson's name. Also, the special prosecutor who secured an indictment in the case on behalf of the government was reportedly trying to determine whether Cheney and numerous other White House officials also unmasked Plame's identity to reporters and lied about it to a grand jury and FBI investigators. Cheney had been interviewed about his role in the leak in 2004.
Gonzales testified on Tuesday before the Judiciary Committee on a wide range of legal issues under Congressional scrutiny.
Under intense questioning by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Gonzales was shown a copy of the May 4, 2006 memo he signed authorizing Cheney, his chief of staff and his attorney to enter into direct discussions with Gonzales "regarding any matter within the Justice Department."
"The Attorney General may communicate directly with the President, Vice President, their Chiefs of Staff, Counsel to the President or Vice President, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Adviser, or the head of any office within the [Executive Office of the President] regarding any matter within the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice," states the memo. Moreover, the memo says Gonzales's staffers were also given authority to communicate directly with the officials in the office of the president and the office of the vice president on DOJ matters.
Elizabeth de la Vega, a former assistant US attorney and author of the book "US v. Bush," said Gonzales's memo is troubling because it supports claims the DOJ's first priority was to adhere to White House policies, as opposed to upholding the law.
"Alberto Gonzales's May 6 memo is nothing less than a subterfuge to open the doors of the Department of Justice to a seemingly endless number of people in both the president's and the vice president's offices, while purporting to shut those same doors," said de la Vega. She added, "As the attorney general's memo acknowledges, the work of the Department of Justice must be carried out impartially. It is for this precise reason that communications between the DOJ and the members of the executive branch must be strictly limited to avoid either the appearance of, or the fact of, political influence. The memo gives lip service to that concept, but in fact imposes 'rules' that are almost meaningless in effect. Not unlike the Dodo race in 'Alice in Wonderland,' it's as if 'Everybody has won and all shall have prizes.'"
Paul Charlton, the former US attorney for Arizona who was fired in December, agreed. In an [4] interview [4] with Truthout earlier this month, Charlton said one problem that plagues the DOJ is Gonzales has not behaved as an independent-minded prosecutor whose first concern is upholding the law. Charton said Gonzales continues to act like President Bush's "consigliere," and has failed to shed his previous title as White House counsel since being appointed attorney general. Gonzales was White House counsel from 2001 till February 2005, and also was Bush's personal attorney when the president was governor of Texas.
Bud Cummins, the former US attorney in Little Rock, Arkansas, who was forced out of his position and replaced by a protege of Karl Rove, said he believes the fallout from the scandal will continue to affect the integrity and credibility of the DOJ unless the White House replaces Gonzales - a move Bush has said he is unwilling to make.
"I think a new attorney general would be helpful," Cummins said in an [3] interview [3] with Truthout in June.
Cummins said he has a difficult time believing Gonzales's sworn testimony before Congress earlier this year. In that testimony, the attorney general stated he could not recall the events that led to the firings of Cummins and the other US attorneys last year.
"It's disappointing to see someone with that much authority and responsibility be so unwilling to take responsibility," Cummins said. "I don't think I'm alone in having difficulty believing all [of Gonzales's] claims that he doesn't really remember meetings that he was in. It's been maddening to me to see an attorney general of the United States claim that he was responsible for a decision and he owns it, but he doesn't know why it was made and he doesn't know who made it. That's kind of crazy."
John McKay, the former US attorney for western Washington State, [1] told Truthout [1] he believes Gonzales knows the identity of the officials who selected the US attorneys for termination, but Gonzales has lied to Congress in order to protect the Bush administration. McKay believes his ouster was due in part to the fact that Republicans were angry that McKay did not convene a federal grand jury to pursue allegations of voter fraud related to the 2004 governor's election in Washington State. In that election, Democrat Christine Gregoire defeated Republican Dino Rossi by a margin of 129 votes.
David Iglesias, the former US attorney for New Mexico, [2] said [2] Gonzales's continuous efforts at stonewalling Congress have led to low morale of US attorneys around the country. Iglesias said "getting a new attorney general" is the only way the DOJ will ever be able to repair its shattered image and restore its credibility with the American public. Iglesias said he believes he was fired because he refused to bring criminal charges against individuals pertaining to allegations of voter fraud.
Here are Jason's interviews with four of the fired U.S. Attorneys:
[1] Please see Truthout's interview with John McKay, the former US attorney for Western Washington State
[2] Please see Truthout's interview with former US attorney for New Mexico David Iglesias
[3] Please see Truthout's interview with Bud Cummins, the former US attorney for Little Rock
[4] Please see Truthout's interview with former US attorney for Arizona Paul Charlton
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