From Truthout:
By Matt Renner
t r u t h o u t Report
Thursday 12 July 2007
While Congress has threatened to hold senior Bush administration officials in contempt for refusing to comply with subpoenas pertaining to their investigation into the controversial firing of nine US attorneys, enforcing such criminal contempt charges would fall to Jeffrey Taylor, interim US attorney for the District of Columbia. According to Justice Department documents, Taylor took part in behind-the-scenes discussions involving the US attorneys who were fired.
That raises questions about whether Taylor, who would be in a position to decide whether to turn the matter over to a grand jury, has a conflict of interest and would be forced to recuse himself from the case.
According to DoJ documents, Taylor worked closely with Justice Department officials who were planning the US attorney purge. Before being appointed to his current position, Taylor served as counsel for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, one of the main targets of the ongoing Congressional investigation. Email communications between Taylor and Kyle Sampson, then chief of staff for the attorney general, and William Mercer, former acting associate attorney general, show that Taylor worked closely with Sampson and Mercer while the two men were planning the firings. Specifically, the emails show that Taylor was asked to assist Sampson and Mercer when the DoJ came under fire for alleged lack of enforcement of illegal-immigration laws. A lack of illegal-immigration enforcement was later used as a rationale for the removal of Carol Lam, former US attorney for the Southern District of California.
The DoJ has released only two emails sent by Taylor and only one that was directly addressed to him, leaving Taylor's exact role in planning the attorney purge unclear. In an email, Mercer asks for Taylor's "thoughts" about an email exchange between DoJ officials regarding an inquiry by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-California) regarding illegal-immigration prosecutions. If Taylor responded by email, that document was not made public. DoJ did not return multiple calls for comment on this issue, and has not specified how many relevant documents it is withholding
If Congress votes to hold officials involved in the US attorney firings in contempt, Taylor, as the interim US attorney for Washington, DC, would be responsible for deciding whether to convene a grand jury to rule on Congress's charge. If Taylor decided not to enforce contempt charges issued by Congress, the investigation could grind to a halt, leaving questions about the motives behind the US attorney firings unresolved.
1 comment:
Nixon would be proud if only he had done what Bush/Cheney are doing now Nixon would have never had an impeachment hearing.
Karl Rove and Cheney lined the courts and the DOJ with people who would stop any hearing or trials dealing with their criminal acts. Yes even the Supreme Court is lined with the famous 5-4 Criminal team. These guys were appointed to do just what their doing, stop Justice. Only those who would be willing to lie, cheat and steal were appointed. Libby did his part. The only problem is Bush/Cheney are Dictators who don't know much about the United States Legal System or much of anything else. They look to the idiots they appointed and of course these are yes people. Don't tell the boss what he doesn't want to hear. This group has gotten so bold they lie to your face and thing nothing of it.
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