1. Anonymous says:

    it’s not just the USA who were fired… what are the USA’s who weren’t doing to keep their jobs?

  2. Anonymous says:

    As Paul Krugman pointed out last week, the attorney in NJ who pretended there was an imminent indictment of Bob Menendez got to keep his job. How many local-level such instances are there, and when will the press start totaling them up?

    It seems to me Dems are in a position of strength right now, and ought to press their advantage. 1) Demand the sneaky provision be deleted from the Patriot Act immediately. 2) Demand immediate confirmtaion hearings on all 8 replacement attorneys. 3)If they’re really feeling their oats, push for the reinstatement of Carol Lam — or, at least, heavily investigate where her trail was going next and which GOPers benefitted from her departure.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Just a note to tell you, emptywheel, how much I admire and respect you. I’m still bringing myself up to speed on Plameology, and your book is my next purchase.

    Loved the videos of you, Jane, and Christy from Plame House. I wish you could get your own TV show. Maybe on MSNBC? You have the perfect mix of personalities to appeal to a wide audience.

    It’s an honor to add your site to my new blog’s links.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Emptywheel,

    So much going on now, hoping you are going to synthesize it all for us.

    I am hoping you are near or in DC tomorrow to witness Valerie Plame Wilson’s testimony.

    Also heard via FDL commenter Scribe @ 55 in Looseheadprop’s FDL post 3/15/07 that WH may have used the following email accounts rnc.org and gwb43.com as unofficial WH backchannels.

    To quote Scribe â€it appears the WH was using email through those accounts as a back channel to hide the political side’s tracks. Check the article at
    http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002771.php

    Seems this might well be a (serious) violation of the Presidential Records Act.
    CREW has put a letter in to Waxman, but I gotta wonder whether Fitz (even though he’s really thorough) looked there.

    Also, since they put this info through the RNC and GWB43 campaign servers, that would, I suppose, vitiate any claims of any privilege the WH could possibly make. It might even open them up to ordinary-person lawsuits, as the RNC and the campaign fon’t get any of the governmental immunities the WH would get, no?†Thought you might have more commentary to add re: this docu-dump.

    Murray Waas’ article about Gonzales getting Bush to shut down the investigation of US government’s warrentless spying by refusing investigators security clearances suggests to me that this may be the story the WH would rather not discuss. If Gonzales is going to be in the news, better to have everyone discussing Gonzales’ firing of US attorneys.
    (BTW, Wayne Madsen has a copy of the redacted list of US attorneys and the respective â€performance gradeâ€. I only see tape marks next to northern Illinois. Wondering whether you can work your type font â€Armitage-might-fit-the-space†evaluation magic to predict what it might say about Fitzgerald

    Wanted to make sure you have seen the letter this week from Representative Henry A. Waxman this week. As Chairman of the House of Representative’ â€committee on Oversight and Governement Reform†he addresses Condi Rice.

    Here is an excerpt of the letter’s beginning paragraphs:

    March 12,2007

    The Honorable Condoleeza Rice
    Secretary of State
    U.S. Department of State
    2201 C Street, NW
    Washington, DC 20520

    Dear Madam Secretary:

    Since 2003,I have written 16 letters to you, either in your capacity as National Security
    Advisor or Secretary of State. According to Committee records, you have satisfactorily
    responded to only five of those l6 letters. Those five were co-signed by Republicans. Under the
    Bush Adminishation, several agencies followed a policy of not responding to minorityparty
    requests. Although I do not agree with this policy, I presume that you were also following it
    when you decided not to respond to my requests for information.

    I am now renewing my requests as the chairman of the chief oversight committee in the
    U.S. House of Representatives.

    My inquiries cover vital issues within the Committee’s oversight jurisdiction, including
    your role in the President’s false assertion that Iraq was seeking uranium from Niger. [letter continues]

  5. Anonymous says:

    Hey, EW. Are you watching the Chiquita thing?

    Newspaper publisher Sun-Times Media Group Inc. (SVN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday its chief executive, Cyrus Freidheim Jr., may be part of the investigations into Chiquita, which he headed from 2002 to 2004.

    How United Fruit has fallen… once the banana republic makers of the world. Now getting shaken down for â€protection money†like an average schmo. Well, I guess that what you get when you provide cover for offloading 2500 AK-47s and millions of bullets to the AUC.